In which Margaux and I bid farewell to Fargo‘s perfect second season.
Trevor: I don’t know what I was expecting. Of course Fargo nailed its finale. Last week’s “The Castle” was an impossible episode to top, and thankfully Fargo didn’t try. It opted for a quieter, almost bloodless farewell, with typically great storytelling and performances. I’m going to miss this show so much, especially since season three won’t start until spring 2017.
Margaux: It’s hard to follow up an episode where you’ve killed off an entire family’s lineage, but appreciated the cold open confirming how many Gerhardts we’ve lost; still no catch up on the whereabouts/what became of Charlie, but I can’t imagine that being in jail and learning your entire family is dead as “uplifting.”
Trevor: It was pretty ballsy of the show to introduce the Gerhardts as the season’s primary antagonists, then methodically kill them off throughout the season. Mike Milligan died too, albeit a more internal, philosophical death, like Vic Mackey at the end of The Shield. It’s weird to root for someone like Mike because he’s a stone-cold killer, but there’s something truly depressing about seeing him stuck behind a desk, working for golf enthusiast Adam Arkin (who also directed this week’s episode, as well as last week’s).
Margaux: Yeah, Mike Milligan’s end didn’t quite fall in line with what he’d probably had hoped for. He wanted to be somewhat benevolent king, showing one act kindness and one act of cruelty upon rolling up to the Gerhardt’s deserted compound, War Pigs” was certainly the most apropos song to play. But Mike Milligan’s robot/alien voice when he arrives reminded me of (and gave more weight to) the theory that the Kansas City mob was this otherworldly presence. With the Kitchen Brother(s) unexplained mute-ness being the norm and showing mob boss life as more of a corporate tech start up and less like Goodfellas (Henry Hill would fuckin’ kill himself if he had to work this gig) all played into the theme (and overtly shown) UFO/flying saucer/”We Are Not Alone” subtext.
Trevor: Mike’s corporate bosses definitely represent the idea of unknown beings watching all of our activities, and the high rise out of which they operate means they literally come down from the sky.
“Palindrome” did so much great storytelling on a smaller scale. It eschewed the trappings of most finales. The two deaths it set itself up to show us (Betsey and Hank) didn’t happen. Peggy went to jail instead of escaping. And Hanzee, in my favorite ending, became Moses Tripoli. There are some major season one connections here, beyond a young Mr. Numbers and Mr. Wrench playing catch. Moses Tripoli is a (white, bald, bearded) mob boss who orders the hit on Lorne Malvo in season one. That’s some majorly full-circle narrative, and it makes perfect sense in Fargo’s world that a Native American could get plastic surgery to look like any other Midwesterner.
Margaux: I’m happy the last moment Fargo has with Hanzee is basically an implication that he murders two dickhead, bully teens, who are picking on Mr. Numbers and Mr. Wrench.
But let’s talk about the Blumquists, because against all odds, one of them actually survives. I was rooting for both of them to live, but knew it was next to impossible, and found it so poetic that Ed dies in a meat walk in. And up until the bitter end, Peggy was self-actualizing all over the place, still. I mean, it’s just so in character for Peggy to, despite being handcuffed in the back of a cop car, hopes for the best possible outcome, and in this case it’s serving out her sentence in San Quentin. You are right though Peggy, it’s probably the nicest prison you could ask for. It was truly surprising to see how devastated and distraught Peggy became once it hit her that Ed wasn’t going to wake up. Their semi-break up in Ed’s final moments were heartbreaking, but made the utmost sense, and made me very curious what it was that they “had” at the beginning of their relationship, they were quite the pair of polar opposites. But in the same sense way that Marge and Homer are believable, the fact that one clearly loves the other, is what made their relationship work.
Trevor: In those final moments, it was as though Ed was becoming the best “him” he could be. He self-actualized, and it cost him his life. I knew certain actors in Fargo were going to be great: Patrick Wilson, Jesse Plemons, Jeffrey Donovan, etc. But Kirsten Dunst was the biggest and best surprise of the season. She was nothing short of phenomenal in her best performance since Drop-Dead Gorgeous.
(Also, side note that I forgot to bring up earlier: how cool was it to see Allison Tolman, Colin Hanks, and Keith Carradine again? That’s the best kind of fan service. You don’t have to comment on this, I just thought it was really cool.)
Margaux: There isn’t much to say about Betsey’s flashforward/dream of grown up Allison and Lou living somewhat happily ever after except maybe that happy face emoji where it has hearts for eyes because that’s how I felt when I watched it.
I appreciated that Fargo attempted to hand wave the UFO incident of last week, “maybe leave that out of the report”, but still no closer to understanding its significance, if there was any. At least we finally got a more concrete answer behind Hank’s hieroglyphics in his office.
Trevor: It says a lot about how good this show is that it can show us something like Hank’s office, then offer an explanation for it that’s actually satisfactory. I guess what I loved most about “Palindrome” was its subdued narrative. It ended on an unexpectedly graceful note, with Betsey and Lou going to bed together (which echoed the ending of the movie Fargo). I wasn’t sure how this show would follow up “The Castle,” and I’ll admit to being pretty surprised. I didn’t see a happy ending coming.
Margaux: I could have done with one more Nick Offerman appearance, or another Hank and Peggy conversation, but other than that, Fargo did a great job in the finale by bringing everything it natural conclusion. They made a smart decision by more or less tying up a majority of its loose ends in the penultimate episode in service of focusing more the characters that we’d grown attached to in the finale. I’m excited to see what season three has in store for the icy tundra.
Trevor: Get ready for about eighteen months of speculation. All I know about season three is that it will take place in 2010, and Noah Hawley wants to critique the narcissism of this generation like he critiqued the cowboy capitalism of Lou’s. But that’s a conversation for another day. I know I don’t need to ask this, but what are you thinking for stars? Episode first, then season.
Margaux: “Palindrome” was not what I expected, but it was the finale the story needed in order to find balance and bring season two to a satisfying conclusion, that being said, not my favorite episode of the season, but to be fair, finale’s rarely are. 4.5 stars for the episode, and this should be fairly obvious, but in case it isn’t, five out of five for the season. I’ve recommended this season to anyone with ears or eyes, and I’m beyond ecstatic to watch Fargo clean up all the awards it’s nominated for, especially for Kirsten Dunst, who really stole this whole show. And with a cast this size, with that much talent, is hard to do, but she made it look so easy and fun watch.
“Palindrome” score: 4.5/5
Fargo season two score: 5/5
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