The hamburer helper represents the diluted roll that Ed , a butcher , is playing in his role to local society, and how Peggy is less dependent on him for her "whole meal".
6
Fargo is masterful! Yes, the Hamburger Helper is a motif tying everything together nicely, but I also think it is a symbol of the changing role of women in the seventies. Products like Hamburger Helper gave women who did not wish to be so domestic a chance to become unchained to the kitchen. No self-respecting housewife would serve Hamburger Helper, ya know? I guess that gave a a blue early on that Peggy wanted to be free ftom domesticity.
3
This episode was one of the best this season. Kristen Dunst deserves an Emmy for infusing that bizarre character with a disturbing sense of reality. The interaction between her and Plemons is worth the entire price of admission. And I agree about Donovan, a very grounded malice. The scene with Hanzee in the cabin with the Blumquists was also one of the best in the series. You could feel the "surrender to life" about him in that scene, especially after the abuse in the seedy bar and a life filled with too much murder.
One of the reasons this episode seemed so strong, though, was that the previous one was weak: it lasted too long (the longest all season, I think, at one and half hours) and Dunst and Plemons only showed up at the very end. There didn't seem to be any reason for that episode to be that long--and there was too much of Mike Milligan in episode seven: his lines, particularly the ones filled with literary allusions, really felt and sounded "written" (which almost never happens in this excellently crafted show).
Couldn't find comments on episode seven (?), so I put some of this here.
One of the reasons this episode seemed so strong, though, was that the previous one was weak: it lasted too long (the longest all season, I think, at one and half hours) and Dunst and Plemons only showed up at the very end. There didn't seem to be any reason for that episode to be that long--and there was too much of Mike Milligan in episode seven: his lines, particularly the ones filled with literary allusions, really felt and sounded "written" (which almost never happens in this excellently crafted show).
Couldn't find comments on episode seven (?), so I put some of this here.
1
I looked at the scene 3 times. I do think it was Dodd playing the Nazi (in Peggy's mind, that is). Mr. Hychkok, thanks for bringing that up. I thought I was the only one that noticed their facial bone structure similarities.
best show on tv
craZY GREAT
craZY GREAT
1
They ate Hamburger Helper in the first episode, when Rye was lingering in the garage, before Ed knew what happened. It symbolized the start of the whole venture that the Blumquists now find themselves on.
13
I would venture the interpretation to be made from the Hamburger Helper illustrates Ed's memory of how he grinded up the younger Gerhardt, making a decision in support of his decision of his and Peggy's future life together, their paradise, and then reflected to how those vision of a cohesive future as a couple has been divided, which would also provide a nod to the split screen of Peggy actualizing in the car, while Ed's mind is clearly on a different, non-actualized level than Peggy's. That moment illustrates that Ed and Peggy aren't a couple, in the traditional, conservative sense dream that Ed's been pining and fantasizing all along. In fact, it's quite clear: he made the hamburger, but he no longer has a helper, a partner. It's the end of their relationship and likely a not-so-obvious piece of foreshadowing.
1
I still had the latest Fargo episode on tape, so I went back and re-watched the part where Hanzee the Indian enters the racist redneck bar. There were dozens of signs above the bar, but I could NOT see anything that looked like those strange hieroglyphics that Betsy Solverson found in her father Ted Danson's home office. To me, it looked more like the regular stuff any roadside bar would have, such as photos, license plates, stuff like that. Unless I missed something.
It was so interesting that someone pointed out the missing letters in the Hangman game on the window of the telephone booth. (i.e., That it spelled out Sioux Falls.) And that it also said "E.T." And one viewer made the sharp correlation that shortly thereafter, Ed Blumquist in fact did become a "hanged man." Not to mention the sign about the 22 hanged Sioux Indians. Hmmm.
I love the feedback from viewers on this site! It really adds to the viewing experience.
It was so interesting that someone pointed out the missing letters in the Hangman game on the window of the telephone booth. (i.e., That it spelled out Sioux Falls.) And that it also said "E.T." And one viewer made the sharp correlation that shortly thereafter, Ed Blumquist in fact did become a "hanged man." Not to mention the sign about the 22 hanged Sioux Indians. Hmmm.
I love the feedback from viewers on this site! It really adds to the viewing experience.
1
The markings are there on the wall near the ceiling in a row. They would have been behind the bartenders
Those glyphs are plain as day. Look at the top of the wall over the bar. Above the doorway.
I'll be brief. This show and especially this season is absolutely incredible. It's the "golden era of television" but there hasn't been a show I consciously look forward to like Fargo since Breaking Bad ended.
I don't fully agree with the interpretations of this review, but that's OK. Personally, I love the split screens, and the reference to the Sioux plaque was just plain wrong. It wasn't an memorial, it was a celebratory tombstone, and clearly motivated Hanzee to break from being careful and calculated, and seek blind gratification/vengeance.
Regardless, the show is first rate art.
I don't fully agree with the interpretations of this review, but that's OK. Personally, I love the split screens, and the reference to the Sioux plaque was just plain wrong. It wasn't an memorial, it was a celebratory tombstone, and clearly motivated Hanzee to break from being careful and calculated, and seek blind gratification/vengeance.
Regardless, the show is first rate art.
9
I love the split screens also. Loved the horizontal split this episode too
1
Was the Nazi in the old movie being played by Dodd?
2
The Hamburger Helper was just one of those little motifs and glue good directors like to do play around with a little to keep it all together- its themes and recent events. Ed being a butcher and Ed grounding up the Gerhardt brother like burger. That's all I took from it. And that HH box and that product (even though it is still around) being so 70s doesn't hurt either.
3
Updates character rankings
http://screenranks.com/2015/12/02/fargo-season-2-episode-8/
http://screenranks.com/2015/12/02/fargo-season-2-episode-8/
First we had two organization battling each other, Gerhardts against Kansas City's mob. And the Blomqvist in the middle. Very Leonesque.
But now that the rank aren't in order anymore ( see Bear on one side, and big boss in kansas City sending a "takeover" killer ), the whole plot has shifted onto the two outplayer: Hanzee and Mike. They both are ruled out of their organizations, but while mike wants presumably buyout using Dodd, Hanzee wants clearly make himself invisible in real world. How did he end up to accomplish what the racist yelled at him is the new low in the writers' room.
That said, on the brightest side of the episode, i cannot mention the fantastic work Jeff Russo did with the music this time. It's not unusual to say that cutting off that lugubrious bass sound of the precedent ones, he's finally digging out the rhythm of late seventies. I'm expecting nothing less than Eagles's sound before the end of the season, i say Hotel California is on top of my wish list as background music for Peggy. That or MJ, depending on her route.
But now that the rank aren't in order anymore ( see Bear on one side, and big boss in kansas City sending a "takeover" killer ), the whole plot has shifted onto the two outplayer: Hanzee and Mike. They both are ruled out of their organizations, but while mike wants presumably buyout using Dodd, Hanzee wants clearly make himself invisible in real world. How did he end up to accomplish what the racist yelled at him is the new low in the writers' room.
That said, on the brightest side of the episode, i cannot mention the fantastic work Jeff Russo did with the music this time. It's not unusual to say that cutting off that lugubrious bass sound of the precedent ones, he's finally digging out the rhythm of late seventies. I'm expecting nothing less than Eagles's sound before the end of the season, i say Hotel California is on top of my wish list as background music for Peggy. That or MJ, depending on her route.
Peggy's "self-actualized" giddiness reminds me of Thelma's discovery of 'I'm alive" in Ridley Scott's movie .... after her first robbery.
If you remember shortly after he kills Rye, Ed says to Peggy "so you brought him home, made dinner? ... Hamburger Helper."
Seemed like Ed was going back in his mind before all the craziness happened. When it was just him and his wife quietly eating dinner and he was about to buy the shop.
>https://www.reddit.com/r/FargoTV/comments/3uyeut/fargo_2x08_loplop_poste...
Seemed like Ed was going back in his mind before all the craziness happened. When it was just him and his wife quietly eating dinner and he was about to buy the shop.
>https://www.reddit.com/r/FargoTV/comments/3uyeut/fargo_2x08_loplop_poste...
4
If I'm not mistaken Ed does not purchase the Hamburger Helper - he buys a box of potato chips and some cereal, along with milk and the playing cards.
I must have missed something: What does "loplop" mean?
1
Lop lop is a birdlike creature in the paintings of Max Ernst. It is believed to be his alter ego. Maybe Loplop is referring to Peggy's alter ego, a weird, self-actualised personality who stabs people to teach them manners. Maybe that new persona is the best Peggy that Peggy can be.
I asked the same question, CKent, but for some strange reason my comment didn't make the cut. I can't believe Mr. Tobias didn't address that very strange title. I read the same information hychkok found on Wikipedia and it left me even more mystified. So much discussion of Hamburger Helper and the very obvious solution to the hangman puzzle and so little about loplop. It's baffling!
The store owner presumably calls 911 after recognizing Hanzee and 2 Minnesota cops show up? Supposedly this is near Rushmore which is in western South Dakota. A bit of a stretch.
They were already in th area investigating hanzee's murders at the bar.
They were already in th area investigating hanzee's murders at the bar.
According to the newspapers, the cabin was in Clay County, MN. Which is just east of Fargo near several lakes. And also on the way from Fargo to Luverne, so it makes sense that Hank and Lou would be passing through on their way home after leaving the Fargo P.D. Station.
Hamburger Helper shot took me (and Ed I believe) back to his earlier butcher shop efforts to turn Peggy's road kill into hamburger. My mind went to "I wonder if that Gerhart hamburger would be tasty if mixed with a little HH?" Human hamburger tastes like pork, I read somewhere.
2
Great episode and very good second year, Dude I like your style (The Big Lebowski) and the stabbing of the foot was reference to Blood Simple, where it was a hand. Or so I believe.
1
This show and The Leftovers are the best shows on the air. I hope they are both returning next year. The stories, the cast, everything is absolutely brilliant. My favorite line from this week's episode "Hon, you gotta stop stabbing him."
5
>> Hanzee shooting a couple of racist yahoos in the knees
Wounded Knee -- get it? The other bit of symbolism/foreshadowing is the game of hangman inked on the glass of Ed's phone booth ("Sioux Falls" is the answer).
Wounded Knee -- get it? The other bit of symbolism/foreshadowing is the game of hangman inked on the glass of Ed's phone booth ("Sioux Falls" is the answer).
4
As an apparent outlier, I didn't care for this epidoe or this season of Fargo overall. I loved the first season - unrelenting tension balanced by a slow blooming romance and charm. The actors are great, the story well written but this is a televsion series. Unlike all the film studies fanatics foaming over the camera angles and cinematography, I want the plot to progress and entertain. The slow pan over Peggy as she watched the old movie - too long and predictable. Her beauty shop boss does or doesn't have a thing for Peggy. The Coen borthers' movie references, who cares.This isn't cinema.
1
I suggest you go back and re-watch Season 2.
It is brilliant TV.
It is brilliant TV.
1
Simply put that might have been the best episode to date of the entire 2015-16 television season on any network or cable series.
6
"A plaque dedicated to the Sioux????" Actually a plaque about 22 Sioux having been hung. Which is a possible reference to 38 Santee Sioux being hung simultaneously in Minnesota in 1862. But before you peg me, let me ask if anyone else had an issue with Hanzee going off the reservation, as it were. And then wanting a haircut? Is he planning to pull a Roman Gabriel from The Undefeated and hook up with Elizabeth Marvel's character?
I loved this episode. The Zambian group Musi O Tunya's song that ushers you into to the peggy's basement, littered with dead bodies and a frustrated Dodd was simply dope. The percussion based instruments and rhythmic chants profess a deeper level of functioning. And immediately we are introduced to Peggy's subconscious. The use of music was critical to the scene, the contrast between the song and setting captures the absurdity of Peggy's delusion or vision, depends where you're standing.
And also the use of split screens, were, I thought, quite impressive and may be a tad self conscious, but I'm the same way, so i cant really tell. Splits screens while often used to establish a 2nd narrative, in this case, its used as an extension of a character, predominantly ED. Ed is the human in this ep, and arguably the show. Essentially he's a regular guy, caught up in a web of his wife, Gerhardts, Kansas City and the cops. So if you notice, for every interaction of Ed you have split screen to catch u up on his situation, like "Ed talking to his delusional wife", and my favourite "Ed calling the Gerhardt's". This opens up a chance to use spilt screens in a cinematic way that i didn't even think were possible. Bravo!
And finally, I think the Hamburger Helper, was Ed's secret plan for a future. I believe He hid his plans to build an empire of processed meats behind owning a butcher shop. And even though everyone including his wife pegged him (NPI) as a simple man, he had big dreams.
And also the use of split screens, were, I thought, quite impressive and may be a tad self conscious, but I'm the same way, so i cant really tell. Splits screens while often used to establish a 2nd narrative, in this case, its used as an extension of a character, predominantly ED. Ed is the human in this ep, and arguably the show. Essentially he's a regular guy, caught up in a web of his wife, Gerhardts, Kansas City and the cops. So if you notice, for every interaction of Ed you have split screen to catch u up on his situation, like "Ed talking to his delusional wife", and my favourite "Ed calling the Gerhardt's". This opens up a chance to use spilt screens in a cinematic way that i didn't even think were possible. Bravo!
And finally, I think the Hamburger Helper, was Ed's secret plan for a future. I believe He hid his plans to build an empire of processed meats behind owning a butcher shop. And even though everyone including his wife pegged him (NPI) as a simple man, he had big dreams.
3
Out of all the incredible actors that were on Friday Night Lights, I was always a little surprised that Jesse Plemons was the one who seemed to be really making it from the kids group. After all, he's kind of funny looking... And with the added weight for this role, he was almost bizarre looking at first. He played great nerd/bad guys in The Master, Breaking Bad and Olive Kitteridge, but with Ed, he has his most satisfying role since Landry. Great actor who has brought great skills to this role. I might have to think of him as the Butcher of Luverne from now on....
And Kirsten Dunst deserves kudos to. Great, great, great... They are both making me root for them...
And Kirsten Dunst deserves kudos to. Great, great, great... They are both making me root for them...
18
Hamburger Helper-I suspect it is a reminder of the grinding of the body into hamburger. Irony at its weirdest.
5
What is it about Jesse Plemons' neck being the subject of such TV abuse? He was strangled to death by Jesse Pinkman on the Breaking Bad finale (well-deserved by Todd), and hung by Dodd Gerhardt in this episode. Maybe he has a Hollywood neck agent? Love these parts he plays so effortlessly.
2
Pretty sure Dodd's mother sent Hanzee out to kill Dodd for lying to her in the beginning of the show which set this bloodbath in motion.
Great show next week looks like a hoot.
Great show next week looks like a hoot.
4
Ed turned the Gerhardt boy into HAMBURGER, which must of been on his mind when he grabbed the box of Hamburger Helper...
4
As soon as Hanzee walked into that bar I noticed the hieroglyphics behind the bartender, looked just like the ones in Hank's house...
3
Where exactly behind the bartender? I went back and watched that scene again, and I did see lots of signs, but I didn't notice anything that looked like Hank's hieroglyphics. Can you be a bit more specific?
Right over the bar wall.
Hopeful prediction: Simone is alive, and in the course of her desperate wanderings meets up with Hanzee by chance. The two form a partnership of mutual need and, possibly, growing affinity, the man without a country and the young woman without a family. Hanzee gets the haircut he originally sought from Peggy, he and Simone disappear into the plain sight of some small town somewhere, and both thereby survive the story arc in much better shape than one might have expected.
As for the idea that Simone is alive, recall that after Bear returned to his truck from the woods, he engaged in a Jerry Lundegaard like tantrum, slapping at the truck's window and hood. When Jerry did this in the movie, it was a response to his failure to complete a task he had set out to complete that day (the securing of investment money from Wade). Maybe Bear's analogous fit of pique was a reaction to his failure to follow through on his original intention of killing Simone.
As for the idea that Simone is alive, recall that after Bear returned to his truck from the woods, he engaged in a Jerry Lundegaard like tantrum, slapping at the truck's window and hood. When Jerry did this in the movie, it was a response to his failure to complete a task he had set out to complete that day (the securing of investment money from Wade). Maybe Bear's analogous fit of pique was a reaction to his failure to follow through on his original intention of killing Simone.
4
I was surprised that Scott and others reported Simone's death as a matter of fact. Have we learned nothing from the Glenn fake out on TWD? We didn't see her get shot, didn't even see her fall in the overhead shot at the end of the scene. If we didn't see it, there's a good chance it didn't happen...
2
The actress that played Simone confirmed in an interview that episode 7 was her last.
1
I do believe it is Simone's last episode this season. But I don't think she is dead. The paralell between the scene in the woods with the scene in Miller's Crossing where Gabriel Byrne decides not to kill John Tuturro were just too much. Bear's response was out of frustration at failing at his intended task. And both the scene in Miller's Crossing and the one in Episode 7 end with the playing of Danny Boy.
My guess is she returns in Season 3 in a story arc set in the future to provide that continuum that Lou provided from Season 1 to Season 2.
My guess is she returns in Season 3 in a story arc set in the future to provide that continuum that Lou provided from Season 1 to Season 2.
1
Before this season ends, I would like to give Jeffrey Donovan a "Bravo" for creating one of the most despicable characters since Anton Chigurh in "No Country..." Everytime he was onscreen, he bristled with unbridled and blind rage at everyone and everything. Well done, Mr. Donovan.
19
Every episode of this season's Fargo installment has glistened with a beautiful polish, sort of like a bright, shiny Christmas ornament. And yes, it is easily one of the best shows of the year - but it has remarkable competition this season: The Leftovers, obviously, as already mentioned; The Knick, which is certainly one of the most cinematic (if not stunning) looking shows on television right now; and we haven't seen the much anticipated up-coming season of The Americans yet, but I imagine they'll be giving the competition a good run for their money as best of the year. Also, some dark and lovely horses: Manhattan (I've not seen the second season yet, but the first was brilliant); Penny Dreadful (last season was stunning); and Turn, the drama about spies under Washington during the American Revolution, which is entering its third season this year coming year, but hasn't yet gained much of an audience and truly deserves one. Those, in my opinion, are the best shows on television right now. And sadly, most will ignored by the Emmys
5
Absolutely bang-on! I completely agree, these shows are brilliant in so many ways. The only show I haven't watched among the ones you've mentioned is Turn. I can verify that S02 of Manhattan is better than the first season. If I could add three more, I would include S05 of Homeland, S02 of The Affair, and S01 of Deutschland 83, all three of which have been outstanding.
4
re. Hangman spelling out Sioux Falls:
Is Hanzee half-Sioux? If so, is he the Sioux who "falls?"
The plaque outside the bar also mentioned the death (lynching??) of 22 Sioux.
Is Hanzee half-Sioux? If so, is he the Sioux who "falls?"
The plaque outside the bar also mentioned the death (lynching??) of 22 Sioux.
1
No question, this is the best show on TV. Two words say it all: Geneva Convention
19
On the Hamburger Helper issue; if memory serves way back when we first meet Ed, Peggy is serving him 'Hamburger Helper and Tater Tots". He says something profound, like "yum". I think when Ed looked longing at the HH in episode 8, he was longing for home and normalcy. Or maybe he was just hungry.
14
And also, he made Rye into hamburger. (We still haven't found out what happened to that hamburger.)
2
Yes and the irony of a butcher coming home with fresh cut pork chops and getting served HH and tater tots.
5
thanks for clarifying the fill in the blanks on phone booth ... though i'm pretty sure referring to Sioux Falls, the reference to aliens does hark back to the spaceship Rye saw at the diner. i expect more will be revealed.
1
Not sure what this means but above the bar is a row of symbols similar to the ones that filled Hanks's home office. This season is so sublime.
11
Crap. Now I have to watch both episodes again.
4
Yes I believe they are the same. I wondered if it was a Native American alphabet (Sioux?)
The symbols could also be branding iron symbols. Sort of a cowboys and Indians thing. So Hanzee shoots the cowboys, and when the calvary arrive its Little Big Horn time. Maybe another plaque is in order.
Great recap. I'm already regretting the end of this season. Any ideas of a commitment to a third season? I never really cared for Kirstin Dunst before, but she is wonderful. Her scenes with Jeffrey Donovan (the look on his face when she stabbed him!!) were the best. "See it and be it!" Regarding the "Hamburger Helper," I wonder if Ed's experience as a butcher causes him to look upon such products with professional disgust.
12
Is Hanzee a successor to Salvaje in 'The Stalking Moon' [1968 Gregory Peck movie with implacable silent Indian tracker and killer], recently in cycle on cable?
Does anybody believe Dodd really could get himself out of all those ropes with Peggy sitting 10 feet away? Must be a heck of a TV show she's watching....
And I continue to wait for the hinted-at aliens to take a hand. Maybe they will drop in from the pending 'Childhood's End'?
Does anybody think Constance is still alive? I don't - fade to black, like Dodd's daughter....
This show is nutty as a fruitcake, but always entertaining.
Does anybody believe Dodd really could get himself out of all those ropes with Peggy sitting 10 feet away? Must be a heck of a TV show she's watching....
And I continue to wait for the hinted-at aliens to take a hand. Maybe they will drop in from the pending 'Childhood's End'?
Does anybody think Constance is still alive? I don't - fade to black, like Dodd's daughter....
This show is nutty as a fruitcake, but always entertaining.
4
I told you Hanzee was the MVP of this season! I really wanted him to get his haircut and make a clean getaway.
I predict that he will either commit suicide by cop or defect to the Kansas City mob in exchange for his own life.
Great semi-starring performance from Hanzee and great acting and dialogue for Ed, Peggy and Dodd. Ed's palpable frustration and befuddlement over the small details of their ordeal - I guess they never thought about the prospect of their hostage looking at them while they slept - were top notch entertainment.
I also liked how that frustration boiled into Ed and Peggy's Minnesota nice-ness, where they couldn't help but to (partially) give themselves away for fear of being rude, and they knew in the moment that they gave away too much. It's like being trapped in a conversation you can't escape.
I predict that he will either commit suicide by cop or defect to the Kansas City mob in exchange for his own life.
Great semi-starring performance from Hanzee and great acting and dialogue for Ed, Peggy and Dodd. Ed's palpable frustration and befuddlement over the small details of their ordeal - I guess they never thought about the prospect of their hostage looking at them while they slept - were top notch entertainment.
I also liked how that frustration boiled into Ed and Peggy's Minnesota nice-ness, where they couldn't help but to (partially) give themselves away for fear of being rude, and they knew in the moment that they gave away too much. It's like being trapped in a conversation you can't escape.
4
So glad I dvr'd this one...high black comedy indeed. The Peggy-Dodd scenes were priceless. Will re-watch whenever winter doldrums set in. This is such a fantastic show--will be sad to see it come to an end.
13
I laughed when I saw the boxes of "Hamburger Helper." That was one of General Mills' iconic brands in the 70's. I was in advertising research in the 1980's at the agency that handled the General Mills account. My group was responsible for Betty Crocker and Hamburger Helper. The demos on these products tended to be "downscale." I'm sure Peggy would have fixed many meals for Ed out of Hamburger Helper.
General Mills, by the way, is headquartered in Minnesota. According to Wikipedia, "in 1979, Scott Spiegel wrote, produced and directed a short film entitled Attack of the Helping Hand, which featured a "Hamburger Helper" oven mitt as a killer glove."
OK, then. There you have it.
General Mills, by the way, is headquartered in Minnesota. According to Wikipedia, "in 1979, Scott Spiegel wrote, produced and directed a short film entitled Attack of the Helping Hand, which featured a "Hamburger Helper" oven mitt as a killer glove."
OK, then. There you have it.
17
In fact - did I miss something earlier ? We wondered if they ever showed what was done with the "Rye Grind" ?
1
Until I read the other comments from far more observant viewers, I thought the Hamburger Helper thing was about the pathos of white American consumer society, particularly against the running theme of Hanzee's alienation in the land of his forefathers. Now I see it was much less meaningful symbolism and more just a little joke.
3
Just possibly a bit of both.
Interesting thought. You know, maybe it is both little joke and pregnant metaphor. An idea that comes to mind is that of Western capitalism as a mild form of cannibalism. Rye is literally reduced to hamburger meat, a process that serves as both a gruesome yet oddly comic microcosm of the myriad ways people exploit and, in a sense, consume each other in an order of things defined by ruthless self-interest. The story arc of the series serves as a sort of intermediate allegory between the micro and macro levels, with Kansas City and the Gerhardt's cannibalizing each other against the backdrop of the impending election of Ronald Regan, the patron saint of merciless capitalism. In the end, what is the difference between Kansas City (remember Joe Bulo talking up the coming ascendance of "big business" with the corrupt zoning guy shortly before Hanzee divests him of his head) and unbridled but "legal" capitalism beyond a bit of subtlety?
3
A George Harrison lyric comes to mind:
Everywhere there's lots of piggies
Leading piggy lives;
You can see them out to dinner with their piggy wives--
Clutching forks and knives
To eat their bacon. . .
Everywhere there's lots of piggies
Leading piggy lives;
You can see them out to dinner with their piggy wives--
Clutching forks and knives
To eat their bacon. . .
1
For me, this episode firmly cements Fargo as the best television offering since Breaking Bad.
The characters and cinematography are exquisite, the writing and acting impeccable.
It's a rare tele event that I can just sit back be completely engulfed and thoroughly entertained without looking for a better script, edit or simply at the clock or computer.
I haven't missed or would opt to change a single frame of season two of Fargo, including the split screen driving shots.
Bravo to all involved.
The characters and cinematography are exquisite, the writing and acting impeccable.
It's a rare tele event that I can just sit back be completely engulfed and thoroughly entertained without looking for a better script, edit or simply at the clock or computer.
I haven't missed or would opt to change a single frame of season two of Fargo, including the split screen driving shots.
Bravo to all involved.
34
I would go back as far as The Sopranos. It really is that delicious.
9
Could not agree more...this is the first show, among some great ones. that is even in the same ballpark as the Sopranos.
6
Let us not forget The Wire.
1
I believe my Hamburger Helper query has been sufficiently addressed! Thanks, everyone. As a token of my appreciation, I've cooked all of you a pot of beans. Don't want beans, you say? Well, here's a nice heaping spoonful of delicious beans.
23
Glad you picked up on the link between the opening of the series the movie Massacre at Sioux Falls and Hanzee's place within the Gerhardt family. When I read the first six episodes I kept wondering how it was going to pay off and when I read episode eight I almost dropped the script. The brilliance of the layers of storytelling and themes in this show cannot be overtstated.
1
The Hamburger Helper "gag" was an obvious reference to the well-ground Rye and a nice wood-chipper quote.
But the coolest thing was what was scrawled on the phone booth window where Ed kept trying to get through. Incomplete lettering apparently spelled out Sioux Falls, but the missing letters could be something else.
Right below that was "ET" and the number 4. Very enigmatic. Think back to the strange runes in the sheriff's house and the obvious UFO references. There was a sighting in the late '70s near Sioux Falls involving a deputy. I don't know how it ties in, or if it does, but that's a pretty cool bit.
But the coolest thing was what was scrawled on the phone booth window where Ed kept trying to get through. Incomplete lettering apparently spelled out Sioux Falls, but the missing letters could be something else.
Right below that was "ET" and the number 4. Very enigmatic. Think back to the strange runes in the sheriff's house and the obvious UFO references. There was a sighting in the late '70s near Sioux Falls involving a deputy. I don't know how it ties in, or if it does, but that's a pretty cool bit.
6
Also scrawled on the phone booth was a game of Hangman, which Ed became literally in the episode. Very cool indeed.
5
The words on the phone booth were a game of Hangman with "Sioux Falls" as the answer, no?
Ack! Indeed. That's killer. Still waiting for the aliens, or ET.
"Mr. Gordon lingers on the box of Hamburger Helper that Ed picks up from the convenience store. Any theories on why? It’s beyond my interpretive capacity."
I'm guessing he's remembering turning Rye into hamburger...
I'm guessing he's remembering turning Rye into hamburger...
1
"Mr. Gordon lingers on the box of Hamburger Helper that Ed picks up from the convenience store. Any theories on why? It’s beyond my interpretive capacity."
In the very first episode, Ed comes home to a dinner of Hamburger Helper. That dinner is when he learns that Rye (at first, a deer) is knocking about in the garage having been struck by his wife; he even marveled that she had time and presence of mind to make Hamburger Helper despite the traumatic events. Thus, that very meal signals his (and their) turning point from innocent, naive couple to criminals wanted for multiple (and counting) crimes. Lingering for an extra moment on that box in the convenience store might have simply been his longing for a simpler time. That's how I read it.
In the very first episode, Ed comes home to a dinner of Hamburger Helper. That dinner is when he learns that Rye (at first, a deer) is knocking about in the garage having been struck by his wife; he even marveled that she had time and presence of mind to make Hamburger Helper despite the traumatic events. Thus, that very meal signals his (and their) turning point from innocent, naive couple to criminals wanted for multiple (and counting) crimes. Lingering for an extra moment on that box in the convenience store might have simply been his longing for a simpler time. That's how I read it.
32
Ed also used a meat grinder to dispose of Rye's body.
FWIW when I saw the Hamburger Helper I thought back to Ed disposing of Rye Gerhardt in the back room at the store.
The hamburger helper box brought to mind an early scene where Ed is grinding Rye Gephardt's dismembered body into what looks like ground chuck.
Ed picked up Hamburger Helper in the grocery store, because there were no body parts available.
1
Scott, the shot of the Hamburger Helper immediately made me think of the shots of Ry being ground up by Ed in the butcher shop.... I'm sure that's what they were going for.
2
The Hamburger Helper was what they were having for dinner the night their life changed. He's thinking back to that night.
16
I derive such cozy pleasure sitting in winter chill comfort on my club-chair with a blanket covering my feet watching this brilliant TV show.
Looking forward to the finale and Season 3.