Fargo (FX) TV Show • Page 9

Billy Boooooooobbbbbbbbbbb

Another great episode. Was hoping some wires would finally start crossing tonight and we sure got that. Can't wait to watch this all unfold!

I know I'm sorta supposed to hate him, but Sy is a sneaky highlight of season so far for me. His dynamic of portraying a big macho guy when it comes to dealing Ray and the way his tail goes right back between his legs when faced with VM or his subordinates is hysterical to me. The entire scene with him and Winnie had me dying haha

 

The way this show is being treated online pretty much everywhere but here is honestly hilarious. I've seen people saying this season is "GARBAGE" (yes, in all caps), being completely serious. I guess if one just personally doesn't like slow-burn narratives then yeah, you're not going to like this season, but it isn't objectively bad. People need to grow up and realize that "I don't like X" =/= "X is bad." Like, shocker, you can not like something that is good! It's possible for something to just be "not for you!"

 

Sad about no Jim Gaffigan.

 

Yeah, this season is for sure the slowest yet but god damn do I love it. Looks like it's definitely going to start picking up.

 

I started watching last night really late, but fell asleep about 30 minutes in. Not because it was slow or boring, but because I was SUPER tired. Can't wait to watch tonight. I'm enjoying this season just as much as the others.

 

UPROXX has some good coverage on the show by Alan Sepinwall. And then they have Steven Hyden covering the music in each episode.

In other news, though, here's my recap! Haha. ‘Fargo’ season 3, episode 4 recap: Varga wants more

 

Loving the running bit of Gloria not getting picked up by motion sensors.

 

An episode behind but why was the last scene in episode 3 so obviously CGI?

 

new one was the best so far this season. loved hearing Billy Bob Thornton again, especially since the Peter & the Wolf bit sort of ties back into Malvo's wolf motif in the first season.

and goddamn is David Thewlis something else on this show. I feel like I say that every new episode haha, but seriously.

 

I don't really read about this show elsewhere online, but I have no clue why people would be saying this season is bad.

This show is still objectively the best show (or at least like top 3) on TV.

 

It's honestly amazing how many people are now saying not only that this season "has no depth," but that depth has never been something this show was known for. Those are actual things that were said in AV Club reviews. And people in the comments agree! I just...the baseless contrarianism is so ridiculous I don't even know what to say.

 

So much amazing acting in episode 4, but I especially I loved how MEW delivered the "This is it. Our SHIP comin' in !" line.

 

I don't understand why so many people put so much stock into the AV Clubs reviews. They act like their opinion is fact.

 

I'm just using it as the most egregious example of a general trend I've been observing on the internet. Not "acting like their opinion is fact."

 

A lot of people are just afraid to have their own dissenting opinion. If AV Club (or some one else of certain stature) says that something sucks, people will jump on that bandwagon. If they praise something, then people will jump on that.

 

AV Club is sporadically good, depending on the writer. I typically enjoy the Better Call Saul recaps but thats' about it at the moment. The Fargo recaps so far this season have been pretty awful.

And maybe I missed something, but I haven't seen too many reviews (of the two I've read lol) that point out the similarity between Varga's "angry mob" speech and Malvo's "red tide" speech. It'll be interesting if they subvert the expectation that Varga will irrevocably corrupt Emmit though, seeing as how he's considerably more successful in life than Lester was.

 

Yeah also Emmit doesn't seem like he has that rotten core underneath his Minnesota nice exterior like Lester had. At least not yet.

 

Ray does

 

I don't think Ray does either, though. He seems misguided and not too bright, but not evil. Lester was literally, like, a repressed sociopath at heart.

 

Right. I'm not exactly expecting it to happen either. If anyone ends up getting "corrupted" I'd put my money on Ray, even though I don't think he's rotten at his core the way Lester was. Definitely slippery and with his own broken, skewed sense or morality, but the fact that he's shaken up and even a little remorseful over Maurice's murder puts him above the sociopathic territory Lester occupied.

And so far, Nikki is his corrupting influence. It'll be interesting if it plays out that she genuinely does have feelings for Ray and isn't just manipulating him, which would be a nice way to elevate her above the typical femme fatale tropes. So far I honestly can't work out how she really feels towards him, ha.

 

Part of that ambiguity with Nikki is definitely by design at this point. Especially after that conversation Ray had with his bosses before he was fired. I'm willing to be that there's some tension to that relationship this week, as it seemed like Ray genuinely never considered that she might only be with him to get lenient treatment on her parole restrictions. I like that she's been, to this point, a mostly atypical femme fatale; she doesn't really fit into the traditional conception of that archetype at this point. And I wouldn't even necessarily call what Nikki is doing to Ray corruption either; she's a bad influence, sure, but she isn't trying to essentially "turn him to the dark side" like Lorne was with Lester or Varga is with Emmit. Also I don't know that Ray and Varga will ever interact in that way, because if the two ever do meet (and they probably will) it will likely be as enemies based on what Varga said to Emmit this week. I think the scenario you suggested, of them turning the Lorne/Lester relationship on its head by having Emmit ultimately reject Varga's corruption, is more likely.

 

Yeah, I'd agree with that. She's definitely more of a bad influence than an actively malicious corruptor. I can see, maybe, a scenario playing out where Nikki was initially just using Ray but developed genuine feelings for him over time, or something to that effect.

I do hope that I'm right though, and that Emmit rejects Varga's corruption somehow. Not necessarily saying it'd be a disappointment if he didn't, but it would be an interesting subversion. And speaking of Varga, I'm sort of curious whether there's any significance to his apparent bulimia, or if it's just supposed to be an unnerving character trait, one that contributes to the image he's cultivated for himself, the way he was talking about taking care NOT to appear wealthy or important.

I'm sure I'm overthinking it haha. But it's kind of hard not to look for hidden meaning or clues in even the most pedestrian or the most obvious of things with this show.

 

Either that or they just wanted to explain why his teeth are such a horrific disaster haha

 

I think there on equal levels, both killed one person at this point in their seasons, think they are being treated unfairly, want to cover their own ass more than anything else. I wouldn't say Lester was a repressed sociopath, he just snapped once and dug himself way too deep to get out.

 

Haha, that too.

Idk, sending your wife in to save your own ass struck me as pretty sociopathic. If he wasn't a repressed sociopath then he definitely became so corrupted that he devolved into something closely regarding one.

There's definitely some parallels between the two characters though, but I think their character arcs will play out a bit differently.