Every Season Of Fargo Ranked
Rarely if ever has a show spun away from its source material as creatively and consistently as "Fargo." Across the FX show's five seasons and counting, "Fargo" has changed locations, casts, and plotlines time after time, keeping only a few core tenets: a teasing love of all things Midwestern, a knack for pitch-black comedy and startling violence, and a coterie of familiar character archetypes including the smarter-than-average small-town cop and the near-superpowered killer.
These elements originated with Joel and Ethan Coen's 1996 film of the same name, from which "Fargo" has at times pulled threads of its plot or recreated scenes – always with a twist, as when two assassins came for housewife Dot (Juno Temple) in the latest season. Yet by now, "Fargo" has become a true anthology, stringing together largely unrelated season-long arcs and creating a rich world all its own.
In ranking the seasons of "Fargo" by quality, it's important to note that similarity to the source material isn't cause for positive or negative marks. Often in critical conversations, the first season of "Fargo" is dinged slightly for its similarity to the Coen brothers' masterpiece, while the second season is lauded for its comparative originality, proof that series creator Noah Hawley is a master storyteller all his own. Conversely, later seasons are sometimes critiqued for going too off book. By now, though, it should be clear that Hawley's writing his own book of "Fargo," and every chapter has something unique to offer. These seasons are ranked for their cohesion, key performances, sense of ambition, and, of course, their quality.
5. Season 3
If you talk to a handful of "Fargo" fans on any given day, there's no doubt you'll find someone willing to go to bat for the show's most polarizing season. The show's third outing is full of big swings, from a dual performance by Ewan McGregor to a more slow-burn storyline to a semi-modern setting. It's also chock full of creative filmmaking choices, from the episode that uses Hertzfeldt-esque animation interludes to tell the story of a sci-fi novel written by the protagonist's stepdad to the chapter narrated by Billy Bob Thornton reading "Peter and the Wolf." If you love the absurdist loose ends and oddities of "Fargo," or Hawley's knack for stylistic detours, season 3 is probably made for you.
In a lineup, though, it's easy to pick season 3 as the series' weak link. Some "Fargo" characters are often off-putting by design, but few are as unpleasant to watch as David Thewlis' V.M. Varga. The domineering British businessman is more annoying than scary, and McGregors' bumbling characters — two brothers, both with distractingly bad wigs — aren't much better. This is the first time "Fargo" starts to feel like it's moving familiar pieces around without conviction, portraying stupid criminals, scary villains, and clever, underestimated women around as usual, but leaving nowhere near as strong an impression as its predecessors. Season 3 of "Fargo" also lags a bit, bogged down in the details of its peculiar, convoluted criminal plot.
4. Season 5
Word among critics is that "Fargo" is back and better than it's been in ages, but when it comes to the show's latest season — which is still in progress — your mileage may vary. Season 5 follows Dot (Temple), a seemingly normal housewife in Scandia, Minnesota whose life is upended after she's arrested at a PTA meeting gone wrong. Soon, mysterious men come after Dot, but she's more than prepared: the season's best scenes feature Dot creating treacherous traps out of household items, like an anxiety-addled version of "Home Alone" hero Kevin McCallister. For the first time in several seasons, "Fargo" saves its showiest moments for grand action sequences, punctuating its mysterious plot with both absurdist humor and incredible-looking fights.
Not everything in season 5 of "Fargo" works, though. In the six episodes initially available for review, the show's attempts to speak to the political polarization of America circa 2019 fall somewhat flat, and while Jon Hamm's self-made, bible-verse-spouting sheriff is terrifying, he doesn't fully work as the allegorical autocrat the show is building him up to be. Elsewhere, Jennifer Jason Leigh spits insults in an inexplicable '40s movie femme fatale voice, while Sam Spruell plays yet another all-powerful assassin, this time one with a strange, plodding backstory. On the whole, season 5 of "Fargo" is the most thrilling the series has been in ages, but scene-for-scene, it at times feels self-indulgent and campy.
3. Season 4
Season 4 of "Fargo" seems to be by far the show's least talked-about, and given that it's the first and only time the series has attempted to break away from its tendency to feature a nearly all-white cast (and the fact that it's very good), that's a shame. The season sees the show in full period piece mode as audiences are dropped into 1950s Kansas City, where Chris Rock's Loy Cannon heads up an organized crime group that ends up entangled in a conflict with the Italian Fadda crime family, headed up by Jason Schwartzman's Josto. The season diverges from the typical "Fargo" story pattern of a small town rocked by a big crime, instead honing in on capitalism, opportunity, and the defining stories we choose to tell about ourselves and our home country.
The fourth season of "Fargo" isn't as funny as its predecessors — though Jessie Buckley's killer nurse Oraetta Mayflower brings some wild, sadistic cheer to the whole endeavor — but it's perhaps the most insightful season to date. The series has evolved alongside America's political landscape, and season 4, with its steadily unspooled but ultimately cutting musings on the ideas of meritocracy and outsider status, certainly feels timely. Throw in great performances from Rock, Buckley, Glynn Turman, E'myri Crutchfield, and Ben Whishaw (whose black-and-white side quest leads to one of the show's best episodes to date), and you've got a stellar season of "Fargo" that should not slip through the cracks.
2. Season 2
By many measures the show's crowning jewel, "Fargo" season 2 is when series creator Hawley proved himself more than a one-hit wonder. The mid-2010s marked the dawn of the "every limited series is secretly just a regular series" era of television (see also: "True Detective," "American Crime Story"), and as such, "Fargo" had to prove itself worthy of pushing past its source material to tell an entirely unique story in its sophomore season. The show proved itself and then some, delivering one of the most satisfying and surprising cable drama stories in years. Set in the late '70s, "Fargo" season 2 features an all-star cast including Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Jean Smart, Ted Danson, Patrick Wilson, Brad Garrett, Bokeem Woodbine, Kieran Culkin and Zahn McClarnon. In terms of casting, the show has rarely felt more cohesive, and even if the ensemble's a little overstuffed, each performer is firing on all cylinders.
Season 2 also includes some of the series' most memorable moments and character details. There's the time when McClarnon's Hanzee, a silent Native American Vietnam vet and no-nonsense killer, briefly takes center stage in the all-time-great episode "Loplop." There's Smart's icy crime boss Floyd, mother to several ridiculous adult sons, showing prophetic shades of the actress' savage "Hacks" character. And there's even Dunst's Peggy, a follower of motivational speakers and trends who accidentally self-actualizes herself into the middle of a bloody problem. "Fargo" season 2 is a masterpiece — but its predecessor is even better.
1. Season 1
The first season of "Fargo" is a triumph in every way. Each variation on the series is funny, dark, and surprising, but no story arc since has ever been as breathtakingly terrifying and consistently suspenseful as the original. The show's initial recipe for success relies heavily on writing that's at once subtle and shocking, bold, stylish directorial choices, and a cast that absolutely understood the assignment. No villain in "Fargo" history has ever been as entrancing or unnerving as Billy Bob Thornton's hitman Lorne Malvo, who holds our attention every second he's on screen. Malvo is countered perfectly by Martin Freeman's Lester Nygaard, a worm of a man who shows his true colors in the show's blood-drenched pilot episode yet continues to astound viewers again and again as he toes the line between stereotypical Midwestern kindness and complete moral vacancy.
On the opposite side of the law, no heroes in the world of "Fargo" have ever been as endearing as Allison Tolman's Molly Solverson and Colin Hanks' Gus Grimly, two local cops who end up crossing paths with Malvo and Nygaard. The series kicks off with an award-winning pilot and builds to a crime-drama face-off for the ages, delivered via a thrilling, almost unwatchably intense finale. In its first season, "Fargo" does everything right. It evokes the best parts of the movie on which it's based while also crafting half a dozen different jaw-dropping, well-executed twists (the pilot killing, the elevator scene, the Key and Peele appearance, and the coat switch, to name a few). Each of these moments is delivered by an unimpeachably great cast and aided by a tight edit, sharp writing, and cinematography that makes you want to hit replay the second each episode ends. Go ahead, we won't stop you.
All seasons of "Fargo" are available to stream on Hulu.