To be clear: This is not a “reboot” or “retelling” of Fargo. This series features an entirely new cast of characters inhabiting a unique story that delves into the violent undercurrents that boil just beneath our polite exteriors. Full of all of the wicked appeal, grounded sentiment, intermittently delicious and horrifying violence, and humor you’d expect from a project that’s bold enough to call itself Fargo, this TV adaptation grabs our attention from frame one and does not let go.We open on an icy and isolated highway one dark night in the Midwest, and are immediately introduced to Billy Bob Thornton’s Lorne Malvo, a character who – in just that first hour – demonstrates the potential to become one of the more fascinating that we’ve seen on television in recent years. Malvo soon crosses paths with Martin Freeman’s Lester Nygaard, setting into motion a series of events that will unfold over the course of the 10-episode anthology.
The mysterious Malvo offers Nygaard a vision of the world that is both dangerous and liberating. He flies in the face of traditional morality and in so doing hits upon what feel like they may be soul-shaking truths – or the keys to hell, depending on your perspective. In that way, the show doesn’t so much demonstrate sympathy for the devil, as it creates a character who presents the tantalizing notion that the devil may have sympathy for us.
Billy Bob Thornton on His Devilish Fargo Role
Freeman’s browbeaten Nygaard represents a man who is crying out to stand up to all of the things that chip away at his sense of self, his identity, his freedom, and virility each day. Malvo opens the door to a rebellion that had been brewing in Lester for years, and the question becomes: is the cost worth the price of admission? Yet, Nygaard is not an entirely sympathetic character; his weakness, ineptitude, and cowardice are on full display, which is part of the strength of the series.These are complex characters enmeshed in an interlocking tale of three (seemingly) only loosely connected murders which may impact a highly unusual crime syndicate. "The Crocodile's Dilemma" raises intriguing questions, and like any good mystery, by the conclusion of this first episode, we’re left craving a second helping.
