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Fargo (season 2)
The second season of Fargo,
an American anthology black comedy–crime drama television series created by Noah Hawley,
premiered on October 12, 2015, on the basic cable network FX.
Its principal cast consisted of Kirsten Dunst, Patrick Wilson, Jesse Plemons, Jean Smart
and Ted Danson. The season had ten episodes, and its initial airing concluded on December 14,
2015. As an anthology, each Fargo season possesses its own self-contained narrative,
following a disparate set of characters in various settings. A prequel
to the events in its first season,
season two of Fargo takes place in the Midwestern United States in March 1979.
It follows the lives of a young couple—Peggy and Ed Blumquist —as they attempt to cover up the hit
and run and murder of Rye Gerhardt, the son of Floyd Gerhardt,
matriarch of the Gerhardt crime family. During this time, Minnesota state trooper Lou Solverson,
and Rock County sheriff Hank Larsson, investigate three murders linked to Rye. Hawley
and his writing team used the second season to expand the scope of the show's storytelling.
Season two's episodes were shot in Calgary, Alberta over an 85-day period.
The series received widespread critical acclaim
and was cited as one of the strongest programs of the 2015 television season. It was a candidate
for a multitude of awards, including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series
and Golden Globe for Best Miniseries or Television Film,
and won several other honors recognizing outstanding achievement in acting, directing, writing,
cinematography, editing, special effects, and creative direction.
Development and writing
Details of a new season first emerged in the media following a Television Critics Association
press event, and by July 21, 2014, FX commissioned ten episodes for Fargo second season.
As an anthology, each season of Fargo is engineered to have a self-contained narrative,
following a disparate set of characters in various settings. Noah Hawley
and his team of writers used the second season
to expand the scope of the show's storytelling—from its narrative to its characters.
They increased the show's cast of core characters to five, each with interconnecting arcs
and different viewpoints of the central story. Hawley wanted viewers to sympathize
with characters they might not feel empathy for in real life. The producers
at one point discussed revisiting a modern period for their story. Ultimately,
their vision—inspired by Miller's Crossing and The Man Who Wasn't There, in addition
to the show's namesake film —was realized as a prequel that takes place 27 years before the events
of the first season of Fargo in 1979, rotating between Luverne, Minnesota, Fargo, North Dakota
and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. According to Hawley, the change in the time period helped
to develop a sense of turbulence and violence in a world that "could not be more fractured
and complicated and desperate".
Casting
A principal cast of five actors received star billing in the show's second season.
Hawley did not tailor his characters with any specific actors in mind, though Nick Offerman,
Brad Garrett, Patrick Wilson and Kirsten Dunst were among the few he considered
for starring roles in the season's early stages. The search
for talent was sometimes an exhaustive process that required advertising via custom built websites
and social media. Once actors were hired,
their agents were made aware of the frigid shooting conditions and any issues with the location
and potential scheduling conflicts during production were discussed. Hawley discussed the script
with actors who had little experience in the television industry. "They're used
to reading the whole story, but you’ve given them one or two hours of it," he remarked.
Once hired, the actors trained with a dialect coach to master a Minnesota accent. Dunst
and Jesse Plemons were the season's first lead castings in December 2014.
Dunst found out about the project through her agency, and read scripts for two episodes,
viewed Fargo first season, and its namesake film, before securing her role. The actress recalled,
"I was so impressed by the way it looked, the writing; it was such high-quality television."
Plemons came to Hawley's attention for his work in Friday Night Lights and Breaking Bad.
Hawley thought that the actor's bulky physique, weight he had gained previously for Black Mass,
captured the cow-like deportment of his character.
Plemons said that he had trouble interpreting his role initially, because he
"was worried that [being cow-like] meant dumb and just went along with whatever his wife said".
Wilson, Ted Danson, and Jean Smart completed the principal cast by January 2015.
Wilson appeared as officer Lou Solverson, Danson as sheriff Hank Larsson,
and Smart as Floyd Gerhardt, the matriarch of the Gerhardt crime family.
Wilson's casting was unique, because he was the only performer
to portray an already established character; Keith Carradine played Lou
for the show's first season, set 27 years after the events of season two. As such,
Hawley did not want to take cues from Carradine, because Lou was "at a different point"
in his life, although Wilson analyzed Carradine's performance to a point. Wilson was persuaded
by Fargo critical accolades and commercial success; the actor said:
"There have been several times that you’ve given your heart and soul to an independent film
and more often than not it doesn’t match up to any commercial success or people seeing your film.
So [my wife and agent] were like, 'You need to do something that people see'."
Danson found learning the Minnesota accent difficult; to improve,
he began practicing as soon as he was signed, often on set before filming began.
Smart's role required an older look, which producers achieved by cutting and dyeing her hair,
and Hawley gave the actress a book of paintings by Andrew Wyeth to explain her character.
An ensemble of 20 actors make up the bulk of the series' cast. Hawley found ensembles enticing,
because they presented "a lot of really good moving pieces". At Paleyfest 2015,
the Fargo creator commented: "It's sort of like a horse race in a way, especially
when you know that everyone is on this collision course. It's like, 'Who's going
to make it?' And you can put people together in unexpected pairings."
Offerman played Karl Weathers, an alcoholic and the only lawyer in Luverne,
and Cristin Milioti was assigned the part of Betsy Solverson, Lou's terminally ill wife.
Hawley felt that Milioti was the right choice, because her personality was similar
to her character's. Garrett portrays Joe Bulo, and Bokeem Woodbine appears as Mike Milligan,
a role he was offered two days after auditioning. For the role of Hanzee Dent,
Hawley hired Zahn McClarnon two weeks after his audition.
Six others play members of the Gerhardts: Kieran Culkin as Rye, Rachel Keller as Simone,
Michael Hogan as Otto, Allan Dobescu as Charlie, Angus Sampson as Bear,
and Jeffrey Donovan as Dodd. When asked about his decision to cast Donovan, Hawley told the actor,
"I don't know. You just come off with a sense of power. I think Dodd comes off
with a sense of power, and I thought that you have the chops to find the humor in it."
Donovan gained 30 pounds in preparation for his role.
Other major supporting roles in Fargo second season include: Bruce Campbell as Ronald Reagan,
Keir O'Donnell as Ben Schmidt, and Elizabeth Marvel as Constance Heck.
Filming
 [^]  Preliminary scouting was well underway by the time Fargo was renewed.
Principal photography began in Calgary, Alberta on January 19, 2015, and took 85 days.
The city's central business district and Kensington neighborhood doubled for Kansas City,
Sioux Falls, and Luverne.
Production crew constructed the Waffle Hut set on the CL Ranch in neighboring Springbank.
Elsewhere in the area, shooting took place in Didsbury, High River, and Fort Macleod. Initially,
the weather posed a challenge for the production, because it was too warm for snow.
To solve this problem, the production crew brought snow to the set from nearby mountains.
Continuing his services from the prior season,
Dana Gonzales oversaw production of the show's second season. The cinematographer took cues
from William Eggleston to develop a retro visual palette. To achieve this quality,
Gonzales relied on vintage practical lighting technology, and captured scenes
with an Arri ALEXA camera, retrofitted with vintage Cooke lenses. In one section of Calgary
where they were filming, production staff replaced each sodium-lamp street light
with tungsten light bulbs, creating an ambience that "pulls the audience into the world
when the story takes place". Also,
once Hawley analyzed the 1968 thriller film The Boston Strangler,
split screen effects were employed to help streamline the narrative during transitions.
Gonzales said: "We felt that split-screen would be an incredible way to track all these characters
and locations within the episode: Where's the Gerhardt family? Where are the guys
from Kansas City? Where's Peggy? Where's Ed?"
Music
Leading music production of the second season of Fargo were composer Jeff Russo
and newly appointed music supervisor Marguerite Phillips.
Phillips was hired immediately after her first meeting with Hawley,
in a text which she received as she left the building. Together,
they brainstormed ideas on the season's musical direction; progressive rock, krautrock, Jethro Tull,
and The Runaways were among several early suggestions. Phillips spent months conducting research,
"dicking around and 'going down rabbit holes'" for the obscure music choices,
until ultimately narrowing down the selection of music from a master playlist.
Russo employed various compositional and recording techniques to build a distinctive retro sound.
The soundtrack features songs by: Billy Thorpe, Burl Ives, Cris Williamson, Devo, Jeff Wayne,
Yamasuki, Blitzen Trapper, Shakey Graves, White Denim, and Bobby Womack,
as well as one cover version—Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch's
"Didn't Leave Nobody, but the Baby" performed by Hawley. The use of "War Pigs"
by Black Sabbath in the opening scenes of the season finale received acclaim.
Russo also recorded music with the University of Southern California marching band
at Hawley's request.
Reviews
Fargo was considered among the best television shows of 2015 by the American press.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the second season holds a 100% score based on 53 reviews,
with an average rating of 9.19 out of 10. The site's critical consensus reads:
"Season two of Fargo retains all the elements that made the series an award-winning hit,
successfully delivering another stellar saga powered by fascinating characters, cheeky cynicism,
and just a touch of the absurd".
The season also holds the rare distinction of having each episode maintain a perfect 100% rating as
well. Metacritic gives the season a score of 96, based on 33 reviews, indicating
"universal acclaim". It was the highest rated TV show of the year on the same site,
as well as the 20th highest of all time. Christopher Orr of The Atlantic called Fargo "smart,
thrilling, imaginative television, in addition to being wicked funny",
in which Hawley assumes greater narrative dimension and assurance in his vision. Matthew Gilbert
from The Boston Globe identified the dialog, acting, cinematography, music, set design
and directing as its most satisfying attributes. So too did The Hollywood Reporter Tim Goodman,
who believed that said qualities "make a very riveting and entertaining dark comedy spectacle".
Neil Genzlinger, writing for The New York Times, said that Fargo marries deadpan humor, violence,
and "observational oddity" in a way unmatched by similar dramas. In his review for Variety,
Brian Lowry believed that despite the show's brisk pace, Hawley nonetheless adds depth
to his story. Dan Jardine of Slant Magazine agreed
and thought that the narrative complexity is what distinguishes season two
from Fargo freshman season. Rolling Stone Rob Sheffield felt that Fargo painted
"a fascinating portrait of America at the crossroads". Alan Sepinwall said in his review
for HitFix that the series captures its namesake film's most redeeming qualities while assuming a
distinct identity, and The A.V. Club website felt that the series was
"the rare cable drama that forgoes attenuated storytelling and moral ambiguity,
and instead delivers episode after episode where a lot happens, and all of it matters".
The ensemble performances were frequently mentioned in the critiques.
Lowry cited the cast as one of the show's strongest assets,
and Robert Biano in USA Today wrote that Fargo cast was "with nary a false note".
The Daily Telegraph critic Michael Hogan singled out Dunst, Danson and Wilson
for their work on the show, as did the San Francisco Chronicle David Wiegand,
whose opinion was that many of the performers' signature roles enhanced Hawley's script.
Matt Zoller Seitz of New York magazine found Wilson to be the stand out among a pool of actors that
"deserve their own stand-alone appreciations". He said of the actor's performance:
"He's a young man, and he's in good shape, but he carries himself like an older, heavier one,
as if weighed down by burdens he hasn't fully acknowledged, because he's not ready yet.
You get a sense of a personality, perhaps a soul, in the process of evolving." Reviews
from Entertainment Weekly and The Washington Post singled out Donovan, Smart, Milioti, Garrett,
and Offerman for their acting. Grantland, the New York Observer,
and the Los Angeles Times also praised the ensemble performances.
Accolades
Fargo was a candidate for a variety of awards,
most of which recognizing outstanding achievement in writing, cinematography, directing, acting,
and special effects. The series received eighteen Emmy nominations
for the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony. It was named Television Program of the Year
by the American Film Institute, and received three Golden Globe nominations—including
for Best Actor and Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film.
Among other accolades include two Satellite Awards nominations in two categories,
two TCA Award nominations in two categories, and one Empire Award nomination.
At the 6th Critics' Choice Television Awards, Fargo won four awards from eight nominations,
the majority of which acknowledged the performance work of the show's cast.
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