Fargo’s Ugly Cousin
Words by Dylan Mangan
Have you ever experienced something so bad that it forces you to look back at what you once had with an ever-growing sense of nostalgia? The current pandemic, for example? Well, this year marks the 25th anniversary of Joel and Ethan Coen’s much-loved Fargo, and in anticipation of the big silver day, I started to look back at one of my favourite films. In doing so, I came across a pilot for a TV show which was not only based on, but was a direct continuation of the film. Marge Gunderson back in all her pregnant glory? Yes please. As a fan of the more recent FX series, I knew enough to know that there was no way that an unaired pilot filmed in 1997 as a cash-grab in the wake of the film’s massive success could be good, but I perhaps naively expected to at least enjoy this new expedition into the Fargo world.
It’s difficult to overstate how bad the pilot is in comparison to the film. It turns satire into farce and sucks all warmth from it’s characters until they’re all left as quirky shells of what they could’ve been. The first problem the pilot faces is the decision to treat the potential TV show as a continuation of Marge Gunderson’s story, picking up just about a month on from the events of the film. The film ends with Marge and her husband Norm cuddled up in bed, looking forward to the birth of their child, and the audience is left to imagine a lovely, quiet future for the pair. It’s a nice ending to a rather dark story, and that’s that. Or not. The pilot shows us Marge with “five more weeks'' of her pregnancy to go, and doesn’t let us forget it. Frances McDormand was busy with other film commitments (or read the pilot script and knew better) so future Sopranos star Edie Falco was drafted in to take her place as Marge. We should be grateful things didn’t work out, as we might have ended up with a different Carmella Soprano if the series went ahead. The decision to proceed with Marge’s character could only make sense in a situation where McDormand returned, Oscar in hand, to carry the show.
One of the biggest reasons I love the original film is because of the way it slowly unravels as things go wrong for William H Macy’s Jerry Lundegaard and co. What starts off as small-time crime and a lie turns into a manhunt after a double homicide. The joy and humour of the film comes from us watching Jerry squirm as he chases after his ever-growing snowball of a lie. Jerry is by no measure the worst person in the film, but is the easiest to hate. There’s a pleasure in watching as he finds himself in a situation completely out of his control, desperately trying to wrestle some sort of authority back into his life. There is none of this in the pilot. Our main criminal, who we see shoot her victim with a shotgun from point blank range, is a menopausal woman who bears a grudge against her pharmacist because he refused to give her some estrogen. Perhaps even the Coen brothers would have struggled to turn a plot so ridiculous into something watchable.
Fargo made great use of ‘Minnesota nice’, or in general terms, the funny accents people from that part of the world have. Accents were heightened for the film for comedic effect, and the Coen brothers used dialect coaches to help their cast tread the fine line between comedic wholesomeness and farcical wackiness. The accent was almost a character itself, adding an extra layer to the film, helping ground it in its location. The pilot’s approach to this came from a more-is-more attitude, with one of the most stilted Aw Jeez’s coming from a character who’s just found out his Dad has been murdered.
With more nuance, this could’ve been a poignant moment, but instead you find yourself cringing with the kind of second-hand embarrassment generally reserved for school plays.
Fargo is, at its core, a brilliant balancing act worthy of the biggest stage. Acts of violence are offset by genuine characters, humour can be found in even the darkest moments, and, aided by the opening declaration of truth, the film most importantly feels real. Which brings us to the most sacrilegious moment in the Fargo pilot - the closing moments. Having solved the murder and sent everyone home happy, Marge Gunderson is on the way back to her beloved husband, when she goes into labour. She has no other choice than to pull over and have the baby there and then. Her partner Lou finds a conveniently abandoned building they can break into. I have absolutely no idea what the building is or was meant to be, only that on the roof there is a massive plastic bull, so your best guess is as good as mine. Lou - usually as incompetent as they come - safely manages to deliver the baby in the freezing conditions and we fade to black in celebration.
This particular pilot is to Fargo what the pandemic is to normal life. It only serves as a reminder of what we once had. Watching this made me long for the way Steve Buscemi is described as “funny-lookin” in the same way sitting inside for a year has made me crave even just being late for something. I’m not even going to bother getting into the plotline which follows a bereaved son who steals his father’s corpse and in an attempt to give him the Viking send off he desired because, honestly, there’s no point. Let’s all be grateful for what we have, shall we, and let’s all go watch Fargo.
