TV: Fargo

[The Argonaut]

I did not like the finale at all.

[guestT]

I thought it was the perfect long, whistling fart of an ending to cap this long, whistling fart of a season. Nothing about s3 really worked for me at all.

[The Argonaut]

I thought it was good and got better each week. Unfortunately, I feel like it all ultimately culminated in a fizzle. Too bad, really

[Simple Torture]

I, too, was in the "Season 3 got better as it went along" camp. My feelings on the finale are mixed: I feel like it wasn't emotionally satisfying (which would've been tough either way, because I wasn't emotionally invested in many of these characters, except maybe Ray) but I also understand some of the decisions they made. Varga was this really interesting figure (I loved that emphasis on food in his final conversation with Emmit, especially considering how he treats food), especially in the way he sort of represents how a B+ in freshman philosophy can lead to some dark shit if you just run with it. I know there have been glowing reviews of Winstead's performance, but I didn't feel much tension around her storyline after she and Wrench solved Varga's puzzle in the hotel lobby. Just an up-and-down season, which happens--I'm perfectly fine with an auteur hitting some false notes as long as they're pushing the envelope in some ways (this is why I was so backlash-to-the-backlash when it came to True Detective Season 2).

[patrick]

This season had some good moments, but it seemed to overemphasize the "what is truth" and "randomness of the universe" themes than focusing on a story and the universe the characters inhabited. Case in point, the cold open in East Germany felt like a distracting plot thread hanging in the wind. It served as an interesting mirror to the final scene, as a contrast in the shift in power. I guess I prescribe to the Chekov's gun point of story telling.

[Monkey_Driven]

Finished episode 8 last night. That chase through the woods was really good.

[Simple Torture]

I know there's been some rumblings that there may not be another season, but it's pretty obvious that they left the door open for Yuri to be a returning character down the line.

[Jammer XCI]

The guy who makes it is doing a Kurt Vonnegut Cat's Cradle TV show soon, and a bunch of movies. He said he expects to be able to work on Fargo again... in the 2020s. Waiting on a different fuckin' decade for a new TV show, what the hell.

Also I hated Legion. It's all visual style with no substance and an incoherent mess of "plot". I'm not a fan of superhero shows to begin with though.

[Monkey_Driven]

The guy who makes it is doing a Kurt Vonnegut Cat's Cradle TV show soon, and a bunch of movies. He said he expects to be able to work on Fargo again... in the 2020s. Waiting on a different fuckin' decade for a new TV show, what the hell.

Also I hated Legion. It's all visual style with no substance and an incoherent mess of "plot". I'm not a fan of superhero shows to begin with though.

Legion gave me a headache. I stopped watching after four episodes. Its visual style, while very pretty, was just too much.

[given2trade]

I did not like the finale at all.

Yah we didn't either. Was pretty disappointed.

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[Monkey_Driven]

This was definitely the weakest of the three seasons but I still enjoyed it. A solid B.

[Simple Torture]

Just an up-and-down season, which happens--I'm perfectly fine with an auteur hitting some false notes as long as they're pushing the envelope in some ways (this is why I was so backlash-to-the-backlash when it came to True Detective Season 2).

What were your thoughts on TD2, ST?

Bloated is the first word that comes to mind. It's been so long since I've watched it that it's hard to be more specific than that, but one thing that was lost between Seasons 1 + 2 was a real elegance of form: SE01 was just about these two guys, and even with all the jumps in time and space you understood who they were, what they were after, and what mattered to them. SE02 seemed to be going for the same thing with Farrell and McAdams, but then you also had this other cop who was supposed to be central but always felt ancillary to the main plot, and then we also were shoved into the world of one of the criminals. Just a lot going on. The pathetic appeal in the second season was also just a bit too up front: you were supposed to feel sympathy for all of these characters, because look how tough stuff is for them--SE01 was more complicated. However, I do think it was bold and tried some interesting things--it just ended up falling flat. When I say that I was backlash-to-the-backlash, I just mean that I saw so many reactions that made it sound like people took the down quality of the season as a personal affront, as if Pizzolatto had betrayed them. It was just so-so TV.

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[Monkey_Driven]

Also, we watched the Fargo S3 finale last night. It was a solid ending to a solid season, just it was a notable step down from the first two seasons. I didn't really start to care of any of the characters until way too late in the series, and their respective endings were just not satisfying.

Same feeling here.

[The Argonaut]

The only really truly good season of this show (so far, at least) was Season 2. I like all the seasons, but Season 1 hewed maybe a little too close to the original movie and Season 3 didn't quite hold together when all was said and done. All three seasons have their charms, though.

[lowlight79]

I finished the finale last night. I thought it was a slow start but got better as the season went along. Bring back the guy from seaosn 1 was cool, but felt kinda rushed as he just appeared on the prison bus. People loved episode 3 out in LA, but I felt it didn't add much except back story to her step father which did not need to be a whole episode IMHO. But after season 2, this season was gonna never come close to how great last season was with the whole plot line.

My only real question after thinking about the finale is
Is Varga real and supposed to represent the Devil?

[Bi_3]

Just finished season one last, was awesome.

[Monkey_Driven]

Just finished season one last, was awesome.

Nice? Do you plan to watch season 2 soon next? It is even better.