Fargo Season 3 Discussion Thread (renamed) (1 Viewer)

[Greg_S_H]

That's what separates the directors of Fargo, Better Call Saul, David Lynch, from the more run-of-the-mill directors on your average TV show: Trust. Trust that the audience has the patience to sit through a wonderful performance. Lynch carries out a scene many more beats than you find in most TV, and I doubt if Agents of SHIELD would have given the floor to Ewan for so long during his confession scene. I liked Carrie's performance in that scene as well. She wanted to interrupt and ask a question, but knew it was time to let Emmit tell the story in his own way. She conveyed so much in every one of her scenes last night. I almost wish it had been a full hour of just those two interacting.

Do we know the patsy? I have to assume he is supposed to be known--perhaps from an earlier season?

 

[Tommy R]

My wife and I have both decided after this week's episode that this season is the best Fargo yet. Hopefully the finale next week is super long.

 

[Walter Kittel]

In the category of 'Maybe I missed something'...

How did Nikki and Mr. Wrench know that Meemo and Varga's crew would be at that intersection? Did they follow them? It seemed like they were set up and waiting for the ambush on the truck and escort vehicle.

So two more random folks named Stussy had to die to further Varga's ends. I've been reading some online reviews that speculate whether or not Varga might actually 'get away with it'. It certainly seems like Gloria's investigation has been stymied, in part thanks to the block head sheriff. Aporia was a great title for the episode summing up the contradiction of the evidence that Gloria and Winnie had compiled vs. the confession of the patsy.

"The problem is not that there is evil in the world, the problem is that there is good, because otherwise who would care?" Pretty bleak mission statement from V.M. Varga. It kind of strikes at the heart of what Fargo has been all about in every iteration.

- Walter.

 

[WillG]

In the category of 'Maybe I missed something'...

How did Nikki and Mr. Wrench know that Meemo and Varga's crew would be at that intersection? Did they follow them? It seemed like they were set up and waiting for the ambush on the truck and escort vehicle.

So two more random folks named Stussy had to die to further Varga's ends. I've been reading some online reviews that speculate whether or not Varga might actually 'get away with it'. It certainly seems like Gloria's investigation has been stymied, in part thanks to the block head sheriff. Aporia was a great title for the episode summing up the contradiction of the evidence that Gloria and Winnie had compiled vs. the confession of the patsy.

"The problem is not that there is evil in the world, the problem is that there is good, because otherwise who would care?" Pretty bleak mission statement from V.M. Varga. It kind of strikes at the heart of what Fargo has been all about in every iteration.

- Walter.

Have to say that the Sheriff is a low point in this season. For a series with such great characterization, it's dissapointing to have a character that serves no other purpose than to be an obnoxious obstruction. Odenkirk kind of had that role in Season One, but at least he remained likeable.

I thought it was damn near sickening seeing Varga wolfing down Ice Cream in the toilet stall (and then Emmit's vision of the closeup of Varga's mouth). But man, I'd love to see a spinoff series about Varga.

Also is it just me, or did Winnie actually look not half bad out of uniform in the bar scene?

 

[Greg_S_H]

I find the sheriff actually has a point, as far as following the evidence instead of a hunch. He's wrong, but we only know that because we see the whole picture.

She's not exactly a "looker," but I find Winnie appealing in or out of uniform. I like her spunky, upbeat tenacity.

 

[WillG]

I find the sheriff actually has a point, as far as following the evidence instead of a hunch. He's wrong, but we only know that because we see the whole picture.

She's not exactly a "looker," but I find Winnie appealing in or out of uniform. I like her spunky, upbeat tenacity.

I can understand now him being an obstruction since in his mind, he's got the evidence he needs, but from the start he was totally unwilling to listen to Gloria.

 

[ScottH]

Best episode of the season. Loved the scene between Nikki and Varga.

I'm still holding out hope that the crime syndicate Varga works for is controlled by Hanzee.

 

[Dheiner]

Best episode of the season. Loved the scene between Nikki and Varga.

I'm still holding out hope that the crime syndicate Varga works for is controlled by Hanzee.

I don't think Varga is "working" for anyone. "I know a boss when I see one."

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Is tonight's episode the Season Finale? How many more episodes? I never want this show to end.

Gotta see more of Varga sitting on the toilet chowing down Rocky Road

 

[Greg_S_H]

Yeah, tonight's the finale. Then we wait a long year for more (if it gets renewed, and I assume Fx lets Noah Hawley do what he wants).

 

[Josh Dial]

(...I assume Fx lets Noah Hawley do what he wants).

Well, they thankfully let him do whatever he wanted on Legion, why stop now?

 

[Tommy R]

Spoiler

What a torturous final shot. I REALLY wanted to see Varga face clear cut justice, as I'm sure Gloria does too. But I guess we will never know either way. Left in the bowling alley limbo forever. AAAAAAHHHHHH! Still, probably my favorite Fargo season. Also, are we to assume the highway shootout takes place in Fargo? It didn't come out and say it, but the movie plus the first two seasons have at least a tiny bit of Fargo time each.

Crossing my fingers that they come up with another great idea for a season 4. One of the best tv shows of all time.

 

[Greg_S_H]

My sympathy for Nikki dried up when she decided to shoot the state trooper. I don't think Emmit got what he deserved, either. I can see how Wrench just knows the story from Nikki, but Emmit was basically forced into this horrible situation entirely by things he couldn't control and didn't ask for. It sucks to see Sy in the state he's in. From reading some of the interview with Hawley, it almost seems like he feels like Sy and Emmit kind of deserved what they got, but they were completely honest businessmen who unwittingly invited a jackal in who created all of this chaos.

One thing I don't get: I thought Emmit's car ran out of gas, but he was able to drive away. Maybe it overheated and cooled down enough to continue on. I don't know.

Are we to infer a threat from Varga saying that one day Gloria would know her place in the world? Or, did he just mean in five minutes when the door opened?

 

[TravisR]

My sympathy for Nikki dried up when she decided to shoot the state trooper.

Yeah, that poor guy did nothing and ended up dead.

Are we to infer a threat from Varga saying that one day Gloria would know her place in the world? Or, did he just mean in five minutes when the door opened?

Yeah, when he 'disappeared' into a silhouette, I took it to mean that he would be released. Right or wrong is meaningless and connections and money rule the world.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Probably the bleakest ending to a season to date of Fargo. I would agree with Travis that the way that Varga was shot in those final moments indicates that he would be released and disappear without a trace.

To the question of what Sy and Emmit deserved. While I agree that they got in over their heads and may have been decent folks at an earlier point of their lives; once they went along with Varga's plans they sort of lost their innocence. Emmit did kill his brother (accidentally of course) and did 'get away with it' for a time. The series intimated that Sy was willing to do whatever it took to further the Stussy interests. Not the worst folks in season three, but certainly not blameless either.

The random Stussy victims and the state trooper were probably the most tragic deaths (from the standpoint of innocence) of season three. Even though they were sort of Star Trek redshirts whose purpose was to further the plot.

Right or wrong is meaningless and connections and money rule the world.

While that has always been the way of the world, it seems more prevalent these days (or perhaps it is merely that I am older). In any event I look at the state of things and can't help but feel the bleakness of season three is a mirror held up to our world.

- Walter.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I didn't see them going along by choice. They were desperate to get out from under Varga, including trying to get an out with the widow Goldfarb, but they were both understandably terrified of him and his men. Emmit did initially let him cover up the accidental homicide, but he confessed and even had that taken away through no choice of his own. The only thing I saw wrong with Sy was his juvenile sparring with Ray.

 

[Josh Dial]

Probably the bleakest ending to a season to date of Fargo. I would agree with Travis that the way that Varga was shot in those final moments indicates that he would be released and disappear without a trace.

Earlier in the season, we were treated to an overview of Peter and the Wolf and how each character is represented by a leitmotif played by a specific instrument or group of instruments.

In the final scene, while the key lighting on Varga was dimming to darkness--symbolism favouring his desired outcome--the soundtrack was playing Gloria's theme (interspersed with parts of the main theme)--symbolism favouring her desired outcome. These two together may point toward ambiguity or even balance. In other words, I don't think the ending is clear cut.

 

[Tommy R]

It is ultimately ambiguous since it didn't give a clear cut answer, but after thinking about it all day today, I like to think that no one was coming to bail Vargas out and Gloria gets that "win". If the theme of the season was the nature of truth and the way we see it, then I definitely see Gloria's truth prevailing here. She finally got herself seen by those automatic sensors in the other episode, and she seemed to be beaming with a renewed confidence in the final scene with Varga.

 

[Dheiner]

I thought Gloria's grin in the final few scenes meant that Varga was wrong. And, I'm going to believe that because I like that ending better. You're free to make your own choice.

BUT, I think that type of "ending" is a cheat by the storyteller. I find ambiguous endings to not be "clever", but rather, lazy, and unfulfilling.

Maybe I'm unsophisticated, but I've always thought that a story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. While an on-going drama is different, a self-contained story such as each season of "Fargo" needs a resolution to its main characters.

 

[ScottH]

I just want to know how they got frozen popsicles out in the middle of nowhere.