CIMPLE – A Curious Introvert's Musings & Photos about Life and Enjoyment

A few weeks ago while a sporting event I still do not wish to discuss was being televised and watched by a record-setting number of people, I was busy binge-watching the television show Fargo.  The show was named number one on many of the year-ending lists of the top television shows for 2014.  After discovering my initial judgment of True Detective was completely wrong, I decided that quitting Fargo after one episode last Spring when it was being shown on the FX channel may also have been a bad decision.  The television show was created and written by Noah Hawley and adapted from the movie, Fargo, that won two Oscars at the 69th Academy Awards in 1997 with Ethan and Joel Coen (the Coen Brothers) winning for Writing (Screenplay Directly for the Screen) and Frances McDormand for Actress in a Leading Role.  The black comedy true crime story follows the events that transpire when an uncivilized man by the name of Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) happens to meet a civilized man by the name of Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) in a hospital emergency room and how their random meeting, conversation and future actions change many lives in the small Minnesota cities of Bemidji and Duluth.   

My initial reaction to the first episode was similar to my reaction to seeing the movie, Fargo, for the first time and wondering why everyone raved about the movie or television show.  I thought the performances by Frances McDormand and William H. Macy were great in the movie and that Billy Bob Thornton was great in the first episode of the television show, but overall on the first viewing of both the movie and tv show I failed to become captivated by the characters or storyline. Over the years, the Coen Brothers had joined my list of celebrated writers and directors of films I failed to appreciate at first viewing, but finally after many viewings I have gained a greater appreciation for their films and would now list Fargo and The Big Lebowski as two of my favorite Coen Brothers movies.  Based on the fact that the Coen Brothers were listed as part of the Executive Producers team for the show, I thought it may take a few episodes to gain an appreciation of the tv show and decided to give the tv series another chance.

Without giving too much away about the many storylines, the piece I found the most fascinating about Fargo was the contrast of the transformation of two of the main characters, insurance salesman Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) and police officer Gus Grimly (Colin Hanks) compared to the steadfast characters of the uncivilized criminal Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) and police officer Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman).  Lester and Gus will each make life changing decisions in the first episode that change the men they become by the finale, whereas the police officer, Molly, and the criminal, Malvo, remain steadfast on their paths of justice and violence throughout the series.  For me, the performance by Billy Bob Thornton, who won the 2015 Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television, and the transformation of Lester Nygaard (spoiler alert) from the bullied and belittled man who met Malvo in the emergency room to the man who confronts Malvo in the Las Vegas hotel elevator were two of the main reasons why the series won the Golden Globe and Emmy for Best Mini-Series.  In addition to their great performances, the actors Allison Tolman, Colin Hanks, Bob Odenkirk and Keith Carradine were outstanding.  Another special element of the television series was the selection of scenes filmed for the opening of each episode and the selection of music, poems and biblical stories that began and ended the episodes.  The opening scenes of orchestra music and a stark winter highway, Asian music and fish, folk music and farm fields and ukulele music and a washing machine factory were some of the many brilliantly shot scenes.  The second season of Fargo starring Patrick Wilson, Ted Danson and Jean Smart will have its premiere next fall on FX and based on those actors and the return of Noah Hawley and the Coen Brothers, if you were wondering if I am already waiting to watch the second season, like the good people of Minnesota would say – You Betcha!!