That's what people do! They figure things out, stay together, make it work. Fargo's second season has somehow managed to top its first, giving another brutally violent 'true story', all set to a backdrop that's dazzling white and hilariously polite. Picking a best episode almost seems like a fruitless task, because there is no real right or wrong answer. The Castle and Rhinoceros were both fantastic, as was pretty much every other episode, but The Gift of the Magi really lives on in the memory now that the season has ended. It's bookended by two extremely violent set-pieces, the first looking not so much like a Coens homage as it does a scene taken straight from Tarantino's The Hateful Eight, with a bloody shootout in the snowy woods, featuring men with impressive facial hair. The second, towards the end of the episode, features Charlie trying to prove himself a real Gerhardt by killing 'the butcher', aka Ed (played by Jesse Plemons). His first attempt doesn't go all that well, as he's distracted by shop assistant Noreen, and that moment when he gets back in the car, holding the meat he's just purchased from the butcher he was supposed to kill, was priceless. The second attempt is even better, as he actually gets closer to doing it, resulting in a thrilling scene whereby there is a genuine danger for everyone involved, and one that ends with Ed killing Virgil with a meat-cleaver to the head, and then the butcher's shop he intended to buy burning to the ground. If all that's not enough, this also gives us Bruce Campbell as Ronald Reagan. It'd be rude to ask for much more for an episode of television. Is this one of the very best of the year? You betcha!
NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far.
A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.
