TV Shows We Love: Fargo

“This is a true story. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred”.

Thus begins each episode of FX’s anthology series Fargo – but don’t be fooled, this is not another true crime drama. In fact, none of it is actually true.

If you’ve seen the 1996 Coen brothers’ film of the same name, which follows a police officer investigating the bizarre sequence of events leading to a triple homicide, you’ll recognise the very particular brand of dark humour that characterises the show. But don’t worry if you haven’t, it’s not a prerequisite!

Much like the film, which served as inspiration, the show weaves complex, layered stories of treachery, murder and deception against completely mundane settings, in what are made to look like some of the most boring places in America.

Set in and around the American Midwest, particularly around Minnesota and North and South Dakota (Fargo itself, a city in North Dakota, lending its name to the title), its four seasons stay faithful to this formula, even with a different cast and story each time around.

The characters themselves are painfully ordinary; an insurance salesman, a butcher, a hairdresser, a nurse. These are the people who, sometimes inadvertently, commit crimes, end up in dangerous predicaments, or even become villains.

Even with all the crime and the police investigations, Fargo isn’t really about that. It’s more about exploring how our shortcomings and weaknesses can drive us to foolish or desperate acts, and how people’s sense of justice differs from person to person.

Without giving too much away, the show also boasts an incredible soundtrack, and a superb cast in each and every season, which includes Martin Freeman, Kirsten Dunst, Ted Danson, Ewan McGregor, David Thewlis and Chris Rock.

The fifth season, starring Jon Hamm, is set to premiere in 2023.