Fargo
Overview
Fargo is a 2014 black comedy crime drama anthology television series created by Noah Hawley for FX, based on the 1996 film of the same name by the Coen Brothers. Each season of the series is set in a different time period and location in the upper Midwest, and features a new story with new characters, though there are some connections between seasons. The first season is set in 2006, in Bemidji, Minnesota, and follows Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman), a henpecked, passive insurance salesman who is pushed too far; Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton), a mysterious, charismatic, and psychopathic drifter who manipulates Lester into committing murder; and Deputy Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman), a smart, determined, and pregnant police officer who is investigating the murders. The second season is set in 1979, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and follows a young Lou Solverson (Patrick Wilson), a Minnesota State Patrol officer; his wife, Betsy (Kirsten Dunst), who is dying of cancer; and the Gerhardt crime family, a brutal, old-school gang. The third season is set in 2010, in St. Cloud, Minnesota, and follows two brothers, Emmit and Ray Stussy (both played by Ewan McGregor), who are feuding over a rare stamp. The fourth season is set in 1950, in Kansas City, Missouri, and follows two rival crime families, one Italian and one Black, who are forced to work together. The fifth season is set in 2019, in North Dakota and Minnesota, and follows Dot Lyon (Juno Temple), a seemingly ordinary housewife who has a dark past. Fargo has won numerous awards, including the Golden Globe for Best Television Series Musical or Comedy for the first season, and multiple Primetime Emmy Awards. The series is known for its dark humor, its violence, its memorable characters, and its distinctive Minnesota dialect.
