Disc Reviews

Fargo Season 1 Review

24th Sep 2014

In recent years some of the most popular shows on television have adopted the 10 show format for their season (Give or take a couple of episodes). With this short schedule we as viewers get bigger stars in a more concise and densely plotted show. There is less flab between events, and characters are drawn more accurately (given the correct writers on the show of course). The days of the 24 episode series are starting to look a little dim as audiences want greater value for their entertainment – and Fargo is the latest example of this mould really working.

Taken of course form the Coen Brothers Oscar winning film from the mid 90’s, the show version is a new tale but told in a very similar style featuring various nods to the Coen’s work and a few characters who share similarities from those we have seen before.

Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman are the big names on the show (Amazing that Freeman has become in such high demand these days with his nervous shtick which he flawlessly transfers over to his American character). Thornton we see right from the go has kidnapped somebody – but a turn of events lands him in the hospital waiting room where he is sat next to Lester (Freeman) an ordinary nobody living a meaningless existence in a loveless marriage and walked over pretty much by everyone in his life. The two get talking about the recent altercation that Lester has just encountered with a local bully – and before he even knows it, Thornton’s stranger has taken care of the problem.

But one issue leads right into the next and its all out bloody murder in the snowy little town.

Young bright eyed deputy Molly (Allison Tolman) starts pieces clues together, but is forever interrupted by her idiot superior – so instead finds solace as well as a working relationship with Officer Gus Grimly (Colin Hanks) from a town over who also has a piece of the thread that links the cases. And this is just the beginning. Various characters from the town become involved, various outsiders are called in to deal with the upset whilst our two central misfits’ lives change as a result of it all.

Freeman exudes stress right from the opening of the show. His reaction to the world he is trapped in is clear from the repressed expression in his face and his own self-loathing transforms over the series as he is slowly but surely liberated from himself. It’s a terrific career move for Freeman in the light of his success in the UK with Sherlock and worldwide with the Hobbit movies.

Hanks also steps all the further out of his father’s shadow (Which really only exists thanks largely to the fact that they look so much alike) with another character driven piece. Hanks isn’t afraid to take on character that is deeply embedded with flaws. Tolman gets a large chunk of the screen time as the character we know has the answers, but is restrained by the authority above her and the lack of support she needs from others in order to get work solved. For this reason alone, viewers may spend a lot of time hating on how “small town” idiotic Bob Odenkirk’s sheriff really is. But then viewers may also find their patience with Tolman’s meek underling tested as well as she never spends enough time standing up to the right people, but is then only to happy to go about the work behind their backs. It’s something recurs in the show and takes a while for anything even remotely close to pay off to happen in the characters development such as it is. But Tolman’s sad eyed look should trick a few audience members into sympathy for her – along with the sheer two dimensional nature of her boss. But the show is clever enough not to make the outcome for any of this too predictable.

The likes of Oliver Platt, Adam Goldberg and Keith Carradine make notable appearances on the show – but the true winner of the series has to be Billy Bob Thornton who just so easily walks the line of comedic and sinister (often in the same scene). His character Lorne Malvo is a magnificent creation – built purely to pull the strings of others in order to get what he wants. Watching him work his way in and out of people’s lives is fascinating, and always entertaining. One moment you will be recoiling at an event caused by him, another you will be busting a gut laughing at the dialogue that so effortlessly flows from his mouth.

Fargo is a success then: A world full of an equal divide of masterminds and idiots, surrounded by incident, crime and plenty of snow. It’s already winning awards up against the likes of true Detective and Breaking bad – no easy task.