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Positive:
155
Mixed:
19
Negative:
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Critic Reviews
TV Guide MagazineDec 1, 2023
Season 5 Review:
Series creator continues to flavor crime drama with humor and taste for the bizarre, assembling another remarkable cast for a funky fable of survival in the chilly Midwest. .... Marvelous Juno Temple is ferociously endearing as Dot. [27 Nov - 17 Dec 2023, p.6]
TV Guide MagazineSep 28, 2020
Season 4 Review:
Thrillingly unpredictable fourth installment of Fargo. ... A dark tide of inventive quirkiness. [28 Sep - 11 Oct 2020, p.8]
Sep 24, 2020
Season 4 Review:
There are so very many good and great things to point to — characters whose evil is a thing of warped beauty, plots that balance thrillingly on contingency and bad timing, dialogue whose comedy is cloaked in murderous intention and gluttony, resonant cinematography that speaks of a grimly Disunited States — I don’t know which one to start with. Series creator Noah Hawley has come up with yet another ambitious, dazzling, and entertaining season of his Coen brothers-based anthology series.
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TV Guide MagazineApr 27, 2017
Season 3 Review:
One man's bland is another's bliss, don't ya know. That's certainly the case with the third season of Noah Hawley's Fargo franchise, with its delicious recipe of quirky humanism and chilling, shocking violence unaltered by a year's hiatus. [1-14 May 2017, p.19]
Apr 19, 2017
Season 3 Review:
Even if some of the characters seem familiar or we recognize some of the narrative beats before they’re hit, we know from the very moment it begins that Fargo once again has a great, big story to tell us, and that means it’s time to settle in for the ride, wherever that old “Ace Hole” Corvette may take us.
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Apr 18, 2017
Season 3 Review:
This is a series chock full of great characters, male and female, that exudes wit, intelligence and a palpable desire to entertain. It’s possible, of course, that this latest Fargo will sag in the middle or fall apart at the end. But neither of the other two seasons did, so here's betting this one won’t either.
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Apr 18, 2017
Season 3 Review:
I just may need to put the show at the top of this year’s list, too. It’s as confidently filmed as season 2, with witty musical choices and a falling-air-conditioner-cam, and the plotting promises all kinds of the cosmic surprises that have become a “Fargo” trademark. And then the script is a model of tonal elasticity and a gift bag of twisted and comic pieces of wisdom.
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Apr 17, 2017
Season 3 Review:
The hallmarks of a Hawley show are wonderfully offbeat yet endlessly intriguing characters, boldly innovative visual flourishes, a somewhat antic sense of humor, marvelously textured universes, compelling performances and whip-smart writing. Are all of these elements to be found in the immediately riveting third-season opener of Fargo? Oh heck yah, youbetcha.
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ColliderApr 10, 2017
Season 3 Review:
More than anything, though, Fargo’s collection of stellar actors again this year makes every scene a delight to watch. Coon is staid and inscrutable, Winstead is electric and seductive, McGregor finds likability and venerability for this characters in ways we wouldn’t expect, and so forth. It’s a showcase that, matched with the show’s sly humor, produces exceptional television.
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Oct 12, 2015
Season 2 Review:
The second season of Fargo is just as fantastic as the first. And viewers who didn't catch the first season can easily slide into the second. Some nuances will be lost, but those are minor compared to how good this series is.... Hawley and his writers' greatest strength is incredible control of tone and atmosphere.
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Oct 12, 2015
Season 2 Review:
Writer and executive producer Noah Hawley upped the game with a sharp, well-developed story involving multiple moving parts. It’s smart, thought out and full of watchable characters with convincing enough motives to create the perfect amount of viewer sympathy. The end result isn’t just a “Fargo” 2.0 (or 3.0 depending on your love of film), but an evolved story that takes television to a whole new level.
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Oct 12, 2015
Season 2 Review:
This Fargo has a different idea of evil, based on something just as insidious as Malvo: The grinding amorality of capitalism, which demands more profit no matter what the human cost. In the new Fargo, this is placed in a context that is frequently witty, and balanced with scenes of great family love. The large cast is superb.
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Oct 12, 2015
Season 2 Review:
It’s atypical in the television industry for a show born of a larger creative trend to surpass the trend’s flashpoint, but with the new season, Fargo puts itself head and shoulders above its anthology peers. Bigger isn’t necessarily better, but can it be, when done thoughtfully? You betcha.
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Oct 12, 2015
Season 2 Review:
Every performer here brings his or her A-game, and the little nods to the day--such as the chatter about a seminar that will help “actualize” the attendees or the salesman who believes that the electric typewriter represents an unparalleled technological revolution--are both striking and sad.... Fargo is terrific.
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Oct 9, 2015
Season 2 Review:
Despite its endlessly flat landscape, FX's Fargo is elevated by the most spellbinding direction of any drama currently on TV. Season 2 achieves new heights, thanks to writer-director Noah Hawley. The music is exaggeratedly dramatic, and the split-screen device is a throwback to early TV and film's bold experimentation.
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TV Guide MagazineOct 8, 2015
Season 2 Review:
Fargo casts a mesmerizing spell of suspenseful whimsy in its second year. [12-25 Oct 2015, p.16]
RogerEbert.comOct 8, 2015
Season 2 Review:
This is confident, clever, fantastic television. It doesn’t have a trio of characters as instantly vibrant as the three at the core of season one, and it doesn’t have a premiere episode that will make jaws drop like last time around, but the first four episodes develop into something remarkable of their own, again thematically referencing back to the last trip to the snowy North, but in its own, mesmerizing way.
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Uncle BarkyOct 8, 2015
Season 2 Review:
The first four episodes sent for review give every indication that this all-new story with mostly new characters will reach if not surpass FX’s first time around with Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Allison Tolman, Colin Hanks, Bob Odenkirk, Keith Carradine, etc.
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Oct 7, 2015
Season 2 Review:
The Emmy-winning first season of Fargo, the limited series that was inspired by the Coen brothers film of the same name was a triumph on multiple levels as one of the most creative and evocative works on TV in 2014. The second season proves that was no fluke.... It's all here--writing, acting, directing, music--combining to make a very riveting and entertaining dark comedy spectacle.
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Apr 14, 2014Apr 11, 2014
Season 1 Review:
The casting on Fargo is superb, but none more so than Thornton, who is absolutely magnetic as the calm killer with a penchant for wry observation.... The four episodes that FX sent are a testament to Hawley’s bold belief that he could tackle such an original piece of cinema and make it work on the small screen.
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Apr 11, 2014
Season 1 Review:
A larger, wholly engrossing story about crime syndicates and hit men. [21 Apr 2014, p.43]
RogerEbert.comApr 10, 2014
Season 1 Review:
With an amazing ensemble driven by great performances from top to bottom, an incredibly smart writers’ room, brilliant callbacks to the original that feel more inspired than forced, and a filmmaking style that feels as cinematic as this grand Minnesotan tragedy deserves, Fargo is one of the most addictive new shows of the year.
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IndieWireOct 9, 2015
Season 2 Review:
The most important thing about what's before us is that Fargo remains a risk-taker. Between Ronald Reagan and moments lifted straight out of "The X-Files," it's a show that is having fun, while also being real about the costs of having fun, while living outside the law.
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Apr 15, 2014
Apr 28, 2017
Season 3 Review:
From its dynamic female characters, to its willingness to turn dashing leading men like McGregor into far more fascinating warts and all character actors, to its exquisite (and frequently hilarious) montages about everyday Americana, Fargo's third season is thus far as strong as any of the sterling preceding tales in this snowed in noir universe.
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Apr 19, 2017
Season 3 Review:
As always, however, the pleasures of Fargo derive from the variety of the characters and the clever wordplay they indulge in. ... Coon and Hawley quickly establish the distinctiveness of Gloria’s character: she’s not as polite as Allison Tolman’s Deputy Molly Solverson in season one, nor as tight-lipped serene as Patrick Wilson’s Trooper Lou Solverson in season two.
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Apr 18, 2017
Season 3 Review:
Fargo is becoming an expertly made meta-concoction, a remix of a remix. ... The effect of the casting [of Ewan McGregor as the two brothers] isn’t to show the brothers’ similarity, but how life and circumstance have shaped them so differently. It’s remarkable, and no mere stunt.
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Oct 12, 2015
Season 2 Review:
The only complaint one could muster about Fargo this time is that it spreads itself on too thickly in the first two episodes. In moments that count, the show can seem more interested in style than substance. Season 2 also introduces so many characters (played by equally strong actors, including Ted Danson as Trooper Solverson’s father-in-law, Hank; Cristin Milioti as Solverson’s wife, Betsy; and Nick Offerman as Karl, Luverne’s most conspiracy-minded lawyer--to name a few) and so many fascinating threads at once that it threatens to collapse under its own weight. The intricacies do begin to cohere by Episode 4.
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Oct 7, 2015
Season 2 Review:
FX’s frost-covered drama appears to have equaled its splendid predecessor, capturing the same off-kilter tone while actually enhancing the comedy quotient. If the first series deftly approximated the spirit of its movie namesake, this one works in a cheeky Quentin Tarantino vibe, with results as refreshing and bracing as the region’s abundant snow.
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Apr 10, 2014
Season 1 Review:
Directed by Adam Bernstein, the 90-minute premiere is particularly taut and effective, with three subsequent episodes slightly less so; nevertheless, there’s enough going on (indeed, almost too much) and such a weird string of dominos that it’s hard not to imagine those sampling the opener won’t want to see things through to the finish.
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Sep 24, 2020
Season 4 Review:
“Fargo” feels utterly of its time and place. The dialogue is stylized and clever. ... Every episode contains stunning, elaborately choreographed scenes worthy of a major feature film. This is one of the best-looking series of the year, featuring some of the strongest performances of the year from more than a dozen of our finest actors.
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Apr 18, 2017
Season 3 Review:
In some ways, this season of Fargo checks all of the boxes of its precedent seasons: the down-on-his-luck schlub with a surprise knack for crime; the sly yet intoxicating evil force; the righteous, morally sound cop; and the absurd, easily avoidable crime that sets everything into motion. What sets the season apart is its comparatively small cast of players.
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Nov 21, 2023
Season 5 Review:
Despite this laundry list of great characters, what differentiates this season from the last is that the writers are telling a more intimate story. It’s ridiculous in several facets, but the absurdity has a way of contributing to, not detracting from, that intimacy. The characters become more riveting with each twist.
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IndieWireSep 14, 2020
Season 4 Review:
Season 4 may not go down as the best year of “Fargo.” The structure lurches a bit, episode to episode, and the cast can’t collectively hit the highs of prior seasons’ players. (In part because they’re not asked to, given the dour tone.) But Hawley’s choice to evolve beyond his established structure is as necessary as it is invigorating.
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ColliderSep 14, 2020
Season 4 Review:
Hawley is a creator who loves images, ideas, and words, and not a single episode watched for review (FX provided the first nine) lacks for an unforgettable camera shot, a haunting character choice, or a line of dialogue so weird and wonderful it could only be Fargo. And in a year when pretty much everything feels coated with a layer of tarnish, perhaps it’s right that Year 4 is a season where heroes feel very hard to find.
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Apr 19, 2017
Season 3 Review:
Giving McGregor two roles seems at first like an oddball casting choice for a show that doesn’t need any more weirdness. Two episodes aren’t enough to say whether it is justified as more than Emmy bait for McGregor. Of the two roles, he seems more convincing as Ray. Thewlis oozes menace and charm as a mobster who has seen the world. ... Pack light. Fargo moves fast.
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Uncle BarkyApr 18, 2017
Season 3 Review:
The main characters also aren’t clicking on all cylinders yet, save for the dastardly Varga and his bitingly delicious way of putting things. ... This latest Fargo likely will be quite a trip, with its principal creative force, Noah Hawley, not to be discounted in terms of coming through in the clutch.
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Apr 18, 2017
Season 3 Review:
There are some truly shocking moments early on, but it all just feels a bit too familiar. Luckily, the cast picks up the narrative slack; Winstead and Coon might both be playing thwarted women, but they’re basically fire and ice. McGregor manages to carve out distinct personalities in his dual performance.
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Oct 9, 2015
Season 2 Review:
As always, this is a scattered story with multiple moving parts.... Fargo revels in presenting ordinary folk with extraordinary problems, in stripping away their everyday guises and peering long and hard at their dark potential. That it can do this through adaptations of true stories makes it all the more jaw-dropping.
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Apr 9, 2014
Season 1 Review:
The dark absurdist tone doesn't land quite as cleanly as in the film, and there's the enormous absence of goddess Frances McDormand, who brought such great plainspoken heart to the movie's otherwise bleak landscape.... But do keep watching, because the show boasts unique and satisfying hooks.
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