My impression on the Lester/Malvo elevator situation:

Lester was trying to talk to Malvo like a casual acquaintance, like they're on friendly speaking terms. So when Malvo asked him, "Is this what you want?" he was essentially saying, "Are you sure you want to be getting chummy with a serial killer? Are you sure that's where you want to be in life?". I don't think he had any intention of killing Lester before Lester hit him. I think he asked Lester to help him with the bodies because that's what you'd ask a friendly acquaintance to do in that situation assuming he's ok with everything you've just done.

6/16/2014 9:18:12 AM

^I kinda got that impression as well. Maybe I'm remembering the situation wrong, but I'm not sure Malvo really intended to kill Lester - until Lester whacked him over the head.

6/16/2014 1:21:35 PM

Finale went pretty much as expected. I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. I do wish we had a little more Malvo dialog in the finale (did he even speak once?). I would've enjoyed at least a brief conversation with Billy Bob, Key and Peele.

6/18/2014 7:30:17 AM

i thought it was a good finale to a great series. i'm glad it ended as it did and not with some final blaze of glory or hero saving moment that just wouldn't fit right in that universe. and it wasn't tied into a neat little bow, and i'm ok with that.

6/18/2014 8:54:58 AM

meh, pretty cookie cutter ending. for all the hype for Malvo, he got taken out pretty easily by ol Gus. I was at least hoping that when Lester hurt Malvo, Malvo's "invincibility" would have transferred to him. then he goes and drowns. although, they didn't find a body. nah, they aren't playing any supernatural stuff since, if they were, Malvo wouldn't have got punked so badly.

the worst part, I think, was it was just underwhelming. Key & Peele call in backup and Malvo gets it called off in hilarious manner, then nothing really comes of it. yeah, they died, but there wasn't a "bloodbath" by any means. I guess I just expected more...maybe I shouldn't have. it was definitely worth the ride, but this was by far one of the weaker episodes.

6/18/2014 10:47:19 AM

it's cool that everyone is ok with a mailman straight up murdering a dude

6/18/2014 9:01:02 PM

I'm not sure why Gus was picked to be the one to kill malvo. Gus had very little involvement with malvo. I thought it should have been Molly or Lester to take him out in epic fashion, not a couch assassination with no fire back.

The series was really good, but I think they blew their wad in episodes 1-3. The remaining episodes were just spent trying to tie a twisted story together. And, what was the fish storm all about??

Series: 9.2/10.0
Finale: 8.2/10.0

6/18/2014 11:20:43 PM

The 2nd to last episode was the best of the series IMO. Finale was good, but expected. Still don't get why the mailman was allowed to just murder some guy - even if he was a serial killer - and get away with no legal ramifications and on top of it all get a medal. Although I guess we didn't hear the story he told to the police.....

6/18/2014 11:52:28 PM

Quote :

"I thought it should have been Molly or Lester to take him out in epic fashion, not a couch assassination with no fire back."

this was never going to happen. this story had no super hero, there was never going to be a sense of triumph or victory. even in the end, when Molly had the evidence to finally pin Lester there wasn't a look of satisfaction on her face, but a painful look realizing that one small turning point caused so much death and suffering to those around her.

I hate quoting Alan Sepinwall, as much as i enjoy reading him, but he was pretty accurate here..

Quote :

"Working hand in hand with that is the decision to have Molly sit the action out. In talking to Noah Hawley a few times in the last two weeks (including this interview), I know that he wrestled a lot with both trying to subvert our expectations based on the movie, and with trying to achieve a certain randomness to the narrative to go along with the "true story" conceit(**). So I can understand his desire to avoid having the Marge figure and central good guy play the heroine at the end. But so much of the season was about Molly's work on the case, and her dogged pursuit of Vern's killer, that to have her only cross paths with a living Malvo once, and briefly (during the blizzard shootout), feels a bit unsatisfying. Yet the more I thought about both creative decisions, the more I made peace with each of them. Because Gus's killing of Malvo is treated as a necessary evil rather than a moment of inspirational victory, it fits in well with the larger theme of civilization versus chaos, and the trade-offs of each way of living. Lester Nygaard becomes a smarter, tougher, more successful individual as a result of his interaction with Lorne Malvo, but he also becomes an absolute monster. Gus Grimly works up the nerve to kill Malvo, but it's more like putting down a wounded animal than a traditional Hollywood fair fight where he gets to puff out his chest after. Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/season-finale-review-fargo-mortons-fork-dlr-no-deal#SbcVZRVl6qGVCjEP.99"

6/19/2014 8:46:57 AM

Quote :

"it wasn't tied into a neat little bow"

See I feel that it was all too neatly tied up, but I believe that was the point. I heard/read somewhere that this series is supposed to be set up a bit like American Horror Story, that each season will focus on a different storyline with different characters. I guess the unifying factor will be a general tie-in with Fargo within the realms of the movie.

Quote :

"I thought it should have been Molly or Lester to take him out in epic fashion, not a couch assassination with no fire back."

I actually thought this was pretty apropos. I felt like this was Gus redeeming himself for having wimped out from his first confrontation of Malvo. Ironically the threat to his family that unmanned him in the first episode was what gave him the nerve to take Malvo out during the finale.

My biggest nitpick is that I wish they hadn't given away Lester's death during the opening, as soon as I saw him out there on his snowmobile it kind of ruined any suspense for me.

6/19/2014 9:02:47 AM

Quote :

" I heard/read somewhere that this series is supposed to be set up a bit like American Horror Story, that each season will focus on a different storyline with different characters. I guess the unifying factor will be a general tie-in with Fargo within the realms of the movie"

there hasn't been any agreement on a second season. The creator has left open the idea that he may consider adapting another Coen brothers story, but only if he felt that he could do it justice. As it stands, Fargo is simply one terrific season of television.

6/19/2014 9:54:10 AM

also for those of you concerned with Gus "murdering" Malvo... here is the creator's response

Quote :

"Let's talk about the decision to have Gus execute Malvo. Obviously, he needs a certain amount of redemption for his earlier cowardice at the traffic stop, but this is a serious thing he does here, and that other people seem somewhat okay with. Why did you make the decision to have him do that, and to not have Molly and the other cops too troubled by it? Noah Hawley: Thank you for noticing it's a big deal. It is both a hero moment but also morally questionable on some level. For me, the question is, he shoots Malvo when he's sitting there injured and unarmed. Is it an act of bravery or an act of cowardice? It's not for me to make that choice, but I do feel like Gus has seen what Malvo is capable of and how he can seem to escape from a locked room, and knows that the only way this will ever end is if Malvo ends. There is a nuclear option that he goes with, which is a choice that I think everyone realizes that this is a man who is responsible for the death of a lot of people, and no one's going to mourn for him. I went back and forth on whether Gus should be the ultimate arbiter of Malvo's exit. This being a "true story" is important to me that it unfold in a way that did not feel like the Joseph Campbell hero's journey, but feel like real life with all its messiness and coincidence, where things don't add up in a storybook way. So I was resistant early on to this idea that we had set up Gus vs. Malvo so clearly, that I was resistant to the idea that Gus would be responsible. Until we got much closer to breaking that episode, and I realized that what we were setting up was Malvo vs. Lester, and then if we did our jobs right, we'd play out that Malvo vs. Lester bear trap set piece, and then hopefully the audience has forgotten is that Gus is in the cabin until he steps out of the shadows. And then what happens is a surprise. It's not like you can set up for it. In realizing that, I really did feel like it was the best way to end it. "

and finally...on a possible "season 2"

Quote :

"What conversations, if any, have there been about the idea of doing a season 2, given how well this one has been perceived? Noah Hawley: What's rewarding to me about working with FX is that while we all know it's a business, at the same time, I think we all recognize that the response to this season has been so positive because I had the time to really come up with a great story and map it out and write it all. I think we would all be more than happy to take that ride again, as long as we are confident that we can tell a story that's as good or better. And that's on me to come up with. I'm going to lay flat for a bit, and recover from this first season whirlwind, and I'm going to think about that, definitely. Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/fargo-creator-noah-hawley-talks-season-1-and-the-possibility-of-season-2#wOsmQrRFWFCzR48W.99"

6/19/2014 10:03:00 AM

Finally got to watch it last night. That look that Malvo gave Gus after he shot him those first three times was creepy as fuck. For a second I thought Malvo was gonna pull out a gun and shoot him back which would have been a tragic, but fitting end for the season.

Still would have liked some explanation on the fish tornado -- what was Malvo's motivation for fucking with the store owner? It couldn't have just been money?

What happened with the deaf hitman?

Who was Malvo's boss?

6/20/2014 9:11:28 AM

why are you people questioning the plot? bunch of damn liberal revisionists. THIS IS A TRUE STORY. "OMG lets change the plot to make better TV LOLOLOL"

6/20/2014 3:51:14 PM

not sure if you're trolling, but it's not a true story.

6/20/2014 3:53:26 PM

it says it in the fucking opening literally every week.

6/20/2014 3:54:55 PM

It says the same thing in the movie. Neither are true stories.

6/20/2014 4:01:03 PM

I watched the finale last night. And I thought the entire show was great, from beginning to end. Sure, plenty of unbelievable coincidences, but great none-the-less.

6/20/2014 4:02:18 PM

Great show. Good that Gus killed Malvo.

I liked the season and the finale. No real complaints from me.

6/24/2014 10:29:13 PM

hahaha A you thought that all of this actually happened in real life?

6/25/2014 12:13:18 PM

I thought it was p clear he was being facetious but idk

6/25/2014 2:31:00 PM

YES!
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/fargo-2nd-season-fx-cast-crime-24651102

7/22/2014 12:08:46 PM

nice!

7/22/2014 1:07:46 PM

Question now becomes who is a good younger version of Carradine?

7/22/2014 1:29:38 PM

I was quite happy to see this thread bumped, especially for that reason

7/22/2014 2:30:12 PM

TIL that Martha Plimpton is Keith Carradine's daughter.

7/22/2014 2:53:13 PM

Thanks for posting that interview. BBT is such a nice guy.

7/23/2014 11:51:17 AM

Season 2 premiered last night; really digging the 70s aesthetic of the show. dunno how I feel about the UFO scene though, even if UFO culture was a "thing" in the Midwest in the 70s

10/13/2015 1:10:27 PM

^Agreed! I very much enjoyed the premiere EXCEPT for the UFO part. I'm hoping that maybe the guy had some residual LSD in his system or something so that he hallucinated it instead. Was surprised to see Ted Danson and Kirsten Dunst. Very good opener.

10/14/2015 8:43:45 AM

Got around to watching this and thought it was GREAT! The UFO was a little weird, but didn't the first season have at least one kinda supernatural thing (the raining fish)

It's neat how many people they get to be in these shows. It took me a while to placed Kieran Culkin. And I didn't realize that John and Joan Cusack have three other siblings that are also actors (the judge was one of them).

[Edited on October 16, 2015 at 1:45 PM. Reason : ]

10/16/2015 1:39:04 PM

Todd got fat and Kirsten Dunst got old

took me a second to place Burn Notice guy

10/18/2015 2:28:00 PM

^ I think they were both requested to put on pounds. Durst, I know, was asked to gain a lot. She interviewed about it, and stated she was eating a lot of pizzas to pack on the pounds.

10/18/2015 6:07:10 PM

Dunst looked real good on a recent episode of Portlandia. I've never really been a fan of hers. She was the lead in Von Trier and Sophia Coppola's worst movies. But I think she's about to bring it Nygaard style this season.

10/18/2015 9:50:03 PM

I was told that Todd got fat for another role, and they asked him to keep it on for this role.

10/19/2015 9:44:31 AM

This show is so awesome

10/26/2015 12:54:57 PM

Is it me or does the guy with the Kitchen Twins (I think his name is Mike Milligan?) sound EXACTLY the same as Dave Chapelle when he was impersonating the white news anchor on Chapelle's Show?

10/29/2015 12:11:35 PM

yes, he's doing a white guy voice when interacting "socially". it dropped momentarily when he was being sinister with Lou in the typewriter shop.

10/29/2015 1:18:08 PM

I had to IMDB it to make sure it wasn't Chappelle.

10/29/2015 8:33:47 PM

Absolutely incredible. IMO, this is right up there with Breaking Bad.

11/5/2015 12:41:15 PM

Finally caught up. jesus i love this show so much. probably my current favorite on TV.

Quote :

"took me a second to place Burn Notice guy"

holy hell, that's him? Didn't watch BN but kept thinking to myself how familiar he looked.

Quote :

"I was told that Todd got fat for another role, and they asked him to keep it on for this role."

he got fat for his role in Black Mass, the Johnny Depp/Whitey Bulger film.

Quote :

"Is it me or does the guy with the Kitchen Twins (I think his name is Mike Milligan?) sound EXACTLY the same as Dave Chapelle when he was impersonating the white news anchor on Chapelle's Show?"

yep

11/5/2015 12:45:39 PM

another awesome episode. everything about this show is great. this may be better than the first season.

(how did one of the kitchen brothers survive? I missed that, i thought the indian killed them both)

[Edited on November 13, 2015 at 2:02 PM. Reason : ]

11/13/2015 1:55:46 PM

One of them he just punched out. It was confusing bc they immediately cut to the other onewwith a cut throat. Also not sure why he was left alive, prob just missed bc uunconscious

11/13/2015 10:15:21 PM

I'm liking this one better than the last season, but the last season was really great too.

Still don't know how the Native American could have feasibly left one of the twins alive though. Seems like he'd be doing a pretty thorough job in general. I guess one of them has to stay alive for some key plot point in the future.

11/16/2015 9:19:19 AM

Maybe he left him alive so he could go back tell the others what happened.... like Miligan and the bros left Papa Gearhart alive at the hospital... although it'd be kinda silly to leave one of the main muscles alive if he had the chance to kill him.

11/16/2015 9:27:30 AM

This week's ep was amazing

11/20/2015 9:31:51 AM

Such an awesome gift to have Bruce Campbell squeezed into this

11/23/2015 9:48:35 AM

http://www.avclub.com/article/you-betcha-fargo-just-got-renewed-third-season-228854

6 seasons and a movie?

11/23/2015 6:48:30 PM

Ah yeah, I forgot about Bruce Campbell. When it showed him as Ronald Reagan I was like "Is that fucking Bruce Campbell?"

It was fucking Bruce Campbell.

This show is the one I look forward to most out of the week. It makes me hate Mondays a little less.

11/23/2015 8:35:49 PM

holy shit this season is good

12/1/2015 7:22:36 PM

I just realized that Lou's daughter is Molly from Season 1.

12/2/2015 9:43:41 AM