Fargo Season 3

[Van Dammage]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-8TwNZxI34

30 second teaser for the new season of Fargo. Literally just two characters sitting in a diner, a cop walks in, they walk out. No plot spoilers or anything. I still don't know anything about the plot for this aside from the fact that Ewan Mcgregor is playing two characters (brothers). Ewan Mcgregor is in this trailer and he looks fuck all like his usual self. He looks like a slightly overweight redneck and a bit like Woody Harrelson did when he had a bit of hair. The two characters are apparently a small time criminal (the one in the trailer I'm assuming) and a successful business man.





If you asked me to guess who that was I doubt I'd ever figure it out. I wonder what his accent sounds like though...could potentially be quite dodgy. I recall season 2 being quite well liked on here (I loved it, really got going about 3 episodes in though) so I assume there's a few more people looking forward to this.

[Van Dammage]

Forgot to say the first episode is airing on the 19th of April.

[mothman]

At first glance I though the cop and companion might be Alison Tolman's character and her stepdaughter but looking st it again I don't think it is. Looks like it's a boy not a girl she's sitting with.

[selectivememory]

That "Diner" sign with only the D,I and E lit up is a little on the nose.

Nevertheless, I thought this show really found its feet in the second season after the very patchy first, so I've got high hopes for this.

[phantom_power]

And with what Noah Hawley is doing with Legion it seems he knows how to do good telly, so I am quite excited about this

[a peepee tipi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7NB0YQBQWI
Caught the full trailer yesterday. I thought that the first season was frustratingly shit, but the second season was really fun, more confident stylistically and I think noticeably stronger than most recent dramas in the characters department. However, and I don't know if it's just the return to a more modern setting, but there's a lot I find off-putting about this so far and I can't really point to anything that I've had a real positive reaction too. Mary Elizabeth Winstead saying "unfathomable pinheadery", the drier color palette, the bits of Ewan McGregor McGregoring, ehhhhhh. We'll see though, I really did love the second season so I'm willing to give this a shot.

[imitationleather]

I've really enjoyed both seasons (the second being the best bit o' telly drama I've seen since Breaking Bad), but having Ewan McGregor attempting an American accent in anything is a huge red flag for me. He just cannot do them. I am concerned about that casting. Still, looking forward to it. But cautiously.

[mothman]

https://youtu.be/bm-5HwIR7hM

Extended trailer. Actually feels a bit better than the version above. Less rushed, maybe?

[Shit Good Nose]

Never having rated the film very highly[nb]and it's not that I don't like the Coens, I just don't think Fargo is all that, acting aside[/nb], I've thoroughly enjoyed both series so far and have thought that both of them have been better than the film.  So, yes, I am looking forward to series 3.

What channel is it airing on?  4 again?

[mothman]

I hope so. Not seen it mentioned anywhere though. Channel 4 are past masters at building a show's audience then letting it swan off to Sky (taking about a tenth of said audience with them, at best).

[Viero_Berlotti]

This seems to be getting some good reviews so far. I can't seem to find out when this is coming to the UK though, be it Netflix/Now Tv or Channel 4 terrestrial broadcast. I'm not fucking about with Kodi or downloads bollocks though, I'll just wait for it I think.

[Jim_MacLaine]

It'll be channel 4 apparently but there's no specific date, just spring 2017.

http://www.geektown.co.uk/tvairdates/fargo/

[Viero_Berlotti]

That's odd, you'd think they'd have something like the UK transmission dates organised and announced sooner. It would probably deter people from looking for it illegally if they had a solid idea when it was going to be broadcast over here.

[Puce Moment]

Yeah, it's stunning that we are in 2017 and the networks still don't realise how much advertising or subscription revenue they are losing by being so parochial with their scheduling.

Channel 4 is a week behind with Homeland, and I can't be arsed waiting and just download it. It's nuts that something like Fargo isn't put on a platform that allows everyone to see it immediately.

[Van Dammage]

Line of duty episodes are up on the illegal streaming sites an hour or two after airing. If that's the case for a lesser known BBC show I Imagine there will be no shortage of Fargo streams / torrents.

[Puce Moment]

Line of duty episodes are up on the illegal streaming sites an hour or two after airing. If that's the case for a lesser known BBC show I Imagine there will be no shortage of Fargo streams / torrents.

I meant being able to see it without illegally downloading, on a platform such as Amazon or Netflix. I would prefer to pay for this kind of thing, but if they do not make it available I am going to torrent the ass out of this mother.

[Van Dammage]

Shit, meant to quote Berlotti above you where he said he wouldn't be "Fucking around with downloads or bollocks like that".

[a peepee tipi]

Looked really nice, but I didn't find it engaging. Like, at all. It was odd, it seemed like McGregor nailed the accent as Ray, but was all over the place as Emmit.

Spoiler alert

Third time Fargo's gone for civilians whose stupid, petty decisions lead to them directly committing murder in the first episode and trying to get away with it. This wasn't even the case for the film, where Jerry's decisions indirectly lead to death and he was too inept to make any impact with his attempts to save his skin. It was cool in the first two seasons by making the Lundergaard-type adaptive and the murderer in the first, and then by making the victim a murderer as well in the second, but to me there's very little interest in a third time around and I was kind of hoping they'd at least try a different approach if still going for the usual "murder leads to sprawling chaos", but oh well. Also, can somebody tell me what the counting was for if Ray looking outside was all she needed for a cue? Literally everything involving Maurice was way too contrived, even for Fargo standards, and he was pretty shit. Ray's grab for the gun got a laugh and I did like how they didn't go for such an easy out with that scene until they, uh, you know, end up doing so a few minutes later.  The only scene in the whole thing that really left me curious was Varga's introduction, whom it's safe to bet will be the link back to North Dakota.

[close]

I've already said that I thought the first season was weak, but I don't think anybody can say it wasn't full of strong performances for what they were given. Thing is, for all of its faults, that was pretty clear in the first episode, which I don't know if I can say for this first episode. It doesn't help that the only character that really has any intrigue outside of Varga is Stuhlbarg's, unsurprisingly his performance stoodout. Everybody else was all costume and Carrie Coon playing something we've seen before.  I probably sound harsh, but the second season was great and I was really hoping it wouldn't fall into the first season's pitfalls, but I daresay this first episode hardly shares its few positives even and it's up to the first to pull you in.

I was also kind of excited when it was said recently that they were inspired by The Big Lebowski for this season. I think there's a lot of potential in this platform for something like a shaggy dog story, or for more tasteful absurd elements like a UFO as a catalyst in the middle of a climax twice as opposed to things like actually raining fucking frogs for something that felt ultimately meaningless. Unfortunately, the absurd plot ploint in this, what they took from TBL, is so viciously on the nose that it's indicative of why the overt Coen references are so immersion-breaking. They really lost a lot of my faith with that.  Take in mind that I haven't seen Legion, but I really don't put much stock into Noah Hawley. I remember reading an interview where he was asked about the problems with S1's plot and he said that they take the "This is a true story" part pretty seriously and said something similar to truth being stranger than fiction. I remember thinking how weak a defense that was when Billy Bob's vanishing into fucking thin air and, again, actual fucking raining frogs. I guess the story's just interesting enough to keep up with, but who knows how much this has to do with having been watching since the first season. Hope it gets better.

[mothman]

I'm in two minds whether to wait for Channel 4 to pull their thumbs out their arses, or just get on downloading it.

[imitationleather]

Very pleased this is back and it's set up to be as nicely daft as the previous two seasons. Ewan McGregor, as anticipated, is a bad bit of casting. I hate him attempting American accents as it's just embarrassing. Had months to prepare myself for that, though.

Found this opening episode as fun as all of Better Call Saul 3 so far, and Saul's only in the running because episode 3 was so much better than the endurance-tests of the first two.

[selectivememory]

Loved it. Found it very engaging pretty much from the first scene. A lot of intriguing storylines set up, and it's going to be very interesting to see how everything slots together in the next few episodes. McGregor isn't great casting, but he's not that bad really, even if he can't really manage the accent.

Thewlis was brilliant, and his scene was definitely the highlight. Really sleazy and menacing. Hope he's in it a lot more.

[Puce Moment]

Not that impressed. McGregor is just a pure shit actor, and all the stunt casting is really distracting.

I am hoping to be proved wrong.

[hewantstolurkatad]

Dont see what's gained from both brothers being played by the same actor, presumably it was a "this way we can treat having the one movie actor like we've got two for the same price, and it'll be all quirky clever and shit"

Enjoyed Thewlis, definitely the most intriguing part, along with the assumption the Stuhlberg is gonna be more than some side character to whatever's going down with the two brothers.

[3D]

V.M. Varga is my new hero.

[Mobius]

I thought McGregor was perfectly fine really. Found both brothers interesting, the English bloke was brilliant and it feels like classic Fargo already.

[imitationleather]

I didn't know Thewlis was in this and seeing him pop up was a very welcome surprise. Hope his character comes to play a central role, I love me a bit of Thewlis.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Looked really nice, but I didn't find it engaging. Like, at all. It was odd, it seemed like McGregor nailed the accent as Ray, but was all over the place as Emmit.

Just watched it and christ, I can't believe they didn't get McGregor back to redub some of Emmet's lines, he goes from American to Scottish about five different times in one speech towards the beginning. As you say he's better as Ray but the make up puts me off, it looks cheap and when both of McGregor's characters are onscreen together it highlights just how ridiculously poor it is.

I didn't dislike the episode but I struggled to care that much, only Thewlis and Mary Elizabeth Winstead's characters were appealing and too many of the rest were bland. And whilst it's not their fault I fucking hate bridge the scenes where they tried to make it seem exciting looked rubbish to me.  My mum's played it obsessively from before I was born and has attended many a big convention and at least in the uk it's not like the way they showed it at all.

[Puce Moment]

As disappointed as I was, I have to say that I thought Carrie Coon was marvellous, but I don't think she's capable of being anything but spectacular.

[Van Dammage]

I have a feeling that Thewlis will become this season's Billie Bob Thornton if he gets a decent bit of screentime. Really is a scene stealer. Decent opening episode. Mcgregor's accent wasn't too bad but obviously not really solid either. I remember being fairly underwhelmed by the first few episodes of season 2 and then becoming hooked when it really got going. Hoping for something similar here.

[3D]

I have high hopes for it, and it is still too early to tell. I had similar misgivings hearing Martin Freeman had been cast in series one and that series two would somehow involve Ted Danson, Ronald Reagan and a UFO, and yet both are high up in my favourite television shows ever list.

Thewlis was absolutely mesmerising, part Dickensian eccentric, with smatterings I thought of Pete Townsend, Will Self and E.L. Wisty. Sinister yet utterly compelling. All angles and the smell of stale cigarettes. I liked the way the two initially seemed to think they were dealing with a mental incompetent and their entire world turned upside down with the one word: "Investment."

I'm struggling to think of a character which has stolen a first scene so completely.