Fargo

Fargo is an American Black Comedy Crime-Drama series created by Noah Hawley. Loosely based on the 1996 Coen Brothers film of the same name, each season follows an anthology format, changing characters, time, and often setting, though often taking place around Minnesota, South Dakota, and the titular Fargo, North Dakota.

Why it Rocks

 * 1) A very interesting format where every season follows different characters and settings, though there's often events in one season that are mentioned in another, and each one has consequences throughout the small world for their actions.
 * 2) Very interesting plots throughout that feel very much like they can be in the aforementioned Coen-verse while still being original from their works and the movie.
 * 3) Season 1, set between 2006 and 2007, follows Lorne Malvo, a hitman who drives a bullied man, Lester Nygaard, to the darker depths of humanity while also causing chaos throughout.
 * 4) Season 2, set between 1979 and 1980 is arguably more complex as it follows two crime syndicates who are on the verge of an all-out war while also trying to find "the butcher" who's responsible for the death of one of their own.
 * 5) Season 3, set between 2010 to 2011, follows two twin brothers, one rich and one poor, who's feud has deadly consequences, especially as one is bought out by the mafia.
 * 6) Season 4 follows the founding of the Kansas City crime syndicate between 1950 to 1951, and the foundation of the Gehrhardt family.
 * 7) Many very interesting and well written characters in each season who manage to have a lot of personality and depth despite only appearing in one season, they're all believable characters, but also outlandish at times, which fits right in with anything in the Coen-verse.
 * 8) Lester is a bullied man who's driven to create many atrocities by the abuse he suffers and Malvo's influence, though he quickly becomes extremely narcissistic cowardly in a different way as he tries to exact revenge on those he feels wronged him and those who threaten him to the point where he exploits and manipulates people who care for him.
 * 9) Lorne Malvo is a highly skilled hitman who's able to kill and get away with it, though he also takes pleasure in manipulating his targets and even those he works for and anyone who gets in his way. He often commits atrocities both for his own benefit and out of the belief that he's "helping" certain people, making him highly enigmatic.
 * 10) Molly Solverson and Gus Grimly are two highly devoted cops, though both have to deal with bureaucracy at work and their own inexperience in facing such intense and unbelievable crimes.
 * 11) Lou, Molly's father, is given a more concrete character in Season 2 as it shows him as a devoted State Trooper, and one who can't be fooled easily, but is often concerned for his wife, suffering cancer, his young daughter, and his inability to legally stop the war between the Gehrhardts and the Kansas City crime syndicate.
 * 12) Peggy is a highly neurotic woman who seeks change in every possible way and is obsessed with self-actualization, though her idealism often causes problems to the entire town. Her husband, Ed, is a rather blindly devoted husband, but one who's also often made uncomfortable by his wife's antics.
 * 13) The Gehrhardts are a long-running crime family who have very different sets of beliefs, which often causes friction between them especially after the patriarch is crippled by a stroke.
 * 14) Hanzee is an interesting new case similar to Lorne Malvo, seemingly devoted to the Gehrhardts, though he makes many questionable decisions to that end, often concealing information or working on his own. He's also a Vietnam Vet who's being pushed to his breaking point after experiencing rampant racism.
 * 15) Ray and Emmit Stussy are twins who haven't gotten along to well as Emmit inherited their family fortune while Ray is forced to work hard for a living, Ray often sabotages Emmit's life to get a piece of the fortune that was promised to him while also concealing his own illegal activities while Emmit tries to escape Varga's grasp.
 * 16) V. M. Varga, speaking of him, is a mob boss with a twisted philosophy of control, as shown by his bulemia, anti-semitism, and disgust towards obese people.
 * 17) Mr. Numbers and Wrench are a hitman duo who are recurring characters for the first three seasons (albeit with only Mr. Wrench in the third season and both of them as children in the season 2 finale), as both are highly capable hitmen, though Mr. Wrench is deaf and Numbers uses sign language to communicate with him.
 * 18) Excellent acting all around, especially from Billy Bob Thornton as Malvo, Martin Freeman as Lester, Patrick Wilson as Lou, Kirsten Dunst as Peggy, and Ewan McGregor as both Emmit and Ray.
 * 19) The stories are very well written, taking plenty of unexpected turns throughout, killing off plenty of major characters, and having a pretty good grasp of the police process and an excellent sense of pacing as each story can often start from one or a few small incidents and then gradually grow until they eventually explode into a major conflict.
 * 20) Many great episodes throughout, the premiere does a great job setting up what kind of show you'll be watching, and there's also episodes like the finale of season 1 (which was a satisfying and unexpected end to the story), episodes 8 and 9 of season 2 (which do a great job building up to the climax of that season and the long-discussed Massacre at Sioux Falls) and many others.
 * 21) Each season is a great time-capsule of their respective eras, with technology and scenery that feels perfectly akin to them, and giving plenty of nostalgia both to 70s people and also to younger demographics, which is extremely interesting.
 * 22) Lots of very subtle easter eggs to previous Coen-verse movies, even to some of their earlier movies like Miller's Crossing and The Big Lebowski, that are utilized in very creative and fun ways. Season 1 also proves it's directly connected to the movie as one character finds the briefcase of money that Steve Buscemi buried in the movie.
 * 23) Excellent direction throughout, with some scenes feeling intentionally other-worldly and plenty of parts that are even intentionally not real, like an animated segment in season 3 and a storytelling segment in season 1, yet all have importance in the plot.
 * 24) A very good blend throughout of humor, horror, drama, and intrigue, as is often the case with something in the Coen-verse.
 * 25) Awesome soundtrack with plenty of obscure real-life songs used in plenty of episodes and other original songs that fit each scene.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The finales of Season 2 and 3, while not terrible, can be seen as somewhat of a step down compared to others as 2 leaves some loose ends and 3 has an ending that's intentionally left up to audience interpretation.
 * 2) Season 4 is often seen as a lesser season to the others, having gotten lower reviews and having one extra episode for some reason.