Kevin Cage of @spotlightsaga reviews... Fargo (S03E01) The Law of Vacant Places Airdate: April 19, 2017 @fxnetworks Ratings: 1.422 Million :: 0.40 18-49 Demo Share Score: 9.25/10 @fargofx *********SPOILERS BELOW********* I was reading a review of the S3 premiere on an online publication and they started with a comparison with some critic's harsh critiques of the show. They didn't agree with them, per se, but the fact that they were even listing them made me want to reach through my phone and smack them. This is 'Fargo', mother fuckers. We haven't had a season since 2015. You are in the presence of mother fucking greatness... There's no time to knit pick. 'Fargo's aesthetic, it's pulpy storytelling, the juxtaposition of its ever-polite, easy going characters that show both cool, calm, extremely violent villains and anti-hero's with a side of 'I was raised right', and their 'Never Say Die' unlikely hero's with that oh so familiar attitude, and mindset of the babyfaced John Cena is nothing short of brilliant... Let's not forget the characters that fall in the middle, the ones that are equally as polar opposite... The seedy, bumbling idiots and the people that are wayyyy too good at being anti-hero's... The kind of people you even wonder, 'How the fuck do they exist in this bizarre and twisted world. Oh, and then there are the dark foreboding elements slapped up against the posters and messages written on the wall that foreshadow events, both strange and small, but always significant. 'Fargo' is a walking, talking, breathing, pissing, shitting, deeply human, yet fascinatingly absurd television series... And that's exactly why we love it. 'Fargo's 3rd Season Premiere 'The Law of Vacant Places' is the type of premiere you don't just watch once. As a matter of fact It's 8am and I'm on my 2nd viewing. The addition of Mary Elizabeth Winstead was a fantastic choice in casting, this is a woman who is perfect for the 'Fargo Brand' and one Im loving that we are seeing more and more of. This is a woman who WILL have a storied career, one I hope that we see achieve an awards collection the size of all the greats... And the fact that she has such humble beginnings. Yeah, Mary, I was watching 'Passions' in 1999! In S3, we see Winstead playing 'Nikki Swango', a parolee who's involved in a whirlwind relationship with one of the Stussy brothers, the one that just so happens to be her parole officer. She embodies that raucous unpredictability and sweet Minnesota charm... It's perfect, even more so that there's no way to tell just what her angle is. Is she for real... Or is she playing a game? The two Stussy brothers, both played to the bone by Ewan McGregor are two peas from the same pod that only share similarities in looks... And that's even stretching it. McGregor has very much embodied two different characters. After the tragic death and loss of their parents, they split their inheritance... Emmit Stussy 'bamboozled' his little brother Ray out of a piece of massive fortune. It was hot red, classic sports car that had all the flash and show of immediate gratification or a boring set of Sisyphus Stamps, that were actually worth a massive fortune. A fortune that Emmit used to set up his real estate empire, while Ray drove his blazing red sports car right into a job as a parole officer watching people piss in a cup for a living (at least this is the way Ray looks at it, no offense parole officers, you actually do important work). The way Ray sees it, Emmit owes him something and he's quick to remind him of that when he can. He's recently fallen head over heels with one of his Bridge balling parolees, yup 'Nikki Swango' and he aims to show her he cares by getting a ring worthy of her hand. Only his smug brother Emmit isn't having it, but the hand of karma soon plays her high card and the money Emmit and his partner had borrowed from a shady overseas loan shark to the tune of 1 Million Dollars, turns out to be what can only be the beginning of a reluctant partnership involving embezzlement and money laundering. We need to give mad props to Scoot McNairy of AMC's 'Halt & Catch Fire'. He's Maurice, another parolee that just happened to piss dirty and be the first guy Ray grabbed up and elected to do his dirty work. The job was supposed to be simple... Break into the address that Ray wrote on the piece of paper and retrieve the valuable stamp that would help Ray put a proper ring on Nikki's finger and of course get his brother back for all those wasted years... And in return Maurice 'dirty piss test' would just disappear. Only, as we all know, nothing goes smooth in 'Fargo'. Maurice is one of those aforementioned bumbling idiots, and not only loses the address, but robs the wrong house... A house that belongs to the last remaining relative of Police Chief Gloria Burgle (Carrie Coon of 'The Leftovers'). Maurice ends up killing the man and leaves breadcrumbs the size of Texas. Maurice shows up at Nikki's house during an intimate bathing moment between Nikki and the most unattractive version of Ewan McGregor possible. Maurice makes threats but Nikki Swango is not to be fucked with, and with the help of Ray, catches Maurice outside of the complex lighting up a cigarette in the perfect 'X Marks The Spot' live action, cartoonish revision of an anvil or piano falling on his head... But in this case it's a Window AC Unit. Too bad, so sad... Scoot McNairy couldn't stay a bit longer, but as we know there are always casualties in Fargo... And even the good ones are liable to go at anytime. Fargo has developed a formula that works... And we may refer to it as a 'formula' but it's very much an unpredictable one, which is what makes it so much fun. I'm all up for critiquing television, but with shows as special as 'Fargo', I find it much more fun to just buckle up, roll down the windows, and enjoy the ride. You can be sure it's going to be smart, loaded with tension, over-the-top animated moments, heavy violence, and that good ol' Minnesota charm... There's nothing like Fargo, but Fargo!
