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Fargo - Season 2 - a new true crime chapter takes us to 1979 Sioux Falls - Mon on FX

F

firehawk12

Subete no aware
Mr_eX said:
I think this just became my favorite season of any show ever.
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It's weird. In The Leftovers thread, of course people are saying THAT is the greatest show ever etc etc, but what I found contrived in that finale I found exhilarating here.

I guess tastes really are just completely subjective. lol
 
N

NotTheGuyYouKill

Member
That was bloody amazing. The sheer amount of tension building in this episode was second-to-none. I could literally feel Lou's frustration and rage and anguish as he's being run out of town, and then as heads back and tries to stop the horror that's about to unfold.

Hanzee Dent is pretty fucking terrifying too. He's just... still, and then he literally kills everyone left before chasing after Ed and Peggy.

Ben(jamin) Schmidt is such a piece of shit, lol

Mike's "Okay then." was perfect. He's a real Midwesterner now.

The UFO... I like it. Ultimately, it's presence doesn't really matter one way or another to the people involved. It's a distraction, dragging their attention away from what's right in front of them. Like someone mentioned, this is really a fucked up fable.

Martin Freeman narrating the whole horror show was great. I hope he makes a return next week.

And I kind of wish that shitty Captain Lead Cop had survived, Cheney. If only to take complete responsibility for that shitshow.
 
F

ffejeromdiks

Banned
Wow, my jaw was on the goddamned floor the last 10 minutes, incredible hour of television.

I know people are going to be up in arms about the UFO, but goddamn I love it when a show absolutely shatters your expectations and predictions. I do wonder what the reaction would be like had they not sprinkled tons of UFO references in the 8 previous episodes, imagine peoples reactions had this been the first time the aliens showed up.

It also ties in perfectly to Lou's line in S1 "I saw something that year I ain't ever seen, before or since."
 
B

Bandit1

Member
Holy crap!! Just finished the episode. Hanzee went off. So cold.. Pitted the Gerhardts against the cops and led them all to slaughter. I think I said this last week, but Hanzee is one scary dude. He's just leaving bodies wherever he goes. Pretty sure he's fully actualized now.

There was such a sense of dread and doom in the first half of the episode, even if you didn't know about the reference in season 1, Lou pleading with Ed and Peggy not to take the deal, the other cops acting so confident, Hank staying behind, Hanzee watching and plotting. You just had that feeling that everything was going to go horribly wrong. And it did.

Not sure about the UFO part, wish it was maybe a little more subtle but the rest of the episode was so good it doesn't matter. We all expected something after it was alluded to so many times.

One more left guys. Can't wait!
 
N

NotTheGuyYouKill

Member
Bandit1 said:
Holy crap!! Just finished the episode. Hanzee went off. So cold.. Pitted the Gerhardts against the cops and led them all to slaughter. I think I said this last week, but Hanzee is one scary dude. He's just leaving bodies wherever he goes. Pretty sure he's fully actualized now.
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Speaking of actualization... it's pretty fascinating that this entire season is basically 'actualizing' people. They're all being pushed to their extremes, and as a result, they're becoming their heightened, most stripped down selves. Hanzee becomes this indestructable force of murder, Ed and Peggy double down in their crazy criminal escapade, Lou becomes this dogged investigator who won't let a damn thing go. No one is going through the motions of their humdrum lives anymore. They've like... purified. Actualized!

It's cool.
 
E

ezekial45

Banned
I'm surprised that Hanzee ended up being the primary antagonist of the season. I was expecting him to be similar to Gaear Grimsrud from the film, but there's a lot more going on with him than I expected. Even though the Blomquists escalated things between the crime organizations, Hanzee's deception and subsequent betrayal ultimately set things off. Not only that, he's just a genuinely unsettling character, which I can still kinda sympathize with.

He's a great character, I'm really surprised by him.
 
F

firehawk12

Subete no aware
I mean, the "story" of Fargo is already mythical. Having a UFO show up just plays into that. It's like when your grandpa decides to make shit up just in case he thinks you're starting to get bored with his stories.
 
H

Hatchtag

Banned
firehawk12 said:
I mean, the "story" of Fargo is already mythical. Having a UFO show up just plays into that. It's like when your grandpa decides to make shit up just in case he thinks you're starting to get bored with his stories.
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How I interpret is that, in the sense of the show, the book is true stories. Things like the UFO in this season or the angel/devil references and the CGI wolf in last season either aren't in it or are only noted as theories. The show's an interpretation of that book, and uses supernatural stuff on occasion to fill gaps.
 
F

firehawk12

Subete no aware
Hatchtag said:
How I interpret is that, in the sense of the show, the book is true stories. Things like the UFO in this season or the angel/devil references and the CGI wolf in last season either aren't in it or are only noted as theories. The show's an interpretation of that book, and uses supernatural stuff on occasion to fill gaps.
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Well, you already have a character who loves to exaggerate and tell tall tales in the show itself, so I feel like that's a sign.

I can't remember who the poster was who hated the writing in this show because of how "contrived" it is, and I can only imagine what kind of brain embolism he had when he watched this episode, but I feel like they want this to be similar to reading/listening to The Iliad or even something like Shakespeare's history plays.

I understand it seems ridiculous because this is 1980 and not 980, so it seems unreasonable to have these fantastical gaps in the narrative... but it really feels like the writers are trying to invoke that sense of uncertainty that comes from any good story.
 
DiscoJer

DiscoJer

Member
I don't think the UFO is necessarily supernatural. People in the 1970s saw UFOs, or thought they did. Were they aliens from outer space? Probably not.

There was a '70s TV show called Project UFO. It was from Jack Webb, sort of like Dragnet based on the Blue Book files. At the beginning of the show, you'd see a witness see a flying saucer, then run and report it and bring in the Blue Book guys. And then at the end of the show, you'd see what the witness really saw, usually some sort of rational (if convoluted) explanation.

That could be the case here. The people at the motel thought they saw a flying saucer, but it was something else they mistook for it.
 
F

firehawk12

Subete no aware
DiscoJer said:
I don't think the UFO is necessarily supernatural. People in the 1970s saw UFOs, or thought they did. Were they aliens from outer space? Probably not.

There was a '70s TV show called Project UFO. It was from Jack Webb, sort of like Dragnet based on the Blue Book files. At the beginning of the show, you'd see a witness see a flying saucer, then run and report it and bring in the Blue Book guys. And then at the end of the show, you'd see what the witness really saw, usually some sort of rational (if convoluted) explanation.

That could be the case here. The people at the motel thought they saw a flying saucer, but it was something else they mistook for it.
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Sure, but think about it from the storyteller's point of view. What's a cooler story, a UFO appearing out of nowhere, or a random weather balloon or whatever rational explanation that someone could come up with.
 
B

Bandit1

Member
Vanity Fair has some interesting points in their recap.

Vanity Fair said:
Hawley said of the UFO angle and the 1970s, “There really was this sense like we’re being watched. We can’t trust anything. So all of that paranoia of the American moment plays into those elements."
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My favorite thing that they picked up on is how at the beginning of the season we are shown a short clip from an old movie titled "The Massacre at Sioux Falls"

That clip? An Indian standing in a field of dead soldiers...

massacre.gif
 
PepperedHam

PepperedHam

Member
One of the finest seasons of television I have ever had the pleasure of sitting through. So consistently great, everyone involved should be extremely proud.

Can't wait for next week!
 
D

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
Er... I'll go ahead and say it. Major parts of that episode left a bad taste in my mouth. I seriously loathed the narration, the hamfisted explicit musings on Hanzee's motivations, and all the little flashbacks. Thanks for the lack of faith in my intelligence, or frankly, in Zahn McClarnon's performance.

Cornballer said:
Of interest:
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In addition to Fargo being “based on a true story,” can you say what was your inspiration for including the UFO in the first place?

The Coen Bros. sometimes put something in because it’s funny, but that doesn’t mean it’s meant to be comic. … There’s a couple things that felt right about it. One is that it plays very well into the conspiracy-minded 1979 era where it’s post-Watergate, you had Close Encounters and Star Wars. There was a Minnsisota UFO encounter [in 1979] involving a state trooper. It was certainly in the air at the time. Alternately in the Coens’ The Man Who Wasn’t There they had a [running UFO thread]; certainly it was more ’50s inspired, but it was part of the cinematic language of their movie. So it felt like it worked for the time period and worked for the filmmakers, and is a way of saying “accept the mystery” — which is a staple of the Coen Bros. philosophy in their films. And I thought it was funny. But obviously it affects the story in a very real way. It’s not just a background element.
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This is another one of those quotes where I think Hawley is admitting to not really getting the Coens, and just throwing homages, cute stylistic flourishes and weirdness on the screen until it stops working, and for me I think tonight's the night he went too far and with too little connection to the material at hand.

It's like how after Hawley has mentioned a few times believing the Mike Yanagita from the movie is simply a weird digression that serves no purpose to film, and wouldn't be there if it wasn't "based on a true story", so he actively sat down and tried to think of odd, digressions to put into S1 just because. That's about as surface level as you can get.

For now, I think there's probably a version of this season that could find something thematic and relevant with all this UFO stuff, but I don't think it's present in what we're seeing on TV. We'll see if somehow the finale can turn me around on that bit. This talk about a pervasive paranoia, a fear of being watched, that's not playing out in the show at all. There's no thematic tie in.
 
E

excelsiorlef

Member
Bobby Roberts said:
Like, I wanna be kinda mad that the UFO actually is a UFO. But then I think back on all the times UFOs have been referenced, and it's just - obviously, people in that region think they've been seeing SOMETHING. Hank's studying 'em, the guy running the Rushmore store definitely believes, Rye saw it flat out. A couple references, maybe you can believe that someone somewhere hallucinated some bullshit in a coked up haze, but the amount of times they've dropped hints that separate people see and strongly believe in this - it probably makes more sense, narratively, that there's actually a fuckin' UFO flying around Sioux Falls, than it would to come up with various strange explanations for why it couldn't be.

I mean, for THIS narrative, that is. The one where a bunch of cops think going undercover includes shutting off their fucking radio and dressing like Marshall Mathers circa 1999 before going to FUCKING SLEEP.

If I can believe that (and I did, no problem) I guess I can believe there's a fucking UFO about. Especially when Peggy can acknowledge, and then handwave it in less than .3 seconds.

Anyway, this show is a motherfucker, aint it?
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It really is just a testament to the reality that great writing, directing and acting can make just about anything work.
 
T

thecosmicfly

Banned
Grinchy said:
This fucking show. What an episode.

I couldn't believe when a UFO actually appeared. I still can't, and I saw it with my own eyes.
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Ok, this quote has sold me on the UFO.

I've been teetering on the edge of deciding if the show jumped the shark and sniffed it's own farts into oblivion, or justifiably managed to subvert my expectations and leave me in awe, but now I'm in the latter camp.

We all saw a fucking UFO. And not one person who doesn't watch the show is going to fucking believe us.
 
R

Real Hero

Member
The UFO was grand, it was a punchline to a messy cluster fuck. After this and American Horror Story I think UFO's and aliens should be a feature of every shows second season.
 
Corpsepyre

Corpsepyre

Banned
Didn't expect fucking ET to come in and save the day. What the hell was that?!? How can anyone pretend a UFO doesn't matter, considering that it played such a huge role in this episode?
 
S

StopMakingSense

Member
Corpsepyre said:
Didn't expect fucking ET to come in and save the day. What the hell was that?!? How can anyone pretend a UFO doesn't matter, considering that it played such a huge role in this episode?
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It doesn't matter in the way that its not a contrivance to make the story work. The writers didn't write themselves into anything that they couldn't get out of without them. Also it's fairly silly to get hung up on it now, when the entire season's events are precipitated by their presence in the first episode.

Bear not dying and starting to kill Lou was far more "supernatural" than the aliens.
 
Corpsepyre

Corpsepyre

Banned
StopMakingSense said:
It doesn't matter in the way that its not a contrivance to make the story work. The writers didn't write themselves into anything that they couldn't get out of without them/

Bear not dying and starting to kill Lou was far more "supernatural" than the aliens.
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Still. Big WTF moments here.

Loved the ep, but WTF.
 
Grizzlyjin

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
I love how the UFO didn't phase Peggy at all. I wonder where they're taking this for the finale. I suppose it will be Lou chasing down Hanzee in an attempt to save Ed & Peggy.

I'm also curious what Mike's next play is. Gerhardts are dead, which means he should be straight with his Kansas City bosses, right? They can move in unopposed now.

This whole season has been pitch perfect. Every episode is like its own movie, and they still manage to keep you on the edge of your seat from week to week.
 
I

IronRinn

Member
Bandit1 said:
Vanity Fair has some interesting points in their recap.



My favorite thing that they picked up on is how at the beginning of the season we are shown a short clip from an old movie titled "The Massacre at Sioux Falls"

That clip? An Indian standing in a field of dead soldiers...

massacre.gif
Click to expand...
Duh, totally didn't make this connection. Of lesser note is that during that sequence when the actor and the director are talking about Reagan, one of the "dead" cast members calls out that he's cold and the director tells someone to get him a blanket and after the hotel massacre Hank is the lone voice calling out for help.

This season is going to be really fun to rewatch.
 
I

IronRinn

Member
-griffy- said:
You know, Fargo doesn't really do sad endings. It's a story where the bad guys die (Grimsrud, Malvo, Gerhardt's), some other people make wild mistakes that screw themselves over (Jerry, Lester, Ed/Peggy) and cause a lot of collateral damage, and a good cop gets the job done in the end, and they go back home to their normal life that keeps them from being as messed up as all the other characters (Marge, Molly, Lou).

I wouldn't be surprised if both Hank and Betsy are alive, if hospitalized, at the end of this, even though we expect them to be dead. Probably specifically because we expect them to be dead.
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I expect Hank will be fine. Betsy I'm not as sure. I agree with you about Fargo and sad endings but...yeah, I don't know. The stuff with Betsy has been really rough.
 
W

water_wendi

Water is not wet!
Cornballer said:
- Warming Glow: Oh Boy, We Had Ourselves A Massacre On This Week’s ‘Fargo’

bMF5tkl.gif


bKJitHd.gif
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All that second gif needs is an "Okay, then."

i thought they might save the massacre for the next episode and it would all just be build up this week so was surprised it went down the way it did.

The line from S1 about seeing something ive never seen before or since doesnt really strike me as a UFO line because Lou goes on to say "I'd say it was animal but animals only kill for food" with "it" being what he saw. Taken out of context it sounds like hes talking about aliens but in that conversation hes seemingly talking about human savagery.
 
K

kurahador

Member
Awesome episode. And I think I'm warming up to the UFO appearance at the end because of how ridiculous and out of place it was. It was such a climax on 2 front essentially.

Also...
O73MAi8.jpg
 
G

-griffy-

Banned
kurahador said:
Awesome episode. And I think I'm warming up to the UFO appearance at the end because of how ridiculous and out of place it was. It was such a climax on 2 front essentially.

Also...
O73MAi8.jpg
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If we're going down that road, here's a new Bryan Fuller interview (Hannibal series spoilers in the link):
It’s that time of year where everyone’s catching up with the TV and movies of the last 11 months. Have you seen anything good lately?

BF: Fargo rocks my world every Monday night. It’s frustrating when I watch it, because I can’t decide who I want to get the Emmy: Kristen Dunst or Jean Smart.
Click to expand...
 
E

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
water_wendi said:
All that second gif needs is an "Okay, then."

i thought they might save the massacre for the next episode and it would all just be build up this week so was surprised it went down the way it did.
Click to expand...

People need to start photoshopping shit over Old Lady Gerhardt.
 
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