Can ‘Fargo’ Season 2 Top Season 1?

The killings quickly ensnare a local hair stylist (Kirsten Dunst), her butcher’s-assistant husband (Jesse Plemons), Solverson, and the local sheriff (Ted Danson), who is also Solverson’s father-in-law. With all this in mind, its easy to see why Fargo Season 2 was a while in the making. The key to the first season, and to the film that preceded it, was in fact to hide the black humor in the side pocket of the story, to leaven the violence with streaks of strangeness rather than frame them in close-up. They include, but are by no means limited to, a waffle hut, a lock being shot out of a door, fear of extraterrestrial visitation, pieces of music from the soundtracks of Raising Arizona and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and (most hilariously) an appearance by a relative of The Big Lebowski ” s Walter Sobchack, a conspiracy theorist played by Nick Offerman.

Though still intermittently sublime-Jean Smart’s thorny Floyd Gerhardt, matriarch of a North Dakotan crime family, is a blackguard in floral prints and pearl earrings, as transfixing as she is cold-“Fargo” now seems strained, as though it needs to loosen its belt.

Fargo is more than a town.

“I’m now getting into my 30s, and I feel that”, he admitted.

“I didn’t see it until I got this job”, Wilson said of “Fargo”. “I would get so tickled looking at the clothes”. One of my favorite moments from this year’s TCA summer press tour was when “Doctor Who” and “Sherlock” showrunner Steven Moffat pointed out something that, in retrospect, is shockingly obvious: “The nice thing about writing drama is that if you put three jokes in, everybody thinks you’re a genius”. The actor has done fine work in the past (Angels in America, Little Children, and Watchmen come to mind), but his performance in Fargo is a mild revelation. We’re at a different point in Lou’s life.’…

Hawley wants to make the era more than a backdrop. “So we’re just happy to carry the success”. (Tiniest of spoilers: The way Milioti says “no complaints” will break your heart.) Meanwhile, Dunst feels surprisingly at home not just with the accent, but with the role.

People who loved the first season might recognize those characters’ names and thus realize they’re going to survive this season. You get a sense of a personality, perhaps a soul, in the process of evolving.

If it’s murder, manners and Minnesota, we must be heading back to Fargo.

Airing next Monday, October 12, at 10 p.m., the first episode, like the first season and the movie, opens with a spurious disclaimer saying that the script is based on a true story.

If it sounds like the people of “Fargo” – and the nation – could use a hero, be aware that the specter of Ronald Reagan hangs over the proceedings.