25 Thoughts I Had Watching Fargo's Season 2 Premiere

It’s finally that beautiful time of the year when my favourite TV Shows start up again. Nothing has disappointed me so far, but the one show I was most anxious to see was Fargo. After reading all the hype before it’s Season 1 premiere and realising Martin Freeman was the lead, and well into a Sherlock withdrawal, I decided it was about time I found out what Fargo even was. I started with the movie, which I loved, and so once the show aired, I was a terribly knitted sweater away from being a super fan. Here's my thoughts on Season 1.

I looked up absolutely nothing beforehand so that I could go into Season 2 blind. I made myself a cuppa, cuddled up on the sofa with my cat Loki (the one who got lost, remember?) and got started! My mind can’t quite put together any kind of formal review, but here are my scattered thoughts, and beware of cryptic spoilers!

This is the best opening to anything, ever.

Every movie and show should start like this.

I forgot how snowy Minnesota is.

It’s been 5 whole minutes without an ‘oh yah?’, I don’t know how to feel about that.

What kind of children’s book is this?!

He doesn’t even know!

Ejaculate is a funny word though. Hahaha.

I’m sure there was a hint of a ‘yah’ there.

That posh fancy lady has a giant milkshake. I’m glad adults are still allowed to like milkshakes.

*some sort of joke about bringing boys to the yard*

This isn’t going to end well. 

Nope.

Watch that knife. Ugh. Please don’t pull it. Ugh!

Run, lady, run! I don’t know where, but run!

Oh...nevermind.

What! This woman be crazy! How can she drive away like that?! Can can she see?

Oh duh. You’re cars have the driver on the other side of the car. But still!

Hold on a minute. RON SWANSON?! Nobody warned me Ron f*cking Swanson was in this! Fargo just got 1,000,000 times better.

Your wife is hiding something from you. She’s shady.

Don’t go in there.

Deer my ass!

Oh lordy. That’s messed up.

RAYMOND’S BROTHER!

The episode’s already over?! NooOOooooOooooo!

I never even heard an ‘oh yah’. Sadface!

Women in Film Blogathon (Allie)

John at Hitchcock's World is just on a roll lately. He's come up with some great Blogathons for everyone to take part in. If you don't remember, we took part in his Favourite Movie Scene Blogathon a few weeks ago, and now we're back to take part in his Women in Film Blogathon.

 

 

I thought I would struggle with this topic. Honestly, I'm more of a 'handsome, young man saves damsel in distress' kind of girl, but after getting into the Fargo TV Show so much over the last couple of months, actually my decision was easy. I chose Marge Gunderson from Fargo (1996). If you haven't seen our review of the film yet, you can check it out here.

 

The rules for the Women in Film Blogathon are as follows:

1 - The female character in question should have qualities that make her strong. That doesn't necessarily mean better than the guys, just well-written; we're trying to promote equality here, not reverse misogyny.

2 - Unlike my previous blogathon, I'm going to be a bit stricter here and say that each entry should only focus on one character. However, if you like you can write multiple entries examining different characters.

3 - If you can, do try to find less obvious choices. There are a few that I can expect are likely to get picked: Ellen Ripley, Sarah Connor, etc. If you decide to write about any the "obvious" choices, I encourage you to at least try and find something new to say about them.

4 - You are allowed to pick characters from any film from genre or time period you like.

 

Marge Gunderson is the Chief of Police at the local police department in Brainerd. A series of murders are taking place around the town and whilst her colleagues seem to think dead bodies are 'icky', Marge is right up there looking for clues and figuring out what scene might have taken place.

 

She's just about the nicest police officer around, which is a huge difference to most typical cop films. Did I mention that she's also heavily pregnant? Poor Marge must be just a few weeks away from giving birth, she's dealing with a highly disturbing homicide investigation, and she has a husband at home who I'm guessing she is supporting financially?

 

 

SPOILER ALERT AHEAD: At the end of the film, when Marge finally catches the criminal, on her own, I might add, instead of the scene we might expect (criminal tackled to the ground, obscenities shouted, etc) she confronts him with these heartfelt words:

 

"So that was Mrs. Lundegaard on the floor in there. And I guess that was your accomplice in the wood chipper. And those three people in Brainerd. And for what? For a little bit of money. There's more to life than a little money, you know. Don'tcha know that? And here ya are, and it's a beautiful day. Well. I just don't understand it."

 

Marge Gunderson stays strong no matter what happens in her life or the lives of those around her, and she always tries to see the best in people. That's why she's my favourite woman in film.

Thursday's Thought: TV Show Finales

It's going to get messy soon if I don't stop thinking about things too much!

I was away last weekend for my Mum's 40th Birthday, so not only was I without TV and Twitter, I was also away for the finale of Fargo! Spoilers ahead...

If you follow us on Twitter, you'll know how much I've been enjoying the Fargo TV Show. I wasn't sure what to think at first but it just gripped me out of nowhere, and I've found myself more excited about it than Game of Thrones. I got round to watching it on Monday afternoon, literally just as we got home. I said on Twitter that I wasn't sure what I thought about it, and I guess I still don't know.

Of course, I always knew it could only end one of two ways really. Lester was either going to go down for his crime(s?), or he wouldn't live to tell the tale, so I'm not going to whine about how it didn't end happily for him. To be honest, after episode 9, I didn't want it to!

What I wasn't expecting was for my homeboy Gus Grimly to be a total badass and save the day, and for Lester to just...well, die. I don't know, maybe there's something symbolic there. In fact, I'm sure there is. Someone clever is going to have summarised it all into a 5,000 word essay and it'll all be much clearer I'll bet. 

 

Yes Gus, you really have, but you're a little sweetheart so I forgive you.

My main point though here is, is anyone ever 100% happy when one of their favourite TV Show ends? Especially long running shows. I pretty much grow up watching Friends, and although I never wanted it to end, I felt like they did it justice. Sure, there were things I would have liked to change, but on the whole, it was good.

I saw a few weeks ago nearly the whole internet raging over the finale of How I Met Your Mother. I haven't seen it yet, I don't actually think it's finished here in the UK, but I read how it ended. And again, I have mixed feelings. I'm glad that it took a turn, because really, who would have been satisfied with a candy floss ending? The whole Robyn thing though? I'm still not sure.

Going back to Fargo though, it was an amazing TV Show and I'm so glad I watched it. I really hope it picks up a few awards when the season comes round, because it deserves it.

What about you guys though? Have there been any TV Show finales that really let you down? Or even, have there been any that actually, you thought were perfect? I'd really love to know!

Currently Watching...Fargo (Allie)

For weeks I followed the hyper surrounding this new TV Show, and to be honest, Martin Freeman was a big selling point for me. I think he's an amazing actor. There was another pull too, it's based on a 1996 film of the same name, which just so happens to be on the IMDB Top 250 List. You can see where this is going, can't you?

 

You can see our review of the original Fargo film here. Despite my misgivings, I was still really looking forward to seeing the TV Show. I was wondering to myself whether the plot would follow the film closely or not, because I could picture William H. Macy's character as Martin Freeman clearly.

 

I think I found myself pleased that the TV Show, at least so far, doesn't follow the film's plot. It's got that 'Fargo feel' without a doubt though. I'm only two episodes in so far so I can't really give a justified opinion, but I'm really enjoying it so far, it's different to anything else I'm currently watching.

 

Billy Bob Thornton is an actor that I really don't know well at all, but he plays the psychotic character Lorne Malvo really well. I love all the dark humour that ties in with his character.

 

What I really can't get over is Martin Freeman's accent. If you've seen the film you'll be familiar with the 'yah?' that gets said at least once every minute or so, but I was so taken aback by Martin's accent that I literally stopped listening to anything that he said. I'm not saying it was a bad accent! In fact it's amazing! But it's so different to his usual voice that if you close your eyes, you wouldn't even guess it was him.  I heard his accent on the advert and it scared the bejeezus out of me, I'm not sure I can watch it now!!

 

Here's a trailer if you haven't seen or heard of the show yet:

 

 

In conclusion then, it's too early to judge but I'm loving this show so far.

 

My conclusion, think I'll give it a miss for now, but will keep it on the list.

 

EDIT: Since first drafting this post, I've watched another 2 episodes so I'm 4 in now. SPOILER ALERT - I'm super happy that the TV Show now has a link with the 90's Film, and even happier that I knew the reference! I'm loving this show more and more with each episode!

Review: Fargo (1996)

Movie morning.

As me and Allie appear to be too old to watch two movies in a row (but a movie and an episode of Sherlock is fine!) We decided to watch Fargo this morning instead of last night. Who doesn't want to watch an episode of Sherlock before bed? Sorry, let's talk Fargo...

This film was always going to be on our radar at some point because it's part of IMDB's Top 250 Films, but as you probably already know, a new TV Show based on this has just started on Channel 4 in the UK, starring Martin Freeman. I've got the first episode recorded, but I wanted to watch the film first so I had an idea of the story.  I haven't seen any of the series yet (although from the trailer I'm not sure about Martin Freeman's accent!) but I intend to, once I have finished the other 6 million series I'm currently attempting to watch! It's crazy! I'm timehopping through posts now I know but my jaw hit the floor! I'm not quite over it yet...

 

Fargo tells the story of Jerry Lundegaard, a simple car salesman who has found himself dangerously in debt. His father in law is a bit of a douche but he's also incredibly wealthy, so Jerry hires a couple of co-worker's friends to kidnap his wife and demand a ransom from her father.  Actually, he hires one of his co-workers friends (Buscemi), Shep (the co-worker) doesn't know the other guy (Stormare) who turns out to be a violent psychopath!  This just adds to the chaotic nature of the film. Alright Miss Pedantic...!

 

I would really like to think that if my other half was in this situation, he would try something a little less extreme, but you've got to give the guy points for creativity here!

As with many films I watch, I struggled to follow this a little, and I'm still not 100% sure how much he was in debt and what went on before the kidnapping. Not the film's fault though! I thought the plot was brilliant and I didn't see many of the twists coming. I just found some of the characters too odd, to the point of distraction in some places. Yeah they don't cover why he is in debt or how he got to this point, but you realise as the film goes on that the debt isn't the key point of the movie, the 'kidnapping' is, so really you don't need to know anyway.

*SPOILER ALERT* This lady! The heck man! Maybe it's because I'm watching Dexter at the moment, and maybe it's the age of the film now, but where is the urgency? Where is her back up? I mean bless her at the end for catching that guy all by herself, but it was just a bit odd. That guy she meets up with, Mike? What was the actual point in him? I loved her though, she was too cool!  Pregnant sheriff solves the crime all by herself, amazing and odd enough to be part of this film.  I still don't understand the point of Mike and how he added to the film but any scene Marge was in was hilarious because of her.  (I only remember her name was Marge because they said it approximately 365 million times throughout the film!) I actually looked this up you know. You know later on, when she finds out that Mike lied about his wife/that lady and stuff? It was to make her see that you can't trust anyone, and that's why she really starts to suspect Jerry.

 

I really enjoyed this film, mostly because I found it hilarious.  The way of life was so slow and as Allie said not at all urgent, it made everything so comical.  Also, tiny parts of the film had me in stitches, for example, when Marge and Norm are in the café the volume of food she puts on her plate is unreal. 

 

Although comical, it's quite a dark movie and it provides some shocks that I personally didn't expect.  This is a one off film no other will ever be quite like it, extremely unique and very enjoyable to watch.

 

Ignore my rants though because I did enjoy this film, but I have a feeling I'll enjoy the new TV Show more. I get the feeling the series is going to drag a bit, I don't know how they are going to keep it interesting!!  We'll soon see though!