With a darkly comedic season 5, Fargo is back this time tackling the political divide with its signature quirkiness, action and a fantastic cast!
In its 5th season, Fargo has brought the USA’s political divide to the forefront. However, as has always been the case, the ominous writing at the start of every episode, at times comical, at times scary, promises impending death and tragedy. I gave up on watching season 3 mid-way as my interest waned and didn’t watch season 4 at all. Given that Fargo is an anthology series, I picked up season 5 mainly to see one of my favourite TV actors, Jon Hamm and I’m glad I did as the show is excellent!
The show shoots off with Dorothy ‘Dot’ Lyon (June Temple) getting arrested for assaulting an officer of the law. She is worried about being processed and soon enough, she gets kidnapped, giving her kidnappers hell along the way. Juno Temple plays Dot as a raw nerve. When under threat, she goes all commando on her opponents’ asses. She’ll do whatever it takes to survive and protect her daughter and is described as a ‘Tiger’ by one of her kidnappers. Temple is agile, alert and a sight to behold in the show.
She is married to Wayne Lyon (David Rysdahl), the only son of Lorraine Lyon (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a billionaire CEO of a debt collection agency. Wayne is oppressed by his mother and treated like a simple-minded fool she has to protect. She is not a fan of Dot either. Some of the more hilarious moments of the show (and hats off to the writers) come from how dumbfounded Wayne is upon discovering his wife’s penchant for violence. Rysdahl plays Wayne’s simplicity and innocence with nuance and sensitivity. It is vital for us to witness that Wayne loves Dot and Rysdahl has done the heavy lifting to make the relationship appear believable.
Lorraine projects herself as a strong, powerful woman. In the quest for this power, she may have lost most of her humanity. Leigh’s cartoonish portrayal of Lorraine may sometimes appear jarring, but how many billionaires do you know that don’t act like cartoons? The show has many entertaining characters but it’s always fun to watch when Leigh is on the screen. She has her lawyer do her dirty work and Dave Foley as Danish Graves, is a riot despite playing the character straight.Â
Lorraine may be awful with her insistence on everyone in the family projecting strength and calling her 12-year-old granddaughter a cross-dresser when she wears a suit. But, she is nowhere near as evil as Jon Hamm. He doesn’t make an appearance until episode 2, as the sheriff, Roy Tillman, of a small town. He says there’s a natural order to things and that Jesus was born as a man, not some bearded lady. And he believes just like water flows downhill, a husband is the head of his household. This is not Don Draper or Walter White, with their darker shades of grey. This here, is a monster. Or he’s just a man that’s mistaken about the century he lives in. Joe Keery plays his son Gator Tillman, a broken, little boy who spreads his macho wings like a peacock, desperate to be seen as a fearful character with the hope of winning his father’s affection.
All the female cops in the Fargo TV series are some version of Marge from the movie and Richa Moorjani is no different. Moorjani plays Indira Olmstead as a young and smart cop, bringing an added sense of humour to the role. Another protagonist in the show is a state trooper called Whitley Farr played by Lamorne Morris. He is the sensible guy, trying to make sense of Dot’s kidnapping along with Olmstead. And finally, there is a nihilist on the show who receives an unnecessary amount of screen time which I didn’t care for.
Season 5 is action-filled, dark and stylish. The cinematography is noteworthy especially when shown the land Roy Tillman rules. Only in the twisted universe of Fargo can exist someone who thinks they can fight a man with a machine gun, with an air horn. And Season 5, is a welcome addition to that universe.