‘Fargo’: 5 Reasons Why You Should Binge It This Weekend

At this point, we’re 70% of the way through the sophomore season of Fargo, a show set in the same universe as the movie, but involves none of the original characters or setting. The first season defied everyone’s expectations by being good. Really good. Like, ‘how could something that is the premise just described in the prior paragraph possible be this good’ good.

Even more amazing is that the second season has managed to prove itself to be even better. A completely self-contained story, this one taking place in 1979, focusing on young Lou Solverson, (Patrick Wilson, who was played by Keith Carradine in the first season). The best part? Season two is, week after week, proving itself to be the new high-water mark for television.

Now, given that you have the next few days off, what better way to isolate yourself from your friends and family than catching up on Fargo’s second season, which you can do via FX’s online app, FX Now – and if you’ve got an HBO Go password, you can watch Fargo on FX Now. After all, the finale is only a few episodes away, and it’s important to have everyone in on this.

The cast is incredible

Among this incredible roster of characters, the second season has, so far, co-starred Jesse Plemons, Bokeem Woodbine, Nick Offerman, Patrick Wilson, Kirsten Dunst, Brad Garret, Kristen Milioti, and a bearded Ted Danson. A bearded Ted Danson. While the first season, which had a more contemporary setting, diluted down the trademark ‘Minnesota nice’ accent, dialing back the clock to the tail-end of the 1970s causes its glorious return.

The aesthetic is incomparable

Speaking of, Fargo doesn’t limit its indulgence of the era to polyester and sideburns, creating a dense, atmospheric veneer out of a distinct soundtrack and liberal use of the split-screen framing device. While it could’ve been applied as a simply novelty, instead it sharpens the narrative, creating some of TV’s most complex and hypnotic sequences.

The homages have become more subtle

When the first season started, there were a few obvious character templates before the show firmly cemented itself inside the universe of the movie, it began to play with the way it would pay tribute to its source material. In the second season, callbacks are considerably fewer and farther between, while at the same time has expanded its influence to the larger Coen brothers oeuvre to fantastic results.

Bruce Campbell as Ronald Reagan

It sounds just like niche stunt-casting, and maybe on some level it is, but with Campbell’s career back in full swing thanks to Ash Vs. The Evil Dead, he’s using this role as an opportunity to remind everyone that he’s a gifted actor, whose performance of the then-Republican candidate is convincing without ever veering too close to an impersonation. The way the show introduces him, during a reading of his infamous “rendezvous with destiny” speech lays a backdrop to not only the emergence of a full-blown mob war, but the sharp right turn America was about to take.

It somehow manages to get better and better, defying all explanation or logic

Each week, and I write this with absolutely no hyperbole, the show takes itself out of the top spot for my year-end lists for both Best Character Monologue and Best Visual Storytelling Sequence. With a larger world it’s built for itself approaching ten times the size of what the movie gave us, this season has given us meditations on corporatization, family, The Vietnam War, betrayal, and the American Dream. It does all this while creating a sense of tension that maintains itself throughout, while alternating between the absurd and the jaw-dropping — and, in some cases, both.