Holy shit!!!

http://ew.com/tv/2018/08/03/chris-rock-fargo-season-4/
TYPETV ShowGENREDrama, CrimeRUN DATE04/15/14BROADCASTERFXSEASONS3CURRENT STATUSIn SeasonTVPGRTV-MA
Chris Rock will star in the fourth season of Fargo, which is making some rather dramatic storytelling changes for the next edition — including seemingly ditching Minnesota (oh jeez!).

FX has officially greenlit a new round of the Emmy-winning series and has cast the actor-comedian.

Moreover, the normally ultra-secret show has a released a detailed story description of the long-awaited new season.

Fargo season 4 will shift the start of the action from the rural upper Midwest (the setting of the first three seasons) to Kansas City, Mo., plus go further back in time than ever before (so no, Rock probably won’t have a Minnesota accent).

Here’s the description: “In 1950, at the end of two great American migrations — that of Southern Europeans from countries like Italy, who came to the US at the turn of the last century and settled in northern cities like New York, Chicago — and African Americans who left the south in great numbers to escape Jim Crow and moved to those same cities — you saw a collision of outsiders, all fighting for a piece of the American dream. In Kansas City, Missouri, two criminal syndicates have struck an uneasy peace. One Italian, one African American. Together they control an alternate economy — that of exploitation, graft and drugs. This too is the history of America. To cement their peace, the heads of both families have traded their eldest sons.

Chris Rock plays the head of one family, a man who — in order to prosper — has surrendered his oldest boy to his enemy, and who must in turn raise his son’s enemy as his own. It’s an uneasy peace, but profitable. And then the head of the Kansas City mafia goes into the hospital for routine surgery and dies. And everything changes. It’s a story of immigration and assimilation, and the things we do for money. And as always, a story of basically decent people who are probably in over their heads. You know, Fargo.”

Rock released this rather brief statement: “I’m a fan of Fargo and I can’t wait to work with .”

Rock has won four Emmy awards and has appeared in numerous movies and TV shows including Lethal Weapon 4, Top Five, and Empire, among others.

Fargo season 4 has no other cast or release date yet, though late 2019 or early 2020 seems likely given the timing of this announcement.

And by reading the plot "teaser," I'm guessing Rock is Bokeem's character's father.

that can't act.

so him anchoring a show is a bold fucking choice.

pulling for him though

even when hes in an interview acting like the joke is spontaneous (despite the minute long setup)...he is terrible at it.

Or Aubrey before Legion?

I believe in Hawley’s casting department and his ability to write/direct actors to the promised land.

Aubrey was already awesome in Parks & Rec. tho.

and the fact season three was very very choppy to say the least doesn't make me all that happy. I'll wait to hear more casting news of course, but I'm quite leary right now. The last two seasons from this Noah Hawley dude (the last two seasons of Fargo and Legion) haven't been all that great.

Should I go back and finish it?

I loved seasons 1 and 2, but somehow 3 never grabbed me. I think I got distracted by Twin Peaks before the story started to come together.

but it's def the weakest of the three

jason schwartzman too with that lil wes anderson blank stare shit.

honestly...for such a highly acclaimed show in this day and age of star powered tv...im surprised they didnt get a higher caliber cast for this season.

any laughs he can pull it off.

That's a great trailer. Rock sounds about his usual (he seems to do steely cool better than he does anything else).

Fargo is a show I've never thought was as great as everyone else. I've never once had an interest in revisiting season 1. Season 2 I mostly enjoyed but wouldn't bother rewatching it. It's also got to be one of the most violent seasons of TV I've ever seen. Season 3 I didn't bother with.

It's well-made, they've assembled largely great casts (aside from the K & P stuntcasting) it's compelling enough. But something is missing for me when compared to the best TV of the last decade. On a surface level its just like those shows but it never gets over the that hump for me.

All that's to say, I'm looking forward to this but my expectations aren't so high that they can't be relatively easily met.

can't wait

**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Real tough call.
They nailed everything in S2 from that era.
Bokeem Woodbine steals every scene he's in.
It's actually worth it JUST to watch him.

I totally missed the Sunday airing because of the Heat/Celts game.

Knowing I can watch this season on Hulu makes me want to wait until the Finals are totally over so that I know my attention will be completely focused on the show on Sundays.

I do wonder how much the delay in airing this season because of COVID-19 will lower the ratings.

Would love to see Glynn Turman though. I'm conflicted lol

The first 24 minutes of this episode was brilliant, and a
clinic on how to introduce new characters.

The story of the families and gangs throughout the years
was an excellent device to get us our main story,
and really set the stage for how high the stakes are.

Actress E'myri Crutchfield as the narrator was great.
Again, using her to explain the story while also showcasing her own,
fantastic.

Obviously, I loved this. I plan on watching the 1st episode again
before I watch the next.

Oh, one of my favorite parts. When Rock and the italian mob
boss were sitting on the bench in the park, before Rock got up
(and this is after he said the line "You realize you're not my boss",
get reaches in his bag of peanuts and takes some. LOVED that.

The Fargo team once again has me ready for this season.

all those little Fargoisms. Some interesting characters too, Doctor Senator, the psycho italian zip brother, that crazy nurse, the little girl.

looking forward to ep03 Sunday

>all those little Fargoisms. Some interesting characters too,
>Doctor Senator, the psycho italian zip brother, that crazy
>nurse, the little girl.
>
>looking forward to ep03 Sunday


I can see the Bluto from Popeye looking brother being a bit too one note. I do like the story telling this season, although some of the connections the characters have to one another seem to be a bit forced, but I'll suspend disbelief for the sake of enjoying the show.

Bluto works too lol

If it wasn't for COVID they'd be cueing up the Popeye Cinematic Universe w/ a dark take on Bluto with the film BLUTO

Rock's kid. Is he Mike Milligan (Bokeeem)? Rabbi's name is Milligan. Its 1950 which will put him in his 40s in seasom 2.

I swear Fargo is the only place Schwarzman as a mob boss could possibly work.

I assume he has to be. I figured that had to be the case as soon as they showed him getting looked after by Rabbi Milligan.

And every time they nail it. Salvatore Esposito is killing me with the faces he makes and his sibling rivalry with Schwartzman is highly entertaining. Hope to see him in more projects.

It's got a lot of things going for it. Namely:

Jessie Buckley as Oraetta Mayflower
Glynn Turman as Doctor Senator
Timothy Olyphant as Dick "Deafy" Wickware
Ben Whishaw as Rabbi Milligan
E'myri Crutchfield as Ethelrida Pearl Smutny

But I got to say there are two things that I am having a hard time with starting with Chris Rock as a crime boss. I can't tell if its my problem not being able to see him as anything other than the comedian or if he is a bad actor. I am just not buying it.

I also am having a hard time with the children swap. I did research and it really didn't seem like it was a thing back in the day. But more importantly, I just can't see a black family doing it. Noah Hawley is the sh*t but I am not sure he can just write black characters like he does all the other characters he created. Or to put another way the young black girl in the show is my momma's age and I can't help but think this looks nothing like I know of black people from this period. Even the scene with Doctor Senator and the white guy meeting in the dinner, given the time period I don't think that ever would have happened.



**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

after watching the 1st few episodes...its hard not to think about other people who would have fit this role better.

but at this point im thinking this was all intentional

the show is moderately entertaining otherwise. just enough so to keep me watching.

After the high of Episode 01, I was unimpressed.
In Fargo S1 and 2, something major happened, and the
rest of the season was showcasing the poor decisions of all
the characters involved.

I haven't seen S3.

For the 1st 3 episodes, I was waiting for the event that
would impact all of the characters, and it really hadn't happened yet
until ol' girls robbed Chris Rock.

So NOW, there's something at stake.

I hate to admit it because I love the setup.

Someone called it “Sitting at Tables and Telling Long, Vaguely Threatening Stories” which was mostly what episode 5 mostly felt like. I felt like there was this big setup after Doctor Senator told off the Italian where I knew if he made that speech, he must have big guns waiting for them outside. But after making such a speech just to get shot in the street like that? WTF he think was going to happen?

Also, I've been uncertain whether it's my fault for not being able to see Chris Rock as anything other than as Chris Rock but with the speech to his wife it's clear to me that he is a bad actor/miscast. When I see people scared of him it's laughable. I fully expected his wife to laugh in his face after his speech from that episode.

I think someone on twitter identified the biggest problem with Chris Rock is that he doesn't come off as "Old Timey". He sounds like a New Yorker from 2020.

This is one of the things I chalk up to a white creator of the show but I think Noah Hawley made a mistake of not casting a Southern actor. Its one of the reasons why I think Jonathan Majors kills in Love Country, he sounds the part.


I guess people from the midwest watch other seasons of Fargo and go, that's not what Midwestern people are like but I have that feeling about the black folks depicted in the show this season.




**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

It doesn't come close to the first two seasons, but it isn't nearly as bad as the third season, so I suppose it has that going for it.

The only good thing is that this season is more of an ensemble compared to the prior seasons, so shoddy performances from individuals actors/actresses doesn't drag the season down too much.

Some of the character choices are a bit too contrived to me, but I'll let the season rock since there isn't anything else to watch.


Funnily enough, your complaints of Chris Rock ring far more true to me for Schwartzman (sp?).

when he was checking his wife you got stand-up chris voice. He's been fine so far for me because he's been so low-key.

it might have been you who talked above about Bluto the zip being one note, that's starting to wear a bit thin. It's pretty much him griping about the problem with you americans and giving crazy eyes.

all that said i'm enjoying the season.

It's really bad and for a show I don't think is nearly as good as everyone else does in general, I think this is now just bad television. That Chris Rock stunt casting really bit them in the ass. His best scenes were with Turman so it's only going to get worse from here on out. Rock's actually had some ok moments sprinkled throughout but he can't give the performance the show needs. Not even close.

The brother is somehow worse than Chris Rock and undercuts any sense of menace he's supposed to exude because I'm generally bewildered by the fact that no one told him to cut that shit out on set.

Jonathan Schwartzman is flying under the radar as also being terribly cast and terrible due to Rock and whoever is playing his brother but he's bad too.

There aren't characters just an assortment of quirks who vomit out dialogue that wants you to think it is smart, interesting or funny and most of it is neither.


Remember after Tarantino came on the scene and there was a glut of knock-off's that aped his style but got it all wrong? That's what this show is. It so fundamentally misunderstands why the Coen Brothers films work. So you're left w/ dialogue that someone who really likes Coen Brothers movies wrote spoken by characters that someone who really likes Coen Brothers movies created while they do things that they think Coen Brothers characters would do. To show how much of a fan they are they sprinkle in nods to Coen Brothers movies (and even nods to the show itself) that they love so much so you can tell. Unfortunately, they lack almost all of the talent and intelligence of the Coen Brothers.

It's like that meme about wanting to buy something and your mom tells you you already have some knock-off version at home. "Mom I want to watch the Coen Brothers!" "You have Coen Brothers on TV!" Yeah, no we don't.

If Coen Brothers films were more like this show, we wouldn't be talking about the Coen Brothers.


Gonna hop off this train.

online right now.

I give Schwartz a little more leeway because I think the idea is that he is SUPPOSE to look foolish as the head of the Italian crime family because he is the Jewish kid that was swapped into their family.

Even the bug eye Italian guy I thought might was suppose to be ridiculously over the top.

Chris Rock was okay as long as he was a man of few words. Him trying to carry scenes is just bad.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

It's probably the best acting Chris Rock has done that I can remember but it's still Chris Rock acting so it's still not good. Rock was good in select scenes but he can't do the heavy lifting the part requires and he can't slip into a character. At best it's Chris Rock saying the lines somewhat convincingly, at worst it is Chris Rock saying the lines badly. He can't do the Sandler thing where he can, when he chooses to, convince you he's someone else other than who he is.

You're right, Bug Eyed-talian is very much intentional. It's just a horrible choice and a horrible performance. Like comically, distractingly bad.

Schwartzman acquits himself better than both but that monologue in the jail was awful as written and as performed. He might as well have started it with "Gather around everyone, I will now walk you through the central theme of this season in the most on the nose way possible"

A better actor could have made it seem less like he was reading a book report and created some tension in that scene.

I think all of the other actors are fine, and agree that the Italian dude is supposed to be over the top.

things have been bugging me through out the previous episodes but i was giving everything a pass. after this episode ehhh

im going to finish it but i understand other people jumping ship.

Here's another reason:

The Fargo series (and ultimately the movie) thus far was about an event happening, and then watching people make poor decisions around that event.

S1: Lester Nygaard covers up the killing of his wife.

S2: Peggy Blumquist attempts to cover up the hit and run and homicide of Rye Gerhardt.

These events kicked off the rest of the story. All the characters were reacting to these events. Season 4 of Fargo there was no opening event. And like people have mentioned in this post, I loved the setup. That first episode showcasing the history of the gangs in the town was great. But when there wasn't a clear event everyone was reacting to, the show seemed to depart from what made it great. I don't want to call it a formula, but the way they're telling this story isn't unique in any way.

because this is some of the best, ambitious TV-showmaking i think i've ever seen

(can i get at least one "mhmm"?)

any gripes i have are pretty minor. i'll judge it once its over but i'm enjoying it.

cuz IM enjoying it. Sure it has its flaws, but the way its getting trashed, I dont see it.

Rock isn’t good but he isn’t so bad that it’s ruining the whole thing for me.

any show I've seen in a decade.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

i wrote the other post after episode 4? and i did like it through then (episode 1 especially--and Ebal's speech about "to be american is to pretend"--great shit)...but it's been more hit&miss ever since? apart from timothy olyphant's scenes, not much else has really been hitting for me (gaetano's reasoning for reconciling with his brother? kinda goofy)--almost weird that this is the start to Mike Mulligan's eventual story :/

I thought it was far superior to s3.

I'd rank the seasons: 2,1,4,3.

I was entertained by 3 but thought they did a really horrible job tying everything together. Seemed sloppy and rushed.

This is a historical inaccuracy (I believe but welcomed to be proven wrong) that bugs me about this show.

I just don't believe that black organized crime could go to war with white people. Mainly because I believe the white organized crime would get the police to shut them down and take them out. I don't think there is any historical precedent for Chris Rock's character or gang.

The idea that Chris Rock could own a white cop simply by showing up at his place and putting a gun in his face doesn't make sense to me.

cops were on white gangsta payrolls or had them blackmail to keep them in line, I can't see a black gangsta controlling a white cop through just intimidation.



**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

they had over him was gone - telling him to go bring Satchel back (which was a suicide mission for the cop) just doesn't make sense to me. Then dude goes in the house and acts surprised when he hears about Gaetano being held by the Cannons. Why not let them know right then and there about like "yeah I know where he's being held!"

I guess that could be the only explanation if you want to stretch it - that he couldn't tell the Faddas what he knew because he'd be admitting that he helped the Cannons apprehend Gaetano, and maybe he thought he'd be instantly killed by Josto as soon as he let them know where Gaetano was being held. But that's too much of a stretch to me to think that Chris Rock and the crew would trust him enough to go back to the Italians to get Satchel without giving them up.

Which brings me to the other annoying aspect of this episode - why are they keeping Gaetano alive??? At this point they are completely justified in killing him since he ordered the failed hit on his older son and also took out Doctor Senator. Yes it puts Satchel in more danger, but as we saw with Josto ordering the hit on Satchel the war was already escalated past that point.

This season is entertaining - I'm invested in the story and really want to see how it will all turn out. But you have to shut your brain off, and I expect a bit more than that from Fargo.

Not sure how much it matters to his brother but it is negotiating leverage to have him (even for the NY families if not for Josto).




**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Gaetano alive then that’s a big miscalculation. Of course we the audience know more than Cannon does about that since we’ve seen Josto order the hit on Satchel. But from Cannon’s perspective he knows that Josto and Gaetano are fighting with each other for control of that family, and knowing that he’s gotta realize that killing Gaetano actually helps Josto in giving him complete control of the Faddas, so keeping him alive isn’t much of a bargaining chip.

i was thinking there was something i missed other than they roughed him up and threatened him

all of the visions of dead folks/spirits/ghosts will have a payoff in the last episode or so, because so far, they just seem like unnecessary flourishes whenever they appear on the screen.

And I also hope they don't happen to 'haunt' that killer nurse when her storyline concludes for the season finale.

**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

from the prior seasons. I don't remember one from the third season, mainly because the third season for the most part was rancid trash and I am delighted in forgetting it.

My main concern is with the supernatural elements fitting into the plot points for the current season. So far, they haven't been.

Chris Rock beating down the dude that wanted to buck back was a complete joke.

The nurse killing her boss Harvard seemed like a waste of time and the moment when it was discovered that Chris Rock's credit card idea was stolen did not hit hard at all as it should have.

There's only three episdodes left, right?

And I actually thought this was the best episode for Chris Rock. He had to balance the quiet thoughtful leadership persona with the violent gangster side, and this was the first episode in which I believe he really pulled that off. Combine that with his reaction to what Josto told him, his patience in dealing with Gaetano (I was complaining about them not killing him before, but now I’m totally with it), and seeing all the wheels turning in his head as he realizes that Josto WANTS him to kill Gaetano, but trying to determine why, I really thought Chris brought it this episode. The scene when he was whipping Happy’s cousin was the first time his voice rose this season and it didn’t feel to me like his standup comedy voice.

He legit held his own with the talent Tim Olyphant. He gave his boy a glare after the Mormon left that was legit menacing.

This was the best episode to death. But it required a shit ton to be going on and a whole lot of deaths to get there.

Not sure why the twitchy cop shot Olyphant. We may find out but I feel like it was missing a scene (no a line) where the Mormon said or alluded to the fact that he was going to bring him in when this was done.

Truth is, I don't think the Mormon did very much this season. I could have used more of him and less of the twitchy cop.



**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Loy ordered Deafy to ensure that the girls were killed so they wouldn’t come back on him for giving up their location and going back on his word. He may have also ordered him to kill Deafy - but whether he did or not Odis had to kill Deafy since he was shooting the girls point blank. I’d lean towards Loy having ordering him to kill Deafy, because that would explain why Odis was over the top nervous about getting out to the car to go in the train station.

The season is lining up to all go back to Loy’s speech earlier about systematic racism and the fact that a black gang won’t be able to get ahead even if they are better. Loy has made the right decisions this season, showing patience and that he’s smarter and more organized than the Faddas, but it still isn’t going his way...Gaetano ended up not killing Josto after Loy let him go, the Fargo gang initiated the hit on the Faddas and killed the brothers’ mom, but they also left the brothers alive and even more United now that their mom is gone. Which means they’ll likely be able to get help from New York in this war. On top of all that he tries to take out the girls but Zelmare was able to get away, and she’s gonna want revenge since she knows Loy gave them up and she lost her girl because of it.

One of the biggest gripes I have with this season is I can't buy the idea that a black gang in that time can go toe to toe with white gangs because White gangs had the power of the state behind them. As soon as the Italians had beef with the Black Gang, they could just send the police in to shut them down.

I just don't think Italian Gangsters would ever seen a black gang as peers, (certainly not peers enough to exchange children).

We might find that's the ultimate theme of the show. It would be rewarding to see Loy prevail but it would bother me to rewrite history like that.



**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

to make the right moves and it will seem like he’s somehow getting out of all this, but will end up getting taken down unexpectedly by something traced to systematic racism. Could be that the mayor owes the Faddas which would be the payoff from the ranger marriage, or maybe it’s Odis who ends up taking them down. But it ain’t gonna end well for him.

If Josto, who is pretty terrible at being a gangsta is the ultimate winner, betraying Gaetano (who is the ultimate old school gangsta but too unevolved to survive in Ameria) and handles Loy somehow (who though smarter, can't beat him because he is black), and marries into the system and becomes a respected member of the community, that would ring true.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

just a fewwww terrible things like how did the Irishman know where to go to save Satchel?

but i was really looking forward to whatever supernatural element would come into play this season, and the ghost aspect has been delivered really well. probably my favorite scene so far has been the ghost in the bathtub scene, with her closing her eyes as he went into her friend (or something).

truly a jaw dropping moment tho when the twitchy cop killed the Mormon. he was dominating that character. i hope they dig a lot deeper into the ghost, maybe he is keeping her alive and she has just been causing other people to get killed? I am rambling.

They telegraphed the twitchy guy killing the mormon from the moment they got in the car

>just a fewwww terrible things like how did the Irishman know
>where to go to save Satchel?

But this season has been terrible. I tried to buy Chris Rock as a serious and tough actor but its just not happening. The storyline itself is super monotonous and boring.

>But this season has been terrible. I tried to buy Chris Rock
>as a serious and tough actor but its just not happening. The
>storyline itself is super monotonous and boring.


The worst thing is that the season was getting better, at least in my opinion, because the seventh episode was pretty decent. Then things had to get bogged down with that slow as molasses eighth episode. I think there might be too many characters to juggle, hence partly why this season has been a drag. The decision to have Chris Rock and Jason Schwartzman (sp?) be big bads is a mistake as well because I find it hard to get too threatened by them as figures of authority.

I suppose I could be wrong if the story gets tied by neatly within th next two episodes though.

And it backfired miserably. Doesnt helped that they were surrounded by much better actors in supporting roles

it grabbed me and kept me interested to see what would happen. i kind of stopped worrying about how it would advance the story in the season and just watched to see where it lead.

im guessing thats the last we see of satchel. i previously thought they would give us a bit more closure on his future but i think this worked well.

maybe when the season is done ill be mad they took a whole episode on this but i enjoyed watching it.

I told my girlfriend during one of the scenes of the car
driving through Kansas "this looks and feels like the beginning of The Wizard Of Oz.

The color and tornado confirmed it.

I enjoyed this episode a lot.

I mean I know the history but not sure how it going to win a war for Chris Rock.

Spoiler: The death of Gaeteno is the very definition of what someone here I think called the "just things happening" essence of the show. I know Random things happen IRL but it just seemed like once they reconciled with his brother (implausibly might I add) it just seemed like they didn't know what to do with the character anymore. In fact, he became unrecognizable. Was he really the one who would be counseling his brother to have a level head and end the war? Didn't hit men just kill his mother like an episode ago?

IDK. I know it doesn't make sense to come back each week and complain about the show but since I can't stop watching the show because I want to see how it ends I have to do something.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Ethelrida knows all the dirt on Nurse Mayflower, who just got arrested for essentially being a serial killer. She also saw the nurse with Josto. Given that she knows the nurse killed Donatello, with the ring it’s easy for Loy to convince the New York mob that Josto ordered her to kill him. Especially with them already being irritated with Josto, and Gaetano being dead (knowing that they had beef but not that they’d resolved it). Having the ring just adds to the proof.

My guess is that Loy wins the war by having NY come in and clean everything up, but in the end he gets killed by either Leon or Zelmare. That would be the perfect callback to the turtle story from the last episode - with Leon and Zelmare both being turtles that Loy stepped on to maintain control as king.

that makes sense.

It's not like he shows up with the ring as evidence or has the one ring to control all rings.

Its more like now they have the information to connect the nurse to Josto and the Nurse to the death of the old man. That makes sense.

I'd also like to see why Mike Mulligan never returns home.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

>Spoiler: The death of Gaeteno is the very definition of what
>someone here I think called the "just things happening"
>essence of the show.

Ah. Well if the death of Gaeteno was supposed to be the "Fargo" event that springboarded the entire story like S1 & 2, they did a poor job of implementing it throughout the season. I almost felt like his death was an afterthought.

They made this character who was a complete caricature, a cartoonish villain who was as one note as you can get. A character made for you to hate both in universe and also from a meta perspective of how they handled him. I just wanted him to get killed off and it always frustrating that it wasn’t happening. Loy, Josto, Zelmare/Swanee, and the Fargo mob all had chances to kill him off but didn’t for one reason or another.

Then they took this character you hated, and in the second half of the season actually started to give him depth. He ends up actually being both the brains and the brawn of the Fadda crew. He doesn’t kill Josto because he realizes that’s what Loy wants him to do. He defers to Josto and realizes they are stronger together. He shows himself to be legitimately strong and not just a talker when he goes gun blazing and fights off the Fargo attack. (There was also brains involved there, he waited until their first surge stopped, knowing they were likely reloading.) He tries to talk down Josto when he wanted to go all in on the war, knowing that it would be smarter to lay back a bit.

Then in the last episode he’s bonding with Josto, telling the story of why he was sent away, and we start to see that he’s really still that 11 year old kid who was too grown for his age, and that his development suffered because of it. (This was also foreshadowed way back to when Zelmare and Swanee attacked and he was looking like a scared kid. At that time I thought it didn’t make sense but it was absolutely showing a bit of the trauma he had in his background, being sent away from his family as a kid and having to be a child soldier in the war.) While watching the scene in the car with Josto I was thinking “wow, they actually made me start to feel for this character that I HATED.” And as soon as I started thinking that, he was dead. In the most Fargo/Coen way possible.

It was okay. As an episode it was a bit strange because the run time was much shorter than I expected. Certain storylines for tied up much quicker than I would have thought, and others were drawn out a bit. The Smutney story getting tied up with the quick scene of them getting their keys back was really quick. I was actually impressed with how tight it was, until I saw how short the episode was and we got so much drawn out with Josto and the nurse for them to die pretty conventionally. I wonder if having to finish shooting during the pandemic affected the original plan for the season.

I'm guessing the last scene with Ethelrida was her reading her history report at a college admissions or something, though I noticed that same painting from Loy's office was on the wall (the real one since his was a print?) With the season beginning with her narrating (and reading this report I guess) I would have expected a bit more of an explanation of who she was reading it to or where she was...

Loy went out just like I expected. He "won" the war but at the end got held back by the institutional system of America - at the end of the day he was a small time black gangster going up against the worldwide Italian mafia. I was just waiting for his death at the end from Zelmare...they drew that out and foreshadowed it with multiple shots of oranges. Only surprise was it being with a knife. That being said I love that Satchel made it home before this happened.

Overall this was an entertaining season of TV, but definitely below the normal Fargo standard.

i definitely expected he was going to get killed when he was looking in the window but i didnt know by who.

i was a bit let down by the finale. it ended up being at the same level as most of the season. i was holding out hope it was going to make everything worth it.

i was definitely wrong about satchel not being showed anymore after the wizard of oz episode. it was good to see him get back home but i kind of felt like it wouldnt make sense with him turning into mike milligan. i think him witnessing his father get killed tied that up tho.

is able to kidnap a State Politician and the head of a fairly upscale hospital in broad daylight after his brother's dead body is left at the scene of a detective getting killed? All by himself?

How busy is Noah Hawley for him to allow for his recent works to suffer so badly?

Overall, this season wasn't as bad at the third season, but I felt pretty empty and disappointed when last night's episode was done.

Hopefully Noah Hawley is done creating televised drama for FX so he can fully focus on whatever else he has going on because the last two seasons of Fargo and the last season of Legion have been very very subpar.

won't really argue with many of the complaints. it's definitely hollow seeing that the ingredients were there for greatness but it falls short.

but mostly after that final shot, it makes me want to re-watch season 2. Or wonder how long Satchel hung in with that office job.

Also, didn't see it mentioned but dude who shot Jotso and the nurse was Joe Bulo. Brad Garret's character in S2

>won't really argue with many of the complaints. it's
>definitely hollow seeing that the ingredients were there for
>greatness but it falls short.

I agree that it could have been REALLY great, and some of the episodes near the end really showed that. I don't know what the problem was. I'm not buying that it was Rock. I'm also not sure it was the lack of a character as the real center of gravity. It just didn't **quite** fire on all cylinders when it should.

>but mostly after that final shot, it makes me want to re-watch
>season 2. Or wonder how long Satchel hung in with that office
>job.

Yeah, I liked the final mid-credits scene a lot. I was trying to figure out if it was supposed to occur after he got the office job, and if it was supposed to take place during the season (like when he was driving to the Gerhardt compound during the season finale.


>Also, didn't see it mentioned but dude who shot Jotso and the
>nurse was Joe Bulo. Brad Garret's character in S2

Wow. Didn't catch that. And Satchel aka Mike ends up working for him.

From capping to the boss to ending up with his head in a hat box. That's a journey.

That was the best line of the whole season, maybe the series and was the closest the show has gotten to Cohen level of writing I've seen.

Also Satchel reading How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie explains a lot about Mike Mulligan and the strange way he behaved.

Other than that This was a frustrating season but it ended well enough that I don't think it was a total waste of time.

I think towards the end I got use to Rock. Gun toting Justo seemed silly but the whole gang turning on him seemed right.



**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

In that order

Along with his role as Doctor Senator, he gets into his whole 60-year acting career.

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-features/glynn-turman-fargo-ma-rainey-interview-1093285/

this was really good tv.

its not touching seasons 1 and 2 but its a lot better than 3 imo.

chris rock was the weak link. theres no way around it. damn near everyone nailed their roles and created pretty compelling characters. but rock just wasnt believable as the hnic. he had at least 2 big scenes/monologues that you could tell were meant to be impactful but fell completely flat.

i think if they had a lead that was on par with the rest of the cast then this season would have been received better.

I think season 3 has some really great, Fargo-level scenes / episodes / characters. This season had, at best, some worthy scenes. But 80% of the characters were either trash, miscast or straight up laughable. The italian brother from Gomorra was... phew. Terrible for the most part

This season was super boring, I’m happy some of y’all liked it tho. Wonder if we’ll ever get season 1/2 level Fargo back, or if the show is just done by now. Shouldn’t be?

Hoping for a killa season 3 of Succession while I wait

>I think season 3 has some really great, Fargo-level scenes /
>episodes / characters. This season had, at best, some worthy
>scenes.

But it ended with an absolute thud. It's like they just didn't have any idea how to tie everything together.


>But 80% of the characters were either trash, miscast
>or straight up laughable. The italian brother from Gomorra
>was... phew. Terrible for the most part
>
>This season was super boring, I’m happy some of y’all
>liked it tho. Wonder if we’ll ever get season 1/2 level
>Fargo back, or if the show is just done by now. Shouldn’t
>be?

I liked it better than 3. Thought it was a tighter story.


>Hoping for a killa season 3 of Succession while I wait

Mannnnnnnnn I cannot wait for Succession to come back !!

out on a whimper. I am attempted to go back to re-watch it to see if it is as bad as people are saying but that sounds like a colossal waste of time.

**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

>out on a whimper. I am attempted to go back to re-watch it
>to see if it is as bad as people are saying but that sounds
>like a colossal waste of time.

I can't say enough that it had a ton of potential. The characters and the actors were, for the most part, terrific. But the storyline lagged behind, the "precipitating event" wasn't all that believable .. and as a bunch of us, including you, have said, it ended horribly.