I found the term used for the Vietnamese (on two occasions in this episode) to be unnecessary and offensive.
Having been in the US Navy 1975-1980 and known many Vietnam vets, I can confirm that that's exactly the word that many of them were using in the late 70s. That was the reality. Sometimes good art is offensive.
8
You find a word, which was acceptable in 1979, offensive but are okay with the on-screen violence and murders? Interesting.
1
Actually Floyd's use of the term referred to the Korean or Chinese who killed her son. In any event, in painting a picture of a certain kind of person, living in a certain place, at a certain time, the use of any other term would have lacked verisimilitude. Whether necessary or not can be taken up with the screenwriter; insofar as "offensive" is concerned, I kinda think that was the point.
5
Sorry to beat this drum again, but when you moan about Lou's comment about a world out of balance, it's the same mistake as your reading of last week's episode. The Gerhardts are not representative of the general population: they're a "mafia" family living in the Upper Midwest countryside. The average Midwestern person is not living like the Gerhardts, extracting money through violence and randomly killing people. What's happening is that their behavior is no longer "contained": it's come to town (this reminds me a lot of Flannery O'Connor and the arrival in her stories of some violent act to upend the world order to shake a character out of his or her stupor). But, also as with O'Connor, there's a moral center to counterpoint all the bizarre violence: if not, there would be nothing bizarre.
This seems to be the approach in this season of Fargo, with Lou representing the counterpoint. For what it's worth, I would stop looking at it as a weakness--either in plot or character--and start accepting it for what it is. Not everyone in the Upper Midwest in the 1970s is is a "Gerhardt." To a person like Lou, the world is, indeed, out of balance. We see through his eyes.
This seems to be the approach in this season of Fargo, with Lou representing the counterpoint. For what it's worth, I would stop looking at it as a weakness--either in plot or character--and start accepting it for what it is. Not everyone in the Upper Midwest in the 1970s is is a "Gerhardt." To a person like Lou, the world is, indeed, out of balance. We see through his eyes.
12
i have never lived in the upper Midwest so I cannot speak to its demographics or cultural values. What is clear however, is that the Gerhardts are "little big shots," the local schoolyard bullies who barely graduated and stayed home. These are people whose ideas, visions, and very existence is just so much small potatoes that they seem GENUINELY taken aback when Kansas City comes calling. Seriously? Could the Gerhardts be that insular and clueless about how the world works? Apparently so.
1
Mahler bits are so perfect underscoring The German Family. Dialog is superb all the way through (Simone andMilligan) (and the humor ( cattle prod/donut ordering) is nice and dark. The cars(70s roadhogs-Imperials. Oldsmobile 98s) are chuckle worthy.
3
...terrific show...slow but necessarily so....the wordless scene of Jean Smart lying next to her dying husband was astonishing in its simplicity..a great piece of work by Smart...memorable..
15
What do you guys think of the characters so far?
http://screenranks.com/2015/11/03/fargo-season-2-episode-4/
http://screenranks.com/2015/11/03/fargo-season-2-episode-4/
The scene with Floyd and Bulo reminded me a little of "The Godfather." When Dodd goes off on Bulo and Floyd has him banished from the negotiations it brought to mind Vito Corleone reprimanding Sonny for speaking out of turn. "Sonny I think you're brain is getting soft from all the
comedy you're playing with that young girl. NEVER let anyone outside the family know what you are thinking."
comedy you're playing with that young girl. NEVER let anyone outside the family know what you are thinking."
5
I thought of the exact same scene from The Godfather as well!
It was nice to see Brad Garrett turn cold and threaten the eradication of the Gerhardt family. Until then, I was worried he would have a sort of homogenized role.
I'd go a bit farther.
Dodd = Sonny
Rye = Fredo
Bear could be Michael (Bear shoved Dodd off the porch in the previews.) Or perhaps Simone is a dark horse??
Charlie != Tom Hagen, but was headed in that direction for a few minutes.
Hanzee = Luca Brasi
At their core both echo Shakespeare, "a disruption in the order of the kings," which is always entertaining.
Dodd = Sonny
Rye = Fredo
Bear could be Michael (Bear shoved Dodd off the porch in the previews.) Or perhaps Simone is a dark horse??
Charlie != Tom Hagen, but was headed in that direction for a few minutes.
Hanzee = Luca Brasi
At their core both echo Shakespeare, "a disruption in the order of the kings," which is always entertaining.
Did I hear them use the music of Gustav Mahler as underscoring? The music is very effective and over the top in the best sense. It's operatic. Sometimes I think the creators of Fargo are laughing at us. I sometimes feel they are successfully pulling off a gigantic prank where they say to themselves, "I can't believe they are buying this." Like it's all just a big joke on us. Mahler?
2
Yes indeed. It's Mahler alright, and we even had some Brahms tossed in for good measure in this episode. The gorgeous Mahler song this time was from "Das Lied von der Erde," and in earlier episodes (this season) we heard excerpts from his Sym. #2. Not exactly sure what they're getting at with Mahler on the soundtrack, but frankly, I love it.
4
" the threat of a placebo in the critical trial"
1. That's "clinical trial", not "critical trial".
2. It's not a "threat", it's informed consent. The patient has to be told that she may not get the drug.
1. That's "clinical trial", not "critical trial".
2. It's not a "threat", it's informed consent. The patient has to be told that she may not get the drug.
2
I do wonder how the UFO will factor into all this. If it turns out to be an actual visitation I don't think I'll be able to handle that. BUT, I suspect that it will be left completely unresolved on purpose as a means to show that there are just some things in the world that we can't understand; that operate so far behind the scenes of our reality that to truly know it would shatter the affect and artifice of our lives. "Minnesota nice" is really just an affect itself, as Milligan would tell you. Lou and the good folks in Luverne are increasingly befuddled by the senselessness of the violence around them, by the unfairness of it all. For instance, whether or not Betsy actually gets the experimental drug is completely out of anyone's control. See also: the cruel fates of Floyd Gerhardt's sons; Sheriff Larsson can't comprehend why Rye would shoot three people to rob the diner of a few bucks. Some things we just can't know, because the horrible truth is worse.
It would be the thematic continuation of season one, which applied a more Old Testament flair to the same idea in the Jewish parable that Gus' neighbor tells him and in how we spent a few episodes with Stavros the grocer, only to see his son and livelihood wiped out by a freak accident of raining fish. The world of Fargo is cold - literally and figuratively. Life is bitter and cheap at times, but people put on a sunny affect to act like that's not true.
But that's why the warmth of the Solverson family is so important.
It would be the thematic continuation of season one, which applied a more Old Testament flair to the same idea in the Jewish parable that Gus' neighbor tells him and in how we spent a few episodes with Stavros the grocer, only to see his son and livelihood wiped out by a freak accident of raining fish. The world of Fargo is cold - literally and figuratively. Life is bitter and cheap at times, but people put on a sunny affect to act like that's not true.
But that's why the warmth of the Solverson family is so important.
7
Consider the UFO's in the context of the Coen Brothers being listed as executive producers of this series. One of the themes repeatedly revisited by the Coen Brothers is the absurdity of human "free will" in the face of a fickle, uncaring, and ultimately unknowable universe. The UFO's are not unlike the tornado that appears at the very end of "A Serious Man."
1
Crimianal enterprises have been around as long as humans have existed. I believe Lou's comment at the end refers to the Blumquists, the regurlar good folk.
11
I have to disagree with the reference to Lou explaining to the Blumquists about "the look" a man gets from his fellow soldiers when they know he’s about to die. I believe that “the look” that Lou spoke of was actually reflective of the mortally wounded soldier. He then likens the Blumquists to being in a similar, hopeless situation when he says “you and Peggy, you got ‘the look’, you still think it’s Tuesday, you have no idea what’s coming”.
14
"'the look' that Lou spoke of was actually reflective of the mortally wounded soldier
Agreed.
Agreed.
1
Isn't "the look" the appearance of the doomed soldier rather than the look on the faces of his fellow soldiers who know he's going to die, as stated in this review.
Ed and Peggy have "the look" -- they are doomed but don't know it.
Ed and Peggy have "the look" -- they are doomed but don't know it.
24
Did you catch the musical reference to "Raising Arizona" in the closing credits? (the song Holly Hunter sang to the Arizona baby...)
8
I'm not quite ready to hand Peggy the Elizabeth Cady Stanton award; and her sage-advice giver Constance is on the make. But the beauty of the show is that you can disagree with that, given that they don't ham-handedly make Ed an abusive spouse, just one who loves too well, if not wisely.
4
Ed is a schmuck who knows he married someone WAY out of his league and he is desperate to hold onto what he thinks is the best part of his life, even as he knows somewhere inside his simple head that it cannot possibly last.
Loved Season 1. And love the Coens.