- Hanzee tracking them and killing the gas station clerk felt so No Country For Old Men to me. The suspense and the way it was shot, one shot in particular was like straight out of that movie. Then I quickly realized that was a Coen brothers movie. GO FIGURE!
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yeah I actually read an interview where the writer said that he's starting to pull in more Coen influences than just Fargo. Like the UFO was apparently mentioned in passing in one of their earlier movies (Blood Simple I think?) And a bunch of the soundtrack this season has been previously used in Coen movies
that sucks that the UFO got spoiled. WHY WOULD HE DO THAT!!
Because he talks way too much during episodes and doesn't understand that everything he's saying can be read into and gives stuff away. Here's word for word what happened (and what happens every week with every show):
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Dad: Let me just say two words about the episode
Me: No
Dad: Just TWO words
Me: NO!!!!!!!!!! No spoilers
Dad: It's not a spoiler, lemme just say it
Me: Fine
Dad: .....unexpected...visitors ;)
Me: DAD
Dad: What!!!!!!
Me: The aliens???
Dad: :$
In the minutes leading up to the episode he said:
"Peggy has the funniest line"
"Mike has the best 'okay then' line so far"
"Ben finally does something good this episode"
The opening segment and the continued narration throughout the episode was the greatest. And I had no idea it was Martin Freeman until I saw you guys pointing it out! That makes it even better!
On the UFO...It has been a running theme throughout the season, but it was still surprising for it to show up at such a pivotal moment and influence the story in such a direct way. Though when thinking about it, it shouldn't be. It has already played a major part in the narrative, when it distracted Rye Gerdhart so much that he got ran over by Peggy. Most of the mayhem that has ensued since is a direct result of that.
So I'm glad it showed up again. It actually feels like it might signify something now, rather than just being random bullshit. I feel like some point is being made. This crazy otherworldly thing started the story off, and it also indirectly saved Lou from certain death, a character we already know is supposed to survive. Maybe the UFO represents the writers?
Or, a less pretentious explanation...the aliens are trolling Fargo for shitz n gigz.
Whatever the case, it's fun. I think that's what I like most about this show, it doesn't take itself too seriously.
This last stretch of episodes has radically altered my opinion of this season in general.
Whilst it has been good all the way through, it's only now that I can say it's been great. I'd still rank S1 higher, like I reckon most of us probably would, but there isn't as much between them as there was before for me.
welp. Not surprised that they didn't try to top last week's climax, but I kinda was expecting more? It was still solid though. I think this was Dunst's strongest episode in particular
The whole first part of the episode up through where Peggy gets rescued was incredible. The rest was kind of just a nice relaxing wind-down from the season. Wondering if we'll see an older Hanzee in S3? They left it very open since he could conceivably look nothing like his S2 self, plus he was in Betsy's dream of the future. Was he about to kill all of those kids at the baseball field???
Was pleasantly surprised that Betsy and Hank survived the season, reminds me of last year where I kept expecting some of the main good guys to die. Though obviously we know that both are dead by the time S1's timeline starts anyway :/
I thought it was p. great overall. Not entirely what I expected but that's good I suppose. Even though it was nice to let things settle and probably the smarter choice, I still would've loved if a bigger chunk of the episode centered around Lou chasing Hanzee chasing Peggy/Ed
SPEAKING OF WHICH:
I mentioned this a few episodes ago, but the NCFOM influence was even stronger here. Especially at about 7 minutes. Hanzee's dive to avoid being killed is EXACTLY the same as Chigurh's. It's shot the same and set in a near identical setting. The driver who stopped to help them getting sniped was the same too. I like it a lot
POOR ED! I figured if anyone was gonna die it'd be him paying for Peggy's mistake. I wish he got a little bit more at the end but oh well. I realized afterwards that while Peggy was seeing the smoke, Ed saw that she was swatting away nothing and had clearly lost her mind. And she stopped applying pressure on his wound to do that...POOR ED!
Kirsten Dunst was so good when the freezer door opened and in the car with Lou later. I loved her speech about not being good enough but I also loved Lou interrupting her with "people are dead, peggy"
The end of Mike Milligan's story was pretty good. Killing the sleazy guy and watching him die was twisted. Seeing Mike's fate in the office was...SAD! I could watch a spin off about him and the lone Kitchen brother any day. Mike and Hanzee were the two breakout characters of the season imo, both so interesting
Hanzee's ending...not sure I liked as much. I did like the scene on the bleachers and all, I just don't think I like the S1 tie in. Usually I LOVE stuff like that, but it didn't feel needed like Boc said. It doesn't really do much for his character. I'm gonna CHOOSE to ignore it! Because the guy he becomes in S1 is kinda just dumb iirc. He has no Hanzee qualities at all. Obviously I'm assuming they didn't have this planned from S1. I'd rather believe that Hanzee is just still out there somewhere. Like Chigurh and like Malvo was for all those years. He's much better as an ambiguous boogeyman character. I did like the Wrench/Numbers tie in though, especially since they worked for Tripoli in S1 so it makes sense if Hanzee scooped them up at that point I guess
Happily shocked that both Hank and Betsy survived, I thought one or both of their deaths would be the heartbreak of the finale. The scene with Hank talking about his made up language might've been my favorite of the finale, Ted Danson was so good on this show
Loved the flashforward/dream to Molly/Gus/Lou. And I really loved the montage of dead Gerhardt's at the start. It was worth not seeing Simone and Otto's deaths so we can be surprised by them there. Bear shot Simone in the heart. BRUTAL! I wish there was a shot of Charlie dangling from a noose in prison. That'd make the family even more tragic if they were completely wiped out
Gr8 season overall. On par with season one, I really can't choose between the two. I loved Malvo and Lester's characters/stories so much, and really loved their endings in the S1 finale. No one got an ending quite like theirs this time which is a bit of a shame, but it all still worked
Hanzee's rise to power as Fargo's mob boss. That'd be great. They can have Lou cross his path again at some point and bring Mike Mulligan into it too. Any excuse to bring back Hanzee and Milligan works for me. It'd be cool to have seasons alternate between the two timelines too. Very unique
Ditto on the chase sequence at the start. The driver getting shot and Hanzee's dive instantly reminded me of No Country For Old Men. I liked how they cut off the whole sequence unexpectedly by having Peg hallucinate and Hanzee run away. I guess he wasn't that bothered about killing them after all!
Betsy's dream was my favorite part of the episode. War Pigs was a great choice for the music.
