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sicDaniel
May 10, 2009

GobiasIndustries posted:

I'm curious, did anyone binge the season instead of watching it every week? While I enjoyed it I understand people's complaints and I wonder what people who watched it all at once think.

I watched the first three episodes weekly, didn't like most of it so I stopped. Binged the rest over the last two days and while episodes 8+9 were pretty good, I think the season is bad compared to the first two. I agree with the general complains in the thread, the characters were too one-dimensional and the plot too thin. Unlike the first two seasons I don't remember ever having that "oh my god it's already over" feeling at the end of any episode. On the contrary more than once I thought an episode was over and there were still 10 minutes to go.

I also don't understand what's supposed to be so clever about the opening scene of episode one versus the final scene. Of course I am inclined to believe the civilian in the first scene because Stasi bureaucracy has a reputation of arresting innocent people and I know nothing about the civilian, he also sounds like a nice guy who is genuinely troubled.
And of course I think that Varga is a dirty liar, I just watched 10 episodes of TV establishing that and also he comes across as a complete rear end in a top hat in that scene.

Now some people consider this commentary on how we understand stories and how we perceive reality and I agree somewhat, but - like so many things this season - it's way too on-the-nose.

sicDaniel fucked around with this message at 23:16 on Jul 9, 2017

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DaveKap
Feb 5, 2006

Pickle: Inspected.



sicDaniel posted:

I watched the first three episodes weekly, didn't like most of it so I stopped. Binged the rest over the last two days and while episodes 8+9 were pretty good, I think the season is bad compared to the first two. I agree with the general complains in the thread, the characters were too one-dimensional and the plot too thin. Unlike the first two seasons I don't remember ever having that "oh my god it's already over" feeling at the end of any episode. On the contrary more than once I thought an episode was over and there were still 10 minutes to go.

I also don't understand what's supposed to be so clever about the opening scene of episode one versus the final scene. Of course I am inclined to believe the civilian in the first scene because Stasi bureaucracy has a reputation of arresting innocent people and I know nothing about the civilian, he also sounds like a nice guy who is genuinely troubled.
And of course I think that Varga is a dirty liar, I just watched 10 episodes of TV establishing that and also he comes across as a complete rear end in a top hat in that scene.

Now some people consider this commentary on how we understand stories and how we perceive reality and I agree somewhat, but - like so many things this season - it's way too on-the-nose.
Okay. In that case, I don't think serial vs binge mattered at all, since this mirrors what I thought and I binged the first 3 eps but serialed the rest.

a new study bible!
Feb 2, 2009



BIG DICK NICK
A Philadelphia Legend
Fly Eagles Fly


Even if you are down on this season, you have to appreciate that episode 3 is probably the best episode from any season. It's also one of the best episodes of anything put on TV, in my opinion. The monologue that Zimmerman delivers from the hospital is so well done, even if it is a little heavy handed. There's a real Ozymandias vibe to that scene that ties into the entirety of the season nicely.

DaveKap
Feb 5, 2006

Pickle: Inspected.



a new study bible! posted:

Even if you are down on this season, you have to appreciate that episode 3 is probably the best episode from any season. It's also one of the best episodes of anything put on TV, in my opinion. The monologue that Zimmerman delivers from the hospital is so well done, even if it is a little heavy handed. There's a real Ozymandias vibe to that scene that ties into the entirety of the season nicely.
Oh absolutely. The season has fantastic moments and episode 3 is just one giant fantastic moment.
"Am I getting laid tonight or what?"
"Or what."
The problem is that it's not a giant amazing season the way the previous 2 were, that's all.

Escobarbarian
Jun 18, 2004


Grimey Drawer
I love 303 but I know a few people who were down on it

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

I thought it was a weird choice to place it so early on, but in retrospect it's one of the better episodes of the season. THe problem is that this isn't saying as much as it would've in previous seasons.

ShakeZula
Jun 17, 2003

Nobody move and nobody gets hurt.

Count me as one who wasn't terribly impressed with episode 3. If you're going to completely grind your season narrative to a halt just as it should be ramping up, it should at least tell us something about the characters involved. Instead our investigator hero spends the whole hour barely doing anything while chasing a lead we know is irrelevant and at best offers an explanation for why a character we saw for one scene was kind of a jerk. Felt like a waste of time and was one of the reasons I dropped the season shortly thereafter.

Poppyseed Poundcake
Feb 23, 2007
I thought season 3 was better than 2

precision
May 7, 2006

by VideoGames

Poppyseed Poundcake posted:

I thought season 3 was better than 2

Definitely agreed, but before the finale I'm not sure I would have.

Escobarbarian posted:

I love 303 but I know a few people who were down on it

I liked it but I wouldn't say it was the best ep of the season or anything.

Capntastic
Jan 13, 2005

A dog begins eating a dusty old coil of rope but there's a nail in it.

Comparison is the death of joy and personal scorecards are silly.

Each season takes similar ingredients and does different things with it, and I enjoy all of them on their strengths.

Season 3 definitely seems to take the meta-view of Coen styled "truth is very hard to whittle down to" escalating misunderstanding and wrap it around several plot threads that don't all follow through to the end of the season. That's intended, I feel. The incompleteness is a component on its own.

twoday
May 4, 2005



C-SPAM Times best-selling author
Finally watched this. Though not how it was intended, I found it interesting to interpret it as a metaphor for the current political situation.

Emmet is a Trump, Vargas is Putin, Ray is the American middle class, Nikki is the lower class.

Trump first got involved with Russians in the Great Recession when American banks stopped lending money for his property projects and turned to Russian oligarchs for investment. Discuss.

twoday fucked around with this message at 16:05 on Jul 19, 2017

Krispy Wafer
Jul 26, 2002

I shouted out "Free the exposed 67"
But they stood on my hair and told me I was fat

Grimey Drawer
Hawley is going to be involved in a new FX project with the Russo brothers.

So yeah, probably means an extended hiatus for Fargo. At least it’s relatively easy to make another season at some point down the road when/if Hawley wants to.

Escobarbarian
Jun 18, 2004


Grimey Drawer
I think I read he was just a producer on this one, but I could be wrong.

JBP
Feb 16, 2017

You've got to know, to understand,
Baby, take me by my hand,
I'll lead you to the promised land.
Just need somewhere to vent my love for this Big Lebowski homage starring Leland Palmer.

ThisIsJohnWayne
Feb 23, 2007
Ooo! Look at me! NO DON'T LOOK AT ME!



JBP posted:

Just need somewhere to vent my love for this Big Lebowski homage starring Leland Palmer.

It's a good one.

Sydney Bottocks
Oct 15, 2004
Probation
Can't post for 61 days!

JBP posted:

Just need somewhere to vent my love for this Big Lebowski homage starring Leland Palmer.

I've said it before, but that whole sequence in the bowling alley is some of the best television ever, in my opinion. If just for Ray the Kitten alone :3:

Lemon
May 22, 2003

I loved seasons 1 & 2 and somehow completely missed that 3 had even aired until a few days ago. I just binged it since Thursday and, whilst I might need to go back and revisit the first two, I think this might be the best one yet. Episode 8 might possibly be my favorite episode of any television show yet.

Big Bad Voodoo Lou
Jan 1, 2006
For anyone who didn't know, Mary Elizabeth Winstead ("The Swango") has a gorgeous voice and recorded an album with producer Dan "The Automator" Nakamura as Got a Girl. It's pretty great, especially if you liked groups like Lovage, Bitter:Sweet, and Portishead.

The video for "Did We Live Too Fast":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD6upBLkbj8

SimonChris
Apr 24, 2008

The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.
Grimey Drawer
Am I the only one disappointed that the Bridge subplot never went anywhere? I wanted to see The Swango kick rear end at Bridge tournaments...

Henchman of Santa
Aug 21, 2010

Big Bad Voodoo Lou posted:

For anyone who didn't know, Mary Elizabeth Winstead ("The Swango") has a gorgeous voice and recorded an album with producer Dan "The Automator" Nakamura as Got a Girl. It's pretty great, especially if you liked groups like Lovage, Bitter:Sweet, and Portishead.

The video for "Did We Live Too Fast":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD6upBLkbj8

I didn't realize that but it makes sense because she's on the second Deltron 3030 album.

SimonChris posted:

Am I the only one disappointed that the Bridge subplot never went anywhere? I wanted to see The Swango kick rear end at Bridge tournaments...

Her Bridge abilities informed her ability to outsmart Varga

Krispy Wafer
Jul 26, 2002

I shouted out "Free the exposed 67"
But they stood on my hair and told me I was fat

Grimey Drawer
Watching season 1 again and episode 4, when Gus calls Molly to say they've gotten Malvo, she's reading an email about Lester's phone dump and there's an Outlook folder called Emails from Mom.

Did they ever say when her mom died or even if she was dead? At the very least she lived long enough to send 9 or so emails.

Also I love the fact Malvo uses his one phone call to check on his partner's progress on obtaining crickets. Because getting arrested on a probable triple murder charge is nothing to sweat over.

Davros1
Jul 19, 2007

You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible



ymgve posted:

Up to episode 8 now, and it annoys me how these previously cold and calculating criminals are now using more and more extreme supervillain tactics that is anything but subtle. First they risk exposing themselves by attempting to poison Nikki inside a jail cell, and when that fails they decided to overturn a loving prison bus, which is gonna attact more attention than the sum of everything that has happened so far in the season.

All of this because they gave up a chance to kill her when they were in the perfect position to do so in the motel because...reasons?

Sure, it's almost half a year later, but I just binged watch S3.

Vargas had send Meemo to kill Ray and Nikki, who was going to do it at the motel. But then Ray left, so Meemo was just going to kill Nikki. But then Emmit kills Ray, so Vargas needs Nikki to take the fall, so Meemo leaves. Which is what happens when the cops show up.

However, their whole story depends on the cops believing Nikki killed Ray for beating her. Which falls apart quite quickly if she tells the police it wasn't Ray, but a Russian and an Asian dude who attacked her. So they send the Golem, who she hasn't seen, to kill her by injecting her. Then the cops will find her body, assumed that she had smuggled in a syringe (hey, she's a criminal. She's likely to do that.) and overdose either over guilt or fear.

Escobarbarian
Jun 18, 2004


Grimey Drawer
Man I gotta rewatch this season.

Davros1
Jul 19, 2007

You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible



2019 for season 4 (hopefully)

https://www.avclub.com/fargo-season...SocialMarketing

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

I really dug season 3 but I did feel like Hawley may have stretched himself too thin with that AND Legion in the same year, so I don't mind him taking a little extra time before season 4.

drunkill
Sep 25, 2007

me @ ur posting
Fallen Rib
I kind of expected another year honestly (S4 in 2020) while he worked on other stuff. So this is good.

Vegetable
Oct 22, 2010

This is sort of a backhanded compliment, but Fargo sets the minimum standard for what I accept from TV. The visuals are pretty, the writing occasionally sparkles, and the acting is top-class. But it falls back on too many narrative conveniences, feels a little formulaic, and its most original, envelope-pushing material -- such as the animated sequences -- are more interesting than astonishing.

I'll also agree with whoever said Hawley needs to manage what's on his plate. Though he was also the first name that popped in my head for American Gods' new showrunner.

Poppyseed Poundcake
Feb 23, 2007

Vegetable posted:

Fargo sets the minimum standard for what I accept from TV

You accept 30FPS?

My Lovely Horse
Aug 21, 2010

American Gods is getting a new showrunner?

If yes, good, that show is nothing short of amazing visually, but kind of a mess in the writing department.

And More
Jun 19, 2013

How far, Doctor?
How long have you lived?

My Lovely Horse posted:

American Gods is getting a new showrunner?

If yes, good, that show is nothing short of amazing visually, but kind of a mess in the writing department.

Yeah, well, say goodbye to the visuals because that's very much Fuller's specialty. :v:

That show is his baby. Who knows what it's gonna look like next season.

Henchman of Santa
Aug 21, 2010

My Lovely Horse posted:

American Gods is getting a new showrunner?

If yes, good, that show is nothing short of amazing visually, but kind of a mess in the writing department.

The reason he's leaving is over budget constraints, so it will probably be bad in both departments!

ChesterJT
Dec 28, 2003

Mounty Pumper's Flying Circus

Poppyseed Poundcake posted:

You accept 30FPS?

What autist nerd even considers fps when deciding what to watch?

unlawfulsoup
May 12, 2001

Welcome home boys!
I thought the last season was to be fully blunt awful. I guess I am curious to see if the ship veers back on course.

drunkill
Sep 25, 2007

me @ ur posting
Fallen Rib
Ewan McGregor won a golden globe for his role in Fargo... not sure which role though :p

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pr0p
Dec 8, 2011
Fargo S3 seems similar to True Detective S2. Shows that aren't bad but considered a decline in quality and they are bringing back after a pause.

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