I can help!" Fargo has always been known to break down the barriers of conventional television. In what is probably the most unique episode of Fargo to date (and somewhat eclectic), the writers gave us a full episode covering Gloria's investigation of her step-father's murder in Los Angeles. It's a slow-burner, but one that has so much symbolic meaning and sublime messages that it quite honestly doesn't matter. Even without a whiff of the Stussy brothers or Varga, we get a filler episode that we didn't know we need it.
I say filler, but in fact it was necessary to get a chance to meet possibly our most important character of the season, Gloria, who hasn't really been dominating the screen in Season Three as of yet. Clearly she's very like our previous protagonists Molly in Season One and Lou in Season Two. However, she also has a knack of her own - she's incredibly curious. A little too curious, you might say, considering her investigation leads her nowhere but to an explanation of why her step-father changed his name. It does, however, give clarity to the confusion of names. Apart from Gloria, the only other characters we really get to meet are Thaddeus and Howard, who are distinct opposites. Thaddeus seems like a generally nice person who finds himself in the worst mess when he's conned out of money by his supposed new employer, Howard Zimmerman, which leads him to hospitalise his now former employer. I'd call him an important part of the episode, mainly because he's the person who wrote this interesting novel, "The Planet Wyh". This is where the episode takes an eclectic turn and actually transforms into animation. Whilst a lot of people may find this off-putting, I really liked it. It puts me in mind of Cosmos: A Spacetime Oddyssey, where they used animation to show flashbacks into the past. In the same vein, this animation tells a wonderful story of pitiful robot who lives for millennia alone after losing his owner. This is Noah Hawley's typical trick of bringing in philosophical and scientific theory as an overarching message. And as we see in the last segment, this robot has a metaphorical connection to the box that Gloria finds in her apartment. This leads me to believe that this box may have some connection to the rest of the season, but it's just a theory at the moment. Being a physicist myself, I loved the science-fiction overtones. Plus, Howard's speech in the ward where Gloria was interviewing him about how particles spend ages traveling without interference, and then for one minute, they collide and show themselves in their true form. This is reminiscent of many of Hawley's characters who all seem to be acting up to the point where their lives are threatened and they show their true colours. It's an underlining message that even in the vast Universe, lives do cross, however improbable it might be. Some viewers may be put off by the fact that the episode provided no forward-movement for the introductory plot for the season, but it does have great character development, and in its own provides a standalone message with great quality dialogue and directing. Truly, I can't commend this show enough for changing the way television is made and visualised. If it keeps up this level of creativity, I won't be surprised to call it a masterpiece for the third season in a row. As an extra point, it was nice to hear McGregor, Coon and Thewlis provide voices for the animated characters - that was a nice touch, and very similar to how Martin Freeman provided the voiceover towards the end of the second season. 8.5/10
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AuthorA very passionate Welsh nerd... Archives
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