That a television show based on The Coen Brothers' classic dark crime comedy Fargo not only avoided being a complete disaster, but in fact emerged as our favourite show of the year, is an incredible thing. The Coen's are such auteurs, with a particularly unique style and voice, that the thought of another person trying to tell stories in their universe was initially very hard to comprehend. How would anyone find that tone that they capture so well in their best work? That mix of off-kilter humour with quick flashes of violence and dark undercurrents is something that many thought only the Coen's could do. In the end it turned out that Noah Hawley, creator of the TV show, was an expert in this world as well. Who knew? The show starred Martin Freeman, Billy Bob Thornton, Allison Tollman and Colin Hanks as its four leads and each one was amazing in their role. Freeman was a revelation: his character, Lester Nygaard, allowed him to invert the hangdog, put-upon but loveable nature that he portrays so well in Sherlock, with Nygaard initially garnering audience sympathy that soon turns to disgust as it becomes clear he is a despicable human being concerned only with self-preservation. As the unfathomable Lorne Malvo, Thornton was also superb, oozing menace at every turn. Malvo was the great villain of the TV year, an unknowable killer whose true nature became more and more obscured every time the audience thought they had him figured out. Fargo has adopted the anthology approach that many shows are using currently. Similar to the likes of American Horror Story and True Detective, the second season will feature a different cast of characters and tell a completely different story in a different time period. When it was announced that it would focus on the backstory of Keith Carradine's Lou Solverson, the retired-cop father of Tolman's Deputy Molly, fans rejoiced as the hints we had been given in season one to a particular case he handled in the 1970's were extremely tantalising. Well played, Fargo. So, what shows are we missing on our countdown? Feel free to tell us why we should have included the likes of Game Of Thrones and Mad Men in the comments section below.
