Sorry, just saw this now. Yeah, it's a bit of a bizarre and polarizing twist. I'm not sure the very end of the season totally stuck the landing. Monocle's post above sums it up well for me, in terms of small issues I had with the end of the season.
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Fargo - Season 2 - a new true crime chapter takes us to 1979 Sioux Falls - Mon on FX
- Thread starter Cornballer
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Sorry, just saw this now. Yeah, it's a bit of a bizarre and polarizing twist. I'm not sure the very end of the season totally stuck the landing. Monocle's post above sums it up well for me, in terms of small issues I had with the end of the season.
just finished season 2. I did not like it at all. too much fillers. and quote a boring tale. recycles quite a few scenes from season 1.
and someone tell me why the fuck does every character speak the same way - every single person has to monologue and draw parables and stories to explain their point. EVERYONE. started laughing during the final eps when ted danson starts off "man once said...." like what the fuck, I find it so distracting and lame. the writer forgot each character is their own and puts his voice in them. quite lame. also there were no stand out character or performance to me.
ted danson is like super out of place. he totally does not exude a character of experience in police or military. he is like some random grandpa. Wilson is as boring as a character can get. nothing seemed to come close to billy bob or that sick weasel martin freeman.
ps. what a shitty final episode!
and someone tell me why the fuck does every character speak the same way - every single person has to monologue and draw parables and stories to explain their point. EVERYONE. started laughing during the final eps when ted danson starts off "man once said...." like what the fuck, I find it so distracting and lame. the writer forgot each character is their own and puts his voice in them. quite lame. also there were no stand out character or performance to me.
ted danson is like super out of place. he totally does not exude a character of experience in police or military. he is like some random grandpa. Wilson is as boring as a character can get. nothing seemed to come close to billy bob or that sick weasel martin freeman.
ps. what a shitty final episode!
So happy for Dunst finally getting some recognition! I heard big time that the Lady Gaga win at the Globes was a total BS (haven't watched AMS though, but from people I've talked to, they were surprised she won)
Jean Smart also won for Best Supporting Actress (Cristin Milioti also got nominated), while Jesse Plemons won for Best Supporting Actor (Nick Offerman and Bookeem Woodbine also got nominated)
She was amazing in Fargo, and glad to see the show is getting recognition. Season 1 was great, season 2 was amazing and unlike any series that has ever been on television.
Grinchy
Banned
Yup, it made me a fan of hers for sure.
Monocle
Member
Hannibal or Breaking Bad.
You might also enjoy Fortitude, though stylistically it doesn't hold a candle to Fargo or my other recommendations.
Breaking Bad will work for season one, but fuck, there's really nothing similar for Season 2. I mean, in terms of quality, I'm sure there is. But in terms of how the show is? Not really.
Rectify or The Knick
Grinchy
Banned
Just watch The Knick. Stop looking at other suggestions.
User 479360
Banned
Did Key and Peele take anyone else out of the show during their scenes? I don't have anything against them and they did a fine job, but just knowing who they were and thinking that they didn't really fit bugged me.
Finished up season 2 this evening. I'm a bit disappointed with how the season ended for a lot of the same reasons already posted here, the UFO aspect of the show just didn't work for me and leaves a stain on an otherwise great season. I had a similar problem with the first season and the fish tornado. I still really enjoyed it overall and look forward to the 3rd season, I guess I just have to expect ridiculous deus ex machinas from this series.
Butts-a-plenty
Banned
It's not a valid critique. The UFO wasn't needed to change the outcome. It didn't serve some purpose that the writers couldn't write their way out of. It distracted Bear, who had been shot a few times already. Anything could have distracted Bear. It just so happened to be a UFO.
Monocle
Member
I don't buy that argument. It wasn't something else that distracted him. It was a goddamned flying saucer.
You can say "it could have been something else" to excuse any stupid event in a story.
"Oh, Clark's dad died in Man of Steel because he told his son who was Superman not to take five seconds out of his day and save him from a tornado? Well, it could have been a heart attack!"
In hindsight, I'm starting to prefer season 1 more and more due to its more consistent stylistical tone. I didn't really mind the UFO crap in season 2, but the way the episodes were edited and stylized didn't sit right with me. Too much changed between episodes, like the fairytale intro and the voice-over popping up from nowhere, musical queues, montages etc. While being fantastically produced, it all felt too... random and/or overdone.
excelsiorlef
Member
Season 1 will always suffer from that out of the blue time jump
I can agree that the time jump was odd from a story perspective, but it didn't break the stylization or visual coherency of the show. Fargo S2 was more daring in that regard, but I don't think it was perfectly executed.
Wind's Howling
Member
My SO and I watched Season 2 right after having binge watched Season 1.
It took some getting used too. The narrative and construction of each episode were different in our eyes, but midway through Season 2 who both agreed that Season 2 was the superior season.
Kirsten Dunst and Bokeem Woodbine amazed me with their performance.
It took some getting used too. The narrative and construction of each episode were different in our eyes, but midway through Season 2 who both agreed that Season 2 was the superior season.
Kirsten Dunst and Bokeem Woodbine amazed me with their performance.
Freewheelin'
Member
Calling the UFO a deus ex machina is flat out wrong. It implies that there was no other way for the writers to get themselves out of the situation they'd written themselves into. Which there was. It may have felt like the wrong choice for them to make (to some of you; I loved it), but it was not a deus ex machina.
Monocle
Member
If nothing else it was a contrived and out of place plot device that made excessive demands of the audience's suspension of disbelief.
Fair enough, I guess they did set up the UFO expectation throughout the season so I can see how it's not technically a deus ex machina. It was still an absurd event that the characters reacted to in a really important scene and perhaps it broke the suspension of disbelief for me. I would have been fine with it if they left it vague or ambiguous like they had in the earlier parts of the season - where it looked like the characters were seeing UFO's but you couldn't quite tell for sure.
Monocle
Member
What a remarkable encounter with a real life flying saucer!
Thanks for the articles, but I still feel the same about the UFO as a plot device. Even though there was more alien imagery and marginal references than I gave the season credit for, it's all a distraction at best. Would Season 1 have been improved if Bigfoot had broken into Lester Nygaard's house and committed a murder he couldn't explain to the authorities?
TimeEffect
Member
Looking for a new TV show... So I started Mr Robot which has been good. Dont want too much spoiled, but Fargo is like a dark comedy drama right? Is it too comedic or is it dark drama or what?
Id like to jump in without knowing much
Id like to jump in without knowing much
It's a darkly comic dark drama. It's funnier than Mr. Robot but also in some ways more serious. First season is free on Hulu BTW. Not sure if it's free anywhere else. Though, you're in Canada IIRC so I'm not sure if it's on any stramjng services up there.
Monocle
Member
A dark drama with black humor and lighter moments of absurdity. Start with Season 1.
tryagainlater
Member
Probably.
I'll throw my hat into the ring for season 2 over season 1 as well.
However, it is kinda like deciding whether I like the first, second, third or fourth season of The Wire the best(fifth is obviously the most flawed). Or my favorite Mad Men season. They are all great in their own ways.
With that said, season 2 ranks just a notch higher on my list.
As to the absurdity complaint toward Hanzee and the UFO events, is it really much different then the absurdity and timing of the fish storm in season 1? I just can't understand the complaint toward these events in season 2 lowering it below season 1 when season 1 had them as well?
However, it is kinda like deciding whether I like the first, second, third or fourth season of The Wire the best(fifth is obviously the most flawed). Or my favorite Mad Men season. They are all great in their own ways.
With that said, season 2 ranks just a notch higher on my list.
As to the absurdity complaint toward Hanzee and the UFO events, is it really much different then the absurdity and timing of the fish storm in season 1? I just can't understand the complaint toward these events in season 2 lowering it below season 1 when season 1 had them as well?
User 479360
Banned
Poor analogy. Season 1 has similar stuff. The main difference is Season 1 characters' belief in 'God' is accepted as 'normal' while Season 2 characters' belief in UFOs is considered not normal
Earthpainting
Member
Finished the season last night. Scanning through some of the posts here, I can recognise my own impressions in a lot of the ones here. The UFO was not only something that felt forced, it also did not contribute much. Hanzee's face transplant was bafflingly stupid, and also lead into some forced tie-ins with season 1. I'm going to assume the kids he ran towards in the end were the duo from the first season, as there was at least one deaf kid amongst them. Hearing the grandpa sheriff's crazy person room being dismissed as "I'm just trying to create a universal language using the iconography of my culture, thus negating my entire concept" was probably the strangest, and dumbest element to me. I probably would have preferred it if they didn't bring it up again, and just left the imagery of the room hang there unaddressed.
I still enjoyed it a lot though, in spite of its conclusion. There were some fun characters and moments, and Dodd's facial expressions amused me and my friend to no end. As the show went on his grimaces started to look more and more like he was doing mo-cap for a CG-cartoon, and I loved it. I still think I liked the first season more, and the move even more than that though.
I still enjoyed it a lot though, in spite of its conclusion. There were some fun characters and moments, and Dodd's facial expressions amused me and my friend to no end. As the show went on his grimaces started to look more and more like he was doing mo-cap for a CG-cartoon, and I loved it. I still think I liked the first season more, and the move even more than that though.
Monocle
Member
The fish thing is a documented phenomenon with a sound explanation, unlike literal flying saucers, and Lorne Malvo's character has a Hannibal-like Luciferian aspect that the show plays with constantly. If you want to suck the fun out of it, you could even say Malvo had the fish air dropped.Poor analogy. Season 1 has similar stuff. The main difference is Season 1 characters' belief in 'God' is accepted as 'normal' while Season 2 characters' belief in UFOs is considered not normal
Also, the fish storm happened in what, the middle of the season? You can't claim Season 1 served a large plate of steaming bullshit in the very first episode.
User 479360
Banned
Season One was simply tighter and had a stronger storyline, I thought. I really got into the whole Lester situation, and liked the characters better.
Peggy and Ed weren't as strong in S2, and the Garheadts weren't either. But the second season was still pretty great.
Peggy and Ed weren't as strong in S2, and the Garheadts weren't either. But the second season was still pretty great.
Monocle
Member
Pretty much my thinking.
User 479360
Banned
Finally! We agree on something. Haha.
Monocle
Member
I know right!
I just finished watching S2 last night, I don't really see how anyone can say UFO's were a deus ex machina. EVERY SINGLE EPISODE they teased flying saucers, and you even saw one in the first episode, though it was plausibly a hallucination. The entire season you were wondering if it was a red herring and they were just fucking with you, but every single episode had a set piece scene where UFO's or aliens were brought up or alluded to.
If a flying saucer DIDN'T appear, I would have called bullshit. As it stands, it was fairly innocuous, it involved that area's real-life folklore for UFO's, and it added a creepy kind of cosmic horror twist similar to S1 of True Detective. I thought it was brilliant.
The Tripoli twist at the end was whatever, I knew they were referring to a character from S1, but that guy featured for all of like two minutes, I didn't remember his name - they could have flash-forwarded for a split second to remind us, but maybe they chose not to because it's so much of a stretch.
I would put this on par with Season 1, which told a more contained story (handwaving the time skip), but S2 had a more interesting cast and I think they had a lot more fun directing it.
If a flying saucer DIDN'T appear, I would have called bullshit. As it stands, it was fairly innocuous, it involved that area's real-life folklore for UFO's, and it added a creepy kind of cosmic horror twist similar to S1 of True Detective. I thought it was brilliant.
The Tripoli twist at the end was whatever, I knew they were referring to a character from S1, but that guy featured for all of like two minutes, I didn't remember his name - they could have flash-forwarded for a split second to remind us, but maybe they chose not to because it's so much of a stretch.
I would put this on par with Season 1, which told a more contained story (handwaving the time skip), but S2 had a more interesting cast and I think they had a lot more fun directing it.
So i got through all of S1 in the last few days, and thought it was pretty damn good.
Some minor things that annoyed me here and there (like the protagonist cop, making a bit too precise and perfect deductions at every turn) but over all, very captivating season.
Then i started S2 today, watched 2 episodes so far, but i have to say it's not really grabbing me... at all.
I didn't realize how much Billy Bob Thornton (and his character) brought to the show, but every time he was on screen, i was glued to it; this season as (so far) no character like him.
I guess the black guy should be that, but so far that didn't really work out as well.
Or maybe i just don't like the 70's setting, but none of the character grabbed me so far and i don't feel like the intrigue is as captivating.
By comparison, S1 had me hooked in a matter of minutes from the start of Ep.1.
I'll keep going though, it's relatively short anyway.
Some minor things that annoyed me here and there (like the protagonist cop, making a bit too precise and perfect deductions at every turn) but over all, very captivating season.
Then i started S2 today, watched 2 episodes so far, but i have to say it's not really grabbing me... at all.
I didn't realize how much Billy Bob Thornton (and his character) brought to the show, but every time he was on screen, i was glued to it; this season as (so far) no character like him.
I guess the black guy should be that, but so far that didn't really work out as well.
Or maybe i just don't like the 70's setting, but none of the character grabbed me so far and i don't feel like the intrigue is as captivating.
By comparison, S1 had me hooked in a matter of minutes from the start of Ep.1.
I'll keep going though, it's relatively short anyway.
Monocle
Member
If Season 1 weren't already great, Thornton alone would make it worth watching. Malvo is a classic villain for a new generation, to my mind. Right up there with No Country for Old Men's Anton Chigurh.
I agree with what you said about Season 2. It started off on an interesting note with the diner and the judge, and then it sort of sidestepped a really intriguing story for something else. Stylistically it's impressive. Narratively, not so much. There are individual scenes, individual moments, that are engaging or charmingly weird, but S2 seems to force its quirkiness. It feels less cohesive than S1 too. The steady momentum and gripping quality of the first season is missing.
DontBeThatGuy
Member
I've been indifferent, but yeah, she was really damn good.
I also have no hesitation in saying I think season 2 is easily the better season, with a cast and characters on the whole I found more interesting and entertaining, and my god, is it stylistically one of television's greats. I can't wait for season 3.
Ok, done with S2.
I'm quite puzzled by the reception, and seeing so many think that it's better than S1.
I thought it had too many (uninteresting) characters and a much looser plot, i also personally didn't enjoy the more aggressive vibe (from direction to plot itself) as much as i did S1.
S1 captured the idea of a little town with simple, innocent people, having to deal with an almost supernatural, feral force (Malvo).
S2 felt like more traditional ideas and themes; family, rival gangs, control and ownership over a territory, self affirmation and so on.
That said, i still had fun watching it and some of the characters grew on me in time, compared to my previous comment.
I wish they had spent less time jumping around so many characters, and focused a little bit more on a smaller selection of them.
Also, i don't care that much about the UFO thing, but that Tripoli twist felt absolutely forced and pointless.
Lastly, this was true for S1 as well, but in a much reduced form, but some bits of dialogue were far too hamfisted and on the nose.
I'm quite puzzled by the reception, and seeing so many think that it's better than S1.
I thought it had too many (uninteresting) characters and a much looser plot, i also personally didn't enjoy the more aggressive vibe (from direction to plot itself) as much as i did S1.
S1 captured the idea of a little town with simple, innocent people, having to deal with an almost supernatural, feral force (Malvo).
S2 felt like more traditional ideas and themes; family, rival gangs, control and ownership over a territory, self affirmation and so on.
That said, i still had fun watching it and some of the characters grew on me in time, compared to my previous comment.
I wish they had spent less time jumping around so many characters, and focused a little bit more on a smaller selection of them.
Also, i don't care that much about the UFO thing, but that Tripoli twist felt absolutely forced and pointless.
Lastly, this was true for S1 as well, but in a much reduced form, but some bits of dialogue were far too hamfisted and on the nose.
Nollemaster
Member
I just wanted to say that I watched both seasons the the past two weeks. Season 1 did not really sway me but season 2 was incredible!
... and I was a big fan of the UFO angle. Haters gonna hate
... and I was a big fan of the UFO angle. Haters gonna hate
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