The daughter, Molly, found a silver UFO-shaped balloon on the ground right before she found the gun, I assumed the killer saw the balloon and some light reflecting off of it and thought that was a UFO.
Maybe, but I’ll be really surprised if they just drop the UFO references given the prominence they have played in the first two episodes.
I think alien-ness is one of the central themes of Fargo (both TV and movie versions). It’s called “Fargo” but the events take place in Minnesota. There’s always a smallish town (whether it be Brainerd or Bemidji or Luverne) that’s cozy and - at least on the surface - full of decent folk. Then bad guys from outside (whether it be the titular Fargo or Sioux Falls or Kansas City) show up, bringing trouble with them and acting as a catalyst for the resident trouble-makers.
There’s always some pre-existing evil or potential for evil, but it’s the outside alien influence that strikes the spark and fans the flames.
I’m very much enjoying this season. I enjoyed season one, but also thought it was somewhat overrated by critics. We’re only two episodes in but so far I think this season is going to be significantly better.
What was the opening scene of Ep1 all about… the movie shoot with dialog between an actor portraying an Indian and a moviemaker of some sort?
I liked the first season of Fargo a lot, and am digging this second season too, so far. The split-screen effect doesn’t bother me. The cast seems pretty good; Jean Smart is a standout as the crime-family mom (a long way from Designing Women!).
Yes. My favorite line was when he mentioned Smart’s character and said, dismissively, “She’s tough but, you know, a girl.” Seventies sexism is shaping up as a theme this season.
Yes, that’s how I understood it.
Yes, Danson did quite well in that scene. His character was outnumbered, older, obviously edgy but determined to maintain control over the situation. Although I liked the twins informing him of their shoe sizes by giving him the middle finger, the whole silent-and-menacing-twins thing has been done before: Tumblr: Image
Heh. Another favorite line from E1 - the youngest brother from the crime family is trying to push around the judge in the diner, and says (I’m paraphrasing), “We can do this one of two…” and she cuts in and says, bored, “Is one of them the hard way?”
I thought I recognized those lines, and I noticed the lights, too. Looks like we have more UFO/alien stuff to come.
The E1 title was “Waiting for Dutch.” “Dutch” was Ronald Reagan’s nickname. It was a Thirties or Forties (judging by the moviemaker’s clothes) Reagan film called Massacre at Sioux Falls. (Wiki and IMDB list no Reagan movie of that name, not that I expected them to). Reagan is going to be coming to Minnesota, campaigning for the Presidency in “next year’s” election, on the show - you can see his campaign posters in the scene of the bingo hall, and on the wall on the street near the butcher shop.
Jesse Plemons (AKA:“Todd” from Breaking Bad) seems to be popping a lot recently.
Fargo season 2
The movie “Black Mass”
The movie “Bridge of Spies”
He’s much fatter in Fargo than the two feature films.
Man both of the standoffs with Lou were incredibly tense. The actor playing Milligan is great, he seems familiar, but I don’t recognize any of his other roles on imdb, maybe it’s just that he looks like Dave Chappelle.
“The typewriters are spaceships” RIP Skip.
I always think of him first and foremost as Landry from Friday Night Lights.
I hope the rest of season 2 isn’t always this grim. The good thing about the movie and season 1 is they were really dark comedies: William Macy keeps digging himself into a hole, Marge can’t get service at the drive-through, Malvo keeps coming up with riddles and mischievousness that’s just delightful. So far I can’t think of anything this season that approaches that playfulness (except Lou Solverson turning back to look at the title of the book he’s reading to the young Molly, saying “this is a funny book”). I like the story, but with the mob story it’s feeling more like The Untouchables than Fargo.
Well, the UFO’s are kind of playful - unless you take them seriously.
But, I’m willing to trust the Show Runners. They seem to really know what they are doing. The only criticism I have about this show is that there are just far too few episodes per season. I would love to see two seasons per year - or even more, if they could do it.
This episode upped the ante significantly: things are about to get real. Very tense standoff between Solverson and the Gerheart gang. The whole bunch of them are doing the steely-eyed psycho thing really well. I’m really liking the way this is going. Better than season one, IMO.
The dialog between Solverson and the Sheriff was amusing. “And for what. . .for a little bit of money?” was a direct quote from Fargo, the movie, when Marge is transporting Grimsrud in the back of the prowler.
I just watched Episode 2 again. The eldest son is really too mean and too stupid to live. The only thing he ever says to his daughter is “Shuddup!” And he smacks her around.
I got a premonition during the scene where he told Floyd (his mother), “I’m the oldest. I’m the boss. End of story!” Take a look at Jean Smart’s face in reaction to that. I got a feeling that she decided right then and there that he had to die. I’m guessing she will arrange to have him killed.
After all, he really is too mean and too stupid to live.
P.S. Who would have ever imagined that Jean Smart had this range of acting ability. I’m really shocked at how talented she is. Amazing!
I’m late to the party and have only been able to catch up by way of On Demand archives. I even rewatched the movie this week to get back in the mood. The Wiki article suggests there is a lot of backstory that I should catch up on, too.
What I came in to say is that Jeffrey Donovan caught my eye right away because he was the original point to Who is this? that I posted 07-09-2015, 09:26 AM.
I missed seeing this thread until this week when I spotted that Episode 2 was coming up and I had missed E1. I have recorded E3 but am saving it to watch with Zoe when she’s ready to get caught up, too.
I was really disappointed enough with Season 2 of True Detective (2014– ) that I quit on it after a few episodes, and I’m hoping this season of Fargp doesn’t affect me that way. The cast is terrific and I like where the story seems to be headed, so I’m hopeful. That plus FX has rarely let me down on quality shows.
It took looking him up on IMDb to realize the short-lived Rye is Mac’s brother! :eek: I knew he looked familiar!
I’m wondering if folks who live in that region have the same reaction to the accents and mannerisms of the characters as I do about Southerners…
In my opinion, season two is doing better than last season was at this point. The acting is better and the characters better developed. The accents are, to me, on the mark. My first wife was from northern MN, and that’s how her entire family spoke. My kids all live in WI and MN, and have picked up some of that, as well. Granted, some of it is over the top, as not every sentence ends in “Okay then” or “Whatever”. Every time I visit out there, though, I feel like I’m in an episode of Fargo.
This season seems less beholden to the movie. I liked season one, but it covered a lot of very familiar territory with a unctuous salesman who unleashed a dark side, a pregnant police officer on the case and a couple of odd-ball bad guys.
This season is setting more of its own tone.
I’m waiting for the ice scrapper to show up.
Yeah, at first I thought the $1m was going to appear in every season, but maybe it’s just the red scraper.
The Onion AV club called the UFO story line either the stupidest or balliest risk, only time will tell.
Wow! This show just keeps getting better and better.
How would you like to be married to someone like Peggy? She thinks her husband is stupid and treats him that way at every turn. She lies to him and cheats him.
She lets him think they are trying to make a baby. Meanwhile she is taking birth control pills and she thinks he must be so stupid that she doesn’t even much care if he sees the pills and the dispenser.
Then they “talked” about buying the Butcher Shop. But she never tells him that she’s taking $500 out of the bank and his check will bounce.
If there is any justice in this world, the pair of them will wind up in prison for a long stretch. But it will all be on her. He just doesn’t have the wherewithall to resist her. He is the very definition of a Sad Sack. My heart goes out to this guy. He’d be better off just confessing and going to prison to get away from her.
And how about her boss? What motivates this lady to cheer Peggy on to go to this course?
Is she just lonely and wanting some companionship when they take the course? And if she already took the course, why is she planning to go with Peggy to take it again?
I’m certain she said something about how the pair of them would be going out of town to take that course. I don’t understand that. But it sure looks like there will be lots of mayhem in the near future for the residents of this town.
The pills where hidden behind the picture at the back left of the counter. She quickly dropped them there when Ed walked in.
I think that’s part of the 60’s/70’s feminist movement (they’re older so they would have been later to the game than the teens). She’s trying to be more independent and not let him decide where her life his heading. Maybe she doesn’t want to buy the butcher shop and this is her way of telling him.
Perhaps, and maybe I’m reading it wrong, what we have is a bit of a power struggle.
I think, if you want to analyze the marriage, you have to take out anything to do with killing Rye. That’s going to take any family out of their element. Secondly, I’m willing to bet that it’s pretty common for a wife to say ‘yup, honey, boink me stupid, I can’t wait to have a mini-you’ while still taking their pill. She’s hardly the first woman to do that. Manipulative, maybe. Her not ready to have a kid, maybe. The family not ready to have a kid, possibly. A divorce on the horizon and she knows a kid isn’t going to fix it (maybe not the case here), another possibility. All kinds of reasons, but it’s nothing new, she’s not even the first person on TV or in a movie to do it.
I think the thing to look at is her spending the money and what, specifically, she spent it on right when he needed it, and without enough time for him to get it back.
And lastly, don’t forget, we’ve just been dropped into this family’s life. We’ve known them for, what, a week? Maybe up until a month he was abusive. Maybe when she walked into work with that shiner everyone was thinking ‘what, another one, you need to leave that guy’.
Yeah, they probably got married right after high school. Peggy wants something more, but doesn’t even know what that might be. Her husband wants to be the town butcher. Lots of people in the 70s (and now) get married without ever figuring out if they want the same things, or they’re so young when they get married, they have no idea what those things might be. I’m guessing the classes are some kind of EST thing with maybe a new agey vibe (UFOs?).