Fargo series: reviews. Actors and roles

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Taking former feature films as the basis of the plot and remaking them into a series format has recently become a very common trend on television. The same applies to the cult picture of the Coen brothers in 1996, which in 2014 was transformed into the TV series Fargo. Reviews from viewers and critics can only be called enthusiastic, and after such a resounding triumph of the first season, it was decided to release the second, but with different actors and characters. Judging by the ratings, he made an even bigger splash, so the announcement of the continuation was quite expected.

Creators

Inspired by the films of the Coen brothers, Noah Hawley developed the idea of a series that would take place in the same area as in the film "Fargo". In addition, he provided the script for each episode with numerous references to other directors' works, including No Country for Old Men and The Big Lebowski. Hawley had previously worked on four other television projects. The most successful, perhaps, is "Bones", which continues to be published for 10 years now. In the director'sNoah's team has a dozen other people who brought the Fargo series to life. Reviews from critics after the first series fueled the interest of the audience, and the fact that Ethan and Joel Coen, as well as series guru Adam Bernstein, were listed as executive producers, further strengthened the position in the ratings.

Season 1: Plot

One of the central characters, so to speak, who brewed all the mess that the heroes had been clearing up all season, was the loser Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman). He works for an insurance company, but things are not going well, and every day a disgruntled wife is waiting at home. One day, he accidentally meets a former classmate on the street who beats him in front of his children. Once in the hospital, Lester meets a mysterious stranger played by Billy Bob Thornton. The hero tells him about his sad situation, but does not even suspect that his interlocutor is a skilled killer and criminal. After this conversation, in a mysterious way, the offender Nygaard is brutally killed, and he is sure that it was the mysterious man who did it. Meanwhile, the police are puzzled over what happened. Enterprising Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman) actively helps her boss and builds really plausible guesses. However, soon the boss is killed by an absurd accident. Molly is sure that Lester is involved, but no one but her supports this version. But after a couple of episodes, she meets a conscientious officer, Gus Grimley (Colin Hanks), who will help her.

Season 2: TV show plot

In the second season, viewers are transferred to the 70s in the town of Sioux Falls, familiar from the first ten episodes. In addition, one of the heroes will return, however, much younger than he was remembered. He will take the place of the main protagonist Lou Solverson, Molly's father. Also you will see his wife - Betsy. The city is run by the Gerhard crime family, the youngest of which, because of his extravagance, arranges a bloody massacre in a small diner. Lou, under the direction of the chief of police, and part-time son-in-law, Hank Larsson, is investigating this case. Also, minor characters appear in the series who unexpectedly become involved in crime (in the person of a butcher named Ed and his mysterious wife Peggy, played by famous actress Kirsten Dunst).

The main roles of the first season

As mentioned above, the main character is played by Martin Freeman. Recent years have become for him the peak in his acting career. He has many box office and world-famous projects to his credit, including: The Hobbit, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the television Sherlock. You can know the main antagonist played by Billy Bob Thornton not only as an actor from the films "Bad Santa" and "Monster's Ball", but also as a screenwriter and director, and a very talented one at that. He even has an Oscar for best screenplay (for the film "Sharpened Blade"). And after the TV series Fargo was released, reviews of his brilliant performance flooded the Internet, making him one of the best villains in history. ATThe filmography of Tolman, who played the deputy sheriff, Molly, had very few roles before participating in the project, and everything was exclusively on television. However, now her career is rapidly going up. Colin Hanks, who embodied the image of Gus, boasts more than 40 films and TV shows, but the actor has not had any particularly significant work.

The main roles of the second season

The second season boasts an even more stellar cast. The father of the Gerhard family, Otto, was played by Michael Hogan, who has over a hundred television roles to his credit, including Supernatural and Battlestar Galactica. His eldest son Dodd (Jeffrey Donovan) can be seen in The Changeling, The Assassin and J. K. Edgar". The middle one, named Bear, you will notice in all parts of the picture "Astral", as well as in the new "Mad Max". But the youngest, Rai, performed by Kieran Culkin, appeared in Scott Pilgrim, and is also the brother of the star of the Home Alone films. The father of the heroine Allison Tolman, or rather, his young version, was embodied on the screen by Patrick Wilson, who starred in such high-profile films as Watchmen, Prometheus, The Conjuring, Astral. His boss, Hank, was played by three-time Golden Globe winner Ted Denson, who many remember from the comedy Three Men and a Baby and its sequel.

Other actors

Among other performers who have an order of magnitude less screen time than those listed above, we can name Bob Odenkirk, who played the role of the new police chief in the first season. The actor is known in the image of SaulGoodman from Breaking Bad, and now with his own Better Call Saul project. Notably, Jesse Plemons, Ed the Butcher from Season 2, also starred in Breaking Bad. His wife, Peggy, was played by one of Hollywood's most successful actresses, Kirsten Dunst. She has more than 60 roles, for example, in such films as "Melancholia", "Interview with the Vampire", "Spider-Man", "Marie Antoinette", etc. The famous actor and musician Keith Carradine reincarnated as Molly's elderly father, who received "Oscar" for the song to the film "Nashville". And his wife from the second season was played by Cristin Milioti, the same heroine that the father tells his children about from the popular TV series How I Met Your Mother.

Reviews and criticism

As soon as the series "Fargo" was released, reviews about it filled both the Internet and the press. Despite the fact that by the first season there were some claims regarding the unhurried manner of narration, excessive cruelty and an abundance of blood, it nevertheless instantly gained incredible popularity among the audience, and they immediately began to predict it for the title of one of the best series of the year along with " A real detective." But the criticism of the continuation has become almost one hundred percent positive. According to most users, the new 10 episodes turned out to be more dynamic, and the characters came out much more realistic and brighter. With each episode, the ratings continued to rise. That is why, without waiting for the finale, the creators of the series extended for the 3rd season, which should be released in 2017.

Awards

Not without many nominations for prestigious awards, in which the first season of Fargo won many victories. The series, the actors involved in it, strong storylines and shooting style made it possible to receive one of the most prestigious awards in the world of cinema - the Golden Globe. In addition to the main victory, in 2014 Billy Bob Thornton was noted as the best actor at the same ceremony. It can be assumed that the second season will also repeat the success of its predecessor and win a lot of statuettes, but this will happen in 2016, when most of the awards for all kinds of success and achievements in cinema will be held.