Every Season of ‘Fargo,’ Ranked From Worst to Best

The Big Picture

• Fargo
  is a unique television adaptation of the Coen Brothers’ film, with its own idiosyncratic edge, separate from attempting to replicate their style.

• Each season of
  Fargo
  has its own serialized arc and strengths, with Season 4 being the most serious and ambitious, focusing on race relations and class warfare.
• Season 2 of
  Fargo
  is considered a perfect season of television, featuring a larger world and more natural connections between seasons, with a tragic and tear-jerking ending.

At first, it seemed sacrilegious when a television adaptation of the Coen Brothers’ 1996 classic Fargo was first announced. The original is one of the most beloved films of the 1990s and is often cited among the Coens’ greatest accomplishments. However, Noah Hawley created something unique with the FX version of Fargo. The show tells a series of anthology stories that focus on various crimes, conspiracies, and heists that in some way connect to Fargo, North Dakota.

Although it is in no way a direct adaptation, Fargo contains many references to both the original film and other titles in the Coens’ filmography. Each season can be viewed by itself. However, the show has begun to intertwine its narratives over time. Impressively, Hawley crafted the series with an idiosyncratic edge that the Coens should be proud of. He does not attempt to replicate their style and instead creates his own. Each season of Fargo has its own serialized arc, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Ahead of Season 5’s premiere on November 21, here is every season of Fargo, ranked from worst to best.

4 Season 4

1950

Season 4 is easily the most ambitious season, and it’s also the most serious. Part of the joy of watching Fargo early on was the mix of outlandish characters and realistic consequences, but Season 4 takes on serious issues like race relations and class warfare. It’s harder to find the humor in the situation, and the few attempts feel awkwardly inserted. At the end of the day, Hawley isn’t saying anything new about race, and in the season’s worst moments, he feels out of touch.

The season picks up in the early 1950s and focuses on a legacy war between Italian and Blank crime families. In order to secure a truce, the Fadd family and the Cannon Limited empire form a deal to exchange their leaders’ sons, in the hope that it will prevent bloodshed. The Fadds’ young new boss Josto (Jason Schwartzman) is threatened by the rise of Loy Cannon (Chris Rock), who has developed a brilliant economic scheme to empower black citizens. Josto falls in love with the idiosyncratic nurse Oraetta Mayflower (Jessie Buckley), whose unexpected mayhem causes chaos for both groups. Rock delivers a powerful performance and Buckley is hilarious, but the story progresses so slowly that it feels like a boring lecture. Season 4 starts out with a great premise, but fails to justify stretching its story to 11 episodes.

3 Season 3

2010

Season 3 is also overlong, and the convoluted premise leads to some dull stretches. It’s admirable that Hawley is so adamant about being unpredictable, but Season 3 doesn’t wrap the story up satisfyingly. It feels like it’s being weird just to top the previous seasons. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but there is little substance to Season 3’s shady characters. However, there are some truly inventive episodes that stand out from the rest of the pack. “The Law of Non-Contradiction” tells an interesting slice of Hollywood history, and “Who Rules The Land Of Denial?” has an amazing extended opening chase sequence.

Season 3 focuses on the rivalry between twin brothers Emmit and Raymond Stussy, both played by Ewan McGregor in a transformative performance. Emmit is happily married and owns a highly successful parking lot empire, but Raymond is a scheming criminal who struggles to make ends meet. After Raymond and his partner Nikki Swango (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) attempt to steal his prized family heirloom, things get worse for Emmit. His business is taken over by the corrupt British con artist V. M. Varga (David Thewlis). McGregor is so compelling that he overcomes the season’s lack of focus. Thewlis is having a blast chewing the scenery, and the empathetic character Police Chief Gloria Bugle (Carrie Coon) offers some warmth in what’s otherwise a chilly season.

2 Season 1

2006

Season 1 immediately announced itself as distinct from the film. However, the first storyline benefited from the same meticulous approach that the Coens had taken. The story starts out relatively small, then slowly expands to introduce all the players that have a stake. The gradual progression of events is hilarious as things start to get crazier and crazier. While Seasons 3 and 4 feel mean-spirited at times, the black comedy in Season 1 is very enjoyable. It’s both disturbing and rewarding to see the rotten characters get their justice served to them.

The season introduces a new protagonist, insurance man Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman), who shares many qualities with the original film’s Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy). Lester is unhappily married, and after a bitter argument, he accidentally kills his wife Pearl (Kelly Holden Bashar). Lester falls under the influence of quirky hitman Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton), who helps him cover up the crime. Lester’s situation is investigated by police deputy Molly Solverson (Alison Tolman) and officer Gus Grimly (Colin Hanks). It’s the perfect set of main characters. Lester is just incompetent enough to not be completely unlikeable, and Malvo is so unpredictable that it is impossible to look away from him. Hawley is rarely sincere, but the heartfelt romance that blossoms between Molly and Gus is the rare time that Fargo plays things straight.

1 Season 2

1979

Season 2 of Fargo is pretty much a perfect season of television. The premise is actually pretty similar to the first installment but features more characters and a larger world. While the later seasons began to trip over their own feet with the attempts at connecting to one another, the parallels and shared characters between the first two seasons feel more natural. A series of fun reveals in the season finale “Palindrome” tie the events together beautifully.

Season 2 focuses on couple Peggy (Kirsten Dunst) and Ed (Jesse Plemons) Blumquist. Peggy inadvertently kills a robber called Rye (Kieran Culkin) in a car accident, not realizing he’s part of the powerful Gerhardt crime family. Floyd Gerhardt (Jean Smart) attempts to find her son’s killer while the rest of the family jostles for power. Good-natured sheriff Minnesota State Police Officer Lou Solverson (Patrick Wilson) and his loyal sheriff Hank Larsson (Ted Danson) lead the investigation. It’s tragic to watch the happy couple get dragged into the dark events, but the amazing ending with Wilson and Danson is the most tear-jerking moment of the entire series.

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