Fargo: Series Two - Falcon's Blog

Fargo: Series Two

Greetings, Fargo: Series Two is a television series from 2015 and serves as a prequel to the original Fargo show. The film was set in the late 1980s and the first television series was set in 2006 while this season is located in the final years of the 1970s. It mainly follows the character of Lou Solverson, who is the protagonist in this dark crime thriller, a Minnesotan cop played by Patrick Wilson. The character had been introduced in the first series as a recurring character and father of the heroine, Molly, who followed in her father’s footsteps by becoming another police officer. An older Lou was played by Keith Carradine in the original Fargo television show and it should be mentioned that the actor makes a brief return in this series. Other actors or actresses in the second Fargo include Jesse Plemmons as Ed the Butcher, Kirsten Dunst as Peggy and Jean Smart as the matriarch of the Gerhart criminal syndicate.

The story begins in 1979 in which the Gerhart family is under threat from two incidents. The first is that the ageing patriarch Otto suffered from a heart attack, leaving a power vacuum in his place as the three Gerhart sons want to assume control of the criminal organization. The second is the growing influence of the Kansas City mob who wish to carve their way into Gerhart territory, either by buying the family out or through seizing victory in a bloody gang war. Problems are further escalated for the crime family when the youngest Gerhart heir, Rye, attempts to threaten a judge in a waffle restaurant. The restaurant is nearly empty but the situation takes a turn for the worse when he loses his cool and kills the judge as well as a cook in a heated exchange. Rye, in an attempt to kill all witnesses, chases a wounded waitress by following her outside. He shoots her in the back but before he can get off the snow covered road, Rye is distracted by a glowing phenomenon in the sky at which point he is hit by a passing car.

Fargo: Series 2

It is soon revealed that a local beautician called Peggy Blumquist had hit Gerhart and in a state of panic brought Rye back to her home, believing she had accidently killed him. It turns out that he was seriously hurt in the accident but still alive. Ed, Peggy’s husband and the local butcher, soon finds out about Rye as he is trapped in their garage. The manic Gerhart attacks Ed but Blumquist is able to stab Rye to death in retaliation. A startled Ed and Peggy decide to get rid of the body by disposing of it in the butcher’s shop as well as hiding any evidence of what had occurred by dealing with the broken car. Meanwhile Floyd Gerhart, acting leader of the mob as well as mother of Dodd, Bear and Rye, grows increasingly worried over her youngest son’s disappearance. A Native American tracker for the Gerhart’s, called Hanzee Dent, is sent to find Rye’s whereabouts and bring him home. The situation is increasingly pressurized when the Gerhart’s are faced with the prospects of war with Kansas City when enforcers such as Joe Bulo, Mike Milligan and the Kitchen Brothers attempt to push the Gerhart’s syndicate into selling over their organization.

I really liked this season and thought that the colourful styles or fashions were visually pleasing, giving the show some character. I also believed the 1970s setting proved to be an interesting backdrop for the story to take place and liked the occasional hints of the future to come. For instance, Ronald Regan was added into the plot but he has little roles in it except to drive home the point that Fargo was set in the 1970s. While the show did have some draw backs, such as the unexplained extra-terrestrial side story and the supposed fate of Hanzee Dent, I believed that the series was on par if not slightly better than the original. The season didn’t suffer from the absence of the original antagonist, Lorne Malvo, like I had previously been concerned about and as such this is a show that I would definitely recommend, especially if you enjoyed the first one. I look forward to the third series which takes place after all the events we have seen so far in all the Fargo timeline as it is set in 2010.

Plot=9/10

Characters=9/10

Special Effects=8/10

Overall=9/10

Quote of the Day

Because some roads you shouldn't go down. Because maps used to say, "there be dragons here." Now they don't. But that don't mean the dragons aren't there.

Lorne Malvo

Fargo

Written by Falcon, Tuesday 15 March 2016

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Falcon  9 year(s) ago (105 months)

Thanks for the comments. I am looking forward to where series three will go and how it connects all the Fargo storylines together.

 
Brisingr  9 year(s) ago (105 months)

Brilliant series overall - a few things could have done with more explanation as you mentioned but I really enjoy it. Bring on season 3!!

 
Joh  9 year(s) ago (105 months)

Nice review! Definitely looking forward to watching this as the first series and the movie were both excellent. From what I've heard and what you say: this one is also good. Looking forward to checking it out.

 
Aaron  9 year(s) ago (105 months)

I loved the first season (and the movie), so I can't wait for this one! Glad to hear that it seems to have maintained the quality of the first!