We all had our doubts when we first heard that Joel and Ethan Coen's masterpiece "Fargo" was going to get adapted for the small screen, courtesy of FX, but after the first episode of creator Noah Hawley's brilliant series adapatation we were converted.
If you've yet to catch up to the FX show that bears the same name and style of dramedy as the Coen's 1996 Minnesota film noir masterpiece, then you are quite possibly missing out on the best show on TV. The first season was a home run, the second season was a near-miracle of multiple moving parts, maybe the best season of television since Season 4 of "Breaking Bad”, and finally the third season might not have satisfied every fan, including myself, with its multitudes of ambiguities and unlikeable characters, but it had its fair share of brilliant moments.
Given the show's popularity, and the rave reviews that have greeted it over the last three seasons, you would think Hawley would be all for a fourth season happening, but his reluctance had been showing more and more ever since the final episode of season three aired more than 2 months ago. It's not like FX wasn't ready for it either, they too wanted more "Fargo," FX CEO John Landgraf even stating that he's waiting for a pitch.
Today we got word that not only is a fourth season happening, but it will star Chris Rock as Godfather of the 1950's Kansas City mafia.
Titled “Year Four,” as creator Noah Hawley prefers to say, this fourth season has Rock's head of the Kansas City mafia going to war with the Italian mafia. “I’m a fan of ‘Fargo’ and I can’t wait to work with Noah,” Rock said in a statement.
Here's the official snyopsis:
In 1950, at the end of two great American migrations — that of Southern Europeans from countries like Italy, who came to the US at the turn of the last century and settled in northern cities like New York, Chicago — and African Americans who left the south in great numbers to escape Jim Crow and moved to those same cities — you saw a collision of outsiders, all fighting for a piece of the American dream. In Kansas City, Missouri, two criminal syndicates have struck an uneasy peace. One Italian, one African American. Together they control an alternate economy — that of exploitation, graft and drugs. This too is the history of America. To cement their peace, the heads of both families have traded their eldest sons.
Chris Rock plays the head of one family, a man who — in order to prosper — has surrendered his oldest boy to his enemy, and who must in turn raise his son’s enemy as his own. It’s an uneasy peace, but profitable. And then the head of the Kansas City mafia goes into the hospital for routine surgery and dies. And everything changes. It’s a story of immigration and assimilation, and the things we do for money. And as always, a story of basically decent people who are probably in over their heads. You know, Fargo.
Hawley stated that he reached out to Rock about the part because he “really wanted to work with Chris.”
The ambition and sheer scope of the series has been nothing short of groundbreaking and, although we still have a few unanswered questions about the last season, and the season before it, answers will likely never come since the beauty of the show is open to the never-ending mysteries of life. Hawley's show casts a dark, almost miraculous spell thanks to its writing, acting, directing, cinematography, music and set design, which are all spot-on and in sync with its creator's artistic vision.
Hawley, like any other genius, doesn't force it, he just waits it out and let's it happen until, boom, an idea strikes in his head and the creative juices start rolling.
In the meantime, the "Fargo" creator's feature directorial debut, “Pale Blue Dot,” with Natalie Portman, is expected to hit theaters in 2019. He has been working on his other series, FX's X-Men universe series "Legion," which just wrapped its first, very successful, season. There's also talk that Hawley will make a "Doctor Doom" movie. Suffice to say, he is turning into one hot commodity and seems to be gunning for Hollywood as well.