I love your analysis, and this season holds up better on second viewing. However, I want to point out that Ethelrida actually studies in a school for only black students ("Negro school" as they keep referring to it). I have to say, no one gives the actress any credit, but she plays Ethelrida really well.
is this fact in reference to something I said in the analysis? I don't have time to watch through my whole vid right now but would love to pin a comment addressing the mistake if I've made one. Thanks
@@FallopiumFilms Yes. At around the 9:00 mark, you mention that Ethelrida is "a young black girl struggling to fit in to her mostly white school". I believe only the administrators or teachers are white, but it's a school for black children.
Your channel is super underrated. I find your analysis of the fargo series' intriguing and spot on. You should be a writer/ movie critic. Please don't stop doing these reviews.
Some Spoilers below I kind of disagree that the forces of nature/fate don't play a role in every non East/West episode. First, looking back on the season (especially after a 2nd re-watch which is highly recommended), Zelmare/Swanee and most of Oraetta represent unpredictable forces that have an effect on the rest of the season doing things in the first 2 seasons that set a chain reaction effecting the season right up until the end (Major spoiler avoid if you haven't seen) Also Gaetano Fadda's death is the most Fargo/Coenesque death I've seen on the show and it seems like an act of cosmic justice in that in a previous episode, he slips and falls and kills 2 people over it and this episodes, he slips and falls and shoots himself after shooting another person Also I think the main story of the season was breaking through the segregation and breaking the cycle of one monoethnic crime syndicate wiping out another ethnic crime syndicate and instead joining forces to create a cross-cultural mega-crime syndicate (one that becomes the Kansas City crime syndicate in season 2 that wipes out a now outdated monoethnic crime syndicate started by another immigrant) Also, overall there is more depth to this season than it's getting credit for, and I thoroughly enjoyed the season (especially on 2nd re-watch), I don't agree with some of the criticism that I've heard from this season
Another point about the past in this season is how it can all be considered the past of one of season 2’s most interesting characters, and how it’s end ties into season 2’s themes with the death of the crime family just beginning as the Italians shift to be more corporate, a change that ends with Milligan at the end of season 2.
I was glad it took the sociological more head on. My problem was poor cast choices (Rock/Schwartzman was ok/Esposito/Bird), the undeveloped characters/storylines, and mostly just overall feel. Great video!
I would pay for content like this. Dude your videos literally give me goosebumps. You pick up on things I wouldn't have even thought of even though I've watched several of the seasons multiple times. I pick up on subtle things but you take it to a whole different level. Noah Hawley is a genius and you have literally picked apart the mind of a genius. Bravo!
All the negatives are why I prefer this season, I like the change from philosophical to sociological it freshens the Fargo franchise up and stops it getting stale. Episode 9 season 4 is my favourite in ALL the seasons 😍
Despite how different it is and how it shook up the formula, I personally found season four to be just as incredible as the previous three seasons, as have every one of my friends whom I've shown it to. I don't think I'll ever truly understand why so many people seem to have this seething hatred for it. Many of the criticisms I've seen almost come off like the person criticizing it was personally slighted, as if Noah Hawley showed up at their house and pissed in their cereal while they were trying to eat it. But as the saying goes, "Even a weaker season of Fargo is still way better than most other shows currently airing".
It's funny, off the cuff I'd agree that this season is the weakest, but it's got my favorite character in the entire series (Rabbi Milligan), what may be my favorite episode of any show ever (East/West), and it's one of the most gorgeous shows I've ever seen. I could have watched a whole movie about Rabbi and Satchel's journey. I thought that the color yellow stuck out to me on rewatch, though that might just be me seeing things.
Love your reviews man! I always come straight to your videos after finishing a Fargo season. You are about the only channel that reviews these seasons properly. Most other channels tend to focus on the more surface level stuff. Although I think the surface level plots are very good, I believe that it's the deeper meanings and themes that makes this show so much better than most other tv shows. My only issue is that I wish you could give me a little bit more information on the characters in the hotel. I refuse to believe that those characters were just "quircky". There's definitely more to it. Other than that, keep it up! Will be back once I've finished season 5.
thank you so much for this whole series it has been such a treat watching them and I'm so glad i found a youtuber that likes the show and cares about its nuances as much as you do so thanks. Cant wait for the next season though, although you never talked about what you thought on the twist with the kid being the hitman from season 2 small thing but anyways thanks so much and great job on the video
Guys... Just answer me this. Is season four worth watching? Update: Watched it. Then, I watched this video. I didn't hate it and it was definitely worth the watch. But it didn't feel as crazy fargo as the others. When this hit me with the: "notice how a season about segregation segregates itself from the other seasons".... Damn. I don't think that's by accident. GJ, NH. Looking forward to the next one, but I hope it will be more fargo.
I feel like the only problem with Season 4 was that it doesn’t feel like Fargo. It feels “Coenverse”, but not like part of Fargo. That said, it was a great season, and I loved the return of paranormal elements that we didn’t get in the 3rd.
Typical of my love of the Cohen Brothers theme, I tend to like them even more as time goes on. There are aspects of this season I like better than any of the others but I realize it is something personal to me. I have always had a fondness for period pieces of this era. As an army brat that didn't like himself very much, moving from town to town granted me constant anonymity. This period of time is the last of this country's ability to move to another town and become anonymous. The ability to move and then reinvent yourself as many times as you wanted. On the topic of duality I had two first names. The one I was born with which my Mother hated so she gave me a nickname. Each time we moved I would change my name from my birth name to my nick name and vice versa. This coupled with the fact I am of mixed race, so not being accepted nor ever feeling a belonging is a theme in this series I relate to a lot.
Are you planning on doing a video review for season 5? I thought it was an interesting season that had modern elements from season 3 (more modern considering the 2019 setting)
I hated the performance of the actor that played Gaetano, I think it was the worst of the season. I would have loved to see more of Rabbi Milligan, I loved that character
At its core Fargo is presented as a 'TRUE CRIME' show. I am fascinated at the thread of the show that establishes how crime has become 'organized' and global. In season 4 we see that crime was transplanted from the old world to the new, and changed its nature. It began as something fundamentally tribal in nature (Italian, Irish, African, Jewish, native American) and with the western expansion the American melting pot it transcended those lines. As Satchel becomes Mike Milligan BY CHOICE, he comes to work with his father's enemies. In 1979 (season 2) we see a struggle between family and larger corporate forces as the Kansas city mob pushes to take over the Gerhard mom and pop crime family in North Dakota and Minnesota. In season three we see a weird and amorphous V.A. Varga coming in (Global interests) to take over the Stussy company. Crime is taken to a whole new level. In season 1 crime is a hap hazardous thing. Tripoli has build a small empire in the mid west. It is about to collide with larger interests.
Each season takes on elements of the whole Coen filmography as youve stated. Clearly S4 went full "Miller's Crossing". The way Malvo's presence combined No country and Fargo into a new unique thing though. this one has less connections to the original Fargo film theme wise to me. Still great and at times chaotic and unpredictable, which can sometimes be Fargo at its best.
I think the biggest problem is the lack of a compelling villain. All the big ideas you correctly mention - philosophical stuff, cosmic irony, etc. - seem like they really depend on the characterization of evil in the previous three films, which is typical of the Coen films too. We had Lorne in S1, Hanzee in S2, and my favorite Varga in S3. All these characters have the effect of unifying the various plot lines and big ideas in the previous seasons. No character performs that same function in S4.
I have to bring up an interesting aspect of the name Smutney. It actually an anglicized version of the Czech/Slovak word smutnej, which means sad, or tragic. The brilliance is that Ethelrita's white father is basically a Slav, an ethnic group that the traditional racists considered less than pure white, and are the origin of the word slave.
I had a similar reaction the first time around, but thought it was much stronger after a second viewing. East/West was one of the best episodes of the entire series.
Excellent video as always! Did you make much of how present the colour green was in this season? It found it's way into nearly every frame, probably partially through colour grading. Very interesting in relation to Fargo's themes of human nature and "the human eye", despite you rightly pointing out this season didn't quite have the philosophical edge of the others. That special shade of blue was also very comfortably present throughout the episodes.
Maybe season 4 implies that forces of nature absurditity and cosmic irony are important at the same level of play i.e. when something different from the same begining (as color of your skin) doesnt sets the play in certain ways by blocking many potential roads, also about the "Smutny" surname maybe its something else, in Polish Smutny means sad, kind of a fitting name for the undertaker
I recognized the name from Czech, another West Slavic language. And the "Smut" part does describe the racist attitudes of the time toward Slavs, who were seen as even less white than Italians. And the word slave derives from Slav too.
I loved this season, I also loved the first 3 but for different reasons. I think, just my uneducated 2 cents -the fact that this mostly takes place in a different place than Minnesota: it would've been been a good to make it a spinoff name. , Change the name slightly to make it clear it's still in the same universe but it could stand on its own better terms. As similar vibe to 1883/1923 related to Yellowstone.
This was actually super helpful. When I finished season 4 I didn’t really see “the point” like I did with season 3, maybe because like you said, the point of this one was very different from the others. Now I feel like I get it more, and that helps me feel a bit better about the season. One question: do you have any idea what the “grander” purpose of the two fart scenes is, if any? Nasty bodily functions isn’t something new to Fargo, there was quite a bit of focus on it in season 3, but unlike season 3 I really can’t see why the farts were emphasized to the degree they were. This might seem minor in the grand scheme of things but those two scenes (especially the one with Swanee) really put a damper on the entire season for me just because of how out of place they feel.
The grander purpose of the fart scenes lol. I'm guessing it was to make you have the exact reaction you had. The show is all about things being out of place. Whether the farts actually work or not is definitely debatable though... Or it's just because farts are funny. Either way, I'm sure the creators would love the fact that time was given to discussing even this detail. I know I do.
Can't help but think the criticisms towards Rock have something to do with his strong past in stand up as I thought his performance was completely fine (some off linereads)... one the other hand I couldn't take Schwartzman seriously in his role and I love him. I loved him in S4 as well but every scene he was in just felt a little off.
Both Rock and Schwartzman just didn't fit the characters. It's like they were hired to give the scenes they were in a funny quirky feel, but for me it just didn't work.
@@FallopiumFilms I'm OK with characters not fitting in a sense, for example. Schwartzman was smaller and less Italiano compared to the rest of his family and that's what they were going for(?) but it still didn't work for me. Maybe if the season had more humor, idk. Regardless, I think both of their acting is still better than 90% of what you'll see on TV
@@wrequiem1727 Agreed. Way better than pretty much all TV. But thats the standard I've come to expect from this show. I think you're right. With Schwartzman character, they were going for someone weaker than those around him, "less of a man" or whatever. But I think they pushed it too far. Like I get him not fitting in, but it went into totally unbelievable territories for me. But then again, I think this would all be fine if they told a story that was as engaging as the other seasons.
See I felt the opposite. I felt it was the start of the season that was boring and un-Fargo-like with how straight it played the crime story. It was only the back half when it became more comedic that I thought it managed to stick the landing despite the rocky start
You should do character studies of each character in individual videos. Particularly regarding Malvo, Mike Milligan and VM Varga oh and also Oretta Mayflower.
Hmmm, this is tempting. But I feel like most of what I would say about them, at least thematically speaking, I've already said in these videos. Except Mike Milligan and Oretta, I did sort of brush over them. Varga and Malvo I feel are pretty well defined by what the seasons themselves are defined by. But I suppose there's always room for improvement. But hey, thanks for the recommendation. I may just take you up on this.... which means I might not be cancelling my Hulu after all.
@@FallopiumFilms I mean would it be weird to say that your insight into the themes present in Fargo, specifically the blue light theory had me gushing so much and I just wanna know what else you have to say about the characters themselves individually.
Is it controversial to say Fargo season 4 was WEAK? I thought it was flat as far as the Fargo universe goes. They didnt just go for so sociological tone.....they beat you over the head with it. Its not the themes that were bad....its that the writers didnt trust the audience to pick up on it. So they MADE SURE to tell you....instead of letting the viewer discover it as they had in the past. The use of season opening and ending narrator.....the reveal of Milligan at the end in case you didnt get it by the 2nd episode to me almost insults the audience by saying ....you werent going to get it so we'll tell you what youre supposed to get from this
“We’re just not very interested, I mean, we’re perfectly happy with it.We have no problem with it. It just feels divorced from our film somehow." Joel Coen on Fargo 2016 I think that's why this season was different
I appreciate your thoughtful commentary. I do have a bone to pick. I think your analysis of Elthelrida’s full name is far too great of a logical stretch. It’s symbol hunting _ad absurdum._ Pearls are also black, not just white. In Western literature the name Pearl is most frequently used as an allusion to Jesus’s gospel parable of “the Pearl of Great Price.” It is also a book in the Mormon canon, and though I wouldn’t usually attach much significance to that, this is “Fargo,” and the presence of a prominent Mormon character in this season may make that fact unusually relevant. As for her surname of Smutny, Smutny is a surname which appeared primarily in the Midwest in the 1920s, according to U.S. Census records. It is a name of Czech and Slovak origin which means sad or gloomy. It has nothing to do with “smut,” “smutty,” or “smutiness” other than the facile aural similarity and then the additional two steps of logic required to connect “smut” to “black,” and then draw a relationship from black to the character’s race. I think you’d probably find more fertile ground in the name - if there is any to be found - by considering her father’s backstory as a Slavic descendant and the possible history and meaning of her first name of Ethelrida, which I believe, someone in an episode says was given to her by her mother. (I may be wrong about that and conflating that with a comment made about her aunt’s name instead.)
@@FallopiumFilms, thank you for replying. I really appreciate it. It is really nice to have a place to hear the thoughts and analysis of others who care and think about good films like these. I wish there were more people like you who took the time and care to think about what they are seeing and experiencing, not only as “just” entertainment. So, thank you for putting your thoughts and insights out there, especially given the inevitability of criticism or correction, including mine.
I think this season is too over-constructed. I think everything you analyzed is valid. I think this 11 episode Season never had any chance to hold enough content to be fair to this concept. Also some parts had to much room (a lot of the Mafia scenes seemed too much), snd the Storytelling seemed odd. When you where into a character it switched to another, when you are into an area it switches and so on. You can never really assimilate… and I give credit to Noah that I feel this is on purpose. It’s just too over-constructed, cause you as viewer really want to assimilate xD
I was also thinking about the assimilitation process from Season 4, seeming as this would be its big theme. What is Noah Hawley actually saying about assimilitation? Because from my point of view it didn't pan out too good for Satchel. By the end of season 4 the Cannon Limited is basically wiped out, satchel survies and we know he becomes Mike Milligan. And what happens to Mike Milligan in season 2? He ends up working his way up to middle manegement of the KC Mafia which is under italian rule still. I don't think Loy Cannon would have been pleased with his son's legacy of working for the family that wiped them out. Sure, for all we know in 79 the KC Mafia could employ any type of race but I somehow have the feeling from season 2 that the italians are still on top. So to me the assimilation process was not successfull or maybe it was? Maybe assimilation doesn't have to be perfect. Maybe it's just all about survival.
I loved all of your analysis of the show, yet I would disagree with you on one point, Chris Rock really convinced me more than many other actors like schwarzmann (his scene when he got informed about his brother attempted hit on lemuel and start eating ice ) or Salvatore Esposito, although he did a better job but wasn't convincing enough, not as how I imagined a strong son of a mafia boss. Ben whishaw was the highlight of the whole season for me and made up for the other "unlucky casting choices" . thank you for your great analysis I'll be following you for more!
Well said - again. I was disappointed with season 4 too (also rather philosophical type). You're really good at this, man. Don't you want to make a video about True Detective? I mean... that's one of the best shows of all time (I'm talkin' about season 1 and 3, not that unfortunetally rough-and-ready second...). But despite of the weak 2nd season, TD deserves the fouth place in the "Breaking Bad - Fargo - Westworld - quadrivium". In my humble opinion at least.
True Detective season 1 is in the same league as Fargo and Breaking Bad. So yes, it's perfection as far as I'm concerned. It's a brilliant mediation on nihilism, as well as so many other things. I don't know how well it would translate to my style of video essay though. While there's much philosophy in it, I don't know if it carries "secret messages" in the way something like Fargo does. That's what interests me: the subliminal and symbolic stuff the creator hides from discovery. But your comment has got me intrigued. I haven't watched True Detective in a few years. So as soon as I have time I'll give it another go and see if anything jumps out at me.
@@FallopiumFilms I guess you're right, True Detective's philosophy is much more explicit, but I wouldn't think that it doesn't carry these kinds of secret messages. The first season has a really strong dualism on nearly every layers and every aspects of individual and social existance: religion - atheism; law - crime; dream - reality; spirituality - materialism; cruelty - mercy; loneliness - family; order - chaos, light - darkness and so on... Yeah, the confrontation of these opposite poles take place on the surface, but I think the substance of the confrontation is somewhere under (that's why we call it a sub-stance:). I watched it like 3 times, and found a bunch of clues to it's deeper meaning, but your analysis would be way more thorough, so I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for the Fargo-essays btw!
@@MrRiver08 wow, sounds like you know the show inside and out. I definitely plan on watching it again. If you ever want to collaborate or I guess point me in the right direction, shoot what you've discovered over to me in an email. Id be sure to give you proper credit.
The sociological stuff is pretty neat and worth thinking about in this season, but the writing itself is very meh. It’s a very meh TV miniseries with some stuff worth thinking about. The plot lines were all pretty predictable and the characters, at a certain point, became very one note and limp. The show has utilized a lot of very cheap twists, which are good in moderation but if you’re doing like three twists per episode the novelty wears off and it just becomes lazy. The concept, and even the characters at the beginning, were very compelling, but around the mid season it just stopped working for me.
The third season was not as bad but was pretty bad. No American company would be strong armed by a foreign creditor. They admit this when they “made” him give up partnership
i love season 1 and 2 and 3 have some issue but is still goood but 4 sucks enormous. nothing in this series triggered me . i had to look up if the same crew made this shit after the 3 first shows
I watched an analysis which talked about race and thought it was irritating because it sounded like just SJW talking points. It also stated the nurse killed people because of her "privilege." I thought it was ridiculous. But, I really found your analysis talking about segmentation and duality more insightful. Are you going to do character analysis? I want to hear about Mike Milligan. P.S: Your channel is criminally undersubscribed.
Go woke - Go Broke. Season 4 made a conscious decision to focus on identity politics and social justice messaging. Like so many shows and films produced after 2018ish, the show-writers are more concerned with propagating a sociopolitical message than establishing a good narrative.
![How the Coen Brothers Direct Comedy & Violence [Directing Styles Explained]](/img/n.gif)
I love your analysis, and this season holds up better on second viewing. However, I want to point out that Ethelrida actually studies in a school for only black students ("Negro school" as they keep referring to it). I have to say, no one gives the actress any credit, but she plays Ethelrida really well.
is this fact in reference to something I said in the analysis? I don't have time to watch through my whole vid right now but would love to pin a comment addressing the mistake if I've made one. Thanks
@@FallopiumFilms Yes. At around the 9:00 mark, you mention that Ethelrida is "a young black girl struggling to fit in to her mostly white school". I believe only the administrators or teachers are white, but it's a school for black children.
@@kristiansand2480 thanks, I'll pin your comment
Your channel is super underrated. I find your analysis of the fargo series' intriguing and spot on. You should be a writer/ movie critic. Please don't stop doing these reviews.
I agree 💯!
Some Spoilers below
I kind of disagree that the forces of nature/fate don't play a role in every non East/West episode. First, looking back on the season (especially after a 2nd re-watch which is highly recommended), Zelmare/Swanee and most of Oraetta represent unpredictable forces that have an effect on the rest of the season doing things in the first 2 seasons that set a chain reaction effecting the season right up until the end
(Major spoiler avoid if you haven't seen)
Also Gaetano Fadda's death is the most Fargo/Coenesque death I've seen on the show and it seems like an act of cosmic justice in that in a previous episode, he slips and falls and kills 2 people over it and this episodes, he slips and falls and shoots himself after shooting another person
Also I think the main story of the season was breaking through the segregation and breaking the cycle of one monoethnic crime syndicate wiping out another ethnic crime syndicate and instead joining forces to create a cross-cultural mega-crime syndicate (one that becomes the Kansas City crime syndicate in season 2 that wipes out a now outdated monoethnic crime syndicate started by another immigrant)
Also, overall there is more depth to this season than it's getting credit for, and I thoroughly enjoyed the season (especially on 2nd re-watch), I don't agree with some of the criticism that I've heard from this season
Another point about the past in this season is how it can all be considered the past of one of season 2’s most interesting characters, and how it’s end ties into season 2’s themes with the death of the crime family just beginning as the Italians shift to be more corporate, a change that ends with Milligan at the end of season 2.
Your videos about Fargo are the best, good job man. Please we need a video about season 5 now !
I’m working on it. But It’ll be a while
@@FallopiumFilms Great news, keep up the good work and good luck, you really deserve a lot more views !
I was glad it took the sociological more head on. My problem was poor cast choices (Rock/Schwartzman was ok/Esposito/Bird), the undeveloped characters/storylines, and mostly just overall feel. Great video!
I would pay for content like this. Dude your videos literally give me goosebumps. You pick up on things I wouldn't have even thought of even though I've watched several of the seasons multiple times. I pick up on subtle things but you take it to a whole different level. Noah Hawley is a genius and you have literally picked apart the mind of a genius. Bravo!
Literally just watched all your Fargo videos today and so glad you just uploaded this one.
Same I discovered the vids like 2 days ago
This video is genuinely fantastic, haven't seen many videos discussing season 4 so thank you this was amazing
did you notice that in season 4 the snow is constantly melting away
All the negatives are why I prefer this season, I like the change from philosophical to sociological it freshens the Fargo franchise up and stops it getting stale. Episode 9 season 4 is my favourite in ALL the seasons 😍
I fully agree❤. Fantastic season and the final episodes are pure gems 🏵️🥇
Despite how different it is and how it shook up the formula, I personally found season four to be just as incredible as the previous three seasons, as have every one of my friends whom I've shown it to. I don't think I'll ever truly understand why so many people seem to have this seething hatred for it. Many of the criticisms I've seen almost come off like the person criticizing it was personally slighted, as if Noah Hawley showed up at their house and pissed in their cereal while they were trying to eat it.
But as the saying goes, "Even a weaker season of Fargo is still way better than most other shows currently airing".
I would be honored to have Mr Hawley piss in my cereal
Can’t wait for you to do season 5
It's funny, off the cuff I'd agree that this season is the weakest, but it's got my favorite character in the entire series (Rabbi Milligan), what may be my favorite episode of any show ever (East/West), and it's one of the most gorgeous shows I've ever seen. I could have watched a whole movie about Rabbi and Satchel's journey.
I thought that the color yellow stuck out to me on rewatch, though that might just be me seeing things.
Personally I think 5 is the weakest but I do agree with you about Rabbi and East/West
Love your reviews man! I always come straight to your videos after finishing a Fargo season. You are about the only channel that reviews these seasons properly. Most other channels tend to focus on the more surface level stuff. Although I think the surface level plots are very good, I believe that it's the deeper meanings and themes that makes this show so much better than most other tv shows. My only issue is that I wish you could give me a little bit more information on the characters in the hotel. I refuse to believe that those characters were just "quircky". There's definitely more to it.
Other than that, keep it up! Will be back once I've finished season 5.
watched all your fargo content yesterday and now woke up with the s4 one. Good job my guy keep it goin
When will we get season 5?! I’m so excited to hear your analysis!
thank you so much for this whole series it has been such a treat watching them and I'm so glad i found a youtuber that likes the show and cares about its nuances as much as you do so thanks. Cant wait for the next season though, although you never talked about what you thought on the twist with the kid being the hitman from season 2 small thing but anyways thanks so much and great job on the video
Guys... Just answer me this. Is season four worth watching?
Update:
Watched it. Then, I watched this video. I didn't hate it and it was definitely worth the watch. But it didn't feel as crazy fargo as the others. When this hit me with the: "notice how a season about segregation segregates itself from the other seasons".... Damn. I don't think that's by accident. GJ, NH. Looking forward to the next one, but I hope it will be more fargo.
@Shaheen Shad is that the only bad thing about it?
It's the weakest Fargo season but still better than the majority of shows imo
Awesome Season 4 loved it
I feel like the only problem with Season 4 was that it doesn’t feel like Fargo. It feels “Coenverse”, but not like part of Fargo. That said, it was a great season, and I loved the return of paranormal elements that we didn’t get in the 3rd.
The third season had the bowling ally and the god like character. That was very supernatural
Dude, the last bit of this video, about the blue chair, gave me goosebumps
Yes! Great to hear, Pablo!
Absolutely brilliant analysis, just watched all your Fargo videos and they're astounding, well done!
Typical of my love of the Cohen Brothers theme, I tend to like them even more as time goes on. There are aspects of this season I like better than any of the others but I realize it is something personal to me. I have always had a fondness for period pieces of this era. As an army brat that didn't like himself very much, moving from town to town granted me constant anonymity. This period of time is the last of this country's ability to move to another town and become anonymous. The ability to move and then reinvent yourself as many times as you wanted. On the topic of duality I had two first names. The one I was born with which my Mother hated so she gave me a nickname. Each time we moved I would change my name from my birth name to my nick name and vice versa. This coupled with the fact I am of mixed race, so not being accepted nor ever feeling a belonging is a theme in this series I relate to a lot.
thanks for sharing
Are you planning on doing a video review for season 5? I thought it was an interesting season that had modern elements from season 3 (more modern considering the 2019 setting)
Eventually
I hated the performance of the actor that played Gaetano, I think it was the worst of the season.
I would have loved to see more of Rabbi Milligan, I loved that character
agreed
At its core Fargo is presented as a 'TRUE CRIME' show. I am fascinated at the thread of the show that establishes how crime has become 'organized' and global. In season 4 we see that crime was transplanted from the old world to the new, and changed its nature. It began as something fundamentally tribal in nature (Italian, Irish, African, Jewish, native American) and with the western expansion the American melting pot it transcended those lines. As Satchel becomes Mike Milligan BY CHOICE, he comes to work with his father's enemies. In 1979 (season 2) we see a struggle between family and larger corporate forces as the Kansas city mob pushes to take over the Gerhard mom and pop crime family in North Dakota and Minnesota. In season three we see a weird and amorphous V.A. Varga coming in (Global interests) to take over the Stussy company. Crime is taken to a whole new level. In season 1 crime is a hap hazardous thing. Tripoli has build a small empire in the mid west. It is about to collide with larger interests.
Each season takes on elements of the whole Coen filmography as youve stated. Clearly S4 went full "Miller's Crossing". The way Malvo's presence combined No country and Fargo into a new unique thing though. this one has less connections to the original Fargo film theme wise to me.
Still great and at times chaotic and unpredictable, which can sometimes be Fargo at its best.
I think the biggest problem is the lack of a compelling villain. All the big ideas you correctly mention - philosophical stuff, cosmic irony, etc. - seem like they really depend on the characterization of evil in the previous three films, which is typical of the Coen films too. We had Lorne in S1, Hanzee in S2, and my favorite Varga in S3. All these characters have the effect of unifying the various plot lines and big ideas in the previous seasons. No character performs that same function in S4.
Yeah if we could redo this season and fix only one thing about it, this change would benefit it the most
this season has so much potential and great ideas it was just put together wrong you make some changes and this would have been so much better
agreed
Maybe I like this season now
Your whole series on Fargo was fantastic. I look forward to more videos from you.
I have to bring up an interesting aspect of the name Smutney. It actually an anglicized version of the Czech/Slovak word smutnej, which means sad, or tragic. The brilliance is that Ethelrita's white father is basically a Slav, an ethnic group that the traditional racists considered less than pure white, and are the origin of the word slave.
thanks for opening my eyes
brilliant reviews
I had a similar reaction the first time around, but thought it was much stronger after a second viewing. East/West was one of the best episodes of the entire series.
14:25 that “man” he helped kill was Musso-fukin-lini
Love your analogy!! It is so spot on!
Excellent video as always! Did you make much of how present the colour green was in this season? It found it's way into nearly every frame, probably partially through colour grading. Very interesting in relation to Fargo's themes of human nature and "the human eye", despite you rightly pointing out this season didn't quite have the philosophical edge of the others. That special shade of blue was also very comfortably present throughout the episodes.
Green is symbolic of money across many beliefs and spirituality not just obviously to notes. Power, Money and greed are definitely main themes
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ this vedio is very amazing thank you a lot
Maybe season 4 implies that forces of nature absurditity and cosmic irony are important at the same level of play i.e. when something different from the same begining (as color of your skin) doesnt sets the play in certain ways by blocking many potential roads, also about the "Smutny" surname maybe its something else, in Polish Smutny means sad, kind of a fitting name for the undertaker
I recognized the name from Czech, another West Slavic language. And the "Smut" part does describe the racist attitudes of the time toward Slavs, who were seen as even less white than Italians. And the word slave derives from Slav too.
I loved this season, I also loved the first 3 but for different reasons. I think, just my uneducated 2 cents -the fact that this mostly takes place in a different place than Minnesota: it would've been been a good to make it a spinoff name. , Change the name slightly to make it clear it's still in the same universe but it could stand on its own better terms. As similar vibe to 1883/1923 related to Yellowstone.
wow I completely agree
Awesome Season 4 loved it
I really enjoyed this video essay series. Thank you
This was actually super helpful. When I finished season 4 I didn’t really see “the point” like I did with season 3, maybe because like you said, the point of this one was very different from the others. Now I feel like I get it more, and that helps me feel a bit better about the season.
One question: do you have any idea what the “grander” purpose of the two fart scenes is, if any? Nasty bodily functions isn’t something new to Fargo, there was quite a bit of focus on it in season 3, but unlike season 3 I really can’t see why the farts were emphasized to the degree they were. This might seem minor in the grand scheme of things but those two scenes (especially the one with Swanee) really put a damper on the entire season for me just because of how out of place they feel.
The grander purpose of the fart scenes lol. I'm guessing it was to make you have the exact reaction you had. The show is all about things being out of place. Whether the farts actually work or not is definitely debatable though... Or it's just because farts are funny. Either way, I'm sure the creators would love the fact that time was given to discussing even this detail. I know I do.
Can't help but think the criticisms towards Rock have something to do with his strong past in stand up as I thought his performance was completely fine (some off linereads)... one the other hand I couldn't take Schwartzman seriously in his role and I love him. I loved him in S4 as well but every scene he was in just felt a little off.
Both Rock and Schwartzman just didn't fit the characters. It's like they were hired to give the scenes they were in a funny quirky feel, but for me it just didn't work.
@@FallopiumFilms I'm OK with characters not fitting in a sense, for example. Schwartzman was smaller and less Italiano compared to the rest of his family and that's what they were going for(?) but it still didn't work for me. Maybe if the season had more humor, idk. Regardless, I think both of their acting is still better than 90% of what you'll see on TV
@@wrequiem1727 Agreed. Way better than pretty much all TV. But thats the standard I've come to expect from this show. I think you're right. With Schwartzman character, they were going for someone weaker than those around him, "less of a man" or whatever. But I think they pushed it too far. Like I get him not fitting in, but it went into totally unbelievable territories for me. But then again, I think this would all be fine if they told a story that was as engaging as the other seasons.
See I felt the opposite. I felt it was the start of the season that was boring and un-Fargo-like with how straight it played the crime story. It was only the back half when it became more comedic that I thought it managed to stick the landing despite the rocky start
You should do character studies of each character in individual videos. Particularly regarding Malvo, Mike Milligan and VM Varga oh and also Oretta Mayflower.
Hmmm, this is tempting. But I feel like most of what I would say about them, at least thematically speaking, I've already said in these videos. Except Mike Milligan and Oretta, I did sort of brush over them. Varga and Malvo I feel are pretty well defined by what the seasons themselves are defined by. But I suppose there's always room for improvement. But hey, thanks for the recommendation. I may just take you up on this.... which means I might not be cancelling my Hulu after all.
@@FallopiumFilms I mean would it be weird to say that your insight into the themes present in Fargo, specifically the blue light theory had me gushing so much and I just wanna know what else you have to say about the characters themselves individually.
Is it controversial to say Fargo season 4 was WEAK? I thought it was flat as far as the Fargo universe goes. They didnt just go for so sociological tone.....they beat you over the head with it. Its not the themes that were bad....its that the writers didnt trust the audience to pick up on it. So they MADE SURE to tell you....instead of letting the viewer discover it as they had in the past. The use of season opening and ending narrator.....the reveal of Milligan at the end in case you didnt get it by the 2nd episode to me almost insults the audience by saying ....you werent going to get it so we'll tell you what youre supposed to get from this
YOU'VE DONE IT! :D Great stuff
“We’re just not very interested, I mean, we’re perfectly happy with it.We have no problem with it. It just feels divorced from our film somehow." Joel Coen on Fargo 2016
I think that's why this season was different
Wow! Amazing work! Thank you
will there be analysis for season 5? that would be great. your videos are the best, even better than the series
I appreciate your thoughtful commentary.
I do have a bone to pick. I think your analysis of Elthelrida’s full name is far too great of a logical stretch. It’s symbol hunting _ad absurdum._
Pearls are also black, not just white. In Western literature the name Pearl is most frequently used as an allusion to Jesus’s gospel parable of “the Pearl of Great Price.” It is also a book in the Mormon canon, and though I wouldn’t usually attach much significance to that, this is “Fargo,” and the presence of a prominent Mormon character in this season may make that fact unusually relevant.
As for her surname of Smutny, Smutny is a surname which appeared primarily in the Midwest in the 1920s, according to U.S. Census records. It is a name of Czech and Slovak origin which means sad or gloomy. It has nothing to do with “smut,” “smutty,” or “smutiness” other than the facile aural similarity and then the additional two steps of logic required to connect “smut” to “black,” and then draw a relationship from black to the character’s race.
I think you’d probably find more fertile ground in the name - if there is any to be found - by considering her father’s backstory as a Slavic descendant and the possible history and meaning of her first name of Ethelrida, which I believe, someone in an episode says was given to her by her mother. (I may be wrong about that and conflating that with a comment made about her aunt’s name instead.)
Totally fair point. Thank you
@@FallopiumFilms, thank you for replying. I really appreciate it.
It is really nice to have a place to hear the thoughts and analysis of others who care and think about good films like these. I wish there were more people like you who took the time and care to think about what they are seeing and experiencing, not only as “just” entertainment. So, thank you for putting your thoughts and insights out there, especially given the inevitability of criticism or correction, including mine.
I think this season is too over-constructed. I think everything you analyzed is valid. I think this 11 episode Season never had any chance to hold enough content to be fair to this concept. Also some parts had to much room (a lot of the Mafia scenes seemed too much), snd the Storytelling seemed odd. When you where into a character it switched to another, when you are into an area it switches and so on. You can never really assimilate… and I give credit to Noah that I feel this is on purpose. It’s just too over-constructed, cause you as viewer really want to assimilate xD
We’re gonna need the season 5 video to drop 😂
gimme a year
😭😭😭@@FallopiumFilms
I was also thinking about the assimilitation process from Season 4, seeming as this would be its big theme. What is Noah Hawley actually saying about assimilitation? Because from my point of view it didn't pan out too good for Satchel. By the end of season 4 the Cannon Limited is basically wiped out, satchel survies and we know he becomes Mike Milligan. And what happens to Mike Milligan in season 2? He ends up working his way up to middle manegement of the KC Mafia which is under italian rule still. I don't think Loy Cannon would have been pleased with his son's legacy of working for the family that wiped them out. Sure, for all we know in 79 the KC Mafia could employ any type of race but I somehow have the feeling from season 2 that the italians are still on top. So to me the assimilation process was not successfull or maybe it was? Maybe assimilation doesn't have to be perfect. Maybe it's just all about survival.
I loved all of your analysis of the show, yet I would disagree with you on one point, Chris Rock really convinced me more than many other actors like schwarzmann (his scene when he got informed about his brother attempted hit on lemuel and start eating ice ) or Salvatore Esposito, although he did a better job but wasn't convincing enough, not as how I imagined a strong son of a mafia boss. Ben whishaw was the highlight of the whole season for me and made up for the other "unlucky casting choices" . thank you for your great analysis I'll be following you for more!
By the way talking about segregation, the whole season does not happen anywhere near 'Fargo'
9:15 the thing Americans pretend at is that they’re better than someone else.
Season 5?
i wonder what you will have to say about season 5......mmmmm
Will you be doing a video essay/analysis on Fargo's fifth season as well?
eventually. Be sure to subscribe because it won't be for a few months
Well said - again. I was disappointed with season 4 too (also rather philosophical type).
You're really good at this, man. Don't you want to make a video about True Detective? I mean... that's one of the best shows of all time (I'm talkin' about season 1 and 3, not that unfortunetally rough-and-ready second...). But despite of the weak 2nd season, TD deserves the fouth place in the "Breaking Bad - Fargo - Westworld - quadrivium". In my humble opinion at least.
True Detective season 1 is in the same league as Fargo and Breaking Bad. So yes, it's perfection as far as I'm concerned. It's a brilliant mediation on nihilism, as well as so many other things. I don't know how well it would translate to my style of video essay though. While there's much philosophy in it, I don't know if it carries "secret messages" in the way something like Fargo does. That's what interests me: the subliminal and symbolic stuff the creator hides from discovery. But your comment has got me intrigued. I haven't watched True Detective in a few years. So as soon as I have time I'll give it another go and see if anything jumps out at me.
@@FallopiumFilms I guess you're right, True Detective's philosophy is much more explicit, but I wouldn't think that it doesn't carry these kinds of secret messages. The first season has a really strong dualism on nearly every layers and every aspects of individual and social existance: religion - atheism; law - crime; dream - reality; spirituality - materialism; cruelty - mercy; loneliness - family; order - chaos, light - darkness and so on... Yeah, the confrontation of these opposite poles take place on the surface, but I think the substance of the confrontation is somewhere under (that's why we call it a sub-stance:). I watched it like 3 times, and found a bunch of clues to it's deeper meaning, but your analysis would be way more thorough, so I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for the Fargo-essays btw!
@@MrRiver08 wow, sounds like you know the show inside and out. I definitely plan on watching it again. If you ever want to collaborate or I guess point me in the right direction, shoot what you've discovered over to me in an email. Id be sure to give you proper credit.
@@FallopiumFilms Ok, sure, I'll make some notes in the not too distant future - now I've got a whole lot of shit to do. Maybe I'll watch it again too.
Now do S5!!
Couldn't have said it any better. This season just wasn't that deep as the others. Still a good watch though
The sociological stuff is pretty neat and worth thinking about in this season, but the writing itself is very meh. It’s a very meh TV miniseries with some stuff worth thinking about.
The plot lines were all pretty predictable and the characters, at a certain point, became very one note and limp.
The show has utilized a lot of very cheap twists, which are good in moderation but if you’re doing like three twists per episode the novelty wears off and it just becomes lazy.
The concept, and even the characters at the beginning, were very compelling, but around the mid season it just stopped working for me.
The third season was not as bad but was pretty bad. No American company would be strong armed by a foreign creditor. They admit this when they “made” him give up partnership
And fish don't rain from the sky. Realism isn't really the point of this show
They might be if the economy is bad enough and offer is good enough. Which is sort of the point.
i love season 1 and 2 and 3 have some issue but is still goood but 4 sucks enormous. nothing in this series triggered me . i had to look up if the same crew made this shit after the 3 first shows
Yeah this was the weakest of the 4. It bored me for a while until the very very end.
I watched an analysis which talked about race and thought it was irritating because it sounded like just SJW talking points. It also stated the nurse killed people because of her "privilege." I thought it was ridiculous.
But, I really found your analysis talking about segmentation and duality more insightful.
Are you going to do character analysis? I want to hear about Mike Milligan.
P.S: Your channel is criminally undersubscribed.
First three seasons were superb. I dropped season 4 halfway through episode 4. Rock completely miscast and the thing felt woke to me.
Season 4 is predictable. I start looking for which kid is Mike Milligan the minute I heard the opening narration 😂
You kinda sound like Bob odenkirk
Thank you?
@Fallopium Films just an observation lol
I thought it was terrible
Go woke - Go Broke. Season 4 made a conscious decision to focus on identity politics and social justice messaging. Like so many shows and films produced after 2018ish, the show-writers are more concerned with propagating a sociopolitical message than establishing a good narrative.
Getting woke is much less subtle. Indeed, getting woke is all about telling and never showing.
Stay White, It’ll be alright 😂