Highlights

Fargo season 5 starts strong with stunning visuals, stellar performances, and an intriguing twist on the original movie's premise.
The early episodes have great writing, unpredictable twists, and tension-building scenes that set the stage for an exciting season.
The star-studded cast, including Juno Temple and Jon Hamm, deliver fantastic performances, while the soundtrack adds to the sinister atmosphere.

Episodes reviewed: 1-2. This is a spoiler-free review.

After a shaky fourth season, Fargo season 5 gets off to a great start with stunning visuals, stellar performances from a star-studded cast, and an intriguing twist on the original movie’s premise. The season stars Juno Temple as Dot Lyon, a seemingly stereotypical Midwestern housewife who turns out to have a shady past, and Jon Hamm as Sheriff Roy Tillman, the shamelessly crooked lawman who’s been hunting her for a long time. The first two episodes of the season were both written and directed by series creator Noah Hawley, and they have the singular authorial voice that made this show such a hit in the first place.

The premise of Fargo season 5 reimagines the original movie in a few key ways. Much like in the Coen brothers’ classic, early on in the season premiere, two masked assailants break into a suburban home to kidnap a housewife. But this one puts an intriguing twist on the concept: what if the housewife was a badass who knew how to fight back? The husband is a car salesman, similar to William H. Macy’s character from the movie. The only difference is that the rich in-laws who refuse to pay the ransom are the husband’s parents, not the wife’s. This season is back in the film’s familiar chilly Minnesota setting with the iconic “Minnesota nice” accent (defined in an opening title card).

How All Four Seasons Of Fargo Are Connected

Fans of Fargo that pay close attention during each season will recognize small hints along the way that imply a connected storyline.

The season is bolstered by great writing in its early installments. It kicks off with a delightfully unpredictable first episode that hopefully sets the stage for an unpredictable season. The premiere episode keeps taking wild twists and turns on its way to a thrilling climactic set-piece. The second episode follows up on that action with all the necessary plot setups, but it delivers exposition in an exciting way. Hawley throws a bunch of characters with different pieces of information into a scene together and builds tension as they gradually accumulate more information and carefully play their hand.

There’s a lot of John Woo-style slow-motion in the first episode’s action scenes, which feels out of character for this series. Slow-motion makes the shootouts and foot chases a lot more visceral and sensationalized than the show’s usually somber, downbeat portrayal of violence. It forgoes the series’ signature bleakness to emphasize the triumphs of Temple’s heroine. Season 5 returns to a more straightforward style of action filmmaking, which feels more in line with the show’s past seasons, in its second episode.

Fargo is available to stream on Hulu

Just like its predecessors, Fargo season 5 gets a huge helping hand from a star-studded cast giving fantastic performances in the lead roles. Juno Temple gives a fierce turn as the heroine, Dot. Dot is introduced as a “don’t know how she does it” super-mom archetype, but she quickly turns out to have a checkered past. Temple’s performance is reminiscent of Geena Davis in The Long Kiss Goodnight in a really great way. She manages to make the character consistently engaging despite having to keep most of her goals and motivations in the dark for the sake of the plot.

Jennifer Jason Leigh gives a great supporting performance as the wealthy, snobbish mother-in-law who won’t spare a dime of her millions to pay a ransom. Leigh channels Daisy Domergue’s acid tongue in this hilariously unlikable role. Richa Moorjani and New Girl’s Lamorne Morris are the closest thing this season has to its own Marge Gunderson as the “everyman” cops surrounded by corruption. David Rysdahl does a fine job of playing Dot’s mild-mannered husband Wayne, who’s flustered by the shocking revelations about his wife’s past. But Pete Holmes might have been a better casting choice. He would’ve dialed up the absurdity even more.

Jon Hamm’s villainous Sheriff Tillman is briefly teased in episode 1, but he doesn’t get fully introduced until episode 2. Hamm brings the same antagonistic air to Tillman that he brought to his villain performance in Baby Driver. Joe Keery gives an equally ominous turn opposite Hamm as Tillman’s son (and, by extension, his slick, sleazy right-hand man), Gator, who’s steadfastly loyal to his brutish father. Gator has the schoolyard bully menace of season 1 Steve Harrington with none of the redeeming qualities.

The season has a great soundtrack. The story is set in 2019, but the soundtrack is full of oldies gems. The electric guitar licks of “Working Man” by Rush can be heard over a shot of Hamm bathing in an outdoor wooden barrel and puffing on a cigarette. Amidst all the classics on the soundtrack, there are some surprising needle-drops, too, like “This is Halloween” from The Nightmare Before Christmas. The creepy high-pitched Shining-style orchestrations on the score create a sinister air of danger around Hamm’s villain.

Two episodes in, Fargo season 5 is off to an exhilarating start. As long as it can maintain its level of tension and pay off its mysteries in a satisfying way, then fans are in for one of the show’s best seasons to date.

Fargo season 5 is set to premiere on FX with back-to-back episodes on November 21.