Fargo: Season 5

The first half was essentially Home Alone if Kevin were using lethal force against the burglars.

Dot and Wayne in the hospital room told me something I hoped was true but didn't know for sure one way or the other before now. Dot sincerely loves and cares about Wayne. He isn't simply her beard and meal ticket out of her crappy former life. She loves him with all her heart. It makes me hate Roy even more.

And yeah, that Roy is a freaking sociopath. Too cool and measured to be anything but totally crazy. Same as Munch, but in a different way.

And Munch is not just insane. He's insane on a level where he can barely function in society. Where did Roy find this guy? And how is it he was dumb enough to doublecross him? I don't want Roy to win because he's not merely stupid because of his b.s. fundamentalist dogma. He's stupid as a supervillain too. Lex Luthor always loses to Superman because he doesn't deserve to win. Same deal here.

I would love to see Lorraine's reaction if and when Witt pins a medal on Dot for saving his life. Even if Nadine revealed the accent is fake and that's she's dangerous, Lorraine really has no idea what kind of person her daughter-in-law actually is.

The FBI director talking about the sparrow allegory was spot-on. I don't entirely agree with the frustrated FBI agent who said the director was on Roy's side. It's just, he's JUST a step ahead, and so far there is nothing else to be done. Yet. The "hobby" idea says he doesn't disapprove of the investigation, he just doesn't want to get Roy's dander up and tip him off. If they get him, better if he doesn't see it coming.

Loathsome villains this year, which is normal. A lovable hero, which is not. I am rooting for Dot, Wayne, and Scottie. 4 stars.

Dottie continues to be amazing. A tiger indeed. That escape was great.

As bad as Lorraine is I like that she refuses to give up Dottie to Roy. It's not because she loves her son. It's just the guy's Bible-thumping and sexism is working her last nerve. I adore that she basically told him he was fighting for the right to be a baby. And that's that movement distilled down to its essence. And it's not a goal that is either flattering or anything a sane person would want.

Lorraine's business lunch was unnecessarily rude, but considering those guys' reaction the rudeness was probably necessary after all.

Indira is all right. I have my doubts about her but she's all right.

Graves is all right too. He's working for the side of evil, but he's freaking reasonable. Also maybe that other guy shouldn't be such a stickler for ID's while he's busy losing the boss' granddaughter.

Dot was 15 when she was pulled into this? Tell me it's not a cult.

Dot did not want to beat the guy in the hospital bed to unconsciousness. He essentially forced her to. Worked out for the best though. She might have thought better of making him a kidnapping victim if he weren't so personally loathsome. Sympathy there must be limited.

Great episode. 4 stars.

Lorraine is a very interesting character. I love her offering Indira the job. And yet her destroying that guy's life was NOT a proportionate response. And the fact that despite her refusal to initially believe Indira that Dot was a victim and it wasn't her fault, she seems genuinely outraged when she reads the files and sees the pictures. We started the season believing the character was a villain. She might wind up a powerful ally of both Dot and Indira instead.

Gator is taunting Munch because Gator is stupid.

Right off the bat, I was wondering why the HELL Indira let her no-account husband speak to her that way. Forget getting out from under the debt. She should take the job so she can afford to leave that utter loser. I lost a little respect for her realizing somebody like this ever won her over.

Scottie being good on the drums was cool. Because she's only good for a kid. It doesn't sound professional, which is right. I don't know how many shows really understand this when showing a child has a talent with a musical instrument. The series or movie in question can make them good without making them idiot savant child prodigies. What this was, was believable. I like it for that.

I figured the cancer guy was in for a bad end. I hope Roy eventually is held to account for it.

No Dot this week, which is a shame, because she's my favorite. Next week looks to be about her though. 4 stars.

How much does Roy scare me? I had a nightmare about him.

That puppet show was horrifying. Although I couldn't tell what was real for Dot about the journey by the end of the episode. Weird to have an ounce of sympathy for young Gator though.

Gator messed up with Munch. Munch continues to be terrifying.

Scottie and Wayne continue to be adorable together.

I don't think Roy has "got" Dot as much as he thinks he does.

Frightening episode. 4 1/2 stars.

I knew this already, but there is no room left for doubt. Roy Tillman is the most evil, irredeemable villain in Fargo history. Even Lorne Malvo, devil that he was, had his good points, in being smart and funny at times.

I thought Graves was kicking ass all throughout the episode, and the reason Roy is going to lose the season is he killed him rather than accept half a loaf. This thing that angers me, and I think the thing they are deliberately pushing the topical button on, is how he's been getting away with this all this time. He's never hidden his actions. And that is damning of the town he sheriffs. Do you know what the worst part is? Graves might well have been right that he'll lose the election, and that it's a done deal. But if he does, I bet it will still be close. That's how this brand of evil works. If the choices on the ballots are free puppies or diarrhea forever, you might want to move out of Florida. Or at the very least invest in incontinence pants if you can't.

As he was walking to the shed I was all, "I don't want to see this." And it's to Noah Hawley's credit we didn't. If this had been Game Of Thrones we would have. Which is why Game Of Thrones sucks ass and this show does not. It not just that it would be a hard scene to watch. I feel like it would be an exploitation of Dot's actress and the character herself. Why the HELL doesn't that ever occur to the producers of Game Of Thrones? Maybe a more disturbing idea is wondering if they already know and simply don't care. The domestic violence discretion warning placed at the beginning followed by the domestic abuse hotline message at the end was appreciated. In Game of Thrones they often had nude female characters being raped in the background to titillate the audience. I'm not even making that up. It's obscene to see the difference.

Indira catching Lars was not a bad thing. She should have dumped his ass long before that. And she DOES look great in her underwear. You want to titillate me, HBO, THAT'S how you do it.

I was almost feeling the tiniest crumb of sympathy for Gator and he always opens his mouth and makes me remember he doesn't deserve it.

That was tough to watch in places. But Noah Hawley took my hand, told me it would be, and got me through the story that needed to be told. He's amazing, and I don't think he gets enough credit for how amazing he is. How is it Game of Thrones has an Emmy for Best Series and this does not? Talk about obscenities. 4 1/2 stars.

Munch saving Dot at the end was the biggest, most pleasant surprise of the season. But it makes sense. Roy Tillman has done nothing this season but turn everybody against him. "The enemy of my enemy."

The tide turns indeed. Roy is screwed next week and I'm here for it.

Dot's phone call to Lorraine will probably go down as one of the high points of the season. Lorraine calling her her daughter for the first time ever was huge.

Gator IS pretty useless. He should have taken Dot's offer to escape a couple of weeks ago.

This has been my favorite season of the show so far. Dot is the best character they've ever done. 4 1/2 stars.

The best season of Fargo, bar none. I liked it even more than the film.

You'd expect the final confrontation would be Dot vs. Roy. But he's unworthy. It's actually Dot vs. Munch. And instead of fighting him, she makes him come around. He's resisting it, but how can you actually resist Dot, Wayne, and Scottie? The viewer is aware of how dangerous and insane Munch actually is. But Dot making him question everything he believes instead suggests not everybody is beyond redemption, and what could be confused for sociopathy may simply be pain. I love that the final tense, life and death struggle is resolved via persuasion.

What I love it the cuteness of the Lyons family is impossible to argue against. They practically won't even LET Munch do so. It's kind of endearing.

I was unhappy Witt died. For obvious reasons. It also bugged me on some level that Roy was taken in alive. And it's only because he's white. And Lorraine's arrangement of "punishment" towards him didn't exactly endear me to the narrative either. I don't think as far as rape goes, an eye for an eye is the proper messaging. What I will concede is that Roy WAS clearly hoping to go out in a blaze of glory. As cathartic as it would have been for the viewer to see Dot kill him, that's what he wanted. He wanted martyrdom and to be the next Davy Crockett living / dying legend. Lorraine's last visit was ugly. But dying in the shoot-out was actually what he wanted so I'll live with that gross idea instead. Even if I don't approve of it.

This is why TV is a good medium. I talk a LOT of crap about how much I hate television, and a common and damning complaint I will level at a show is that it's "television". But the truth is, television isn't ALL bad. And sometimes it can give you stuff like this. I can't even pretend I loved ALL of Fargo's previous seasons. It's been very hit or miss. But television isn't all genre cliches and bad tropes and sullen characters. Sometimes it's simply a great story being allowed the time to breathe. Frankly, it's not that often enough. But it can be, it SHOULD be, and Fargo: Season 5 definitely WAS. 5 stars.