[ The creator of "Fargo" explains why every season of his crime
drama is about money, Republicans and the “American woman’s
experience”]
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PORTSIDE CULTURE
‘FARGO’ IS REALLY ABOUT ONE LINE FROM THE ORIGINAL COEN BROTHERS
MOVIE, NOAH HAWLEY SAYS
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Kayla Cobb
November 22, 2023
The Wrap
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_ The creator of "Fargo" explains why every season of his crime drama
is about money, Republicans and the “American woman’s
experience” _
Juno Temple as Dorothy “Dot” Lyon in "Fargo" Year 5, (Photo
Credit: Michelle Faye/FX)
The movie “Fargo” [[link removed]] ends with
one of the most iconic lines in Coen brothers’ history. As chief of
police Marge Gunderson (France McDormand) drives the murderous Gaear
(Peter Stormare) to the police station, she says, “There’s more to
life than a little money, you know. Don’tcha know that? And here ya
are, and it’s a beautiful day.”`
That one line is what the show is “really” about, according to
series showrunner, writer, director and executive producer Noah
Hawley. “It’s the idea of the sins that people commit for
money,” Hawley told TheWrap.
That’s explored in Year 2 when the death of a crime family’s
patriarch leads to an all-out war as corporate America looms in the
background. It’s explored in Year 4, a season set in the 1950s that
examines the “original sins of American capital” and the American
economy’s exploitation of enslaved and immigrant people. And it’s
explored in Year 5 through one big, scary word: debt.
[fargo-juno-temple-sienna-king-fx]
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READ NEXT
‘Fargo’ Season 5 Review: FX Series Returns With More Hapless
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“I started to think about debt, which is an almost invisible factor
of every American’s life. Two-thirds of Americans are in a not
insignificant amount of personal and family debt, whether it’s
credit cards or student loans or medical debt,” Hawley said. “Yet,
we don’t talk about it. And when we do talk about it, it’s couched
this language of morality, right? The people who don’t pay back are
somehow immoral. We never really talk about how the people who lend
them the money and charge them too much interest are immoral.”
The idea of debt seeps into nearly every element of “Fargo” Year 5
from Jennifer Jason Leigh’s Lorraine Lyon, the CEO of a collection
agency who sports the nickname “the Queen of Debt,” to June
Temple’s Dot, a housewife who isn’t who she seems, and Richa
Moorjani’s officer Indira Olmstead, an upstanding upholder of the
law who’s weighed down by her finances.
But this season, the concept of debt extends far beyond its monetary
definition. “In the case of ‘Fargo,’ it’s about the marriage
vows and what do you really owe to the husband who beats you, and what
do you really owe to the mother who dominates you?” Hawley said.
["Fargo" Season 5]
Richa Moorjani as Indira Olmstead in “Fargo” Year 5 (Photo Credit:
Michelle Faye/FX)
This is also a universe that Hawley has always seen as defined by its
women. Dating back to McDormand’s Marge, “The identity of
‘Fargo’ has been female,” Hawley said. “Every every year for
me is about exploring these different sides of the American woman’s
experience.”
This time around, that experience was especially interesting thanks to
the introduction of Lorraine and Dot Lyon. Hawley referred to
Leigh’s Lorraine as “really refreshing.”
“She’s a titan, she’s a heavyweight. Part of the fun of the
season for me is to pit, probably, the strongest woman in America
against this American strong man,” Hawley said, referring to Jon
Hamm’s character. The “Mad Men” and “Lucy in the Sky” actor
plays Sheriff Roy Tillman, a lawman, pastor and beloved member of his
community who is hellbent on taking the law into his own hands,
Constitution be damned.
Hawley noted that the excitement of this season was watching Lorraine
and Roy Tillman “pick each other apart.” “But, you know, as
someone who’s written, whatever, 51 hours about the evils of
capitalism in America, I know that capitalism always wins. So my
money’s on Lorraine,” Hawley teased.
["Fargo" Season 5]
Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lorraine Lyon in “Fargo” Year 5 (Photo
Credit: Michelle Faye/FX)
However, it’s Temple’s Dot who steals the spotlight this go round.
To her husband Wayne (David Rysdahl) and daughter Scotty (Sienna
King), Dot comes across as a nearly perfect Midwestern housewife. But
when cornered, she becomes one of the biggest threats in the history
of this universe, concocting traps and transforming household items
into terrifying weapons.
“I love stories where people win by outsmarting their opponents,”
Hawley said. “Her superpower really is her creative problem solving
and her ability to look at at a bathroom spray and see a weapon.
Everyone always underestimates her, and she’s always going to figure
a way out because she sees things that other people don’t see.”
Creating Dot’s elaborate traps required a great deal of planning.
The scripts contained an outline of the stunts and escape routes Dot
would use later in the season, which allowed production to add the
necessary details to the Lyon house. “You need to know what you’re
doing in advance so that you can really build to it,” Hawley said.
As for who stands on the other side of these various traps, that would
be none other than Hamm’s Roy Tillman. In 2023, an elected official
who believes in his own version of truth and selectively abides by the
law feels distinctly Trumpian. But Hawley assured TheWrap that’s not
entirely the case and that Hamm’s character is just another fixture
in this twisted Midwestern universe.
["Fargo" Season 5]
Jon Hamm as Roy Tillman in “Fargo” Year 5 (Photo Credit: Michelle
Faye/FX)
“I sort of see everyone in the show as a Republican,” Hawley said,
noting that the series looks at “different facets” of the party.
This season, Dot and Wayne stand as “true fiscal conservatives, kind
of family values folks” whereas the wealthy Lorraine is “very much
Mitt Romney, old money.” As for Hamm’s Tillman, he lands on the
far right.
“If you go back and look at, I would say, Seasons 3 and 4 of
‘Fargo’ there’s always a moment where the worst person in the
show says, ‘I’m the victim here,’” Hawley said. “I was
making the third season of ‘Fargo’ when Trump was elected, and he
was always the victim and still is always the victim, right? There’s
something so cynical about treating people so poorly while claiming to
be a victim. That is such a Coen Brothers, ‘Fargo’ thing.”
Over the years, “Fargo” has taken many different forms, from
ambitious, expansive stories that require 23 main characters and 50 to
65 minute episodes to more intimate “edge of your seat” stories
that only require 42-minute episodes. Year 5 falls into the latter
category, an installment that its creator describes as having
“wildcard” moments but largely sticks to telling one central
story.
“That feels like the right ‘Fargo’ for this moment,” Hawley
said. “That’s always my approach. What’s the right ‘Fargo’
for this moment? And by this moment, I mean, a year and a half from
now, you know what I mean?” Hawley said, referencing the long
production times his crime anthology takes. “There’s something
predictive to it as well. I’m living in the moment that I’m making
it, but people are going to watch it year and a half or two years from
now.”
_New episodes of “Fargo” Season 5 air Tuesdays on FX and stream on
Hulu the next day._
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Kayla Cobb [[link removed]]
Kayla has covered the TV industry for more then seven years. Before
joining TheWrap in April of 2023, she was the Senior TV Reporter at
Decider, the New York Post’s entertainment vertical that focuses on
the streaming industry. She was instrumental to the site’s growth,
helping transform a fledging site to a respected name in…
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