Fargo: "Waiting for Dutch" Review

"OK then."

Spoilers for Fargo's Season 2 premiere, "Waiting for Dutch," below.

At the premiere screening for Fargo: Season 2, FX head John Landgraf spoke about how showrunner Noah Hawley had to do the impossible twice over with this new season: first, he needed to continue to prove that it was worthwhile creative decision to reimagine the critically acclaimed Coen brothers movie Fargo, and second, he needed to make a season of television that surpassed the incredibly high bar set by the critically acclaimed Fargo: Season 1. Fortunately, Hawleydid do the impossible twice over, as Season 2 improves upon everything that came before it while also offering a fresh and exciting take on the series.

: Ted Danson and Patrick Wilson in FX's Fargo

Not really a prequel and yet not quite a standalone season, Season 2 is set in 1979 and follows a new ensemble of characters that includes Molly Solverson's (Allison Toleman) father Lou Solverson, played in Season 1 by Keith Carradine but here portrayed by Patrick Wilson. Like the first season, the cast is sprawling and stacked with fantastic talent, including Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Jean Smart, Ted Danson, Jeffrey Donovan, Cristin Milioti and Nick Offerman. But despite such a robust cast of characters, Hawley never lets the storylines feel unwieldy. It's his writing that holds this series together, and it's clear he's spent plenty of time reevaluating the winning formula of Season 1 to put together an even stronger project here.

As in Season 1, it's a murder that ties together the disparate storylines. This time it's Peggy (Dunst) and Ed (Plemons) who are the main catalysts that set the season's events in motion by killing Rye (Kieran Culkin), the youngest son in a local crime syndicate. While the couple might think they can cover up the murder and continue leading their lives normally, they don't have the context of the larger story playing out.

Though Rye is the youngest Gerhardt, his absence comes at a terrible time for the family crime ring: father Otto (Michael Hogan) has suffered a stroke which leaves him incapacitated, leading to a power struggle between his wife Floyd (Smart) and sons Dodd (Donovan) and Bear (Angus Sampson), while an out-of-town Kansas City crime syndicate is looking to take over the Luverne, Minn. trade. Meanwhile Rye is wanted for three murders he committed at a Waffle Hut, which are being investigated by state police officer Lou (Wilson) and the town sheriff/his father-in-law Hank (Danson).

That's a lot to digest, but the story portrayed with such skill in episode 1 that it never feels overwhelming to the viewer. The careful plotting again comes back to Hawley's skills as a writer and showrunner, which deserve plenty of praise. This first episode of Fargo: Season 2 excels in just about every way an episode of television can excel: the acting is fantastic, the writing is superb and funnier than ever, the directing is crisp and the cinematography is gorgeous. The characters are so carefully crafted that viewers understand their motivations even with the limited screentime an ensemble TV show allows. The attention to the smallest details of the '70s and the midwest make the setting as much a character as any of the other players in the story. Even the most self-indulgent parts of the premiere, like opening the episode with a glimpse into the production of the Ronald Reagan-starring (fictional) movie The Battle of Sioux Falls and Rye seeing aliens before being hit by Peggy's car, are so deftly handled and produced that they all feel true to the world Fargo is building.

Even the violence, which every noir crime story needs, is handled with care. The shootout scene at the Waffle Hut and Ed's murder of Rye never feel gratuitous. The viewer is supposed to flinch at the bursts of violence, but never do these moments feel glorified. That's something that Season 1 handled well too, and it's a pleasure to see a crime drama take so much care about the portrayal of the crime.

Overall the biggest mystery leading into episode 2 is whose shoe was left at the Waffle Hut crime scene (note: eagle-eyed viewers pointed out the shoe is Rye's, proving that's the one big clue for the murders) -- OK, and whether or not there were really aliens -- but, like with Season 1, Fargo is a great enough story that it doesn't need a strong central storyline to keep viewers coming back for more. Just visiting its richly realized world for an hour a week should be enough of a draw. It is for me.

Verdict

Fargo: Season 2 improves upon everything that works in Season 1 to deliver a funnier, tighter and stronger new story with a great cast and fantastic crew. The series never takes itself too seriously and isn't afraid to have a little fun. Oozing with confidence, the Season 2 premiere kicks off what is sure to be a great new year of Fargo.