Fargo (TV series)

[Alexandro]

SPOILERS

To me her stuff has been always the weak link. I liked that she was in shock at the beginning, but the motivational crap felt lame from the get go. Even if you are willing to accept that she has lost her mind (I accept it but really disliked how she and the show are playing it in this "isn't this funny?" style) you have to fly with the idea of the husband being totally oblivious to her psychosis. And that doesn't work at all. At least for me.

I don't mind supernatural. And Billy Bob was awesome all the way through within that vibe, but Plemons has never showed anything remotely like that. It's a minor thing, the call, perhaps, but it bothered me because it felt like more of those jokes around the north dakota's folks naive ways.

[Tictacbk]

So... that was awesome.

[Drenk]

So... that was awesome.

Pretty much, yes.

[Alexandro]

yes, pretty much.
one thing I like is how freely the show uses all sorts of techniques and film language solutions regardless of wether it makes "sense" or if "motifs" are part of the show or not. like the narration, suddenly coming up here.

tense episode, but it did made me think about something like breaking bad and how time spent with characters helps to create more tension. by spending so long with walter white, an episode like this in season 4, let's say, would have been nerve wracking. here, everything feels lighter. I'm not so sure if my reasoning and "blaming" this on time is correct, but it made me think about it.

however, it was a huge improvement over the last episode and now I'm hooked again.

[Garam]

tense episode, but it did made me think about something like breaking bad and how time spent with characters helps to create more tension. by spending so long with walter white, an episode like this in season 4, let's say, would have been nerve wracking. here, everything feels lighter. I'm not so sure if my reasoning and "blaming" this on time is correct, but it made me think about it.

Breaking Bad was tense as fuck, but i never felt Walter White was in any real danger, cause he has to live to the end...or til the end (spoiler alert). Without him, there's no show. I feel there's much more uncertainty in films or finite TV series (or anthology seasons) because they don't have that problem.

Even with a TV show like Breaking Bad or The Sopranos, there's a certain degree of that old 'revert to normality' TV golden rule. Mini-series/anthologies can ignore that rule.

BrBa and The Wire and The Sopranos are all incredible shows and justify their length, but even they had a fair bit of padding. It feels great to watch something lean, like old european tv shows. The 'Golden Age of TV' is also extremely flabby. Really self indulgent and flabby.

[Alexandro]

Sure, but the thing with Breaking Bad and all those other shows where there's a main character and you know he won't die in the middle of the season is that stakes are not about the chances of said character to die. With Walter White is was always about what consequences would it bring. We knew he wasn't going to die, but it was super exciting because we knew so much about him and had a whole lot of emotional stakes in place. In a way it makes it more exciting that he couldn't just die because it meant there were plenty of possible and potentially disastrous outcomes.

[Jeremy Blackman]

SPOILERS

In case people didn't catch it, Hanzee becomes Mr. Tripoli, the head of the Fargo mob in Season 1. The kids playing baseball are in Season 1, too — the deaf hitman, of course, and his friend.

Season 2:

"Not apprehend, dead. Don't care heavily-guarded, don't care into the sea, kill and be killed. Head in a bag. There's the message."

Season 1:

"Not apprehend, dead. Don’t care extramarital, don’t care not related, kill and be killed. Head in a bag. There’s the message.”


More:

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/12/fargo-who-is-moses-tripoli-season-2-finale-recap-palindrome

http://www.bustle.com/articles/129755-the-fargo-season-2-finale-connects-to-season-1-in-surprising-ways

[Tictacbk]

 *SPOILERS*

Well that strange twist aside, I thought it was a pretty good finale. Everything with Peggy was great (poor Ed), Mike Milligan's fate was unexpected and hilarious, and Ted Danson was crazy but in like, a nice way.  Just not sure I buy Hanzee becoming Tripoli. And I suppose maybe he didn't. Maybe he did get that much surgery and change, and maybe Charlie Gerhardt got his arm fixed and turned into Malvo and got his revenge. 

Sidenote: Does anyone know why I already knew Lou's helicopter story from the scene with Peggy? Apparently it's true, but I can't figure out where I had heard it before.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Completely agree.

SPOILS

The Mr. Tripoli twist was obviously not planned from Season 1. Feels like the idea might have occurred to them while writing the finale — and that is not the feeling you want from a monumental development like this. It's like a crazy fan theory actually pasted onto the show, made explicit enough (see above) that you can't possibly dispute it. That's a shame, and I think it contributes to this season being decidedly weaker than Season 1.

I think we could have guessed that Peggy and Hanzee would be among the few survivors, so that felt right. I absolutely loved the scene with Ed telling her, with his dying breath, that their marriage probably wouldn't work out. Peggy was one of the most interesting characters, and I think I'm okay with knowing for certain now that she's outright delusional. Also, she was inadvertently asking to serve her time at Alcatraz, right?

I don't think anyone became Malvo. We should let him be. That was one of the best TV characters (and performances) of all time; let's not spoil it.

[polkablues]

Sidenote: Does anyone know why I already knew Lou's helicopter story from the scene with Peggy? Apparently it's true, but I can't figure out where I had heard it before.

Apparently it was featured in the documentary Last Days in Vietnam.

[Alexandro]

I kept ambivalent until the end, but that Ted Danson monologue about images versus words deeply moved me. Awesome note to end the whole thing with.

[03]

the "shit cop" character mentions that the situation is 'rapid city all over again', right before peggy smashes his face. do you guys think that will be season 3?

[Garam]

Nah, it's already confirmed it's going to be set in 2009 or thereabouts.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Just released, Noah Hawley has a great interview on the Vulture TV Podcast.

[03]

took me longer to find than i expected so here guys: http://podbay.fm/show/969523266/e/1466481600?autostart=1