It’s been over three years since Fargo Season 3 last aired. That seems ludicrously long for a TV show to be on hiatus. I suppose there is no rule when it comes to anthology series, seeing as each season is its own story. That helps with the gap in time. I started watching Fargo with Season 3. That’s a little strange, I know, though I had seen the movie the series is based on beforehand.
A lot has happened since 2017. We’re obviously still in the midst of a pandemic, but there have also been months of protests against racial injustice worldwide. Seeing as race is the key theme of Fargo Season 4, the season is more impactful now than it would have been during its previously scheduled April premiere (delayed by the pandemic).
There are a lot of different pieces to Fargo Season 4. Playing the lead of Loy Cannon is Chris Rock (Top Five) the head of the Black crime syndicate trying to make it big in Kansas City, Missouri in 1950. However, Cannon’s organization must contend with the local Italian mob, led by brothers Josto (Jason Schwartzman, The Grand Budapest Hotel) and Gaetano Fadda (Salvatore Espisito, Gomorrah), who run the criminal underworld in Kansas City. The two characters’ whose part in the plot I can’t figure out yet is Ethelrida Smutney (E’myri Crutchfield, The Kicks), a 16-year-old Black girl who acts narrator, and Nurse Oraetta Mayflower (Jessie Buckley, I’m Thinking of Ending Things), Ethelrida’s white neighbor. They both have some connection to the crime story, so they must have some importance in the overall narrative.
The two-hour premiere starts off pretty slow. Ethelrida gives us a history lesson on organized crime in Kansas City. First the Jewish ruled the underworld, then the Irish, and now the Italians. Rival mobs would trade sons for one another as hostages of sorts, though the idea was to foster respect as the sons learned about the other’s culture. But instead the gangsters used this as opportunities to double cross the other side. It is sort of interesting that the Irish son betrays his family to the Italians, but it’s tedious to see this ritual of exchange three times. However, it is important to the plot, as Cannon has to give up his own son.
One element that makes the 1950s setting unique is the prejudice that the Italians face. I knew the Irish faced prejudice in America, and Black and Jewish people are still facing it, but I’m not used to seeing Italians being treated as second-class citizens. Part of it is the stigma of the gang occasion, but it goes deeper. In the series, the Italians aren’t considered white. It’s really interesting to see how the definition of white has changed over time, and how power dynamics change. The Romans used to rule over Europe, after all.
The Black characters face discrimination, of course. Ethelrida has to go to a school for Black children where she’s abused by the white faculty and staff. Likewise, the bank doesn’t take Loy seriously when he pitches the revolutionary idea of a credit card to them. It’s certainly frustrating to watch. You can really empathize with the characters. While I do wish there was more of an explanation why the gangsters of various ethnicities felt they had to resort to crime (I understand the Mafia already existed in Italy), I can sort of see why Loy would. I suppose a lack of economic opportunity is the main reason. The show must be careful not to demonize immigrants or Black people.
As I said, the premiere starts off slow, though there is some action. I won’t give it away, but there’s one scene that uses flatulence as a dramatic tool. You read that right. Somehow the show gets away with it.
As far as performances, Rock is capable as the lead. I feel there just hasn’t been enough material for him to showcase his dramatic skills with yet. I would say Jason Schwartzman gives the most energetic performance, though I should also say that Crutchfield does a good job too.
There are so many plot points Fargo still to address in the coming weeks. What role does Ethelrida’s aunt have to play in all of this? What’s the importance of Josto’s engagement? And just what is Oraetta’s deal? Here’s hoping we get these answers relatively soon, and that the season picks up the pace a little.
Fargo Season 4 airs Sundays at 10 on FX and streaming on FX on Hulu.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPm18g_vsqY
