Fargo the television show is worth a viewing (or even multiple) to appreciate the amount of layers and intricate storytelling that occurs within this series. The show is an anthology series set in and around Fargo, North Dakota. Each season follows it’s very own cast of characters and tells a story of its own, usually involving local law enforcement, kindly mid-western folk, and crimes gone wrong.
Or does it? Fans of the series that pay close attention during each season will recognize small hints along the way that imply a connected storyline. The connections start as early as Season 2, and the showrunners have continued to surprise and delight with such Easter eggs, re-contextualizing and adding additional layers to past events. This in combination with clever writing is what makes the show worth re-watching. But where do these stories connect exactly? Here are the ways in which Fargo connects across all four seasons.
Season 1
While the first season of Fargo won’t immediately reveal connections for those new to the series, there are a few key pieces here that come into play in later seasons. However, there are callbacks to the original film. For example, there is a briefcase full of money that is abandoned on the side of the road in snow that is discovered by one of the characters. Additionally, Lester Nygaard, who sets off the events of the season by murdering his overbearing wife, has a name and character influenced by the movie Fargo‘s Jerry Lundegaard. He’s also a simple, timid man that can’t stand up for himself or take charge in his life.
Lester’s actions end up drawing the attention of The Kansas City Mafia, who are lead by Mob Boss Moses Tripoli (more on him in Season 2). Tripoli’s organization sends two hitmen, Mr. Wrench (who happens to be deaf) and Mr. Numbers. Tripoli and Mr. Numbers end up getting murdered by the first season’s villain, Lorne Malvo (played to terrifying effect by Billy Bob Thornton). These are some of the major connections that will have additional light shed on them in later seasons.
Finally, there is Lou Solverson, father of the series’ police officer lead, Molly Solverson. Lou owns a diner in town and is a general source of wisdom for the other characters around him. In the first season we learn that Lou used to be a police officer himself, and had a run-in with something that he describes as “Savagery, pure and simple.” Viewers didn’t know it at the time, but this will end up being the story told in Season 2.
Season 2
Season 2 is mostly centered around a murder that takes place at the local Waffle Hut. A younger Lou Solverson, played by Patrick Wilson, is on the case. His daughter Molly is present as well, though she is a child at this point in time. There are a few callbacks to Season 1 here, but they do require that close attention is paid in order not to miss them.
The other central conflict of the season is the acquisition of the Gerhardt crime family and their fight to resist being acquired by the Kansas City Mafia. They have a Native American member of their family, Hanzee Dent, who was raised alongside the Gerhardt family from a young age. Hanzee eventually turns on the Gerhardts in order to leave and pursue his own path. He meets with another man at a community park and they begin discussing a plan to have Hanzee start a new life with facial reconstructive surgery. The name on the new ID that Hanzee receives? Moses Tripoli. That’s right, Hanzee goes on to become the leader of the Kansas City Mafia. That’s not all either.
While Hanzee has his conversation about starting his new life, you see that he and the other man are not alone. Nearby two boys are playing catch. Paying attention to these boys you’ll see that one of them is using sign language to communicate with the other. These boys are Mr. Numbers and Mr. Wrench from Season 1, showing that their origins in the mafia started alongside Mob Boss Moses Tripoli.
There’s one more character to take note of in Season 2. Mike Milligan is a Black man trying to prove his worth within the Kansas City Mob as an enforcer. He relishes the opportunity to be a tough as nails and directly in the action with his twin partners, the Kitchen Brothers. Mike Milligan ends up getting exactly what he wanted, but recognition means he’s assigned to a banal desk job instead of the skull-busting he dreams of. If his story feels a little incomplete, there’s a reason for that touched on in Season 4.
Season 3
Season 3 stands out as a bit of an odd duck in the Fargo canon. It takes more of a philosophical bent and almost serves as a reexamination of the show itself. Regardless of this slightly different approach, the season still has thrilling twists and turns as well as an unexpected connection to Season 1. Nikki Swango, played by Marie Elizabeth Winstead, is being transported on a police bus with other prisoners. She’s being pursued by a couple of hitmen, who crash the bus in order to access the vehicle and murder her.
What the hitmen and audiences don’t expect though is the presence of another prisoner on the bus, Mr. Wrench, the deaf hitman from Season 1. As Mr. Wrench and Nikki are handcuffed together, what follows is a tense chase through snowy woods further complicated by the two learning to communicate and work together.
Less shocking in this season is a small, non-plot-specific Easter egg. In a sequence toward the end of the season Billy Bob Thornton’s voice can be heard narrating. His character definitely died in Season 1, but this nod is a fun way to bring him back in some form.
Season 4
Fargo season 4 takes things back to the 1950’s, once again dealing with the Kansas City Mob. Loy Cannon, played by Chris Rock, is a crime boss in his own right trying to establish himself as a permanent fixture of power against the Italian mafia. To make things that special flavor of Fargo oddness, the two crime families trade their eldest sons to each other with the idea being that raising your enemy’s offspring may lead to a better understanding between the two.
Satchel Cannon, Loy’s son, is traded to the Italian Mob and is looked after by Rabbi Milligan. Milligan is an Irish man that grew up in the same kind of trade as Satchel, but betrayed his family ultimately leading to their murder and earning him a place in the Italian family. Without getting into too heavy of spoilers for this most recent season of Fargo, there’s a point in which Loy Cannon utters a line that is an exact match to something said by Mike Milligan back in Season 2. It’s revealed that somewhere along the way, Satchel Cannon adopted the name of his caretaker Rabbi Milligan and eventually began working his way up the ranks of the the Kansas City Mafia. Fans can only hope that a Season 5 would shed additional light on Mike Milligan.
What does it all mean?
Season 4 leaves fans with the closing thought that while all people have their own stories, they’re all part of the same larger tapestry that makes up a collective history. While all of the seasons of Fargo tell a single story, these pieces when looked at from a broader perspective turn out to be anything but separate.
All four seasons of Fargo are now streaming on Hulu.
![\"IT電腦補習](\"http://itteacheritfreelance.hk/test/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/logo2-2.png\"){kind=logo}
www.itsec.hk
www.itsec.vip
www.itseceu.uk
Leave a Reply