Fargo: Full Series Retrospective

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Credit to Tommy Foley for the end credits music. You can find the song and his channel here: • Full Moon - Cover - Ed...
Fargo is an anthology crime series created by Noah Hawley, based on the 1996 Coen Brothers film of the same name.
00:00 Intro
01:34 Season 1: The Fargo Shooting
14:34 Season 2: The Sioux Falls Massacre
26:25 Season 3: The Narwhal Conspiracy
39:02 Season 4: The Cannon VS Fadda War
Starring Billy Bob Thornton as Lorne Malvo, Allison Tolman as Molly Solverson, Colin Hanks as Gus Grimly, Martin Freeman as Lester Nygaard, Kirsten Dunst as Peggy Blumquist, Patrick Wilson as Lou Solverson, Jesse Plemons as Ed Blumquist, Jean Smart as Floyd Gerhardt, Ted Danson as Hank Larsson, Bokeem Woodbine as Mike Milligan, Ewan McGregor as Emmit and Ray Stussy, Carrie Coon as Gloria Burgle, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Nikki Swango, Goran Bogdan as Yuri Gurka, David Thewlis as VM Varga, Michael Stuhlbarg as Sy Feltz, Chris Rock as Loy Cannon, Jessie Buckley as Oraetta Mayflower, Jason Schwartzman as Josto Fadda, Ben Whishaw as Rabbi Milligan, Jack Huston as Odis Weff and Timothy Olyphant as Dick "Deafy" Wickware.

[@m.c4210]

Season 1 or this show literally changed how I see tv. It is not just perfect tv it’s one of the best things ever produced.

[@horatiotodd8723]

I agree

[@captaincrum1]

It was goddamn sublime lol...only other shows I would put up there with Fargo is Dark and Dirk Gently to name a couple.

[@juliannehannes11]

And its full cirlcle complete and never drags and has a set planned ending from the start.

[@psychedelicsoul3260]

"and out of the darkness the wolves came" as a shot of Varga smiling in the doorway pops up i got chills, that dude was something else

[@seamusobrian9050]

One of the best things about season 3 is the way the narrative is split in half with the first five episodes having a lighter comedic tone and focusing on the conflict between the brothers, and the moment Nikki is beat half to death the tone quickly becomes much darker as Varga takes over as it feels he's not only in control of this town but the show itself.

[@edgarbraintree4370]

The Mike Yamagita subplot in the original film did serve a narrative purpose. It caused Fraces McDormand’s character to realize that despite appearances people are capable of lying to your face, which caused her to revisit Jerry Lundegard and press him harder

[@lynxminx4]

Exactly, confirmed by the Coens. Marge's encounter with Yamagita persuades her that just because she doesn't understand *why* Jerry would lie doesn't mean he wasn't lying.

[@fionnmaccurtain8896]

It is annoying how underrated this show is.

[@insert-name101]

8.8 on IMDb isn't underrated. & it dropped from 9.3 just because of the last season

[@kuteken6312]

IKR!!

[@spacekitt.n]

@@insert-name101 I think what they mean is just how little you hear people talking about it. I discovered it by chance whereas other shows like breaking bad have memes and everyone talks about it.

[@jyesucevitz]

as long as you highly rate it and enjoy it why care what anyone else thinks?

[@MrOctober44]

​@@spacekitt.n Well, BB, became a cultural phenomenon. Fargo has a new cast every season so people will never be as invested.

[@TheKillerDonuts]

6:00 Thanks for showing season 3 love, it doesn’t get nearly enough. One of my favorite seasons in all of television

[@julylady24]

My favourite memory from this series is watching each episode and then calling my mum up to discuss the hidden meanings of the scenes ❤

[@pyrostooge78]

First off, Malvo has the greatest death scene in film and television history - the way he practically snarls after Gus shoots him - the anger and hatred in his eyes - the determination to lurch on him and tear him apart is so chilling. But for me, Season 2 is probably the best show I'll ever see in this life. It's beautiful. I don't know what else to say about it. It's perfect.

[@eduardo_corrochio]

I find myself enamored with the first season, and none of the others seem to reach its goodness. Mind you, every season is top drawer, quality television-- that's undeniable. But somehow the initial story is the best in my estimation. Something tells me I might want to look at Fargo as one big tale, not separate chapters. Can't wait to see what they do next year.

[@zackkolars1832]

You nailed it!

[@dat3rdsideboy386]

@@eduardo_corrochio for me i it’s the 2nd season mike Milligan was different

[@eduardo_corrochio]

@@dat3rdsideboy386 Different from what? We first met him in season 2.

[@dat3rdsideboy386]

@@eduardo_corrochio mike Milligan is only in s2 and s4 pure war general malvo wouldn’t have lasted against him

[@SuperMegaWoofer3000]

Malvo was physically terrifying but Varga was so unnerving. He somehow took the entirety of a business empire for himself and his victim had to take it. It’s hard to pick the best series.

[@annettelouise6781]

Season 5 is pretty great so far. Jon Hamm and Jennifer Jason Leigh are killing it!

[@jpmnky]

Even as a fan of the series from the beginning it took me several weeks to appreciate how good this year has been. Knowing that things had to build up and eventually come together, it still didn’t help as a viewer. But once episodes 4-5 came along I knew this season would be great. And here we are currently (01-13-24) with the finale in a few days. Knowing there’s no point in speculating because whatever is going to happen it will all go down in a way none of us could’ve guessed. I’m just so glad this series found its footing after that fourth season. It could’ve been just as good as the others. But it felt like they were trying too hard to be spectacular instead of just telling a story. Anyways this may be the final installment of this series. So we all need to really enjoy this one.

[@del3496]

One thing I noticed rewatching the Season 1 is that the way Lester dies is no coincidence. His death is a metaphor to the fact he's always "walking over thin ice" in all the episodes and in the moment he gets cornered, this thin ice breaks and finally punishes his for his crimes. This show is genius, truly one of Netflix's best ones ever

[@GaryMirage]

The show is from FX . I don’t think it was ever on Netflix

[@jaymorgan7728]

Very on the nose.

[@judeconnor-macintyre9874]

@@GaryMirage No it was on Netflix.

[@lynxminx4]

I wonder if he could have made it safely across if he hadn't stopped running. I mean in reality thin ice doesn't work like the CGI depicts it in the scene, but if it did Roadrunner physics could easily apply.

[@judeconnor-macintyre9874]

@@djamas1774 But it was on Netflix which is what I was saying.

[@marsrizzo2854]

Season 2 is the best for me beyond perfect. The ufo scene in my opinion is from that time period. Was a kid in the 70s and ufos were everywhere as we were told. It fits

[@thomasandrews3598]

There were reports of light In the sky, as in ufo reports at the time in the region.

[@playerunkown8699]

Ufos dont even exist lol

[@RustCole01]

Season 2 was outstanding

[@archibaldcreep1]

I agree. Plus as a story telling mechanic, the Deus ex machina of the UFO, saving the hero, is right out of a Greek tragedy where the hand of god comes down to help the protagonists.

[@ryanbesco8067]

Season 1 is the best season of television and the UFO scene in season 2 ruined the immersion for me.

[@joshualott5375]

Also, I think there is more to the "Minsky" stuff in Season 3. The robotic character appears in episode 3, which is titled "The Law of Contradiction," one of the major Laws of Thought assumed by philosophers and logicians. The law states that nothing can both be and not be in the same respect at the same time. For instance, a tennis ball cannot be both green all over and yellow all over at the same time. With respect to Minsky, for eons, he observes events and changes on Earth and repeatedly says, "I can help." But he doesn't really help, until the very end when the Confederation of Planets downloads his data, necessitating his self-destruction. Hence, he doesn't help, but he does help, and it is only when he ceases to exist that he can help. In the same episode, Ray Wise's character relates a story about a soldier who gives divorce papers to his wife before leaving, suggesting that if he dies, she can sign the papers and they would be divorced the entire time, but if he lives it will be as though the divorce never happened. Hence, they were married and not married the entire time. Within the episode itself, we learn the history of Ennis Stussy. After he viciously assaults the con artist (I think his name is Howard?), he returns to his motel room and vomits. He looks up and notices the name "Ennis Stussy" on the toilet. The reason he died is due to the fact that he has the same name as Emmit (E. Stussy). Yet, Gloria believes that she uncovers nothing but stories when she visits LA, stories that have no connection with the murder of Ennis (Thaddeus Mobley). Thus, you could say that the murder is both because of his LA escapades, leading to his adoption of the name Ennis Stussy, but also NOT because of his escapades, since none of his former associates orchestrated his death. More broadly, recall, that the novel in which Minsky appears is "The Planet Wyh," signifying the existential theme of the search for answers and meaning, the purpose of human existence. Many existentialists insist that the world is devoid of intrinsic meaning but that, nonetheless, individuals can give their own lives meaning by the way in which they comport themselves to the world. In that sense, truth is not merely based on correspondence between belief and fact, but also based on one's ability to interpret events whose meaning is unclear. A story may be true but not factual. Mythologies and literary fables, for instance, carry morals and lessons that apply to real life even if such stories have no factual, historical record. Life, thus, has meaning, but also has no meaning. Or, as one can draw from another Coen brothers' movie, No Country for Old Men, everything has a meaning but everything means nothing.

[@manholeeunuchsbane6197]

Cool summary/analysis. Season 3 was my favorite. Fantastic cast. True of all the other seasons as well, but this one stood out.

[@Mandibularmenace]

@@manholeeunuchsbane6197 Agreed. It's incredibly underrated

[@jdevine42]

Wow, you put alot of thought into this

[@theystoleitfromus]

Fittingly, this comment is simultaneously very insightful and very pretentious... much like the work of the Cohens, in that regard.

[@RustCole01]

Every once in a while, the YT comments section offers more than trolls spamming the "N" word. Dope post dude...

[@deedunn1989]

Malvo’s plan wasn’t purposeless. He intentionally tied the guy up to create a large police presence at that house just in case Stavros called the police when they met up. And he didn’t drug him to have him rebury it, he wanted to get him delirious enough to accept the ransom. His plan was to meet him at the drop off location but he got sidetracked by Wrench and Numbers.

[@ilayohana3150]

Who did he drug

[@deedunn1989]

@@ilayohana3150 Stavros. When he switched his pain pills

[@hustlanair]

​@@deedunn1989 so wait is the Ransom money supposedly still their in the same spot because Malvo never made it their? Kind of like how Stavros found the money that Steve Buscemi's character left in the original film?

[@skrrtskrrtbrrpbrrp]

@@hustlanair if i remember correctly i believe so, pretty nuts

[@danielhammett2200]

Season 2 was definitely my favourite season of the show with season 1 a close second.

[@s_u_l_f_u_r]

The music choice of every season is IMMACULATE. My favorita soundtrack list was season 2, but season 3 has my favorite version of Ship Of Fools. Also love the surreal nature of this series and how it claims to be true (and having very realistic moments) while being simultaneously strange lol.

[@dire_ahamkara7802]

I think the fact that it was Gus who killed Malvo was really good, not just for the score he had to settle, but because that’s how someone like malvo gets beaten in real life. Not by Keating someone better, he’s the best there is, but because you can only go so far in a dangerous game without getting unlucky. It wasn’t skill or smarts that took him out, it was the fact that Gus knew the car, and that a wolf randomly jumped onto the road making him look to the left. It was cool to me that he never actually met his match, but just eventually got unlucky.

[@PG92204]

I think one of the things that made Season 3 so good is that basically every death was impactful and treated with seriousness. Season 2 was great but bodies drop left and right. In Season 3, Sy crashing into Ray’s car and Nikki being beaten by Varga’s henchmen were some of the critical events of the season. Ray, the first death in several episodes, was devastating for a reason. Watching it the first time, I was incredibly underwhelmed and hated it, but after a rewatch and without any post-Season 2 bias it was honestly incredible and is probably my favorite season of all television now.

[@DioBrandoWRYYYYYY]

well, except for the air conditioner. it was impactful in that it was a "GOAL!" moment but it wasn't that serious. I loved it though.

[@Doodoofart725]

Watched season 3 first by accident and it's by far my favourite. It starts off slowly and then completely sucks you in.

[@DUWANGlai_kangyi]

​@@DioBrandoWRYYYYYY TBF, Maurice LeFay wasn't meant to be anything other than a vehicle to snowball into all the situations that took place afterwards. He wasn't especially nuanced, more like a plot device. Out of the main cast, each death feels incredibly important narratively speaking and has more of a "point" IMO than the incessant bloodshed of Season 2 (I love S2 btw, it's just a different kind of storytelling). Even Yuri Gurka has very interesting writing and a meaningful death, while not necessarily being a main-cast character. The first half of episode 8 is still some of my favourite storylines to come out of Fargo TV.

[@se7ensenses]

The creators of the Fargo TV series wanted to pay homage to the Coen brothers filmography throughout the show. The ufo scene from season 2 was inspired from a scene in their 2001 film The Man Who Wasn't There. There's many examples of homages like this scattered across the entire series.

[@yggdrasil2]

Yeah, the saucer even shows up in a similar environment.

[@acidic.sydney]

Season 2 and No Country for Old Men

[@Mrpeely1]

Stop trying to act like you knew that i know u watched a youtube video that explained it to u 😂😂😂

[@clevelandplonsey7480]

@@Mrpeely1go home. You’re drunk

[@TheJohnnycreep]

came to write this

[@adanrodriguez9140]

Oh god yes the "wolf picnic" joke from Norm's show. Great sound bite

[@Rompler_Rocco]

THANK YOU!!! I couldn't believe the comments were ignoring it! Until yours, that is 👍🏆

[@StudioMod]

Season 1-3, especially season 2, are absolutely incredible and are such an homage to all things Cohen-Brothers. Season 2 in general is a f*cking editing MASTERPIECE. Each episode intro of season 2's gives me a hell of a rush. And "Gift of the Magi" intro is one of the best television intros I've ever seen along with the animal-mask episode in season 3 with Mr. Wrench and Yuri. Just the way Hanzee goes up against the Kitchen Brothers casually within the start of the episode, a matchup we had been anticipating, is just so well executed (no puns intended) that it's almost too much to ask for. The ominous applause from the presidential speech overlapping the chaos in the wilderness is just sadistic editing magic that you don't often see. It respects the viewer's intelligence so much and it's refreshing and bold in every way... Fargo to me is just under series like The Wire, Sopranos, Early Game of Thrones, Twin Peaks and Breaking Bad; Fargo sits perfectly at the forefront of shows like True Detective, Prison Break, Hannibal, and Ozark. I've rewatched Fargo more times than I can count and it utterly surpasses the film its based on in every category. You can't go wrong watching Fargo and you'll seldom find anyone who regrets being recommend the series. Each season (maybe not season 4) holds its own and maintains a significant strength that keeps your attention all throughout. All the best to Noah Hawley and his incredible writing ability on the show. More power to him. I hope season 5 will be good and he focuses more so on what made season 1-3 so good as season 4 was sorta hit-or-miss with many fans and crept a little too close to ridiculousness and fantasy. Regardless, there are much worse things you can watch than Fargo season 4 and I don't consider it to be a stain on the show or anything of that nature. True Detective, Game of Thrones, and Prison Break all had much more severe 'bad seasons' that did in fact taint the overall essence of their respected franchises, especially Game of Thrones which is arguably as bad as it gets. The Wire would be the most mild case of this, with season 5 being criticized for only one of its character's story lines (Jimmy Mcnulty's Red Ribbon Nightmare Plot). I'd argue Fargo is simply one of the best television shows you can watch. It's definitely in the top 10 and it's a shame it doesn't get the love and recognition it deserves. It's literally RIGHT behind Breaking Bad in terms of quality and closure. Breaking Bad has the advantage of a bigger budget and a longer overall story arc which tends to create natural bias in terms of emotional impact. All the same - FARGO is an amazing piece of television history and I hope more people start talking about it! Great video!

[@jezebulls]

Season 1 was a masterpiece with 2 being great. 3 was good. I really enjoyed all 3, but season 4 was the biggest drop and just can’t hang with the previous 3. I hope the 5th doesn’t follow the same trend.

[@bluewhitespartan5258]

​@@jezebulls5 is brilliant so far.

[@ericksoto1063]

The UFO is just part of the 70s culture everyone wanted to believe in aliens. And I love it but it was weird for sure.

[@johncrane3858]

Plus every season has a supernatural element. Season 1 has Lorn Malvo who isn't human, he's a demon. It's the only way to explain his actions and like how he just fucking becomes a dentist. Then the UFOs in season 2. And season 3 they meet God and the main character thinks she doesn't exist, and she kind of has a point.

[@obscure.reference]

the UFO also appears in coen brothers’ The Man Who Wasn’t There, so it might be another reference/echo like this show does so much. also, to john crane, malvo isn’t a demon. he’s a corrupting influence, a monster sure, but he is a human being. nothign he does is out of the realm of possibility for a human being. lots of people learn dentistry. he obviously has some medical training given that he treats himself for any wound.

[@DUWANGlai_kangyi]

​@@johncrane3858 I don't think Ray Wise's character is meant to represent God, but your point still stands. He is definitely some sort of divine figure, and meets both Nikki and Yuri with "final judgement" if you will.

[@trinaq]

Thanks for covering this show. All of the seasons are fascinating, in that each takes place in a distinctly different time period, but each are connected to each other in some way. The second one is probably my favourite overall, because I think that the performances are stronger.

[@ScienceFindsGod-Official]

One thing I've noticed no one's mentioned is the crazy nurse, who when describing her mother, was obviously a victim of Munchausen By Proxy.

[@CloudMountainJuror]

“And while Cannon is led by the level-headed, articulate Loy and his equally even-tempered negotiator Doctor Senator, the Fadda family is led by Italian Hulk and a psychopathic man-child.” Got me laughing pretty hard with that one.

[@PlotFirst]

In the unlikely event fame and fortune never find you, I want you to know that this was easily the best unheralded YT channel I had the privilege to watch. Up there with the extremely successful channels I loved like RLM. Thank you for putting so much effort in. Hopefully you reap a deserved reward!

[@juliannehannes11]

Fargo s1 is so rewatchable, I rewatch at Christmas time every year since 2015

[@myinterpertations2984]

I haven't had a retrospect like that since the Garden of Eden.

[@squamish4244]

VM Varga is quite a character. He's emblematic of the extreme wealth inequality in the world and the movement to change that. I also thought the scenes with Ray Wise in the bowling alley were pretty amazing, especially the one where the bad guy sees his own victims and those of his Holocaust-committing ancestors waiting for him on the other side of death.

[@johncrane3858]

Also never says it, but VM Varga is definitely Afrikaans. That is a perfect Boar accent. And when Mr. Wrench showed up I cheered. And the bowling alley scene where they meet God may be some of the most brilliant things I've ever seen put to film.

[@ExtraCheese94]

@@johncrane3858 it's definitely a British accent of some sort, kinda sounds like across between Yorkshire and Cockney, definitely not Afrikaans though

[@KutWrite]

@@johncrane3858 According to the actor, indeterminate mid-London, not Afrikaans. Boer, right? I love Ray WIse's tinge-of-evil smile and his characters, starting with "Twin Peaks." The "God thing" was also done in "The Big Lebowski." I liked both.

[@the98themperoroftheholybri33]

​​@@ExtraCheese94t's a midlands accent

[@yggdrasil2]

​@@johncrane3858I'm not an expert on English dialects but I've heard that he talks in an imaginary accent with different sounds stitched together from different places. The rolling R:s sound Scouse while the silent H:s sound more Cockney.

[@Longjohnsilver58]

Lorne is my favorite villain as well. He’s my favorite character period. Brilliant. Especially when he calls Sam Hess’s house after he kills him and sets his two sons at each other by telling one the other will inherit everything.

[@YungM.D.]

I actually think both the LA episode on Season 3 and the Mike Yamagita scene in the original film play into the plot and themes but in a subtle manner. Yamagita’s pathetic lies and the ease at which he tells them befuddles Marge, but inspires her to take a look at Jerry again since now she knows people aren’t like her or Norm or her friends: they can’t always be taken at face value. Similarly, the LA episode is tangential but the alien story is clearly an allegory for what Varga is doing to Stussy (the alien who kills the robot is even voiced by Davis Thewlis), as is the movie producer shakedown you mention, and the realization that the story had no link makes the lead cop (name escaping me) realize that sometimes the narratives we want to be true or tell ourselves don’t map cleanly onto reality: this was supposed to give her insight into a man she lived with but barely knew, and maybe explain his death, but it didn’t.

[@odran7085]

subscribed for a while but this is quickly becoming one of my favourite channels

[@chonchjohnch]

This, great reviews

[@vahidoj4333]

🙋🏼‍♀️🌹🇮🇷

[@bobsacamano4284]

Throwing in the wolf joke from Norm Macdonald show was just too perfect bravo

[@KutWrite]

Season 5 is almost over. I await your stream of praise!

[@bartlomiejlabno4358]

Season 5 was so insanely good. Sad the finale was only 40 Min

[@KutWrite]

@@bartlomiejlabno4358: I hadn't noticed it was shorter. I wanted all of 'em to last longer! I'd like to see where Juno's career goes from there. "Ole" and other cast members, too.

[@johncarlyle5098]

I revisited the first season recently and somehow forgot how great it is. that pilot episode is brilliant

[@Litroxas]

Dude your vid’s are so good, I’m usually really glad when people make videos On my favorite tv shows but your vids have a certain flair that keeps me coming back and ready to rewatch keep up the good work!

[@jimmyolsenblues]

You did an amazing job of editting, this took a long time, I love your analysis of Lorne Malvo.

[@galesito1733]

Great video, thank you. I've loved every season of Fargo but I have to admit that I enjoyed each season more the second time I watched it.

[@totokoostudios]

What a brilliant video, thank you. Gonna finish it after watching season 4!

[@natewhitten1454]

been binging your videos recently, really love the content and hope for more from you!

[@gixx3913]

so glad you talked about this show! love Fargo with all my heart, such a great show 💕

[@josephmurphy7503]

Finally someone talking about one of my favourite shows!! Love this channel

[@FPSCarrbrook]

The way you cut the scene of Lester killing Pearl makes the show look like an outright comedy 😂

[@holyX]

Gus did the 100% correct choice. He evaluated correctly that he was much weaker than his adversary at that moment and returned to defeat him when the odds were more in his favor.

[@joaqueen]

i’ve always thought that he was just being strategic!

[@ASTROPLANET13]

Malvo ez solo diffs an entire mob headquarters. You think Gus is gonna restrain him?

[@ryanharvey1610]

yeah I think it showed that Gus had to be the predator that Malvo was in order to beat him. He saw that he just left so he went and hid in the house and waited to kill him. Gus did exactly what a murderer or a killer would’ve done. He solved the riddle

[@williamkoppos7039]

Gus got Key and Peele killed. Instead of notifying Molly or any authority he found his hideout, he hung there, waiting for his own private revenge. Bad Gus.

[@Egore]

This is the longform review content my day needed. Great work 🤠

[@JoeMatarese1]

Malvo and Lester are incredible, but season 3 is my favorite. The ambiguity of "truths" and David Thewlis make it the best for me. V.M. Varga is my favorite villain ever. Billy Bob's Malvo is a villian we've seen before. Malvo is clearly the greatest of those archetypes, but Varga is an original unique monster. I've never seen anything like him

[@myage819]

Huge grin on seeing you upload, thank you for the best analysis on youtube

[@theeprotagonist1355]

*Gasp* I was listened to! Thank you for Fargo

[@sidewinder714]

Great analysis, always loved the format of your videos. You're probably the best TV reviewer I've seen.

[@scientificbrony]

Dude you really deserve more attention this shit is great, adore your content. I've watched every video multiple times

[@EddyTheMartian]

Another show I’ll have to watch before watching this video! Thanks for making videos on less popular shows like The Americans which I’ve been currently watching and is amazing! Can’t wait to watch your video on it, as well as this one once I started Fargo. Obviously haven’t watched the video yet, but all the ones I’ve seen are great so I doubt this one is any different, keep up the great work!

[@levisimpson4454]

excellent editing on this video, that first 40 seconds is one hell of a hook

[@user-ft7bu8op6e]

So much fun seeing seasons of shows explained in snapshots, makes me want to go back and finish them all

[@brandonwease5294]

New upload on my birthday, hype!

[@dub2536]

New subscriber. Excellent summary imo. Hats off to you, and TY! o7

[@robincowley5823]

In the end the problem with Season 4, IMO, isn't that it's bad (I found it entertaining, there were twists and turns, etc), it's that its held up against the other seasons of Fargo and suffers in comparison to them. If it had a different name, or came in a different order in the run, I think it would have a lot more love.

[@spacekitt.n]

Its a great season of fargo full stop. Don't understand the hate. Season 3 is a completely different show except the wrench cameo and is not as good

[@JakeKoenig]

The problem with Season 4 is the nauseating wokeness shoehorned into almost everything. Predictable wokeness, considering the premise of Season 4 (an American black mafia family during the Jim Crow era) and how recently it was filmed.

[@ITH9081]

The first two seasons of the show were fantastic! Season 1 was great because of character development and Season 2 was because of the plot. 3 & 4 were so divisive that now with Season 5 underway, I really hope they go back to the roots of 1 & 2

[@spacekitt.n]

Season4 was amazing I don't understand the hate for it

[@davebruneau6068]

@@spacekitt.n Im not from the USA so i didnt get past the first 2 minutes of S.4 Ep. 1. Zero interest in the narrative it was setting. If it was a "Rez" setting, maybe...In S. 2 I liked that Hanzee got away👍

[@spacekitt.n]

@@davebruneau6068 proves my theory that all the season 4 haters never even watched it

[@davebruneau6068]

@@spacekitt.n Proof of a theory from a case study of one? Thats not how the scientific method works. Just FYI And your comprehension skills need a hand. Where exactly did you read i said "i hated it"? If you re-read my post with even a simple grasp of comprehension, you'll see i said, "it does not interest me". Same reason i dont watch cartoons. Zero interest

[@graydrive5796]

@@davebruneau6068nah bruh you suck, nerd

[@persona2bestpersona891]

one of the best shows ever on TV

[@Christian-we4qq]

Great Video, I'm giving this a watch!

[@JamCooper]

I started this watching this because I like your videos. About 11 minutes in I decided I needed to pause and just watch the show and come back later.

[@epicwin4913]

Great video, love seeing Fargo get the attention it deserves

[@ryanmoorehead2945]

The first minute of this video has to be one of the most well edited pairings to Glen Howertons monolgue. Thanks you.

[@MrOctober44]

Loved the first two seasons but haven't been able to get into the rest. Love the channel. 👍

[@MrGruzefix]

I'm just so happy season 5 looks to be great so far - can't wait to see where it goes. And the eventual recap here.

[@insert-name101]

Best tv show analysis i have ever seen

[@Q-lays]

This was definitely worth the wait.

[@ZrankFappaH]

Fargo season 1 is a masterpiece IMO.

[@phatnana2379]

Season 4 may not be my favorite season but the train station scene, particularly the build up to Deafy spotting Zelmare and Spawnee, is probably my favorite scene in the whole show

[@jhors7777]

Excellent video thank you for creating it. Wonderful series, I agree it ranks in the top ever on TV. I agree with other commenters here that it changed how I viewed TV.

[@superdani152003]

your Chanel is simply fantastic!!!

[@HisNeverland]

Goddamn, I've been binging your tv show videos the past couple of days and they are incredible! The Hannibal one was in my recommended vids and I was immediately sold I'm so sad I've almost raced thru them all now. Can't wait to see what's next!

[@tashakitty888]

Only watched the 1st season recap part since that is all I have watched so far. Well done.

[@barbiquearea]

I don't know if this was deliberate but I feel like a lot of the large scale crime that takes place throughout the series either builds on or was built upon climatic shifts that kept happening throughout the decades in the Fargo underbelly. At the beginning in season 4 we had the Fadda family who were at the top of the criminal pecking order. Only for them to get competition by the upstart Cannons who along with their allies fought a vicious mob war that ultimately decimated both sides. Then Kellerman and his crew came in and put the Faddas out of their misery and took over crime operations in Fargo. Then as shown in season 2 Otto Gerhardt assassinated Kellerman and the Gerhardts were now the new top dogs. Then decades later they too had their own power struggle with the Kansas City Syndicate who wiped them out and took control of the Fargo underground. And then somewhere between seasons 2 and 1, they were destroyed offscreen by Hanzee/Mr Tripoli, who had previously worked for the Gerhardts before betraying them. Now in season 1 Hanzee Tripoli was the kingpin of Fargo, and for unknown decades he had reigned supreme until he began going after a lone hitman by the name of Lorne Malvo, who in retribution gunned him down along with all his associates, thus putting an end to his crime empire. Then cut to season 3 a mysterious loan shark by the name of V.M. Varga tried to established his own crime organization in Fargo called Narwhal, but he didn't last very long as his enforcers were all taken out by Nikki Swango with the help of the deaf Mr Wrench (himself a hitman who once worked for Tripoli), forcing Varga to flee Fargo for good. That catches us up all the way to the present. It's just as that one character once told Hanzee at the end of season 2; "Great empires fall and are forgotten."

[@stupendoushorrendous8258]

My biggest problem with season 4: This isn't Fargo. It's Miller's Crossing.

[@UberMenschNowFilms]

"Batty beautician runs over murderous mobster" Just want you to know I appreciate you man

[@bendersurrender]

Hello dear author. To fully understand Ep. 3 you should check "Master and Margarita" by M. Bulgakov. Here's where Varga and his companions came from. Also thank you for the video.

[@anastasiad2302]

i like how you use music from super paper mario and fnaf!! great video, as always

[@lawlietriver8869]

This is the 3rd of your videos I have watched. This one got you the sub and bell. Not because this one was significantly better than the other 2, just because you seem consistently well informed and insightful. I love it. This video also allowed me to know the 4th season in a fun way. I was not able to watch it. 2 failed attempts and I just figured that it isn't happening. While seasons 1, 2 and 3 I have seen at least 3 times each. The 4th season just had no hook that made me really dig into it. 1st season it was Malvo saying "You are asking me to kill this man..." Made me laugh so hard, and be terrified at the same time. Brilliant. 2nd season it was the diner scene when the lady lawyer said "Is the other one the hard way?" Again, made me laugh hard. Though not terrifying, and the lady did die shortly after, it gave trust in the general writing. In season 3 it was the opening scene taking place in Russia. The unreasonable nature of the officer was just deliciously Fargo. Again, trust in the writing appeared. However, in season 4 I saw no such scene. I gave it a good 3-4 episodes. Not a single hint at the show even being a season of Fargo (at the very least not in the way I see the show and the feeling I get watching it). That weird unspoken creepiness was not there. No brilliant one liners to hook me. It felt lacking. As a whole the Fargo anthology series is one of my all time favorite shows, so I am 100% there for season 5. A bit more skeptical this time, as I had grown to have intense confidence before the release of 4.

[@ImTakingYouToFlavorTown]

great, I was gonna go to sleep, now I have to spend an hour watching this. 😔

[@honkeykong4049]

*Chief Moe from season 3 had a hard life. He's surprisingly older than he looks. See, he used to be the Chief of Police down in Atlantic City too, back when his brother ran the city...*

[@AquaticSkipper]

Lmao that quote from Norms podcast got me really good, well done

[@TeamOfThe80s]

Season 1 is the best tv ever made. The other seasons haven’t reached those heights but they’re still decent

[@ethsch]

you know i felt that way when i started season two, but after finishing the whole series i felt season two was the best, but season one was the most coen? if that makes sense lmao

[@TeamOfThe80s]

@@ethsch it does make sense. Season two was very good but not as good as season 1. I’d rate season one 10/10, season two 8/10, and the others 7/10

[@geordiejones5618]

Am i the only one who thinks season 1 isn't even the second best season? Seasons 2 and 3 were leagues ahead.

[@lunchb0x1986]

@@geordiejones5618 3 was so meh. 2 was basically as good as season 1.

[@Eamonshort1]

@@ethsch actually yes that makes perfect sense and I'm going to ask your permission to borrow that to explain it to my friends. Season 2 is by far my personal favourite but yeah season 1 does have the most Coen bros feeling characters and dialogue

[@Lowlandlord]

Worth noting for the s4 trading children things, this is a real custom in feudal societies, which had a number of similarities with organised crime societies. Was common across Europe, the Near East (Ottomans specifically), and Japan (where it lasted into the 1800s). Kinda forced peaces and stuff, at least in theory. More than a few hostages did die when the peace didn't last. Main flaw, arguably, is that giving a kid away makes you not care about them as much, and see them as more replaceable, although an overabundance of sons (specifically, because of patriarchal power structures and inheritance laws) can have a negative effect on whatever inheritance might get split between them (mostly a European thing though, where we had split inheritance laws).

[@joshualott5375]

Excellent! You're doing all my favorite shows! Season 1 is definitely my favorite of the four, but I love Seasons 2 and 3 and I enjoyed most of Season 4. I might do a video on the themes of existentialism in Fargo, specifically Nietzsche and Camus. As for the UFO in Season 2, I think it has something to do with the theme of determinism you mentioned, or how one's life can be significantly impacted by events beyond one's control. In Season 1 Lorne Malvo was that outside force whereas the UFO served as the force in Season 2. The UFO causes a lot of the conflict. Rye may not have been struck by Peggy if he hadn't been distracted by the UFO. Hanzee is led to Peggy and Ed when he observes the UFO. And, of course, the UFO makes it possible for Lou to survive and it again distracts Hanzee during the massacre. Plus, at the end of episode 2, there is a reference to War of the Worlds, that aliens are watching. Anyway, that's my take on it. Part of me was hoping that we'd see an alien left behind and said alien would become Lorne Malvo! Anyway, the Coen-inspirations for Season 2 were Fargo (obviously), Miller's Crossing, and The Man Who Wasn't There, which ironically starred Billy Bob Thornton as the lead. The latter had a theme of alien sightings, specifically at the end, in which the protagonist, incarcerated and on death row, sees a UFO hovering above the prison yard shortly before his execution. Anyway, this is another great analysis of a great show! I look forward to your Hannibal and Better Call Saul retrospectives in the future!

[@Onaventea]

Can’t believe I could hear the very soft Paper Mario TTYD music in the background. Kudos!!

[@davidci]

Amazing video regarding such an underrated series! Glad to see you give insights on all the seasons and not just follow what the crowd says about them (especially for Season 4). For Season 3, I just wanted to add that a huge theme also in that season was the uncertainty principle. If the first 2 seasons were, in one way or another, talking about determinism and destiny in their actions and choices, Season 3 takes that out and makes everything true AND not true at the same time. It's deterministic and not at the same time. It's occurring and not occurring at the same time. It's the truth and not the truth at the same time. That's something that can be noticed by the Blue Color theory. In this theory, the blue color represents fate or destiny. In Season 2, important objects or plot points have the blue color painted on them. Hell, even the UFO that helped Lou defeat Bear had a very prominent blue light shining on them. In Season 3 however, the color palette of that season is devoid of blue (except for the very start and the very end), meaning it leans more on their story being solely on randomness or choice, rather than fate. For Season 4, I never got the hate towards it, as it still a magnificent season that is still way better than a lot of shows, so very much undeserving of a 55%. Although I think the biggest problem of that season is that it has way too many characters. If it focused only on a select few, the story can put more emphasis on their dynamics and their characterization rather than having to juggle and balance everything.

[@docbrown2045]

Every season has it's own stand-out villain character: Season 1 - Lorne Malvo Season 2 - Hanzee Season 3 - V.M. Varga Season 4 - The murderous psychopath Nurse (probably) Though, nurse seemed more like a plot device, rather than a real main villain, like the rest of them. I'm not even sure who was the main villain in season 4

[@michaelgallo6593]

I have read (in New York?) that Fargo was unique in that it was “an Eastern.” Rather than a Western, where characters strike out to make their own destiny, this is about midwesterners (people literally in the middle) trying to grasp for the nostalgia of the values of the status quo. And how this ultimately dooms them. I don’t know if this framework addresses all your concerns. But while watching this, for me, it quieted many. This remains, along with The Sopranos, Succession, All in the Family, and potentially most of note Baskets, as my top 5 shows of all time.

[@davidp3051]

All in the Family? Lol you meathead!

[@aadityabhattacharya]

Finally retrospective of a show that I have seen

[@TSEliot1978]

Great video. I love this show

[@rokaxiv]

love the first 3 seasons, i wish i could forget season 4 even existed

[@soogacoda]

thanks for the wholesome recap before season 5

[@ZachHonest]

Another banger video

[@bosnianaviation5531]

Well done bro

[@Vhagar_CaneCorso]

You had me at Mumen Rider ♠️

[@sladeallen7453]

I hadn’t heard about Fargo being over before seeing this videos title, funny this video came out the same month season 5 was announced

[@Tech215Studios]

This video was awesome. Such an underrated show. The newest season was kinda ehhh but still good. The first 3 seasons were gold!!!! BTW, I literally laughed out loud when you said "Gus was incompetent enough to work at Miami Metro" Great Dexter Reference!!! Subscribed!!!

[@Cheese-wg3cc]

This channel is the comfiest corner of KZbin for me.

[@fnkyron]

Finally gave the show a shot after watching this video months ago and thinking the show was “not my thing” all these years. Finished the first season today. Holy shit it’s good, thanks

[@brakedavis]

Love Fargo, nice video here. Season 1 and 2 were just sooo damn good, 3 and 4 never really stood a chance. Fingers crossed 🤞 season 5 can find that special blend of cast and story...