I first saw the film Fargo about 13 years ago and adored it. When my husband got the series of S1 to watch, my snobbery wouldn't allow it - for 10 years!
Having suffered a major health setback this year, I returned to a bit of telly, and decided to try the Fargo series.
Wow! I was hooked within 10 minutes! A more menacing, yet very drily funny baddie than BB Thornton is unimaginable. He makes this role his own. There isn't a soul who could top his performance. I hope he, one day, returns to the series.
Martin Freeman - I never thought he had it in him. Loved him in The Office and Hitchiker's and thought he'd found his Estuary English accent and was happy to stay put - but he nailed the Minnesotan accent as well as any Minnesotan.
Molly - we see her grow and develop as the plot thickens. She becomes an empowered capable police officer, with a big heart.
And Bill Odenkirk always provides a bit of light relief with his gippy guts!
I can't fault S1. Now on my 12th viewing this year. 10/10. Faultless, from plot to dialogue to casting to acting. I've still not found a serial which is as superb as S1.
S2 - back to 1979. The scatty, delusional Peggy Blumquist, and her gentle, adoring husband, Ed, get themselves into pickle after pickle. Patrick Wilson, playing the young Lou Salverson, is not only VERY easy on the eye, but so believable as a State Police Officer tracking down the killers.
Jeffrey Donovan is a baddie who is up there with Billy Bob. A misogynist who treats women as worthless...oh how the chickens come home to roost - in the funniest scenes from the whole 4 series. I cry with laughter in Loplop, even at my 11th viewing, it's so well scripted, directed and acted.
Good to see Nick Offerson playing "Ron Swanson" up in Minnesota! I can easily forgive the lack of accent as he provides much appreciated comedic interludes.
Straightforward plot, brilliantly acted by all (including a veteran Ted Danson!), and if I had two tiny niggles, it'd be Betsy's poor accent and the UFOs. Yes, I know there were sighting up there in the 70s, but it was a wee bit contrived.
Stellar performances from everyone, though. Overall 9.5/10
S3. Superb acting from Ewan Mc and Mary Elizabeth Winstead (although I wouldn't have pegged her as having a Chicago accent?!)
I despised VM Varga. It began to get a bit dark for me. Somewhat salacious and sickening. But that's just me.
Carrie Coon and sidekick Donny were a great pair of small town officers, with Gloria (Coon) playing her role with integrity and sincerity. A character to warm to.
I struggle to get through this series every time I attempt it due to Varga's gross indecency to his fellow man. He sickens me, and trying to watch him on screen turns my stomach (although I think David Thewliss is a brilliant actor - maybe *too* good for this role!).
Probably 7.5/10
S4. This is the series which ruins the "brand" for me. Awful acting by some integral players (Chris Rock especially!). Jessie Buckley owned Oreaetta Mayflower - she got inside that character's head and *became* her. Other great performances...but the plot limped along like a lame duck! Every episode, I was desperate for things to really get stomping. I was constantly disappointed. I just couldn't work out how the screenwriters could have got it so horribly wrong.
I hope this isn't the thin end of the wedge, and S5 (if one is in the pipeline) takes us down into the abyss further. I want my beloved Fargo restored to its former glory - PLEASE!
Overall score for S4 - 2/10, and that covers four actors only.
Review of Fargo
