Ty Watches "Fargo" Season Four

"Fargo" just wrapped up its fourth season, and boy was it a good one. I am proceeding with caution, as to, I do not want to spoil anything.

"Fargo" is a loaded show. It is a show where you need to give it your full attention. You cannot be on your phone, or in your own little world. You have to be laser focused when watching. This goes for all seasons of this show. If you zone out for as little as five minutes, you will miss something. That is one of the many reasons I have enjoyed the hell out of this show from day one. Sure, I had my reservations. The movie is a classic, come at me if you disagree. So I was a bit leery of a TV show. But when I saw it was going to be a serialized crime show, and that the Cohen Brothers gave it their blessing, that was all I needed to get on board.

Just like with other seasons, the fourth season takes place in a certain time, the end of 1950 to the beginning of 1951. The only difference from previous seasons, this one takes place in the midwest, in Kansas City. The other three seasons are in the North, mostly Minnesota. But changing the scenery did nothing to dampen the show. This season was just as brutal, just as involved, just as grimy and just as good as the other three seasons. In fact, I think it may be my second favorite season, behind only the first. This season was so well done. It weaved a great crime story. It told the story so well, and so effectively and so real. This season's violence, and how undignified mob violence can be, felt the most real to this point. There were so many shots in the back, or guns going off unexpectedly or no pomp and circumstance before being shot, like in big time action movies. When it was time for a certain character to die, they died. You know what I mean. In these big crime or action movies there always seems to be a monologue or something to stall the end game. That isn't real life, and this season of "Fargo" showed that very well.

I was super impressed with the acting in this season too. Chris Rock was the boss of the new family in town, and he really delivered. That dude can act when given the proper writing and direction. Jason Schwartzmann was really good. He was wild, but smart. He had some of the funniest moments, but he was also pretty crazy. Jessie Buckley, as the crazed nurse, was a revelation. I had never heard of her until now, but I will never forget her now. Ben Whishaw was so good and so understated, and he was probably the character I rooted for the most. Emryi Crutchfield was tremendous, and her role in this is going to lead to way bigger and way more fun roles. She was so awesome. Glynn Turman, Doctor Senator, was so great. He deserves to win every award he is going to be nominated for. He was wonderful. Rodney L Jones III, as Rock's youngest son, man was he excellent. He got to really stretch his legs as the series went on, and he shined. I mean, everyone in this season did a great, great job, just like the actors in prior seasons.

I am immensely impressed with this show. Where most shows would dip, or take some time off, look at the season of "Lost" with Bai Ling, or every season of "The Office" after Steve Carrell left, "Fargo" hasn't done that. Each season has its own charm and is so well made and written and acted. This show is a force, and I hope they continue. It was also nice to have this right now as a distraction from the world. I love this show, and I really, really liked this most recent season. Just do yourself a favor and watch it. In fact, watch all of "Fargo". It is more than worth your time.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty Watches "Fargo" Season Four Premier

I'm back after a day away. I had some personal stuff to deal with, some tough stuff, and I needed a day to just vent and cry with my wife and kids. But, it is all good now, and I am back. And I am back to talk about the new season of "Fargo".

We have made no secret, RD and I, how much we love the movie and love the show. It is one of the best portrayals, or continuation if you will, or a great movie turned television show. They took this classic movie, and have now made four seasons of some of the most watchable TV out there right now. I was particularly excited for this new season because I am a humongous Chris Rock fan, and I also really, really like Jason Schwartzman. When I saw that they were cast for this new installment, I was pumped. And they are wonderful on the show. This is the first, of four, that doesn't take place in North Dakota or Minnesota. This one is in Kansas City. There is a character from Minnesota in the new season, more on her in a minute, but this is all about the Midwest.

The way the show started off, there were two new episodes, almost three hours of material, and it was tremendous. We got a back story from a young African American student, expertly played by Emyri Crutchfield, about how mob families have come through Kansas City since the early 1900's. It was interesting and cool to see how it was run by one family, a Jewish family, and they made a deal with an Irish family. Then the Irish family takes over and makes a deal with an Italian family. In each one of these deals, a child is traded from family to family too, making it seem that much more ruthless and wild, that people were willing to give up kids to have control over a town and city. After the Italian family takes over, this is where we get the African American crew, led by Rock, coming in to form an alliance with them. When they make the trade off, this is where the show totally takes off. The stakes rise so very much because Rock and his crew are, not only well formed and ready to fight, they are smart too, smarter than any other mob family that has come through. After the trade of children, things get pretty wild. The Italian family loses their leader, mini spoiler alert, when an errant pellet hits an artery in his throat. This pushes Schwartzman to the front of the line. He becomes the leader. He seems ready, but he is also a bit hot headed and hostile. He seems like a bomb that is ready to explode. When he is in the hospital, watching over his father, we meet this crazy nurse who relocated to KC from Minnesota. Jessie Buckley plays the nurse, Nurse Mayflower, and she is crazy. She has been getting compared to Nurse Rathcet, but I think she may be more crazy, and also smarter. She is an evil genius essentially. Her arc over these two episodes was wild, and I am completely in for her journey. As for Schwartzman, he was good, like he always is, and I want to see where he goes from here. He had some great scenes in the first two episodes. Rock and crew were my absolute favorite part so far. Rock is the poised leader of the new mob that comes to town. He is pointed and careful and smart and knows what he is doing and how to do it. It is so cool to see him in a role like this. This is like the stuff he did early on in his career, like his role in "New Jack City", or more in tune with what he did on his own with a movie like "Top 5". Chris Rock is a good, adaptable actor, and roles like he has in "Fargo", and the aforementioned movies before prove that. His crew is also pretty great. Again, they follow his direction, and Doctor Senator, played by Glynn Turman, is a great second in line. Again, he is calm, but he also seems like he has a very, very dark side.

I have enjoyed every iteration that Noah Hawley and crew have done with the "Fargo" TV series, but this one feels different. This one feels like it could be a classic. This feels like this could be the season where everyone is talking about it years and years from now. It has the potential to be that good. I was enthralled, didn't look at my phone and watched with intense focus the whole time. That doesn't happen much anymore, but this fourth installment has my undivided attention. I cannot wait to see where they go from here. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.