Fargo's 4th season is just as good as the previous ones. And that's why

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The sequel to the famous anthology has flaws, but the actors, filming and humor make up for it.

Noah Hawley's famous project once began as a free variation on the Coen brothers' films. But since the series comes out in an anthology format, every year it moves away from the original source, offering more and more new topics.

After the third season, released in 2017, there were rumors that Fargo would be closed altogether. Then the project was still extended, but the action in the series takes place only in the winter, and Hawley was constantly busy on other projects, and the work dragged on. The release was scheduled for the spring of 2020. Quarantine has begun, and some of the episodes have not yet been filmed.

As a result, the sequel started three and a half years after the third season. On the FX channel (in Russia - on more.tv) two episodes were released, which were directed by Hawley himself.

The first critics and viewers have already expressed that this is far from the best story from the world of "Fargo". But at first you can understand that with some shortcomings, the series retains all the main advantages, and therefore it is still pleasant to watch it.

True story and unpredictable twists and turns

Each episode of "Fargo" begins with the words: "This is a true story." But in most cases, this is just an artistic trick and a reference to the original film.

However, the new season is based on events that really happened in the United States in the early 50s. In those years, a war broke out between the crime clans of Italians and blacks.

According to the plot, the heads of the two gangs Donatello Fadda (Tommaso Ragno) and Loy Cannon (Chris Rock) conclude a peace treaty and traditionally exchange sons as a sign of trust. But by an absurd coincidence, Fadda dies, and then the war begins with renewed vigor. Moreover, the family of the young Elterida (Emiri Krachfield) will be drawn into this.

At first, the plot may seem too social, which is not typical for a project. This is what might upset some viewers. Using Elterida as an example, the authors talk about racism and the problems of blacks in the 50s.

But in fact, Hawley views American history from a very unusual angle. Here, one can draw an analogy with Neil Gaiman's "American Gods", where the United States was shown as a gathering of various peoples and religions, rather than with serials about racism. The same city is first inhabited by Jews, then Irish, then Italians, and then blacks come. So which of them can be considered real Americans?

Everyone fought for the right to be equal. But equal to what?

Elterida Smutney. From the TV series "Fargo"

After a short introduction introducing the characters and their world, the action quickly spins up. As in previous seasons, the plot is multi-layered. The plans of the mafia, the ridiculous coincidence of circumstances, rash actions and random participants in the events are mixed here. Moreover, the gaze is focused on several characters at once, who are still almost unrelated to each other. But further on, their paths will clearly intersect more and more often.

At the start, it is difficult to predict whether the authors will keep up the pace. But already from the second episode, shootings begin, seizure of territories and revenge. If this continues in the future, the audience will definitely not be bored.

Crime and bright humor

All Fargo stories are dedicated to the underworld. The characters range from the lone hitman Lorne Malvo in the first season to Ray Stussy, who wanted to rob his twin brother in the third. But they all have one thing in common: they are always a little ridiculous.

The new story may seem too dark at first, as if the series decided to really talk about the conflicts of the mafia. But the mirage quickly disappears: for all the pretentiousness of the heroes, they should not be taken seriously. Yes, they arrange meetings and threaten to kill each other. And their slow dialogues are clearly parodies of the classic gangster films of Martin Scorsese (although he himself has already parodied them in "The Irishman").

But literally every second situation balances on the brink of crime drama and comedy. And the humor here is of a very different level. There are, for example, historical references: the character of Chris Rock comes up with a new way of earning money for banks. Everyone considers his proposal ridiculous, although any modern viewer will understand from the first words that then these ideas will definitely be realized.

And then the jokes descend to physiological sounds and subtle mockery of funny names. So, one character's name is Doctor, and his mother is Ma'am. At the same time, they ridicule stereotypes about blacks and Italians. Ironically, the famous comedian Chris Rock looks the most serious of them all so far. This is really reincarnation.

Although it looks like the main humorous part will be associated with one minor heroine. And it will be very dark humor.

Charismatic characters and cool filming

Fargo has always been famous for its outstanding heroes, especially villains. In addition to the already mentioned Malvo, you can remember Peggy Bloomkvis, who started all the problems in the second season, and the sinister V. M. Varga.

The sequel seems to give viewers a lot of new favorites. It's not even about the hero of Rock, although he is good. Several representatives of the Italian mafia are magnificent at once. Their expression and constant disputes create the very comic.

And the most striking so far is Nurse Orette Mayflower, played by Jesse Buckley. Everyone remembers this actress in the image of Lyudmila Ignatenko in "Chernobyl". But in the new project she got a completely different role. This is exactly the combination of charm and outright madness, without which not a single story in "Fargo" can do.

And, no less important, literally every scene of this series wants to be disassembled into screenshots, and the soundtrack will surely be included in the playlists of many fans. Even the change of eras is shown in an interesting way: every time the famous composition Caravan sounds, but the style of performance changes.

The creators prepared the audience in advance for the fact that the new season will be rhythmic, musical and very beautiful. Just look at one of the first trailers. In it, the atmosphere is perfectly conveyed.

Bandit meetings look almost like mystical rituals. The bright costumes of the heroes are combined with the background, which is often dominated by red and green tones. In general, "Fargo" once again confirms the title of one of the most stylish TV series of our time.

The start of the new season is somewhat annoying with the increased seriousness. There is a danger that Noah Hawley, following the trends of our time, may go into moralizing associated with the problems of racial minorities.

But still, the authors have a sense of style and humor. Fargo remains the same energetic and vibrant series as it was before. It remains to hope that the pace of the narrative will not subside, and all the storylines will be linked into one amazing tangle.