Several characters from season one return, most notably Lou Solverson, a widower and retired police chief, portrayed by Ken Carradine in season one, now played by Patrick Wilson.
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But the crime story is merely the clothesline along which Fargo strings all manner of subplots, embellishments, grace notes, and splendid images. And it’s not just any old movie likeLimitless or Minority Report, which have recently been adapted by CBS and FOX, respectively. Though daunting, Hawley and his band of dedicated executive producers, including former NBC Entertainment head Warren Littlefield, managed to pull it off. And then a few.
Hawley said with different actors playing younger versions of characters in Season 1 he can create a true sense of diversity.
FX’s critically acclaimed “Fargo” did the near impossible in 2014 when it lived up to the quality of the 1996 Joel and Ethan Coen film that inspired it.
Despite the differences between the two seasons, there are still through lines. FX said to me, “We’re thinking about doing this as a TV show. When the Cruise Cake gets delivered, it’s like, ‘Cruise Cake’s here!’ My friends know what that means”. “I was keen to get into the arena – the creative people are blossoming on television, and the roles are so good for women now”, she says. And the idea was: Are we up to handling this challenge in this town that had been sleeping for so long? “But I think Lou also fits that profile”. It’s drolly amusing, it’s effectively creepy, it’s tightly plotted, it’s loaded with beautifully defined characters, and, somehow, with its Midwestern accents and scuzzy diners, it’s all peculiarly and specifically American. They’re set 17 years apart. So it’s an interesting way of examining characters in crisis. (I’m a little nervous about Campbell as Reagan, and I dearly hope the UFOs stay where they belong, at the distant periphery of the story.) But last season there were already clear signs of narrative fraying by this point, and this time out Hawley has everything tied together as neatly as one could desire. Psychologically you work your way through “this feels right and this doesn’t feel right” and it’s tested and everything. Season One would be another chapter. Those are our true crimes, and they’re related by tone.
– The drama for this season’s action unfolds during the first episode. “We’re wondering, can you do it without Marge [Gunderson, played by Frances McDormand]?”
“I don’t know if we followed up with him”. That was a wonderful link to the movie. Sometimes, that occurs between two people – like Patrick Wilson’s Lou Solverson and the crime syndicate he stumbles up against. However, after he “devoured” the Emmy-winning edition that featured Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman, he understood.
Finally, there’s Peggy (Kirsten Dunst), who also gets drawn into this web by way of a hit-and-run incident, forcing her puppy-dog of a husband (“Breaking Bad’s” Jesse Plemons, considerably bulked up) to gallantly help her. Alas, these two aren’t exactly criminal masterminds, although his job at the butcher shop promises to become as potentially handy as ready access to a wood chipper.
Kirsten Dunst has been having very bad dreams. “We wanted to expand what our universe could be”.
“Really?” She sounds surprised.
It only continues to get better. “People are going to turn the channel, panicked that they are missing (the start of the episode).’ But they never said it. So, sorry America”. With Bokeem Woodbine as his partner, the two discuss killing and shampoo with the same equanimity. She recalls that, when she was filming Spider-Man at the age of 18, the older men on set – including director Raimi – would call her “Girly-girl”. The viewers win with such great choices.
The most important thing about what’s before us is that “Fargo” remains a risk-taker. “My blanket statement (is) I don’t watch a lot of TV, so it wasn’t out of arrogance, it was out of ignorance”. It’s not as much as me picking and choosing, I’ve just been really lucky with the things that have come my way. I miss being the captain of a big, big organization where we accomplished a lot of great things.
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“(Garrett) a very good person”, she also said. “Always. It’s always when I’ve grown to love someone that it’s a real relationship”.
