Review: Fargo Season One Is Dark, Mysterious And Funny
- Jun 20, 2017
- 2 min read
Inspired by the Coen Brothers film of the same name, Fargo tells the story of a small town in Minnesota, one that is suddenly torn apart by a series of violent crimes, strange occurrences and colourful characters.
Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) is a failing insurance salesman. His wife thinks little of him, the school bully still picks on him and his life is going nowhere. When a mysterious drifter (Billy Bob Thornton) shows up, followed by a number of murders, one of which is committed by Lester himself. Quickly coming under suspicion of the local police, including one particularly dogged Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman), Lester must divert attention from himself, by any means necessary.
Fargo is one of the best crime shows around. While the mystery, for the most part, is non-existent as the viewer knows what's what from the start, it is fun nonetheless, to watch the various characters screw around trying to uncover the truth, or keep it hidden. It's also one of the best performed shows around. Freeman, Thornton and a surprise appearance Breaking Bad's Bob Odenkirk, as well as just about everyone else deliver excellently.
The show also sports a dark sense of humour with some of the funniest moments I've ever seen in a show. The violence is inter-cut with satire, straight up jokes and some of the most awkward conversations that could ever happen.
If you haven't seen it, Fargo is worth checking out. It has the usual twists and turns of most crime shows but it's the characters and acting that make it. The bizarre politeness (apparently this is an actual thing) creates a brilliant juxtaposition between the dark subject matter with known killers ensuring they don't accidentally run over peoples toes or having polite conversation with the people trying to lock them away. It's great and it's unlikely any following seasons will even come close to it.
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