(TV) Fargo

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 3:56 pm

Nick Offerman stole the show in the last episode.

If Jonathan Banks and Bob Odenkirk hadn't turned Better Call Saul into damn near art, I'd say hand every award to Fargo for this second season.

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 5:09 pm

ya this show is great. A little slow at first but man it's fun

mori · Post by **mori** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 8:35 pm

I just love this show. It is dark, but also funny. The same thing I thought about Breaking Bad the first couple seasons before it took itself too seriously.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 10:31 pm

I have honestly never heard anyone complain that Breaking Bad should have been more light hearted or any less serious than it was. I don't think it would even have worked if it had been less serious about its story.

mori · Post by **mori** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 10:46 pm

I hope you saw the change of atmosphere between season 2 and 3 of Breaking Bad

. I personally did not like the change.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 11:03 pm

I thought it made perfect sense as the characters were moved from the small time to the larger world of drug cartels. That story was plotted out well before it ever aired, so it wasn't as if it was an unplanned change in the third season. Breaking Bad was never intended to be a light hearted show about a lovable, bumbling school teacher. It was always going to be dark and brutal. Heck, even the first two seasons had their share of it.

You're entitled to your opinion, of course. I was just surprised by it.

...and completely disagree with it.

mori · Post by **mori** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 3:26 pm

Heard that Fargo has been given the go ahead for season 3

. This is the best television that is on right now. The last episode was awesome.

Spoiler:

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 4:12 pm

That's good news. Just got caught up on this last night.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 8:10 pm

The King of Breakfast approves this.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 9:19 pm

hepcat wrote:The King of Breakfast approves this.

From all the great scenes from that episode the conversation between the King and Betsy Solverson really gutted me emotionally.

tiny ogre · Post by **tiny ogre** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 10:16 pm

mori wrote:Heard that Fargo has been given the go ahead for season 3 . This is the best television that is on right now. The last episode was awesome.

Mr. Robot is the best show on television right now. But I will accept Fargo as the 2nd best. Season two is SO GOOD. I liked the first season also, but this season has been amazing.

Also season 2 of Breaking Bad was the worst season.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 11:18 am

Hon, you've got to stop stabbing him.

This is, hands down, my favorite show of the fall season. I never thought I'd say this, but Kirsten Dunst is friggin' amazing. And if Jesse Plemons doesn't become a household name after this, I'll be disappointed.

I could watch the haircut scene a dozen times and still miss all the nuance involved.

Wow...just...wow.

telcta · Post by **telcta** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 11:25 am

i was just searching for this thread to simply say that this is an outstanding show. There are so many little things I love watching... how the state cop rests his forearm on his pistol, the hangman game, the detail in the cluttered basement, Jeffrey Donovan. It's such a joy to absorb the craftsmanship in this show that even though the last episode was 90 minutes, not once was I looking at the clock.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 11:28 am

It was 90 minutes?

I didn't even friggin' realize that.

telcta · Post by **telcta** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 11:35 am

I swear that went to 11:30. It was the first time we watched it live (well, through the FX app). After cutting away to commercials I thought that was it but there was still another segment. Perhaps the live FX app added a ton more commercials.

Spoiler:

Anonymous Bosch · Post by **Anonymous Bosch** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 11:42 am

The last episode I recorded from FX on my TiVo was, indeed, 90 minutes long. And I would echo the sentiments above, that it was superlative throughout.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 11:43 am

I was so absorbed in the entire show that I never once looked at the time.

TiLT · Post by **TiLT** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 1:57 pm

This season is absolutely insane! Every single episode is stellar, without exception.

The episode length was 58 minutes by the way. I have no idea how you guys manage to deal with all the commercial breaks over there in the states.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 2:15 pm

I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Almost every single damn shot in this show could be made into a painting, or used in a text book for cinematography. The amount of care that goes into every frame of this show is simply awe inspiring.

For example: the scene in the truck between Plemons and Dunst. They were sitting right next to each other. Literally two feet apart. But they used a split screen with a slightly different perspective for each that emphasized how far apart their worlds were now.

I predict Fargo is going to clean up at the Emmys this year.

KKBlue · Post by **KKBlue** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 9:51 pm

hepcat wrote:I predict Fargo is going to clean up at the Emmys this year.

As long as there are not any political things going on, yes the show should clean up.

mori · Post by **mori** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 11:24 pm

TiLT wrote:The episode length was 58 minutes by the way. I have no idea how you guys manage to deal with all the commercial breaks over there in the states.

It annoyed the shit out of me.

Toe · Post by **Toe** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 11:28 pm

TiLT wrote: The episode length was 58 minutes by the way. I have no idea how you guys manage to deal with all the commercial breaks over there in the states.

We record it and skip through commercials.

Anonymous Bosch · Post by **Anonymous Bosch** » Thu Dec 03, 2015 12:09 am

Toe wrote:
TiLT wrote: The episode length was 58 minutes by the way. I have no idea how you guys manage to deal with all the commercial breaks over there in the states.
We record it and skip through commercials.

Indeed, DVRs make it trivially easy to quickly skip through commericial breaks. For example, the latest TiVo lets you skip all commercials entirely with a single press of a button.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Dec 03, 2015 12:33 am

Just realized that the actor who plays Fat Damon is the same guy who was Meth Damon in Breaking Bad with a couple of years and a lot of pounds added.

Gotta say that Kirsten Dunst is hitting it out of the park.

Both of them are Emmy-worthy IMO. And yeah, I can only imagine how painful it would be to watch in real time and suffer through all those ads.

Shinjin · Post by **Shinjin** » Thu Dec 03, 2015 2:17 am

Also loving this season. The first season had me hooked from the start. This season took me a couple of episodes to sink in. But given the move and the first season, I had faith. It has paid off. Great characters. Good dialog. Plot that really is not 100% predictable.

SlapBone · Post by **SlapBone** » Mon Dec 07, 2015 12:40 pm

This show is killing it! As someone who has been historically ambivalent about Kirsten Dunst and Ted Danson, there is a scene between them a few weeks back that absolutely rocked and showed both of them to be at the top of their craft.

Spoiler:

Actors who have stepped up to the plate this season and/or have some great writing:

Kirsten Dunst
Jean Smart
Ted Danson
Nick Offerman
Jesse Plemmons
Zach McClarnon - Hanzee is a Ninja
Jeffery Donovan

I already enjoyed Donovan and Offerman but these roles made me like them a lot more. I was already starting to respect Kirsten a lot more after Melancholia but Peggy has made me a fan. I think Wilson does a great job of playing it straight with all of the absolute madness that surrounds him. My favorite line of the show is:

Spoiler:

Woodbine's character is a wash. I just don't like the character's writing. I think "Black man is a mafia shot-caller" is intriguing enough without all of the literature quoting.

Honorable mentions for Kieran Culkin and Brad Garrett.

Spoiler:

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Dec 07, 2015 12:46 pm

I mentioned it earlier:

Spoiler:

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Dec 08, 2015 11:21 pm

Wow...

...just...

...wow.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Dec 09, 2015 2:06 am

Did anyone catch Martin Freeman's cameo? I saw his name in the credits but missed him in the episode.

TiLT · Post by **TiLT** » Wed Dec 09, 2015 2:21 am

Kraken wrote:Did anyone catch Martin Freeman's cameo? I saw his name in the credits but missed him in the episode.

He was the narrator.

Toe · Post by **Toe** » Wed Dec 09, 2015 11:29 am

Another great episode. At the beginning, I wasn't sure why they added a narrator this time, but once he started talking about the motivations of hanzee, I understood, since me and the wife were a little confused by his motivation during the last few episodes. So, was glad it was not something we were not picking up on. I am still not sold on the extraterrestrial subplot though, still seems out of place and irrelevant.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Dec 09, 2015 1:28 pm

Toe wrote:I am still not sold on the extraterrestrial subplot though, still seems out of place and irrelevant.

I didn't know whether to take that literally or as a dying man's vision. They showed multiple characters reacting to it and Kirsten Dunst said "It's just an airplane," so apparently there was something there. I agree that came out of nowhere and made no sense.

Hypnotoad · Post by **Hypnotoad** » Wed Dec 09, 2015 1:42 pm

She said "it's just a flying saucer, hon" so I'm pretty sure it was literal. It's been set up since the first episode so I wouldn't say it was out of nowhere.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Dec 09, 2015 2:20 pm

I thought she said something else, but you're right. That plays into the tones of magic realism they've added here and there throughout the season.

Mike walking into the scene of the carnage, then promptly turning around and walking back to his car while uttering, "Okay then" made me laugh out loud.

Other highlights

Spoiler:

Next week is the finale. Damn. I really want more of this show. It's easily the best show of the year at this point. Even rising above Better Call Saul at this point (and trust me, that's a huge compliment coming from me).

mori · Post by **mori** » Wed Dec 09, 2015 6:25 pm

A scene that I thought was wonderful

Spoiler:

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Wed Dec 09, 2015 8:18 pm

everything was groovy until the flying saucer. That made no sense at all.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Dec 09, 2015 10:46 pm

The UFO has been a part of the story since the beginning. I suspect it's going to part of the show's resolution. It's fantastical in nature, but it doesn't drive the story. It's a touch of magic realism. This season has a bit of Barton Fink to it.

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Wed Dec 09, 2015 11:17 pm

beginning of season 1 or 2? I don't remember anything about a UFO

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Dec 09, 2015 11:21 pm

Season 2, episode 1. And a few others. Go back and watch Culkin after the diner shooting. Then pay attention to Hank's hobby.

TiLT · Post by **TiLT** » Thu Dec 10, 2015 1:30 am

naednek wrote:beginning of season 1 or 2? I don't remember anything about a UFO

A flying saucer more or less caused the series of events that has led to this point in season 2, and every episode up to this point has been littered with UFO references.