GOD-Like

Article first published as TV Review: ON BECOMING A GOOD IN CENTRAL FLORIDA on Seat42F.

This review contains spoilers for the pilot only.

SHOWTIME’s latest series is ON BECOMING A GOD IN CENTRAL FLORIDA. Set near Orlando in the early 1990s, the series follows a widow whose husband invested heavily in a pyramid scheme, leaving her deeply in debt and desperate to support herself and baby. Can she navigate manipulative individuals and become the most conniving of them all? Or can she escape this life and find normalcy?

ON BECOMING A GOD IN CENTRAL FLORIDA feels very familiar to those of us who have been around a few decades. Amway and other multi-level marketing companies had a big boom awhile back, and some are still around today. There’s also something very specific about the place and time, perhaps more recognizable from pop culture and shared references than reality itself.

Which does not mean the show is a parody of anything. That’s what it might seem at first glance, but it’s far too nuanced, layered, and relatable to dismiss it as just that. The parts referenced above are the comedy part of the premise, but there’s also a deep infusion of drama present.

Chief among the driving emotion is protagonist, Krystal Stubbs (Kirsten Dunst, Fargo, Bring It On). Krystal is grief-stricken and furious at her husband, Travis (Alexander Skarsgard, Big Little Lies), in almost equal parts. This is a man she really loved, but who committed terrible betrayals. This dichotomy is present in Krystal’s interactions with others, bouncing back and forth between being a compassionate friend to co-worker Ernie (Mel Rodriguez, Last Man On Earth), and being a con woman trying to get people to support her financially. She does both very well.

Krystal isn’t Walter White, profiting off the misfortune of others without caring who she hurts. She does show potential signs of such a persona, sure, but we see her desperation as a driving factor that is at times tempered by other motivations. Can we truly villainize someone who has been put in such a bad situation and just needs to be able to afford food and shelter again?

Other characters are less likeable. While the man who duped Travis, Cody (Theodore Pellerin, Genesis), is charming, he’s also fully concerned about himself, only being generous when it benefits him. But is this the folly of youth, achieving something and trying hard not to lose it, allowing oneself to be blinded to those around them because they lack experience? Leader of the whole scheme, Obie Gabeau II (Ted Levine, Monk), seems in a similar vein, hijacking a funeral to protect his business interests, sans the excuses.

But then we’ve got Ernie and his wife, Bets (sing-songwriter Beth Ditto), seemingly sweet and caring neighbors. They aren’t the two-dimensional model of that, despite their naivety; Ernie has already shown hints of mental issues at least partially sparked by an unreasonable boss (Usman Ally, Veep) that will likely pay off down the road. But they do balance the darker aspects of the show.

Heck, even Travis isn’t easy to write off. Yes, he should have communicated with his wife more and not gambled so much of their life away. And yet, the clips of Obie’s tapes that we hear provide insight to how an otherwise reasonable man could be led astray, convinced that what he was doing would pay off big for his family. Travis thinks he’s doing the right thing, and as wrong as he is, his intentions are not bad.

Watching the next few episodes, this is definitely a long-arcing series. So much of what the characters are going through will take quite awhile to play out, and there’s no clear end. Which isn’t an issue, because the characters are complex and interesting, and of course, very well-acted. The show is funny and moving, and it makes a viewer think and consider other perspectives. Yet, it can be taken at face value as entertaining, too, so it doesn’t make you feel like you have to think too hard, even if you’ll be doing so anyway.

ON BECOMING A GOD IN CENTRAL FLORIDA is excellent. I hope you give it a chance. It is currently airing Sunday evenings on Showtime.

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

"Waiting for" FARGO Over

Article originally published as FARGO Review on Seat42F.

Last year, FX’s FARGO delighted. With its Minnesota accents, oodles of charm, stellar cast and guest stars, and hilarious mayhem, it provided a unique, high-quality viewing experience.

Tonight begins season two, and because it’s an anthology series that isn’t reusing it’s cast (unlike American Horror Story), none of the familiar faces are back. This provides a considerable obstacle for the show to overcome. However, overcome it, FARGO does, immediately hooking fans in to what promises to be another excellent miniseries.

Season two of FARGO is set in 1979, or at least starts there. 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 season two does have two characters that connect it to the freshman run. 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. Lou’s daughter, Molly, the hero of last year, is five years old in this outing, so she probably won’t get involved much. FARGO season two is a case referenced in the first season and we know Lou will make it out alive, but that’s about all we know.

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 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. I’m not sure yet how the case will unfold, but if Lou and Hank are the primary investigators, sign me up for the season pass!

Once more, FARGO has an average, quirky citizen mixed up in murder. This time, it’s Peggy Blumquist (Kirsten Dunst, Spider-Man), a hoarder 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, and while she doesn’t handle them as well as we’d like to think most people would, it’s hard to hate her, at least at first. What she does next will determine if she remains sympathetic or not.

What’s interesting about what happens with Peggy, 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 the 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.

It’s less clear who the Billy Bob Thorton-esque villain is this year. There’s an entire mob family introduced in the premiere, led by Otto Gerhardt (Michael Hogan, Battlestar Galactica). It doesn’t seem like Otto will be long for this world, but he 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 daughter, Simone (Rachel Keller, Hollidaysburg), so it’s likely one of them will emerge as the bad guy. Or, it would be more fun if we’re left wondering who in the clan is the worst as the installments play out.

This year’s cast also includes Nick Offerman (Parks & Recreation), Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond), Bokeem Woodbine (Saving Grace), Zahn McClarnon (Longmire), and many more, so like last season, I doubt viewers will get bored or be hard up for a fresh face to come in and shake things around.

If the season premiere is any indication, FARGO has done it again, and I look forward to another excellent batch of television episodes.

FARGO airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on FX, beginning tonight.