Noah Hawley's Fargo is basically the most grandiose fan fiction ever. And grandiose because it's more true to the Coen Brothers style than even some of their very own movies. This could have gone all kinds of wrong, but it was a resounding success. Oh yah, you betcha.
Brilliant. I'm lying here in a hospital bed contemplating life. #cosmicirony and #absurd it definitely is. Deep Gratitude. Thank you for sharing your gift. 🙏🔮
In 5 years time you will barely be able to recall the worst aspects of what you are going through. That is my experience of major surgery 5 years ago. Good luck Bren, and be a patient patient. It does get easier.
This is BY FAR the best analysis I've ever seen about both the series and the Coens' filmography. Fargo is easily my all-time favorite show ever, so thank you for this. I'm now off to watch your videos on seasons two, three, and four. In the future, I'd love to see you do a video on season five; once it finishes airing, of course. Maybe someday you can even touch on Noah Hawley's other masterpiece of a show--Legion. Also, the fact that you've covered Blade Runner 2049, Children of Men, Magnolia, After Hours, etc., has earned you a new subscriber. Though I must admit, I am a little sad to see that you have a video about David Lynch being overrated, which I must respectfully disagree with.
Yeah I lose people with lynch take lol. It was my first attempt at a video essay, many years ago. If I were to do it today (well first of all, I wouldn't, there's no point in adding more pointless negativity to the cesspool) I would do it much differently. People like what they like and that's fine. There's no point in arguing over whether mushrooms taste good. Tastes are tastes. Anyways, thanks for the sub and I'm happy you enjoy (most of) my content. I have a big original project coming out soon, a full length film of my own. I hope to see you there!
I re watch this every January (since it takes place during that time). I had to check as I thought the Cohens were helping make the show. They did an incredible job
Martin Freeman impressed me a lot with this performance, I've always seen him as pure Britt but he successfully convinced me he was all American in this show, I didn't see a British person at all. Plus I always have to respect an actor more who can act well even while performing in a totally different accent. Andrew Lincoln also comes to mind for this
I love how everything is so out of place it makes it dream like and intriguing. Think about it; it’s shot like it’s based in the early 90s at the most generous, when it’s actually based in 2006. The music as well throws you off. A lot of old time 1950s songs are played throughout the Season.
Lorne Malvo is chaos, he’s basically the embodiment of it in the show. He intentionally fails so many jobs out of a whim to see what happens if he pulls a random string, willingly and knowingly, not from ineptitude. I can’t think of a better villain in a tv series. Anton in No Country is probably the only other villain that demands more attention.
I typed my previous comment before I watched the whole of the video, I was that enamoured with it. The part at the end about the animal metaphors etc. just blew my mind. You are a darn tootin' genius Sir.
I was so pleasantly surprised by this show once I caught up to it a few years after the fact....your intro hit the nail on the head w me! I had no faith in it being good, and it was so good! I'm due for a rewatch as we speak.
This video is amazing. Literally just finished Season 1 and after watching this i consider it a companion piece to the show. Gonna recommend this channel to people. Keep up yhe great work
Oh man, what an amazingly enlightening study of Fargo and the Coen Bros in general. I learned so much from this, or rather you explained and highlighted to me some of what I already understood at some deeper unconscious level. This presentation deserves 10,000s more views than what it has. Excellent work my friend, I am so glad I found this after just finishing Fargo season 2 ( and 2 to go). I subscribed too. PS. I also believe there is a lot more of Twin Peaks and David Lynch in the Fargo series than anyone has mentioned in any review I have watched .
I really agree with you about twin peaks, for me season 3 felt very influenced by twin peaks, some shots of varga's mouth and ray wise gave me the chills... love twin peaks and Fargo, such great TV/
@@yarony7 haha, I just finished Fargo 3 days ago, great timing ! I liked it very much too, so different from the first 2, and darker, VM Vargas' teeth, Bobby Peru from Wild at Heart ? ................. Did you also notice all the little nods to other Coen movies? The Bowling alley and "the Cowboy" from The Big Lebowski and the line "mere Surmise" is in A Serious Man, I noticed a few others at the time but forget now. Amazing viewing, well above the norm...... Fargo 4 very soon. 🙏
Pretty rare that I watch an entire 25 minutes of video on the youtube. Found it to be easy this time. Very well done. The wife and I just completed Season 1 and I really enjoyed your breakdown. (And boy did we sure enjoy it). Found your video to be very insightful. And well presented. The wife is going out of town on a business trip for a week. I will be watching the Coen Bros films in order. Already seen em all, but what the heck. Sorry for the rough language.
The duck stamps are not for postage, they are part of the licensing process for duck hunters. You buy a general hunting license and then purchase additional stamps to affix to it for animals you plan to hunt.
Thank you sir. Great analysis of a great show. As a massive fan of everything Coens half the fun of watching the Fargo series is not only seeing the connections to the Fargo film but all the other Coen's films. Norms pizza and Wade's jewelry (Fargo). Malvo's goofy haircut (Chigure's hair in No Country..) I could go on and on. Noah Hawley has made the greatest piece of fan fiction Television in history and I think we are all so glad FX just announced a 5th season. Cheers. P.S. Moses, the clock keeper in The Hudsucker Proxy, is a human manifestation of the Deus Ex Machina. Hes literally the God in the Machine. I never put that together till about a year ago
I can relate to your apprehension about the show. That same "oh, come on" doubt kept me from watching it for so long. When I finally did, I was so mad at myself for not giving it a chance sooner. Maybe it's because the show was 10 episodes, allowing you to really be immersed in the world, but I thought it was better than the film (if that's possible). Also, side note: I always felt like Lester looked like a clownfish in that big orange coat (& that orange fish in his poster). Perhaps a nod (intentional or not) to his buffoonery?
No, you had a great analysis here but you make a classic mistake of identifying the antagonist's philosophy as the film's message because its so powerfully stated-- but it's opposed and defeated. Molly and Gus have elements of the duck and the dog but they accept certain fundamental truths about life, about happiness, about truth. They TRANSCEND from animal to human-- and no wolf, no shark, can stand up to humans except in fantasy. Consider the scene where Molly's father and Malvo talk. Malvo is there to find and kill Lester. Molly's father identifies what Malvo is and uses a human trick to defeat him-- he tells him a story that through polite implication reveals that he Malvo can't trick him and he's ready for him to try something. Malvo even references the Garden of Eden upon leaving. Humans are the masters of the world-- serpents can only strike at their heels while humans can bash them on the head. Malvo's philosophy is proven WRONG by Gus because prey cannot rear up and kill the predator. Malvo gets off on destroying people from within but he couldn't break Gus AND he couldn't break Lester-- he could only lead Lester to a path where his own desires end up destroying him.
I’m not seeing how the villain’s philosophy is ever defeated. The most I can give you is that it’s left ambiguous as to whether he ends up being correct or not. Not so much in the other seasons though. See my videos on those as well.
@@FallopiumFilms He believes that all human relations break down to predator and prey and literally gets off on helping people destroy their own lives. He's critically wounded by Lester whom he tried to destroy and failed and then destroyed by Gus whom he regarded as totally weak and openly taunted and bullied. There's no moral victories in Malvo's philosophy. Predators don't win if they're kicked to death by prey. But Gus Molly and Lou aren't just animals-- they've made decisions in their lives that allow them to transcend that state (SEE: Miller's Crossing where the opening monolog draws this same distinction) That act of transcendence defeats Malvo's philosophy for, if we couldn't transcend our nature it would be no more possible for Gus to defeat Malvo than it would be for a duck to kill a wolf. I personally think you do good analysis but you're more comfortable discussing themes of the absurd and cosmic irony than transcendence and morality but those themes also run throughout the Coen's work-- and through the first 3 seasons. The God of the Old Testament is certainly watching everything that transpires.
The science of symbolism was unfortunately forgotten, but it states that everything is related to everything -- because one person created everything. There is an intelligence that unites everything, that religions called God, the Creator. So, when you say that "Coens are trying to say that people are animals", creation actually states thay "everything is everything" and we are and can become more like... everything. But the true path is to become like the one who is light, truth and the way.
Malvo is just a narcissist who wanted to mess with Lester and give him advice he thought Lester didn't actually have the courage to follow up on. He pays the price for this hubris in the end.
Noah Hawley's Fargo is basically the most grandiose fan fiction ever. And grandiose because it's more true to the Coen Brothers style than even some of their very own movies. This could have gone all kinds of wrong, but it was a resounding success. Oh yah, you betcha.
My husband and I are obsessed with Billy Bob's character. One of the best characters ever! Aces!
Agrees he’s a top three tv antagonist imo
"Is this really what you want?"
Brilliant. I'm lying here in a hospital bed contemplating life. #cosmicirony and #absurd it definitely is. Deep Gratitude. Thank you for sharing your gift. 🙏🔮
This comment is a gift. And please feel better
In 5 years time you will barely be able to recall the worst aspects of what you are going through. That is my experience of major surgery 5 years ago. Good luck Bren, and be a patient patient. It does get easier.
Hey Bren I hope your health concerns are now far in the rearview and you're doing swimmingly.
Checking up, how you doing Bren? 💕
This is BY FAR the best analysis I've ever seen about both the series and the Coens' filmography. Fargo is easily my all-time favorite show ever, so thank you for this. I'm now off to watch your videos on seasons two, three, and four. In the future, I'd love to see you do a video on season five; once it finishes airing, of course. Maybe someday you can even touch on Noah Hawley's other masterpiece of a show--Legion.
Also, the fact that you've covered Blade Runner 2049, Children of Men, Magnolia, After Hours, etc., has earned you a new subscriber. Though I must admit, I am a little sad to see that you have a video about David Lynch being overrated, which I must respectfully disagree with.
Yeah I lose people with lynch take lol. It was my first attempt at a video essay, many years ago. If I were to do it today (well first of all, I wouldn't, there's no point in adding more pointless negativity to the cesspool) I would do it much differently. People like what they like and that's fine. There's no point in arguing over whether mushrooms taste good. Tastes are tastes. Anyways, thanks for the sub and I'm happy you enjoy (most of) my content. I have a big original project coming out soon, a full length film of my own. I hope to see you there!
Small correction the Fargo film was released in 1996 but the story takes place in 1987
I re watch this every January (since it takes place during that time). I had to check as I thought the Cohens were helping make the show. They did an incredible job
lol i love this comment
Martin Freeman impressed me a lot with this performance, I've always seen him as pure Britt but he successfully convinced me he was all American in this show, I didn't see a British person at all. Plus I always have to respect an actor more who can act well even while performing in a totally different accent. Andrew Lincoln also comes to mind for this
I love how everything is so out of place it makes it dream like and intriguing. Think about it; it’s shot like it’s based in the early 90s at the most generous, when it’s actually based in 2006. The music as well throws you off. A lot of old time 1950s songs are played throughout the Season.
Lorne Malvo is chaos, he’s basically the embodiment of it in the show. He intentionally fails so many jobs out of a whim to see what happens if he pulls a random string, willingly and knowingly, not from ineptitude. I can’t think of a better villain in a tv series. Anton in No Country is probably the only other villain that demands more attention.
Only two tv villains better imo are homelander and hannibal lecter. Malvo is right at three for me the character is amazing
quality. Won't miss your coverage of the next 3 seasons. Good stuff.
Analyses on seasons 2 and 3 are out now
@@FallopiumFilms Yipee !
damn thank you algorithm. brilliant video essays. i’m in the middle of watching fargo so coming back after every season to your channel.
I typed my previous comment before I watched the whole of the video, I was that enamoured with it. The part at the end about the animal metaphors etc. just blew my mind. You are a darn tootin' genius Sir.
Brilliant analysis! I am rewatching the show and I'm amazed with the symbolism that you pointed out. Thanks for this!
Thank you for naming what it is i love about Coen bros movies. Ive always been a big fan of irony. Not just in movies, but in life.
I was so pleasantly surprised by this show once I caught up to it a few years after the fact....your intro hit the nail on the head w me! I had no faith in it being good, and it was so good! I'm due for a rewatch as we speak.
This video is amazing. Literally just finished Season 1 and after watching this i consider it a companion piece to the show. Gonna recommend this channel to people. Keep up yhe great work
24 minutes just passed like movement, perfect analysis.
Oh man, what an amazingly enlightening study of Fargo and the Coen Bros in general. I learned so much from this, or rather you explained and highlighted to me some of what I already understood at some deeper unconscious level. This presentation deserves 10,000s more views than what it has. Excellent work my friend, I am so glad I found this after just finishing Fargo season 2 ( and 2 to go). I subscribed too. PS. I also believe there is a lot more of Twin Peaks and David Lynch in the Fargo series than anyone has mentioned in any review I have watched .
I really agree with you about twin peaks, for me season 3 felt very influenced by twin peaks, some shots of varga's mouth and ray wise gave me the chills... love twin peaks and Fargo, such great TV/
@@yarony7 haha, I just finished Fargo 3 days ago, great timing ! I liked it very much too, so different from the first 2, and darker, VM Vargas' teeth, Bobby Peru from Wild at Heart ? ................. Did you also notice all the little nods to other Coen movies? The Bowling alley and "the Cowboy" from The Big Lebowski and the line "mere Surmise" is in A Serious Man, I noticed a few others at the time but forget now. Amazing viewing, well above the norm...... Fargo 4 very soon. 🙏
First 2 seasons 10/10
Season 3 9/10
Season 4 7.5/10
This is one of the best analysis I've ever seen
I still love Blood Simple.
This is a very worthwhile production and I enjoyed watching it.
Hello from London. Very good stuff. Thank you
Pretty rare that I watch an entire 25 minutes of video on the youtube. Found it to be easy this time. Very well done. The wife and I just completed Season 1 and I really enjoyed your breakdown. (And boy did we sure enjoy it). Found your video to be very insightful. And well presented.
The wife is going out of town on a business trip for a week. I will be watching the Coen Bros films in order. Already seen em all, but what the heck. Sorry for the rough language.
I hope you guys get equal enjoyment from the seasons to come (I have videos on seasons 1 through 4, five is on the way)
Genuinely don't get how you have so few subscribers, your vids on par with those million subs film channels
The duck stamps are not for postage, they are part of the licensing process for duck hunters. You buy a general hunting license and then purchase additional stamps to affix to it for animals you plan to hunt.
Thank you sir. Great analysis of a great show. As a massive fan of everything Coens half the fun of watching the Fargo series is not only seeing the connections to the Fargo film but all the other Coen's films. Norms pizza and Wade's jewelry (Fargo). Malvo's goofy haircut (Chigure's hair in No Country..) I could go on and on. Noah Hawley has made the greatest piece of fan fiction Television in history and I think we are all so glad FX just announced a 5th season. Cheers. P.S. Moses, the clock keeper in The Hudsucker Proxy, is a human manifestation of the Deus Ex Machina. Hes literally the God in the Machine. I never put that together till about a year ago
The only issue I have with this show is that hardly anyone I know has seen it no matter how much I recommend it. (I'm in the UK). Fantastic video
I know exactly what you mean
That's like me here in the US trying to get people to watch The Fall or Happy Valley.
Don't worry plenty in the UK have seen it love it and are (like u) constantly recommending it, best thing we've seen in a long time 👌
Best video I’ve seen in a while
Beautifully written. Subscribed!
Great Video! Just finished the first season and cant wait to continue.
You're in for a treat that only gets sweeter as it goes
Such a great video. How are you able to make deep analysis videos like this? Wish I could come to conclusions and themes you come to on my own.
I love how episode 1 basically plays out as a fast forwarded remake of the movie, until Malvo shoots our hero dead.
Bravo!!!
Brilliant analysis! I love this show.
Great Essay, you opend my eyes.
I am so glad Fargo's stories aren't real-real so writers can let their imaginario fly and fulfill a narrative arch.
Fargo is such a good show, honestly better than the movie. It’s one of my favourite shows of all time.
I disagree, while the show is badass and a must watch the movie is a near masterpiece and absolutely hilarious
Well done bro
What a PERFECT video.
i love that man
this is good. Are you gonna do season 4?
I've done all the seasons
@@FallopiumFilms oh ok I'll look for it thanks
Great job brother!!!!
Fargo came out in 1996
Great show
Great, thank you a lot!
Great video !!
great insight. thanks
1:03 since when was the film made in '87, it takes place in '87, it was released in '96.
I’m bad I suck Im dumb I know
𝐼’𝑚 𝑏𝑎𝑑 𝐼 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑘 𝐼'𝑚 𝑑𝑢𝑚𝑏 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤
The first step is admitting that you have a problem (teasing, of course).
The original film was made in 1996 with the story set in 1987
Bruh. Thanks
No, Bruh. Thank you
I can relate to your apprehension about the show. That same "oh, come on" doubt kept me from watching it for so long. When I finally did, I was so mad at myself for not giving it a chance sooner. Maybe it's because the show was 10 episodes, allowing you to really be immersed in the world, but I thought it was better than the film (if that's possible). Also, side note: I always felt like Lester looked like a clownfish in that big orange coat (& that orange fish in his poster). Perhaps a nod (intentional or not) to his buffoonery?
No mention of Miller's Crossing. In my mind their finest film...
Yeah it’s one of their best
Now that season 4 is out are you going to do a video on it?
Season 5? Eventually. I’m way too busy to make content like I used to
@@FallopiumFilms YES 5! haha sorry! Yeah good stuff tho!! Great content!
Cool stuff. ty
aces!
Can you do one on true detective season 1, thnx
it's on the list. But doing a whole season of a show takes months lol. Especially a season I haven't watched since it came out
except i remember the nurse letting a man die in her garage.it was in the newspapers
Fargo was 1996, little worrying for the rest of the video
No, you had a great analysis here but you make a classic mistake of identifying the antagonist's philosophy as the film's message because its so powerfully stated-- but it's opposed and defeated.
Molly and Gus have elements of the duck and the dog but they accept certain fundamental truths about life, about happiness, about truth. They TRANSCEND from animal to human-- and no wolf, no shark, can stand up to humans except in fantasy.
Consider the scene where Molly's father and Malvo talk. Malvo is there to find and kill Lester. Molly's father identifies what Malvo is and uses a human trick to defeat him-- he tells him a story that through polite implication reveals that he Malvo can't trick him and he's ready for him to try something. Malvo even references the Garden of Eden upon leaving. Humans are the masters of the world-- serpents can only strike at their heels while humans can bash them on the head.
Malvo's philosophy is proven WRONG by Gus because prey cannot rear up and kill the predator. Malvo gets off on destroying people from within but he couldn't break Gus AND he couldn't break Lester-- he could only lead Lester to a path where his own desires end up destroying him.
I’m not seeing how the villain’s philosophy is ever defeated. The most I can give you is that it’s left ambiguous as to whether he ends up being correct or not. Not so much in the other seasons though. See my videos on those as well.
@@FallopiumFilms He believes that all human relations break down to predator and prey and literally gets off on helping people destroy their own lives. He's critically wounded by Lester whom he tried to destroy and failed and then destroyed by Gus whom he regarded as totally weak and openly taunted and bullied.
There's no moral victories in Malvo's philosophy. Predators don't win if they're kicked to death by prey. But Gus Molly and Lou aren't just animals-- they've made decisions in their lives that allow them to transcend that state (SEE: Miller's Crossing where the opening monolog draws this same distinction)
That act of transcendence defeats Malvo's philosophy for, if we couldn't transcend our nature it would be no more possible for Gus to defeat Malvo than it would be for a duck to kill a wolf.
I personally think you do good analysis but you're more comfortable discussing themes of the absurd and cosmic irony than transcendence and morality but those themes also run throughout the Coen's work-- and through the first 3 seasons. The God of the Old Testament is certainly watching everything that transpires.
Stop apologizing about the length of the videos and make one about Mike Milligan.
The science of symbolism was unfortunately forgotten, but it states that everything is related to everything -- because one person created everything. There is an intelligence that unites everything, that religions called God, the Creator. So, when you say that "Coens are trying to say that people are animals", creation actually states thay "everything is everything" and we are and can become more like... everything. But the true path is to become like the one who is light, truth and the way.
1987?
I know...
the original 1987 film?? aren't you off by about 10years?
Yeah
Who the fuck dislikes this?
so it was you?
@@FallopiumFilms surmise
What happened to your voice
they did a shitty job in season 3, like a different writer all together, i’m curious is season 4 will be good
Nts 0:01
Malvo is just a narcissist who wanted to mess with Lester and give him advice he thought Lester didn't actually have the courage to follow up on. He pays the price for this hubris in the end.
Burn After Reading and Hail, Caesar are really bad movies. The Cohens just mailed it in with those movies.
In my opinion i found the show way better than the film
I did as well the movies protagonist isn’t very interesting or compelling imo