Wow, I haven't heard, nor did I ever think I'd hear, anyone call Legion "plodding." That's...uh...definitely a first.
It got better towards the end but it felt pretty aimless at the beginning. Too much set up for my tastes.
I just got around to this season a week or so ago and caught up today! It's been solid, definitely building better and better as it's gone
I would have given anything for Justin Theroux to walk by in a suit in the background of that bowling alley scene
Going to be sad when this season ends in two episodes. Here's my recap: ‘Fargo’ season 3, episode 8 recap: Nikki’s on the run
Yeah, that was fucking great. Loved the nod to the Big Lebowski with Nikki and the old guy in the bowling alley, don't know what that was about but was into it. the first half was just so intense though
After the way last week ended, this was not the episode I expected to get. Was still really good but I guess I was hoping for them to answer some questions, not raise more haha. Was cool seeing the guy from LA again, that monologue was really something else and is a perfect example of what this show consistently delivers that is unparalleled by anything else. If this is the last season, color me extremely bummed. No one does cryptic like Fargo.
I just assumed the chain finally snapped at first, was surprised they actually beheaded him. I'd agree that it was ridiculous though
Okay so like, what does everybody think happened this episode? Like, was the bowling alley a purgatory, or was that all real? Is the guy from LA an angel or some sort, or maybe St. Peter? Or was it all just some kind of metaphor? Maybe it was obvious, but with the sudden cryptic tonal shift that happened I find myself second guessing. I'd expect Wrench and Nikki to disappear as best they could, but Yuri being gone for 3 months strikes me as super odd. And what's with all the guilt stuff plaguing Emmit? The whole thing has this feeling around it like it's all in his head, but all three of the strange things that happened were witnessed and commented on by other people.
a few thoughts: 1) Ray Wise's character is named in the credits as Paul Marrane. This is one of several names given to a character from folklore who supposedly taunted Jesus on his walk to crucifixion, and was subsequently cursed to wander the Earth for all eternity, until the second coming. 2) This ties in somewhat with the sci-fi story that Thaddeus Mobley wrote about the robot ("I can help!") who wandered the earth for millennia, until he was reunited with his creators. 3) It's interesting to note that when Paul asked Nikki "have you been here before?" and she replies "the bowling alley?", he chuckles and says "Is that what you see this as?". Feels like an implication that it's a purgatorial plane of some kind that manifests itself to people who enter it as something unassuming that their minds can comprehend. The fact that the staff don't even react in the slightest to several bloodied, beaten-up people (one VERY bloodied up and missing an ear) entering adds weight to this idea imo. 4) Yuri's mentioning of Helga calls back to the opening scene of the series, as Helga was the name of the woman who had been murdered, a crime pinned on the man being interrogated, also named Yuri Gurka. 5) Paul, when confronting Yuri, mentions a massacre that occurred in Ukraine in 1768. Yuri then has a vision of many people who seem to be dressed in clothing style that seems to be appropriate to that time period. Maybe Yuri is another soul who is somehow responsible for this massacre, and has "bonded" (re: the kitten scene) with several other bodies over time. 6) Ray Wise really needs to be in more things.
Woah, dude. This is some great stuff. Thanks for posting this, I would've caught the Yuri Gurka thing eventually but I'm not sure I would ever made the connections in bullets 1 and 2.
It didn't even occur to me when watching to episode haha. I just googled the name Paul Marrane, came across the wiki article, and then on the way to work today it just popped in my head "oh, shit! the robot!" lol. I love how Fargo has so much to meditate on and soak in, and all these threads to pick up on. Also, I saw it mentioned somewhere else that Varga may be a Mephistopheles-like figure, drifting around and corrupting people through goading them into deal-with-the-devil-like pacts wherein they lose their humanity/soul in some way, either literally or figuratively. Sort of wonder too if Meemo is the soldier Varga tells Emmit about, who is also a soul bonding with other bodies, but that almost feels too obvious?
Solid detective work here! Didn't even think to Google Paul Marrane, had no indication that the name had any significance. I just thought that was a made-up name like any other name on the show haha This is pretty much what I was thinking as well. Yuri is definitely connected to the massacre somehow. Although it looked to me like (who I assume was) Helga was wearing more modern clothing compared to everyone else; maybe she was the victim of this incarnation of Yuri while the massacre was caused by a past form that his spirit took? Also Paul called Yuri "the grandson of the (something I can't remember)" when he was talking about that massacre. That probably has some significance too. Also: Nachman of Breslov - Wikipedia Massacre of Uman - Wikipedia Yes.