Fargo and True Detective are both standalone crime mini-series that ran in 2014 and were unexpectedly renewed for a second season. Both shows have decided to follow a completely new story in their second season. This did not work for True Detective season 2 very well at all. The trailers for Fargo season 2 looked like it was going to be a similar disappointment. It looked like they were overplaying the Fargo-isms. But, instead, we got an excellent premiere.
Right from the opening scene of the episode, you can tell that the writers have not lost their charm. They continued to capture the atmosphere of the movie very well while injecting it with a healthy dose of the seventies and not over doing it (like the trailer seemed to be doing).
Another parallel to True Detective season 2 is that it goes for a much larger scale than the first season. One of the major reasons True Detective season 2 fell apart was that it contained too many specifics that we weren't given much reason to care about, making the show hard to follow and not worth the effort. As they continued to add things to this episode, I worried that it would be crushed under it's own weight. But they did a good job of not worrying you too much about the raw information but rather showing you with the feel of it.
The cast is excellent, a great mix of comedy and gravitas. I can see many ways for all of them to fit into the story, although I do wonder how much Nick Offerman is going to be in it; he doesn't seem like a particularly important character. My only real question is how Bruce Campbell's Ronald Reagan is going to fit into the whole thing. They teased it with the opening scene, but I do wonder how they'll fit him in.
Overall, an excellent return for Fargo, I very much look forward to watching the rest of it unfurl.
Right from the opening scene of the episode, you can tell that the writers have not lost their charm. They continued to capture the atmosphere of the movie very well while injecting it with a healthy dose of the seventies and not over doing it (like the trailer seemed to be doing).
Another parallel to True Detective season 2 is that it goes for a much larger scale than the first season. One of the major reasons True Detective season 2 fell apart was that it contained too many specifics that we weren't given much reason to care about, making the show hard to follow and not worth the effort. As they continued to add things to this episode, I worried that it would be crushed under it's own weight. But they did a good job of not worrying you too much about the raw information but rather showing you with the feel of it.
The cast is excellent, a great mix of comedy and gravitas. I can see many ways for all of them to fit into the story, although I do wonder how much Nick Offerman is going to be in it; he doesn't seem like a particularly important character. My only real question is how Bruce Campbell's Ronald Reagan is going to fit into the whole thing. They teased it with the opening scene, but I do wonder how they'll fit him in.
Overall, an excellent return for Fargo, I very much look forward to watching the rest of it unfurl.
