Fargo Year Two

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: 'Fargo Year Two' on Blogcritics.

Last year, FX’s Fargo was a standout in a great year of television. With its Minnesota accents, oodles of charm, stellar cast and guest stars, and hilarious mayhem, it provided a unique, high-quality viewing experience. It was so good, I wondered if they could possibly recapture that same magic in the second go-round, since it’s an anthology series that isn’t reusing the same cast members. Thankfully, recapture it, they did, and the second season, which only recently concluded its ten-episode run, is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.

For season two, the action moves to 1979. It is still in the same part of the country, and has much of the same tone, but now has a period component added in. The music, the cars, the fashion, even Ronald Reagan (Bruce Campbell, Burn Notice), help sell that image. As such, it takes the specific spirit of season one and ups the weirdness even more, with great results.

In order to reach out to existing fans, Fargo Year Two does have two characters that connect it to the freshman run, and covers a case referenced in the premiere outing. Lou Solverson is the detective on the case. Played by Patrick Wilson (Watchmen) now, he is more than two decades younger than Keith Carradine’s version of the character. (There’s a bonus feature on the disc in which Wilson and Carradine discuss the shared role, and it’s a very welcome way to bring the stories together.) Lou’s daughter, Molly, the hero of last year, is five years old in this season. She doesn’t get involved much, but it’s still gratifying to see her.

Lou is going through a tough time when this season begins. His wife, Betsy (Cristin Milioti, How I Met Your Mother), is sick and, going by what we learned last year, doesn’t have a lot of time left. Thankfully, he has a good father-in-law, Hank (Ted Danson, Bored to Death, Damages), also in law enforcement, to help him out. This trio is by and large my favorite part of this run.

Once more, Fargo also has an average, quirky citizen mixed up in murder. This time, it’s Peggy Blumquist (Kirsten Dunst, Spider-Man), a hoarder, klepto housewife, and unlike last year’s Lester, her spouse, Ed (Jesse Plemons, Breaking Bad), is not the victim. Peggy doesn’t mean to do wrong, but she’s scared when events occur outside of her control. While she doesn’t handle them as well as we’d like to think most people would, it’s hard to hate her.

What’s interesting about what happens with Peggy in the first installment, which I don’t want to give away, is that it ties into a familiar urban legend. Fargo bills itself as a ‘true crime’ story, with words on the screen at the beginning of each episode proclaiming that what you’re viewing actually happened. It didn’t; that’s part of the conceit of the show, that it’s done in the style, but is not actually real, so those words are a lie. However, tying in something that lots of people think happened will only reinforce the believability of the premise.

For villains, there’s an entire mob family led by Otto Gerhardt (Michael Hogan, Battlestar Galactica). Otto has a wife, Floyd (Jean Smart, 24), three sons, Dodd (Jeffrey Donovan, Burn Notice), Bear (Angus Sampson, Insidious), and Rye (Kieran Culkin, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), and a granddaughter, Simone (Rachel Keller, Hollidaysburg), and they have no small share of foes to compete with, including ones played by Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond), Bokeem Woodbine (Saving Grace), and Zahn McClarnon (Longmire).

The Fargo Year Two release has no shortage of interesting extras, going above and beyond what most shows are doing these days, despite its quick turn-around. I mentioned the Lou featurette already. There’s also a bit on “The Films of Ronald Reagan,” a Skip Sprang TV commercial, a two-part making of, and an extra about true crimes in the Midwest. In all, this is a lot more than the normal deleted scenes and audio commentaries, and all complement the set nicely.

Visually, Fargo is stunning. With lingering shots over desolate landscapes and a design and color palette that enhance the experience, it is worth it to shell out for the high-definition edition.

Fargo Year Two is available now

Resign Please, MADAM SECRETARY

Article first published as MADAM SECRETARY Review on Seat42F.

CBS has a lot of faith in their new non-procedural (!) drama series, MADAM SECRETARY. A fictional tale of a female secretary of state, tapped to help out the President (Keith Carradine, Fargo) because she has a different perspective than his other advisors and he trusts her, it will air twice on the Sunday it premieres to make sure that if football overruns the schedule, viewers can still find it. Of course, the simpler solution would be to just learn how to schedule around sports, since the network has plenty of experience screwing that up, but I digress…

MADAME SECRETARY stars Tea Leoni (The Naked Truth) in the lead role of Elizabeth McCord. Elizabeth is your typical network leading lady, tougher and smarter than anyone around her, bucking convention to save the day and do what’s right. She’s torn between work and family, of course, as every modern woman must be, and she is besought by doubters on all sides. Luckily, she has the skills and stamina to persevere, doing whatever she must to go around any obstacle in her path, a noble hero if ever there was one. Leoni plays her convincingly, if perhaps a bit too earnestly.

Her main obstacle seems to be the president’s Chief of Staff, Russell Jackson (Zeljko Ivanek). Russell is a very familiar archetype, too, putting his own interests and politics ahead of what is right, and thus, is easily dealt a setback. He won’t go away quickly, though, and will probably clash over and over again in the same ways with Elizabeth as the series wears on. Ivanek, a brilliant performer with many impressive credits, including Damages, True Blood, Suits, and Argo, is completely wasted in a part that is similar to what he’s known for, but could easily be filled by any number of actors, not nearly complex enough (at least in the pilot) to rate Ivanek’s level of talent.

One might assume that Elizabeth’s staff will get in her way, too, since they’ve mostly been retained from a predecessor who operated in a way that could be described as polar opposite to Elizabeth’s approach. Indeed, we see Elizabeth’s own Chief of Staff, Nadine Tolliver (Bebe Neuwirth, Cheers), flabbergasted at her boss’ behavior in the premiere hour. However, this is clearly a ‘team of rivals’ situation in which Elizabeth will win over the people under her command, which also includes speechwriter Matt Mahoney (Geoffrey Arend, Body of Proof), press coordinator Daisy Grant (Patina Miller, All My Children), and assistant Blake Moran (Erich Bergen, How Sweet It Is). It begins happening right away, far too easily.

Rounding out the cast are Tim Daly (Private Practice, Wings) as Elizabeth’s husband, Henry, a professor who catches many of his young female students’ eyes, Evan Roe as Elizabeth’s self-described anarchist son, Jason, and Katherine Herzer as good daughter Alison. There isn’t much remarkable about Elizabeth’s family situation, but the guys in her household will likely cause her problems, personally and professionally, as the story plays out. This is being telegraphed well in advance of any on-screen developments.

I really want to like MADAM SECRETARY based on its premise and players involved, but the pilot is predictable and boring. I applaud CBS for moving outside of the mold and trying to find an appropriate pairing for The Good Wife, which deserves it, surrounded by rote crime series, but this show is just too under-developed to fit the bill. As you may have surmised from the above paragraphs, it sounds a lot like many other dramas already out there, with shades of The Good Wife and Scandal, but packaged in an inferior product.

MADAME SECRETARY tries to be exciting by adding in a conspiracy in which people are being killed to cover something up. Elizabeth’s predecessor might very well have been one of the victims, meaning she could be next. But even that seems forced and hokey, rather than compelling, as it should be. The overall tone and style of the program are just not living up to expectation. It’s really a shame.

MADAM SECRETARY premieres Sunday, September 21^st at around 8:30 p.m. ET, depending on football overruns, on CBS.

FARGO Miniseries Finale Review

Article first published as TV Review: 'Fargo' - Finale on Blogcritics.

FX’s Fargo has sadly come to an end. Ten episodes of brilliant, thrilling, suspenseful storytelling ends tonight with “Morton’s Fork.” The tale concludes with finality, tying up the loose ends from this excellent freshman run, leaving a possible (probable) season two to seek out new characters and new cases. It’s both satisfying and regrettable to see it go.

An important element of “Morton’s Fork” is that both Lester (Martin Freeman) and Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) get what they deserve. The airwaves are full of dark, gritty crime shows these days, and those do not always leave the viewers with a good taste in one’s mouth. Bad guys get away to kill another day, and heroes question their moral compass. Fargo is lighter fare, though, mixing lots of off-beat humor and quirky charm in, so those who deserve to go down have to for it to be an ending that fans feel good about.

Equally crucial is that Molly (Allison Tolman), Gus (Colin Hanks), Greta (Joey King), and Lou (Keith Carradine) survive. They are a sweet family unit, and because of, not despite, their coming together late in the season, they have to have a happy ending. We cannot bear to see these characters who are so good at heart suffer more misfortune and pain. They need to win the day and come out the other side intact, and they do.

Gus has an interesting arc. He leaves law enforcement for good reason, being bumbling and inept. He runs into Malvo early, but backs off because he can’t handle that type of villain himself. Yet, with his family on the line, Gus steps up as a man, protecting those he cares about, killing someone his family will never be safe having in the world.. I’m not sure he should go back to being a cop again, but he certainly gets a chance to redeem himself here, which I think he deserves.

One might wish that Molly is the one who takes down Malvo, since she is really the main heroine of the miniseries, but she doesn’t get the short shift in “Morton’s Fork,” either. She still gets pay off for the detective work she’s completed, and she finally earns the respect and admiration of her boss, Bill (Bob Odenkirk), as he steps aside and recommends her for promotion. There is major triumph in this, even if she isn’t the one to bring in Lester or Malvo, which she is still instrumental in getting to a place where they are taken down.

Fargo proves that good and evil battles can still be thoroughly engrossing and entertaining without the grey areas that pervade a lot of modern fare. I have nothing against its peers, loving many of them dearly and intrigued by shifty players, but its also nice to get a whiff of Fargo‘s scent, unique for the time in its lightness when dealing with such heavy subject matter, and almost miraculously staying as well-developed as those darker programs.

Part of the reason for this is because at many points during “Morton’s Fork,” the audience thinks Molly, Gus, and / or Lou may not make it out alive. Whether it’s Molly rushing off to Lester’s house alone, not realizing the FBI agents there are dead and no back up is on the way, or Gus sneaking into Malvo’s hideout, then confronting the scary man mano-a-mano, or even Lou sitting on the porch with his shotgun, there are moments where things could turn dire.

Fargo does a terrific job with presenting danger, but knowing who it can and cannot spare. Agents Pepper (Keegan-Michael Key) and Burdge (Jordan Peele), lonely men with no real lives? Sure, they can die. Gus, who has a teenage daughter and is expecting a baby? No way. The sense that Fargo just might let Gus perish anyway keeps the action intriguing, but when the writers don’t go through with it, it’s a relief, not a cop out.

There’s a feeling of authenticity that is in the proceedings. The not-actually-based-on-truth story, even as the opening proclaims otherwise, is tongue in cheek, but always keeps itself grounded. There isn’t anything in the show that couldn’t actually happen, and Molly won’t be solving more major crimes like this week after week or even year after year. In this, Fargo is mostly unique.

There’s also an extremely high level of consistency in the miniseries. All ten episodes are written by the same guy, Noah Hawley (Bones), and that provides solid through-lines. There aren’t weak points or people acting out of character because no other voices go into writing dialogue for the players. Mix in an unusually talented cast with no weak links, handling the material like pros, and Fargo is very successful in what it sets out to do.

I could pick apart “Morton’s Fork” in a 10-page review and praise every scene for something special; it’s that good. But I won’t because I feel works of art on this level are meant to be appreciated and re-watched for new meaning frequently, not analyzed to death by any single perspective. For me, Fargo is right up there with The Walking Dead in that I couldn’t wait to watch it each week, growing excited at the prospect of each new installment, and rarely waiting until it actually aired to view it. (Thanks to FX for being more generous with early screeners than any series on any network in recent memory.) I rank it one of Top Five shows of the year, easily, and cannot wait to see what Hawley comes up with for Fargo next season, assuming its renewed, which it likely will be.

Whether to Watch FARGO is Not a "Dilemma"

Article first published as FARGO Review on Seat42F.

FX’s new FARGO is the story of a pregnant police chief (Frances McDormand) tracking a pair of hit man (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) near the town of Fargo. The guys have been hired by a local failure (William H. Macy) to kidnap his wife in order to extort money from the woman’s father. But during the abduction, she is accidentally killed, setting off a series of dangerous, somehow funny, events. And bodies get put into a wood chipper.

No, wait a second. That’s the excellent 1996 film of the same name. Remarkably, pretty much none of what I said in the preceding paragraph applies to the story of the series, which goes in its own direction. I’m not saying that FX’s FARGO abandons the premise entirely. Although none of the character names have been changed, there are some very familiar character types.

Wimpy Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman, Sherlock, The Hobbit) encounters by chance a hit man named Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton, Armageddon), who encourages Lester to find his inner man. The local police chief (Shawn Doyle, Big Love), who has a pregnant wife (Julie Ann Emery, Hitch), and his deputies, Molly (Allison Tolman, Sordid Lives: The Series) and Bill (Bob Odenkirk, Breaking Bad), are looking for Lorne, though they don’t yet know who he is.

By taking some characters that seem a lot like the ones in the movie and keeping the setting and the accents, FARGO ties itself to the earlier work enough to bring the fans of it in. Yet, in making some very different choices with the story from the first scene onward, it makes the action unpredictable, keeping viewers guessing what might happen and who could die next.

This FARGO expertly maintains the balance between blood and laughs that one might expect. Characters (yes, plural) that might be considered important die in the very first installment. At the same time, the dialogue and bumbling happenstances, especially when Lester is around, make the proceedings enjoyable and lighter than one may expect from a program with a high body count. There are numerous occasions when I could not help but laugh out loud, a distinction most sitcoms fails to reach on a weekly basis.

The pilot is titled “The Crocodile’s Dilemma.” For those unfamiliar with the logic paradox, this refers to a crocodile kidnapping a child. The croc promises the father that he can have the kid back if and only if the father is able to accurately predict whether the crocodile will give him back the boy. If the father states that the crocodile will not give back the son, then he has correctly predicted and the croc must hand over the boy, though then that means the father didn’t correctly predict because the crocodile didn’t keep him.

If that makes your brain hurt, I understand. FARGO isn’t quite as complex as all that. What it is, though, is a well-crafted series of events, some from cause and effect, others arising by chance, that intermix in such a way that there doesn’t seem to be an easy, logical way out for the main players. Since the show has ten episodes to tell their story, it isn’t obvious yet how unwinnable the scenario will be, but it does feel like this is the type of situation set up in “The Crocodile’s Dilemma.”

The cast is truly fantastic. Freeman and Thornton, of course, have a body of work that implies they can handle themselves, and they do, beautifully. But so do the rest of those named above, along with Kate Walsh (Private Practice), Colin Hanks (The Good Guys), Keith Carradine (Dexter), and numerous other guest and recurring roles, with a heck of a lot more famous folks signed to appear in later hours. Whoever put together this crew deserves major credit, as FARGO would not work without its cast.

Strangely, there are also a couple of parts that are left wanting, mostly because they are not played by big names, but seem like big names should have been obtained, meaning it feels like FARGO failed to get its first choice and settled for a replacement. The bully introduced in the first hour is definitely a “Tom Wilson type,” but is not portrayed by Tom Wilson. We also meet a “Stephen Merchant type” later on. I could be wrong about the second-choice standings, but these parts feel just too close to those performers to be played by anyone else.

Other than that, though, I have no complaints. FARGO is a compelling, highly entertaining masterpieces, crafted so intelligently, and executed in the best of methods. The tiny touches, such as a message spelled out on Lester’s refrigerator, kick the quality up yet another notch. I am already a firm fan of this miniseries. FARGO airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on FX.

Still Following THE FOLLOWING

Article first published as THE FOLLOWING Review on Seat42F.

FOX’S THE FOLLOWING returns at a special night and time tonight with “Resurrection.” It’s been a year since Joe Carroll’s (James Purefoy) death, as well as Claire Matthews’ (Natalie Zea) and Debra Parker’s (Annie Parisse). Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon) has moved on, settling in to a teaching job, going through AA with the help of a sponsor (Keith Carradine, Dexter), and spending time with his niece, Max (Jessica Stroup, 90210), who is a cop. It seems the nightmare is over.

It’s nice to see Ryan happy and building a life for himself. He’s self-destructive by nature, and the Joe Carroll case did a number on him. He killed in cold blood and lost people he cared about. It will give fans hope for the future to see Ryan in a good place, not drinking, not dwelling on the past, finally finding an existence that he can be at peace with.

Of course, this lasts a scant ten minutes before the sinister happenings begin again. THE FOLLOWING is not a happy-ending show, and until the series finale’s credits role, no one has a chance at bliss. Followers of Carroll’s re-emerge on the anniversary of his death, beginning a new killing spree in New York City, where Ryan lives. They must be stopped.

Ryan is reluctant to get pulled back in, of course, and who can blame him? The damage done to his psyche won’t ever heal, and why would one want to put oneself back in those circumstances? Law enforcement pulls inactive agent Mike Weston (Shawn Ashmore) in to consult, so Ryan may not be technically needed, and while Mike certainly thinks Ryan could help, he won’t force the man.

But all is not as it seems. Much of what appears known about a couple of the main characters early in “Resurrection” simply isn’t true, and there are some cool twists in the premiere. Without giving anything away, it’s safe to say that Ryan will be back on the case quite soon, some people are just putting on a face, and at least one death may have been faked.

THE FOLLOWING continues to be scary and magnetic. A cult of serial killers who can hide among us and strike at any time is a frightening thought, and this show serves up a huge conspiracy of such. The danger lurks everywhere from many bodies, and there doesn’t seem to be any clear way to stop it. Every time one branch is dealt with, another takes its place.

This series is anything but boring. There’s action almost immediately, with an exciting chase, a number of victims killed, creepy masks, and someone gets hit by a car. The pacing is as break-neck as ever, with no one seeming safe, and a guarantee of much more blood as the season plays out. In short, year two promises to be just as good as year one, if this episode is consistent with the ones that follow.

“Resurrection” introduces us to some new murderers, the ranks of Carrollers (love that name!) having been depleted in season one. The most fascinating thus far are a pair of identical twins (Sam Underwood, Homeland), one of whom is very mentally unstable. The hideous things he’s responsible for in this first hour alone will make your skin crawl.

Of course, Emma (Valorie Curry) is still around, too. She isn’t involved in the events that play out in “Resurrection,” but if Carroll or his followers poke their heads up, she’s quickly drawn back to them like a moth to a flame. One never knows whether she will fall in line or slice the throat of the leader, taking over, but Emma is a compelling character, and an essential part of the show, so she’ll make her presence felt. At least until they decide to kill her off.

“Resurrection” is everything I was hoping for from the return of THE FOLLOWING, easily one of last year’s best network programs, and meets all expectations. It is back tonight after the NFC game, approximately 10:30 p.m. EST, and will take over its normal Mondays-at-9 p.m. timeslot starting next week.