TV review: No sophomore slump for ‘Fargo’

  • By Neal Justin Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
  • Sunday, October 11, 2015 1:31pm
  • Life

The suspicious cloud looming over the new installment of “Fargo” isn’t the Coen brothers’ 1996 cult classic or the drama’s Emmy-winning first season. It’s “True Detective.”

The HBO series that played a pivotal role in transforming Matthew McConaughey from “Hee Haw” hunk to brooding leading man toppled so quickly from its high perch in its second year that the shark it jumped died from excessive laughter.

Fortunately, “Fargo” doesn’t take the same nosedive. In fact, creator Noah Hawley has managed to sustain a quirky sense of humor, Midwest moodiness and nervous tension with no indication that he’s operating from the same playbook.

The new season, debuting Monday on FX, jumps back 27 years to 1979, a time where the good citizens of Luverne, Minnesota, are still reeling from Watergate and grousing over long lines at the gas pump. Future deputy Molly Solverson is just a kid looking up to her wholesome father, Lou (Patrick Wilson), a sheriff straight out of the Gary Cooper Training Academy who hasn’t quite shaken off memories of the Vietnam War.

He’s assigned a head-scratching murder in a local diner and the disappearance of a mobster’s son, inadvertently run over by a bored hairdresser (Kirsten Dunst) who would be a budding feminist if she weren’t so obsessed with becoming a Hollywood starlet.

Also searching for the young gangster: a Kansas City syndicate that wants to take over rural operations.

The chase is not nearly as fascinating as the characters, most notably officer Hank Larsson (Ted Danson, whose demeanor and accent are so Minnesotan you’d swear the actor spent his childhood summers fishing on Leech Lake) and hit man Mike Milligan (Bokeem Woodbine, cool as a cucumber soaked in a Bloody Mary).

“You’re pretty unfriendly. But you’re so polite about it,” he tells Lou, the kind of smart Minnesota insult you’ll never find in a Sven and Ole joke book.

Hawley once again fills his narrative with nods to the Coens’ movie — the hairdresser’s husband puts a corpse through the meat grinder at his butcher shop — and other cinematic classics. The relationship between acting crime boss Floyd Gerhardt (Jean Smart) and her hot-tempered son (Jeffrey Donovan) suggests “The Godfather” in overalls.

There are a lot of inexcusable trimmings, including obscure music choices ranging from arias to Western ballads, and numerous references to alien invasions, with one early episode winding down with an excerpt from “The War of the Worlds.” There’s even an appearance or two from “Dutch” Reagan.

Will any of this add up? Maybe, maybe not. But based on the first four episodes, there are plenty of reasons to load up the station wagon and head back to the promised land.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.