Tripwire Reviews Fargo Season Five Episodes 1-3

Hamming It Up

Tripwire’s senior editor Andrew Colman takes a look at the first three episodes of AMC’s Fargo season five, available to watch in the UK on Amazon Prime…

Fargo Season Five

Creator: Noah Hawley
Stars: Juno Temple, John Hamm, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Sam Spruell

After the ambitious but flawed ensemble piece that was Series 4, it was uncertain as to whether series showrunner Noah Hawley would be back for a fifth instalment of the black comedy anthology. Nevertheless, it’s here, and all the key elements (Cassandra police officer, skewed characters, sadistic villains, arch script, baroque tone, one tiny and seemingly unimportant event precipitating endless carnage) are present and thankfully correct.

Juno Temple plays Dot Lyon, a seemingly average Minnesotan housewife whose survivalist antics betray a particularly grim past, while Jon Hamm stars as grizzled, unreconstructed sheriff Roy Tillman, who runs his county like his own personal fiefdom. Attempting to track down Dot after she accidentally breaks cover, he commissions two henchmen to kidnap her, thus setting everything in motion. Meanwhile there’s Lorraine Lyon, Dot’s caustic, acid-tongued mother-in-law who wields considerable power in the Twin Cities and has little concern for her welfare.

There are echoes of earlier stories, but this series so far has certainly been an excellent return to form. As ever Hawley manages to construct a dark, foreboding world where the threat of violence takes on an almost mystical, force of nature dimension, while his villains, especially the fried assassin Ole Munch (an authentically wigged-out turn from Sam Spruell), are grotesques from a nightmarish domain rooted in ancient history. In other words, it’s as compulsive as ever, the barbed script, the direction that veers seamlessly from granular to hyperreal, and the (mostly) amoral characters are the heady brew that underpins the American Gothic of Coen World.

Kudos also to the cast, who appear to be relishing the opportunity to play against type, especially Jon Hamm. His corrupt rancher’s smug, vengeful psychosis is a humorous inversion of his Don Draper persona, while Jennifer Jason Leigh’s effort as the Wicked Witch of the West is tremendous fun. The layer of mysticism is a familiar trope, but it plays as it’s not overcooked. If anything the feel of this series is reminiscent of season 2, only pared down. With a relatively small cast and less subplots than usual, one wonders how the tale can continue to develop and unfold over the remaining seven episodes, but needless to say Hawley’s storytelling style always seems to inspire confidence, even with the occasional digression.

Despite the franchise having more of a cult following rather than mainstream recognition (perhaps due to it being slightly genrebound and ironic) it’s still up there with the best television at the moment.