History Series / FargoSeasonOne

* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler:Lester's wife is so mercilessly critical of him that it's still possible to sympathize with him even after he murders her.]]

** "Malvo" begins with "mal", meaning "bad".

* ActorAllusion: In the scene where Malvo confronts Rundle demanding to know who was sent to kill him, he tells Rundle that one phone calls an ambulance, another a hearse, depending on his answer. The ambulance vs. hearse is a clear reference to Karl's (Creator/BillyBobThornton) last conversation with Doyle in Film/SlingBlade.
* AnimalMotifs: The main theme of the show is that people have animalistic rage within them and no matter how much people grow and change, their animalistic tendencies are still deep within. Animals always appear in the background and often correlate with certain traits.

* BadassFamily: The Solverson/Grimley's. Molly cements her status as a GoodIsNotSoft Determinator throughout the series and Lou is definitely a RetiredBadass however in the final episode [[spoiler:Lou shows he's still very much a badass when he spends the entire night outside the house with a shotgun to guard Gus and Greta from Malvo and when he explains the situation to Greta she immediately gets her own gun and joins him. Finally Gus steps up and waits to kill Malvo in his hideout.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Lorne is finally killed by Gus, Lester falls through ice and drowns and Gus, Molly and Greta are expecting a happy future, but a lot of innocent people either died or suffered greatly due to the search for Lorne and Lester and the actions of the duo.]]
* BlackComedy: There's a definite mix of humour and horror, such as Lester [[spoiler:intentionally knocking himself out to spare himself any suspicion in the wake of a murder.]]
* BookEnds: For Lester, who breaks his nose at the beginning of the first episode and [[spoiler: during the climax of the last episode.]]
** In addition, the season begins and ends with [[spoiler:a character running through the snow in blind fear and dying from the cold- Malvo's victim in the first episode, and Lester in the finale.]]
* BullyingADragon: A subversion in that while Lester antagonizes Lorne Malvo, he is still aware of how dangerous he is. [[spoiler: As expected, Malvo does go after Lester, but he fails to kill him. While, Lester does not walk away from the ordeal unscathed and initially bites off more than he could chew, Malvo does not get his revenge.]]

** Chazz's taser. [[spoiler:Lester uses it to escape Numbers and Wrench]].
** Chazz's bear trap. [[spoiler:Lester uses it in the finale to disable Malvo]].
* ChekhovsGunman: While it initially looks like Gus will play a major role in the pursuit of Malvo, his only substantial contribution is that he actually met Malvo face-to-face. Beyond that he is not a very good cop and does not really move the investigation forward. However, in the finale [[spoiler: he recognizes Malvo driving by, finds Malvo's hideout and then shoots Malvo dead]].

* ChristianityIsCatholic: Both averted and played straight. Stavros Milos is Eastern Orthodox, however he associates with Saint Lawrence of ''Rome'', and has a stained glass image of St Lawrence, which is far more Catholic than Orthodox. Also, during a sequence, a Latin litany chant is used where one might have expected a chant in Greek.

** In a flashback scene, Stavros's discovery of [[spoiler:Carl Showalter's stash of money right after he prays for a miracle.]] This naturally makes him start to believe in the existence of God.
** The two hitmen tasked with finding the man who killed Sam Hess run into a man who matches the general description of Lorne and even has a wound on his head in the same area that Lorne has. In addition the man is a knife expert and supposedly made threats against Hess. After they abduct the man, they are seriously vexed when they find out that they got the wrong man.
** Lampshaded when Molly correctly connects all the deaths to each other but cannot convince Bill that it is not just a series of unlikely coincidences.

** Gus seems to be magnetically attracted to [[spoiler:Malvo]], and runs into him nearly constantly after their first meeting, right until episode 10 when [[spoiler:he has to stop to avoid a wolf right outside Malvo's house.]]
* DaChief: [[spoiler:Bill Oswalt becomes the new chief after his predecessor dies. He spends his first few episodes in office resisting Solverson's detective efforts before finally breaking down]].
* DangerThinIce: This is what finally gets [[spoiler:Lester Nygaard]] in the end. With the authorities finally about to catch him for the murder of [[spoiler:his wife]], he snowmobiles out onto a frozen lake, and when the ice gets too thin he continues on foot, and despite being repeated warnings to turn back, [[spoiler:his luck finally runs out and he falls through the ice and drowns, leaving only his [[IconicItem goofy cap]] behind, [[DeadHatShot floating on the water]].]]

* DiabolusExMachina: The fate of [[spoiler:Wally and Dmitri]]. They get killed by a torrent of ''falling fish''. Made worse by the fact that [[spoiler:Stavros had just tried to make peace with God to spare his son from the Ten Plagues (actually just Lorne), only to have them be killed by [[NecroNonSequitur a real "miracle"]].]]

** This is echoed in episode 10, where [[spoiler:the car salesman is taped to the steering wheel of Malvo's car and distracts Pepper and Budge for long enough for Malvo to sneak up on them.]]
* DisproportionateRetribution: As condescending and unsupportive Chazz may be as a brother, [[spoiler:he and his family pay dearly due to Lester's plotting.]]

** Molly has elements of Marge, being a PluckyGirl with serious MinnesotaNice and is a [[GoodIsNotDumb surprisingly competent police officer.]] [[spoiler:And a matching pregnancy as of "The Heap".]]

** Lester starts as a pretty clear one for Jerry Lundegaard from the film. Then [[CharacterDevelopment things go in a drastically different direction.]]

* EstablishingSeriesMoment: Most of the first episode seems like a retread of the movie: Lester is an Expy of Jerry Lundegaard, a nebbish businessman who's the ButtMonkey of his own family and who has an encounter with a far more dangerous and edgy stranger. Like Jerry trying and failing to get the ice off the windshield of his car, Lester tries and fails to fix his washing machine. And, like Wade in the film having open contempt for his son-in-law, Pearl has open contempt for her own husband. [[spoiler:Then stammering milquetoast Lester picks up a hammer and beats Pearl to death]].

* EvilVersusEvil: [[spoiler: Malvo vs. the Fargo crime syndicate.]] Though it's [[CurbStompBattle pretty one-sided.]]

** It's not his job, but Gus Grimly frequently has to stand in for Animal Control, a job the rest of the cops look down on. [[spoiler:Malvo is repeatedly compared to a predatory animal, especially by himself, and Gus figures this out just before killing him.]] Foreshadowing the same scene is the story Malvo tells about [[spoiler:a bear who gnawed his leg off to get out of a trap, before dying "on his own terms".]]

--> '''Pepper''': A Turducken.\\
'''Budge''': A what's that now?\\
'''Pepper''': He stuffs the cabbage in the rabbit and the rabbit in the fox, and he eats all of them.\\
''' Budge''': That's not the answer.\\
'''Pepper''': It's ''an'' answer.

* ForTheEvulz: [[spoiler:Malvo is constantly fucking with people, driving corruptible to do evil things and then engineering their destruction, purely for his amusement]].

* FunWithSubtitles: Mr. Wrench is deaf, so he usually talks in sign language as his partner, Mr. Numbers, translates. But in "Eating The Blame,"[[note]]Season 1 Episode 4[[/note]] they talk to each other with nobody else around. So instead, subtitles appear next to their faces as they "talk."

* GetIntoJailFree: In "Eating the Blame," Lester punches a cop in order to get arrested and away from Numbers and Wrench. Numbers and Wrench later stage a bar brawl and get arrested and placed in the same cell as Lester.

* GoneHorriblyRight: Malvo plans to goad Stavros into paying him the blackmail money by preying on Stavros's religious beliefs. [[spoiler:However, instead of delivering the money to Malvo as was intended, Stavros is so convinced God exists he instead chooses to return his fortune to the place "God" originally gave it to him, during a blizzard, where it will likely never be found found again.]]

* HeelRealization: When Chazz tells Lester off in the hospital, saying that there was something missing in him, Lester realizes he is not the hero of his own story, finally drops the bumbling, put-upon innocent schmuck act he couldn't even convince himself with and immediately becomes FRIGHTENINGLY competent upon embracing his true nature.

* ImpersonationGambit: Lester [[spoiler:after ending up in the hospital due to being septic with infection, switches beds with his heavily bandaged and sedated roommate. Why? So he can be taken out of the room for surgery, past the police, steal a car, go to his house and get the bloody hammer and some sexy pictures of his wife, break into his brother's house, plant the evidence next to an illegal machine gun, place a pistol in his nephew's backpack and get his brother arrested and blamed for his wife's murder. Then, get back to the hospital and switch back. IT WORKS.]]

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: [[spoiler:Lester and Malvo almost get away with their crimes from the first season, but after running into each other after the TimeSkip, they trigger the attention of the authorities back to them and this time dig themselves into an inescapable hole]].

* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler:Lester's wife is so mercilessly critical of him that it's still possible to sympathize with him even after he murders her]].
* KillTheCutie: [[spoiler:Naive and lovesick Linda gets murdered by Malvo when Lester uses her as bait]].

** In the finale, as Lester is being escorted out of the police station, Molly takes the time to tell him a parable about a man who accidentally drops a glove just before boarding a train. Since he can't go back for it, he simply throws the other glove out the window some whoever finds the gloves can have the whole pair. The full meaning is left up for interpretation, but she seems to urging Lester to think of other people for a change. Whatever her intended message is, [[EvilCannotComprehendGood Lester has no idea]].

** "Malvo" begins with "mal," meaning "bad."

* AMillionIsAStatistic: Examined and acknowledged. When talking to Lester, Bill muses about other tragedies -- a ship sinking with hundreds of passengers, a deadly flu that claimed a few lives, etc. -- and mentions that he's most grieved about a few murders within a short time within his own city. He's closer to the case of these particular murders being that he closely knows the Nygaards and is shocked by [[spoiler:Chazz's supposed involvement.]]
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler:Lester gets away with his crimes for over a year. When he spots Malvo, he goes out of his way to pick a fight with him, even ignoring a few threats, both subtle and not-so-subtle. This ends up putting a target on his head and leads to four people being killed (including his new wife), which once again gains the attention of the police. Malvo is taken down and in the process, the police find out Lester was responsible for the murders of Pearl and Verne. Lester soon dies while being pursued by cops. If he hadn't decided to confront Malvo, he would have lived and likely would have never had legal trouble again.]]

** Except for Molly and Chief Thurman, the other cops are portrayed as incompetent and/or gullible. Gus freely admits that he is not a very good cop and while teaming up with Molly helps him improve, he clearly lacks the temperament to be a police officer.

** Two FBI are staking out the headquarters of the Fargo mob and are clearly bored out of their minds. They fail to notice Lorne walking past their car with a submachine gun barely hidden under his jacket. When Lorne [[spoiler:proceeds to kill everyone in the building]], they still fail to realize that something really bad is going on till [[spoiler:a dead body falls out a window]]. Once they realize how badly they screwed up, one suggests that they get back into their car and pretend that they just arrived at the scene.
* PointyHairedBoss: Chief Bill Oswalt is a naive, soft and kind-hearted guy who desperately wants to believe in the best in everyone, which makes him a terrible detective. He's quick to sympathize with Lester and believe his patchy story, so he blocks Molly's investigation at every turn. He eventually realizes that he's just not cut out for police work.
* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: Posing as a dentist to get closer to some targets, Lorne entertains them with a story of accidentally sticking himself in the leg and wrist with novocaine. It's clearly the classic "Dentist skit" from ''Series/TheCarolBurnettShow'' but the others laugh hysterically thinking it's a true story.

* RainOfSomethingUnusual: A rain of fish comes down onto Duluth in the "Buridan's Ass" episode, causing [[spoiler:Stavros' head of security, Wally, to crash, which kills himself and his passenger, Dmitri.]] A news report in the next episode explains that the fish were sucked up from a lake into the sky by a tornado.

** He seems to have a great deal of respect when Wrench and Numbers try to kill him, going so far as to tell Wrench he's a WorthyOpponent [[spoiler:and spare his life.]]
** When [[spoiler: Hess]] is killed, he tells Lester that he is more of a man than ever. Lester didn't actually kill him, but to Malvo, he was the one responsible and commends him for a job well done.
** He also gives Gus a smile when [[spoiler: Gus puts a few bullet holes in his chest.]]
* ReassignedToAntarctica: The two FBI agents who failed to notice that a massacre was happening right across the street from them are assigned to the file room and are still there after the TimeSkip. They are bored out of their minds and it's clear that they will never be assigned to any real investigative work again.
* RecklessGunUsage: Everything Lester is shown doing with his shotgun in the flashback to when he purchased it in "The Six Ungraspables." His wife remarks that he would be the only person capable of blowing his face off with an unloaded shotgun. Not a minute later, he manages to clumsily drop it on the floor, but luckily it's still unloaded.
* ReliablyUnreliableGuns: In the finale, [[spoiler:Lester's]] gun jams after firing a single bullet. The gun spent a year in a box in a basement with no maintenance and it looks like the ejection mechanism malfunctioned. [[spoiler:Lester]] is able to manually eject the casing, but the delay is enough for [[spoiler:Malvo]] to get away.
* RetiredMonster: Subverted when Malvo is revealed to have changed his name, become a dentist and married a beautiful woman. It turns out to be a deep-cover assignment to find a mob informant. He discards this life without much provocation.

* SacrificialLamb: [[spoiler:Vern is killed at the end of the first episode to provide someone for Molly to avenge]].

* TapOnTheHead: Malvo hits [[spoiler:Don Chumph]] in the head with a blender, knowing him out long enough for Malvo to elaborately bind him up.

* TimeSkip: [[spoiler:A year passes in the middle of "The Heap."]]
* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:Budge and Pepper]].

* WhamEpisode: Episode 6, "Buridan's Ass." Come the episode credits: [[spoiler:Chumph has been set up by Malvo, ending in him being gunned down by SWAT officers]]; [[spoiler:Mr. Numbers is ambushed by Malvo, ending with his throat being slit]]; [[spoiler:Stavros hides the last of his money again only to find Dmitri and Semenko dead in a car wreck]]; [[spoiler:Lester has planted all the evidence against him, setting up Chazz to be framed for his wife's murder]]; and [[spoiler:Gus has inadvertently shot Molly in the whiteout, thinking she was a hitman.]]

* WorthyOpponent: Malvo has respect for Wrench and Numbers when they try to kill him, telling them they "got closer than anyone." Later, he seems to feel this way about Gus as well. This is telling since he has little regard for Gus in their first few meetings, [[spoiler:but gives him a smile when he kills him.]]

* VillainCred: Malvo commends [[spoiler: Mr. Wrench for coming closer to killing him than anyone else has, even allowing him to live and offering him an opportunity for revenge once he heals from his injuries.]]

The series also features Creator/BobOdenkirk, Creator/KateWalsh, Creator/KeeganMichaelKey, Creator/JordanPeele, Creator/RusselHarvard, and Creator/AdamGoldberg in recurring roles, among others. Creator/KeithCarradine plays as Lou Solverson, who becomes the central protagonist in [[Series/FargoSeasonTwo season two's]] {{Prequel}} story.

Starting on April 15, 2014, ''Fargo (Season One)'' follows insurance salesman Lester Nygaard (Creator/MartinFreeman) and his trek into darkness after shady drifter Lorne Malvo (Creator/BillyBobThornton) influences him to stop absorbing the disappointment of his mundane life and start lashing out against those who belittle him. The actions that follow garner attention from Deputy Molly Solverson (Creator/AllisonTolman) and Officer Gus Grimly (Colin Hanks), who eventually cross paths and join investigative forces to take the two criminals down.

The series also features Creator/BobOdenkirk, Creator/KateWalsh, Creator/KeeganMichaelKey, Creator/JordanPeele, Russel Harvard, and Adam Goldberg in recurring roles, among others. Creator/KeithCarradine plays as Lou Solverson, who becomes the central protagonist in [[Series/FargoSeasonTwo season two's]] {{Prequel}} story.

'''1''' ]] | [[Series/FargoSeasonTwo 2]] | [[Series/FargoSeasonThree 3]] | [[Series/FargoSeasonFour 4]] | [[Series/FargoSeasonFive 5]]]]]]

[[WMG:[[center:[-'''Seasons of ''Series/{{Fargo}}'''''\\
'''1''' | [[Series/FargoSeasonTwo 2]] | [[Series/FargoSeasonThree 3]] | [[Series/FargoSeasonFour 4]]-]]]]]

* VillainCred: Malvo commends [[spoiler: Mr. Wrench for coming closer to killing him than anyone else has, even allowing him to live and offering him an opportunity for revenge once he heals from his injuries.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fargoffx_6223.jpg]]

->''This is a true story. The events depicted took place in Minnesota in 2006. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.''
-->-- '''the text that opens each episode'''

** The two hitmen tasked with finding the man who killed Sam Hess run into a man who matches the general description of Lorne and even has a wound on his head in the same area that Lorne has. In addition the man is a KnifeNut and supposedly made threats against Hess. After they abduct the man, they are seriously vexed when they find out that they got the wrong man.

* ActorAllusion: In the scene where Malvo confronts Rundle demanding to know who was sent to kill him, he tells Rundle that one phone calls an ambulance, another a hearse, depending on his answer. The ambulance vs. hearse is a clear reference to Karl's (Creator/BillyBobThornton) conversation with Doyle shortly before killing him in Film/SlingBlade.

* ItAmusedMe: With some scenes, it's implied that Lorne is part of a crime ring who's killing for an ulterior motive. With the kid in the motel parking lot and Sam's kids, however, his actions serve no purpose other than his own [[ForTheEvulz sinister amusement]] in stoking chaos andmdriving others to evil, no matter how minor.

* RealityEnsues:
** During a blinding snowstorm, Gus fires at the sound of gunshots without first identifying his target. [[spoiler:He hits a fellow police officer.]]
** With the Nygaard case seemingly solved and no further signs of Malvo, the main characters move on with their lives and no one in authority is interested in re-investigating the case.

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Numbers and Wrench.