City of brotherly hate
McGregor’s dueling siblings spark familiar mayhem on ‘Fargo’
If there's one thing you can be sure of on FX's “Fargo,” bad people will cross paths with seemingly average folks, leading to mischief, malice and mayhem. The third installment of FX's brilliant anthology stewarded by executive producer, writer and director Noah Hawley centers on anxious, angry brothers in 2010 Minnesota and promises to be every bit as dark and darkly funny as previous seasons. Ewan McGregor (“T2 Trainspotting”) stars as both brothers, Emmit and Ray Stussy. Emmit is the slick, handsome, seemingly successful businessman, the “parking lot king of Minnesota.” Ray is younger (though he looks years older), a balding, potbellied parole officer. Ray blames Emmit for stealing his family inheritance. Ray's fiancee, Nikki Swango (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, “Braindead”), is a beauty with an eye toward becoming a competitive bridge champion and a nasty way of getting rid of feminine hygiene products. Ray's determination to get back at Emmit sets off a chain of violence that lands practically on the doorstep of Eden Valley Police Chief Gloria Burgle (Carrie Coon, “The Leftovers”), a no-nonsense woman raising her 12-year-old son, trying to adjust to her new divorce and startled by the mysteries around her. Emmit has more problems than just Ray. When he and his right-hand man/stooge Sy Feltz (Michael Stuhlbarg, “A Serious Man”) try to pay off a business loan, they discover they have gained a new business partner, the mysterious V.M. Varga (David Thewlis, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”). Some say the eyes are a window to the soul, but V.M.'s rotting teeth tell you everything about this man's spirit.
V.M.'s response to people digging up information on him might make you think twice about Googling anyone ever again. After just the first two episodes, this season of “Fargo” manages to build an impressive body count, including one murder by “misadventure with major appliance.”
Hawley's writing balances tension with laughs. Gloria is a bit of a technophobe who cannot even trigger an automatic door sensor no matter how much she waves her arms. “I'm right here. You can see me?” she asks one deputy. Emmit is called out of the home on urgent business but stopped short by his horrified wife.
“Hon, you're in your house shoes,” she says.
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 — and probably filled a few mass graves. As a cunning ex-con, Winstead just might have the role of her career, and here's hoping the show draws together her schemer and Coon's virtuous officer.
“I never killed anyone before,” someone notes next week.
“Well, me neither. Life's a journey,” another says.
Pack light. “Fargo” moves fast.