Just want to point out that "Restricted Choice" is a bridge term. It refers to statistics related to determining the probability of success of various lines of play. I don't see any way to connect it to the episode.
"Her inability to crack the mystery of her unanswered Telex reports"
I took that as a sarcastic response to her new boss, not ‘unfathomable pinheadery’
I took that as a sarcastic response to her new boss, not ‘unfathomable pinheadery’
3
And there was the nod to No Country for Old Men; camera set overhead, Gloria lies in bed, can't sleep, thinking about the murder, then mutters 'Yea Right'., ala Llewelyn pondering how he was tracked.
1
Lots of reviewers and commenters and even Facebook friends seem to be put off by the "unfathomable pinhead-ery" exemplified by the characters in "Fargo." How can they be so dumb? I think that's a misleading question. They are, and that's that. It is incredible (in the more positive sense of the word) how much mayhem results from stupidity. But that's the way it is in life. Haven't you been paying attention to the White House?
9
There definitely hasn't been enough of Coon's character yet: she has little back story and little presence - and you feel it as you watch. Makes me long for Patrick Wilson. And while I'm enjoying McGregor's double duty, I found the second episode draggy.
SPOILERS: The tampon bit was just too contrived and self-conscious. She's standing by a desk - there are all kinds of implements to write with - this just seemed forced, as if "we need soem shock here because not much else is happening."
SPOILERS: The tampon bit was just too contrived and self-conscious. She's standing by a desk - there are all kinds of implements to write with - this just seemed forced, as if "we need soem shock here because not much else is happening."
3
Gloria struck me as a pretty deadpan person. "Is your son with your ex?" "I hope so."
And that's why she gave the line about no one replying to her telex, not because she really had no clue.
Hope that eases your worries.
And that's why she gave the line about no one replying to her telex, not because she really had no clue.
Hope that eases your worries.
6
Mary Elizabeth Winstead recently played a Civil War-era nurse in PBS's Mercy Street. Totally different character. Very talented actress!
3
One of the heavies who kill Blumkin is named Yuri, like the absent 20-year-old man from the 1988 scene. I have to rewatch it and see if the character could have been born ca. 1968. He'd have been about 41 or 42 in 2010. He actor who plays him turns 37 this year.
Thaddeus Mobley is Kilgor Trout.
2
What is with directors/writers fascination with frozen concentrated orange juice?
can you use it to make meth? NO is the answer but....
In Fight Club, Tyler Durden said "Did you know that if you mix equal parts of gasoline and frozen orange juice concentrate you can make napalm?"
And in Trading Places Winthorpe and Valentine sunk the Duke brothers fortune with frozen concentrated OJ futures.
so there's that then right?
can you use it to make meth? NO is the answer but....
In Fight Club, Tyler Durden said "Did you know that if you mix equal parts of gasoline and frozen orange juice concentrate you can make napalm?"
And in Trading Places Winthorpe and Valentine sunk the Duke brothers fortune with frozen concentrated OJ futures.
so there's that then right?
I have the impression the money launderers are Ukrainian-Russian. Whoa, if true. Is that art imitating life, or the other way around? We are about to be educated in real time by the FBI and, maybe, by Congressional committees vis-a-vis Trump and his criminal mob family, how that works.
5
is there possibly a very odd tie between Carrie Coon's character in Fargo and her character in The Leftovers? she hasn't been registering with electronic sensors in either show - the automatic door in Fargo, and everything electronic in The Leftovers.
any other reason why the doors don't work for her in Fargo?
any other reason why the doors don't work for her in Fargo?
3
Maybe for the same reason she doesn't use a computer. She is not just "low tech" but "no tech." If so, this is a good thing. It will keep her from being tossed off of parking garages.
3
Her cell phone doesn't work, either.
I certainly disagree about the cast being the best so far. Martin Freeman was great as was Billy Bob. Plemons and Dunst were the couple from hell, and Dunst was gloriously edgy. Allison Tolman was Fargo to the max. Ewan is doing O.K., and Thewlis is Thewlis. Winstead is the one to watch though.
9
Yes — that was a good line, but to me the best bit of dialogue in the episode came when Emmit opened the door to Ray and said, “Who died?” To which Ray responded, “When?"
6
Seasons 1 and 2 were masterpieces that I have rewatched several times while season 3 is a slow slog. I'll keep with it since I have faith in Hawley and crew but I'm uninspired.
8
Is it just me, or does the framed donkey on the wall in Emmit's home office look like the donkey in the Mike Zoss Productions logo at the end of Cohen's films?
1
Maybe but the pose is completely different, I fired up on demand (FX does not allow FF... Grrr) the picture has the donkey facing left with its side fully in view).
The MZ logo has the (horse/donkey hard to tell which) facing forward looking over its left shoulder. This link says it is a horse:
Maybe it is an homage.
http://www.closinglogos.com/page/Mike+Zoss+Productions
The MZ logo has the (horse/donkey hard to tell which) facing forward looking over its left shoulder. This link says it is a horse:
Maybe it is an homage.
http://www.closinglogos.com/page/Mike+Zoss+Productions
1
'Their lawyer Irv Blumkin, the most Irv Blumkin looking man alive ...'
brilliant!
brilliant!
13
Alive, but not for long.
so far, a bit too self-conscious and self-referntial for my tastes. I find it distracting -- like we're put on this adventure to find all the easter eggs and inside jokes, but in the meantime getting distracted from the narrative. However....
I trust Noah Hawley ALMOST as much as I trust Vince Gilligan, and I'll continue to do that for a least a few more episodes.
I trust Noah Hawley ALMOST as much as I trust Vince Gilligan, and I'll continue to do that for a least a few more episodes.
5
Someone contact OED between this show and what is going on in Washington we may have a candidate word of the year.... Pinheadery
9
"Unfathomable Pinhead-ery" doesn't get you very far, in my book. Dull, dull, dull. Like so many Coen Brothers productions, the contempt for humanity leaves a metallic taste in the mouth.
1
Well heck now. I'm wondering if Gloria's reluctance to touch a computer might keep her safe -- for a while -- from Mr Varga's cyber clutches. So long as she doesnt google Varga, she is safer.
And Gloria was joking when she says no wonder nobody ever answered her Telexes.
PS -- Can anyone tell me when the word "instinctually" replaced "instinctively"?
And Gloria was joking when she says no wonder nobody ever answered her Telexes.
PS -- Can anyone tell me when the word "instinctually" replaced "instinctively"?
9
(when everybody stopped learning english in school?)
6
Nikki has got to be the most Over The Top Characters I have seen! Ms Winstead was great in BrainDead but her performance in Fargo is career making.
18
All the actors are great. I'm just not feeling the story much. Hope it gets better as it goes on. Really liked the first 2 seasons.
13
Actually, Season 2 did not feature pinheadery, which is why it was so compelling
9
Ha, agree, (this season's striking me as verging on cutesy), but Dodd had some pinheaded moments.
6
more foreshadowing: "This is a blood feud" instantly connects with previous two seasons. The writer claims there is a "hollowness to the action" and assumes that the reader/viewer will understand what that 'hollowness' is. Fargo is not a typical cable series. Fans of the program, like myself, understand that it reveals itself over time. It is organic. The Coen brothers established a genre of brilliant storytelling and Hawley has largely succeeded in adding to the canon, not just recreating it. I grew up in the same minnesota county this season is set. And although some of the angles seem overwrought, the show's creator manages to capture the rural dark humor essence of this region.
7
Another possible shout out to the Breaking Bad/Saul universe--even if it was actually Ermentraub--is brothers committing breaking and entering on brothers.
Likely, just a coincidence, but still.
Likely, just a coincidence, but still.
1
I have more faith in Gloria than Mr. Tobias does. She was managing nicely with little or no oversight prior to the current crime wave.
And did it really matter that no one got back to her (or even received her reports)? Everything was under control. Was.
The store owner with the phone book: pretty decent analog for the old guy sweeping in the movie who uttered the immortal words "funny looking fella".
As for the moral counterbalance to all the evil, I think it's building slowly. Gloria may have to go it alone just as Marge did in the movie. Or she may receive assistance from some as of yet unseen member of the cast.
And did it really matter that no one got back to her (or even received her reports)? Everything was under control. Was.
The store owner with the phone book: pretty decent analog for the old guy sweeping in the movie who uttered the immortal words "funny looking fella".
As for the moral counterbalance to all the evil, I think it's building slowly. Gloria may have to go it alone just as Marge did in the movie. Or she may receive assistance from some as of yet unseen member of the cast.
10
Never watched it, thinking it a bad (and lazy) idea to make a TV show out of such a terrific movie... but giving it a shot based on this.
It borrows the name and some themes, but little else, and if this show is "lazy," then most of the rest of television is asleep.
8
Give earlier seasons a try first - although they are standalone affairs.
2
If you’ve not seen the first two seasons, you’ve missed television with very, very few equals.
3
She was being sarcastic about people not writing her back on Telex. Otherwise, good review.
16