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Fargo - Thornton & Freeman in a new tale from the Coen Brothers' world - Tues on FX

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billy bobs invincibility mostly

he'll just go around smirking and everything works out the way he wants

a whole lot of the show feels too orchestrated

i dont even know what the blood bath was about, or what the deal is with all these elaborate pranks

i don't know how they got all those crickets either, a pet shop doesn't normally sell them in bulk and even if they did, thats like an entire cricket farm which is pretty far fetched to make an order of

I see, was the original movie anything like this?

Well maybe the payoff at the end will make everything happening now make sense?
 
billy bobs invincibility mostly

he'll just go around smirking and everything works out the way he wants

a whole lot of the show feels too orchestrated

i dont even know what the blood bath was about, or what the deal is with all these elaborate pranks

i don't know how they got all those crickets either, a pet shop doesn't normally sell them in bulk and even if they did, thats like an entire cricket farm which is pretty far fetched to make an order of

I was thinking that if Thornton's character did these jobs regularly that it's amazing he hasn't been caught before this. He makes no effort to cover his tracks and the smart cops can already link him to like four crimes.
 
I think he just means that it is nothing more than a reference/connection to the film. Calling the show a sequel could infer that it is somehow a continuation of the story or characters from the film, which is obviously not the case.
Right. It's a link between the two, but I'm assuming we're not going to suddenly have a bunch of characters from the movie show up or anything like that.
 

Showaddy

Member
Thornton's character isn't even in the film really, feels like they've just dropped Anton Chigurh in amongst all the other characters in the series. Wrench & Numbers are like the films main antagonists.
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
Thornton's character isn't even in the film really, feels like they've just dropped Anton Chigurh in amongst all the other characters in the series. Wrench & Numbers are like the films main antagonists.
I see parallels to a few Coen Bros movies. The dumb personal trainer guy reminded me of Brad Pitt's character in Burn After Reading, just not as cartoony.
 
The only characters that are clearly based on film characters are Lester and Molly.

Other than that I'd say they are mostly just characters that fit the kind of universe and style they were going for.
 
Whoever runs this show should have done their research better.

"I'm a minister up in Bawwwwwwdet."

Nobody says it like that except for people that have never been there. Minor thing but it annoyed me. Guess I'm probably the only one.
 
Whoever runs this show should have done their research better.

"I'm a minister up in Bawwwwwwdet."

Nobody says it like that except for people that have never been there. Minor thing but it annoyed me. Guess I'm probably the only one.

Don't you think that could explained by the fact that Malvo was playing a character
 

Helmholtz

Member
Pretty good episode. This show's definitely entertaining but I don't think I'll be considering it one of the all time greats. We'll see how it goes I guess, only 4 episodes in.
Also I think Lester's going to lose his hand.
 

Meier

Member
I have absolutely loved the first 4 episodes. I'd say it's been completely flawless thus far at least for my tastes.

i dont even know what the blood bath was about, or what the deal is with all these elaborate pranks

i don't know how they got all those crickets either, a pet shop doesn't normally sell them in bulk and even if they did, thats like an entire cricket farm which is pretty far fetched to make an order of
They're all biblical plagues -- locusts, frogs, etc. swept over Egypt. Water turned to blood. Animals were killed. They'll probably threaten him with killing his son. I would have thought most anyone would be able to get some of this even without being raised in the church, but maybe not. He did go to multiple pet shops btw.

You can read about stuff they'll probably continue to do here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagues_of_Egypt
 
- IGN review
- TV Guide interview with Noah Hawley (he talks ties to the movie, Lester's hand, and Malvo on the can)



Also, cool fan art from here:

tpHbcAn.jpg
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
From the interview I read, it seems like not even the actors know why they're dressed like Joe Buck and Ratso Rizzo. Ha.
 

Superflat

Member
Lester's hand is probably the biggest thing that bugs me. How on earth did the hospital miss that gaping hand wound? He woke up in a hospital bed, where they redressed him for goodness sake.

RIght now it doesn't play into the story other than the whole "physical manifestation of Lester's guilt and karma" angle, which doesn't add a whole lot to the show, other than to remind me how dumb it is every time they show the wound getting worse.

Other than that, I can kinda buy the outlandish things that happen. I'm really enjoying the show so far. Something about small snowy mountain towns with quirky people has a crazy amount of appeal for me. Insomnia, Fargo, Twin Peaks, the video game Puzzle Agent -- can't get enough.
 

Alpende

Member
Man, Malvo is the devil. I like how the show has this supernatural kind of element in it but it's not that obvious. Like him telling the duptey what he's gonna say. The whole plagues thing is pretty interesting as well. Is he just doing that to mess with Stravos or is there something else going on?

Also, is the suitcase in the beginning of the episode a nod to the Fargo movie or to No Country for Old Men. In NCFOM Llewyn finds the same type of suitcase.
 

Linius

Member
Man, Malvo is the devil. I like how the show has this supernatural kind of element in it but it's not that obvious. Like him telling the duptey what he's gonna say. The whole plagues thing is pretty interesting as well. Is he just doing that to mess with Stravos or is there something else going on?

Also, is the suitcase in the beginning of the episode a nod to the Fargo movie or to No Country for Old Men. In NCFOM Llewyn finds the same type of suitcase.

It's a nod to Fargo. Now go watch the movie, it's on Netflix as well.
 

Sneds

Member
I am enjoying this and liked the link to the film in the last episode.

That being said, the story isn't as good as the film and Billy Bob's antics in particular stretch my credulity.
 
Lester's hand is probably the biggest thing that bugs me. How on earth did the hospital miss that gaping hand wound? He woke up in a hospital bed, where they redressed him for goodness sake.

RIght now it doesn't play into the story other than the whole "physical manifestation of Lester's guilt and karma" angle, which doesn't add a whole lot to the show, other than to remind me how dumb it is every time they show the wound getting worse.

Other than that, I can kinda buy the outlandish things that happen. I'm really enjoying the show so far. Something about small snowy mountain towns with quirky people has a crazy amount of appeal for me. Insomnia, Fargo, Twin Peaks, the video game Puzzle Agent -- can't get enough.

True..maybe the hospitals there are as incompetent as their police forces.
 
The wound didn't look that bad initially, so the fact that it wasn't treated properly and is now getting infected doesn't bother me that much.

roAlxEU.gif
 
I think he might lose the arm the way it's swelling up and "tenderizing." That could be fun!

Also, the nod to the movie was awesome, I hope they do nothing else to connect the two. I have adored every second of this so far and was extremely skeptical going in.
 

desertdroog

Member
The wound didn't look that bad initially, so the fact that it wasn't treated properly and is now getting infected doesn't bother me that much.

roAlxEU.gif

I assume he still has the ball from the shotgun blast in his hand, since it doesn't look dressed when he wakes up in the hospital (still don't know why the medical staff missed/ignored this). Metal will cause your flesh to fester if you don't remove it, particularly a wound from shotgun balls.

I am really digging this show!
 
I have absolutely loved the first 4 episodes. I'd say it's been completely flawless thus far at least for my tastes.


They're all biblical plagues -- locusts, frogs, etc. swept over Egypt. Water turned to blood. Animals were killed. They'll probably threaten him with killing his son. I would have thought most anyone would be able to get some of this even without being raised in the church, but maybe not. He did go to multiple pet shops btw.

You can read about stuff they'll probably continue to do here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagues_of_Egypt
Is bad Santa aware of the kings divine intervention from decades ago?

Maybe the king made a biblical reference but that shouldn't have that much significance to make bad Santa do all these things

I don't mean to be an assholr but just give me more blood if we are going this route
 

knkng

Member
Is bad Santa aware of the kings divine intervention from decades ago?

Maybe the king made a biblical reference but that shouldn't have that much significance to make bad Santa do all these things
I'm pretty sure it's talked about heavily in his book, or at least that's the impression I got, hence why Thornton was given a copy of the book at the outset of this particular job.

This series has been great so far, and I really liked the little tie-in with the movie.
 

Meier

Member
I assume he still has the ball from the shotgun blast in his hand, since it doesn't look dressed when he wakes up in the hospital (still don't know why the medical staff missed/ignored this). Metal will cause your flesh to fester if you don't remove it, particularly a wound from shotgun balls.

I am really digging this show!

Yeah, he definitely still has a bullet inside him. You could hear him tapping at it in maybe episode 2? He was out shooting guns with his brother -- he should say something ricocheted and got him or something. I think any gunshot wound has to involve the police so he's been reticent since it wouldn't align with his initial story, but he would have a legitimate excuse if he went that brother route. Anything to get them to look at his damn hand.
 

Saty

Member
This show went down the crapper after the first episode. Everything about is irritating. Sure, right, no police officer who sees the security cam vid will ever think that's the Billy Bob character. Look, he put on glasses and combed his hair! Why didn't Molly tell Gus about all the new evidence against the guy? Why didn't Gus go screaming with that new information to keep Billy Bob in custody? Guy was just id'd by another two people and in his room they found property that belong to the place where Hess was murdered.

Stupid, stupid, irritating. Painful dialogues, painful pacing. Uffda.
 
Thorton as Malvo is probably the coolest thing on FX right now since Justified ended.

This show went down the crapper after the first episode. Everything about is irritating. Sure, right, no police officer who sees the security cam vid will ever think that's the Billy Bob character. Look, he put on glasses and combed his hair! Why didn't Molly tell Gus about all the new evidence against the guy? Why didn't Gus go screaming with that new information to keep Billy Bob in custody? Guy was just id'd by another two people and in his room they found property that belong to the place where Hess was murdered.

Stupid, stupid, irritating. Painful dialogues, painful pacing. Uffda.

Gus and Molly's superiors both want their respective deputies to fail - they're totally checked out and ready to believe anything that makes their deputies wrong. It doesn't help that Malvo seemingly has a wide network of associates who can corroborate any alibi at any given time.
 

knkng

Member
No, the money has always been a secret. He told people he got it from an uncle.

I meant his strong religious beliefs, not specifically where he got the money from. "God is real" seems to be his little mantra, so it's not unlikely that he might have similar ideas written within his book. Although honestly I'm just guessing. There are times in this series where it appears that Thornton has supernatural powers, so who knows.

I also noticed an episode or two back that he had a giant painting of
Steve Buscemi's
windshield scraper in his office (or maybe it was his home office) like it was some kind of idol. At first I thought it was just a nod to the movie, but now with what happened here it's actually pretty funny.
 

Superflat

Member
This show went down the crapper after the first episode. Everything about is irritating. Sure, right, no police officer who sees the security cam vid will ever think that's the Billy Bob character. Look, he put on glasses and combed his hair! Why didn't Molly tell Gus about all the new evidence against the guy? Why didn't Gus go screaming with that new information to keep Billy Bob in custody? Guy was just id'd by another two people and in his room they found property that belong to the place where Hess was murdered.

Stupid, stupid, irritating. Painful dialogues, painful pacing. Uffda.

I can't blame you. The latest episode had a TON of moments that stretched the believability super thin -- though I think the inept characters involved creating a perfect storm of dipshittery is plausible enough, lol.

I believe it more than the hospital completely ignoring the open hand wound of a victim from a huge profile double-homicide case anyway.
 
Is bad Santa aware of the kings divine intervention from decades ago?

Maybe the king made a biblical reference but that shouldn't have that much significance to make bad Santa do all these things

I don't mean to be an assholr but just give me more blood if we are going this route

I think he was told about it by Dennis, who heard it from the King's ex-wife, who was present in the vehicle when the King found the money.
 

Linius

Member
This show went down the crapper after the first episode. Everything about is irritating. Sure, right, no police officer who sees the security cam vid will ever think that's the Billy Bob character. Look, he put on glasses and combed his hair! Why didn't Molly tell Gus about all the new evidence against the guy? Why didn't Gus go screaming with that new information to keep Billy Bob in custody? Guy was just id'd by another two people and in his room they found property that belong to the place where Hess was murdered.

Stupid, stupid, irritating. Painful dialogues, painful pacing. Uffda.

Your rants never get old. You should start a blog.
 

MormaPope

Banned
billy bobs invincibility mostly

he'll just go around smirking and everything works out the way he wants

a whole lot of the show feels too orchestrated


i dont even know what the blood bath was about, or what the deal is with all these elaborate pranks

i don't know how they got all those crickets either, a pet shop doesn't normally sell them in bulk and even if they did, thats like an entire cricket farm which is pretty far fetched to make an order of

That's been a issue for me watching the show. Way too much stuff that's illogical or flat out impossible. Sure, the staff behind the show is going for a specific vision, but a lot of the show falls flat for me. Fargo as a movie is pretty simple theme wise, justification for one's actions can lead to terrible consequences. Almost every character ends up in a worse position than before because of simple anger and resentment, justifying actions because of those emotions leads to more negative justifications.

I'm not getting recognizable themes from the TV series. Very blatant motifs, really good performances. But the writing, characterization, and overall atmosphere is lacking. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one bothered by the inept attitude of the majority of side characters and characters in general.
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
I know what you guys mean, there's this ambiguousness or implausibility to a bunch of things here that I wouldn't have expected from asomething based on a movie like Fargo. But then again I just saw it recently and remembered that movie's tight as a drum.
 

Hatchtag

Banned
I've never seen the movie (it's on my watch list), but yeah. There's a lot of things on this show I have trouble buying.
Why did none of the medical staff see the shotgun wound?
Why is Bob Odenkirk so stupid? Why did he get promoted?
Why didn't the pussy policeman (forget his name) mention Malvo changing voices to other people there, even before he left?
Why has no one noticed the shotgun wound?
Why did they leave a taser in the car trunk with Martin Freeman?
Why is Bob Odenkirk so fucking stupid?
 

lamaroo

Unconfirmed Member
I've never seen the movie (it's on my watch list), but yeah. There's a lot of things on this show I have trouble buying.
Why did none of the medical staff see the shotgun wound?
Why is Bob Odenkirk so stupid? Why did he get promoted?
Why didn't the pussy policeman (forget his name) mention Malvo changing voices to other people there, even before he left?
Why has no one noticed the shotgun wound?
Why did they leave a taser in the car trunk with Martin Freeman?
Why is Bob Odenkirk so fucking stupid?

Freeman stole that taser from his brother, it wasn't in the trunk.
 
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