Fargo Season 5 Review: Fargo Returns With An Excellent Inversion Of The Original Film

FX makes Fargo comeback with an amazing season full of twists and turns and many comebacks to the original film. This is a back-to-form season that also dares to do something new.

Fargo Season 5 Review: Star Rating:

Cast: Juno Temple, Jennifer Jason Leigh, David Rysdahl

Creator: Noah Hawley

Director: Noah Hawley, Donald Murphy

Streaming On: FX, Hulu

Language: English

Runtime: 10 Episodes, Around 1 Hour Each.

Fargo Season 5 Review: What’s It About:

Fargo returns to FX after a long absence, and it brings all of its signature quirkiness, delightful humor, and bizarre violence. The fifth season of the show comes from the mind of Noah Hawley, who has been the brainchild of the operation since the beginning. In this new season, we travel to Minnesota for another false true story involving betrayal, money, corruption, and a lot of the unexpected. This season focuses on a particular character named Dot, who sees her past coming back to haunt her after an encounter with very dangerous criminals.

Fargo Season 5 Review: Script Analysis:

This fifth season of the show takes the anthology structure of the series and goes back to the start of it all for inspiration. This means that at the core of this season is the original Fargo film, directed by the Coen Brothers. What is this supposed to mean? It means that the writers, and Hawley in particular, have opted to take the basic premise of the original film and then just flip it on its head. The result is a season that feels familiar and surprising for those who have seen and loved the original Coen film.

In the original film, the owner of a small car dealership plans for the kidnapping of his dumb wife to get some extra money. In this season, the wife of the owner of a small car dealership also gets kidnapped, but things don’t go the way you think. The show flips the point of view from the kidnapper to the kidnapped, and this allows Hawley and his creative team to go full into the unexpected. We know what is supposed to happen in the season; the many callbacks to the original movie are countless, but every step of the way, we get surprising developments.

Of course, there is more to season 5 than trying to reverse the tropes used in the original film. As usual, the show gives us a new set of characters each season, and on this occasion, the show gives us some of the most memorable characters since its inception. They are all quirky, funny, and creepy, but they function in ways that make them feel real, even when performing the most outlandish acts. This is what makes the show great, and Season 5 thankfully doesn’t lose track of this important element.

There are also many twists and turns. Maybe one is a bit too many, but they perform exactly like the creators intended them to. Not knowing where the story is going is really important when it comes to Fargo. Part of the allure of the original film and the show is the fact that it is trying to tap into the craziest real-life stories and create a fictional one out of them. We have heard many times the saying, “Truth is stranger than fiction,” which is true. You only have to listen to the news occasionally, and you will be surprised. Season 5 manages to replicate that sensation all throughout.

Fargo Season 5 Review: Star Performance:

The show has been lucky enough throughout the seasons to have some truly amazing actors. Season 5 is no different. There might not be as many A-listers as in previous seasons, but the actors still managed to be recognizable and also just exceptionally good at their job. Juno Temple comes straight out of her work in Ted Lasso and shows her acting chops in an amazing performance that asks a lot from her. You will barely believe that this is the same actress as Ted Lasso because Dot’s role here in Fargo is just the opposite: charming and yet terrifying in equal parts.

Temple might be the center of the show, but she is accompanied by a group of talented actors performing at their best. Jon Hamm also goes against type and taps into what could be his darker role to date. Meanwhile, Jennifer Jason Leigh does what she does best by playing the role of a very dislikable and terrifying matriarch. While David Rysdahl breaks through by playing a more innocent version of the character that William H. Macy played in the original film, Sam Spruell also stands out as our creepy villain of the season.

Fargo Season 5 Review: Direction & Music:

The show’s production values continue to be just as good as in previous seasons. Meaning that when the first season of Fargo came out, it served as the perfect example of what “Prestige TV” was all about. The show might not be as popular as when it debuted its first season, but nevertheless, the creators have not forgotten that they are setting an example for other shows. This season has brought directors such as Donald Murphy, Dana Gonzalez, Sylvain White, and Noah Hawley himself to the director’s chair, and they have all done an amazing job.

Some episodes of the show look even better than many movies released in theaters nowadays. The show really creates an expectation of quality when it comes to delivering the best of the best on television. The visuals are not the only thing worth talking about; Jeff Russo comes back as a composer, and it treats the audience to some of the best and most thrilling tunes of the year. The music really manages to elevate many scenes to the next level, and it only makes Russo another talent to be on the lookout for.

Fargo Season 5 Review: Last Words:

No one was really expecting much from the fifth season of Fargo. Much of the hype disappeared thanks to a couple of delays, including one caused by the writer’s strike in Hollywood. However, the final result speaks for itself, and it might be one of the best seasons of the show so far. Season 5 feels more like an event than just one more season of the show. In an age when the avalanche of content seems infinite, it feels great that the show takes its time to come up with the best possible story before coming back to our screens.

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