History Series / Fargo

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: As the series goes on, there's a surprising addition of more fantastical elements sprinkled throughout. While season 1's comparison of Lorne to the Devil may have just been Lorne being poetic, season 2 features aliens and seasons 3 and 4 delves into some surreal elements. They blur the line between being real supernatural events happening in an otherwise grounded story or just being the themes of the series manifesting in odd ways not meant to be taken literally.
** Notably, Season 5 pulls a complete 180, with [[spoiler:Ole Munch being overtly and directly revealed, fairly early on, to be a 400-year-old SinEater.]]

'''Season five''' is set in 2019 and follows ordinary housewife Dorothy "Dot" Lyon (Creator/JunoTemple), whose estranged husband, North Dakota sheriff Roy Tillman (Creator/JonHamm) wants to find and bring her in by any means necessary. A deadly encounter causes Dot to cross paths with Witt Farr (Creator/LamorneMorris), a North Dakota state trooper.

* ViciousCycle: It is repeatedly demonstrated that the power and wealth gained through crime and violence can't be held for long, as VillainDecay and AlwaysABiggerFish inevitably come into play. In 1900, the Kansas City criminal underworld was controlled by the [[KosherNostra Moskowitz Syndicate]]. In 1920, the [[TheIrishMob Milligan’s Concern]] started gaining power in the area, and in 1928, they wiped out their rivals. Owney Milligan ruled crime in Kansas city until the [[TheMafia Fadda Family]] arrived in 1934. A few years later, Owey Milligan and most of his gang were dead and the Faddas ruled uncontested till 1950. In 1950, Cannon Limited and their allies, the Fargo-based Kellerman gang, challenged the Faddas for power and the resulting MobWar led to the creation of the Kansas City Syndicate. Kellerman was killed in 1951 on orders of Otto Gerhardt. The Gerhardt Family then ruled the Fargo region with an iron fist until they were destroyed in a MobWar with the Kansas City Syndicate in 1979. Kansas City was then in command until they were ousted at some point by Moses Tripoli's organization. He reigned supreme until he was gunned down in 2006 along with all of his associates. By 2010, V.M. Varga's international criminal network has moved into the region, but it is unlikely that they will remain forever. Without fail, "great empires fall and are forgotten."

** Dodd Gerhardt and Yuri Gurka in particular ''hate'' women.

* MassiveMultiplayerCrossover / UltimateUniverse: With the number of {{Expy}} characters, it really does feel like [[Creator/TheCoenBrothers Coen Brothers]]: TheSeries. WordOfGod has described Season 1 as ''Film/{{Fargo}}'' meets ''Film/NoCountryForOldMen'' and ''Film/ASeriousMan'', while Season 2 is ''Fargo'' meets ''Film/MillersCrossing'' and ''Film/TheManWhoWasntThere2001'' and Season 3 is ''Fargo'' meets ''Film/RaisingArizona'' and ''Film/ASeriousMan''. Season 4 has some ''Film/Millers Crossing'' again, with hints of ''Film/RaisingArizona'' and ''Film/TheHudsuckerProxy''.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Villains tend to be very conservative in their views. Dodd Gerhardt and Yuri Gurka in particular ''hate'' women, and V.M. Varga is quite hostile to minorities, the overweight, refugees/migrants, and especially the poor.

'''Season five''' is set in 2019 and follows ordinary housewife Dorothy "Dot" Lyon (Creator/JunoTemple), whose estranged husband, North Dakota sheriff Roy Tillman (Creator/JonHamm) wants to find and bring her in by any means necessary. A deadly encounter causes to Dot to cross paths with Witt Farr (Creator/LamorneMorris), a North Dakota state trooper.

'''Season five''' is set in 2019 and follows ordinary housewife Dorothy "Dot" Lyon (Creator/JunoTemple), whose estranged husband, North Dakota sheriff Roy Tillman (Creator/JonHamm) wants to find and bring her in by any means necessary. A deadly encounter causes to Dot to cross paths with Witt Farr (Creator/LamorneNorris), a North Dakota state trooper.

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Season 1 uses logical paradoxes and Zen Buddhist koans. Season 2 uses literary and artistic allusions ("[[LongTitle Did You Do This? No, You Did It!]]" would seem to be an exception, but ties to an anecdote about Creator/PabloPicasso.)

* MassiveMultiplayerCrossover / UltimateUniverse: With the number of {{Expy}} characters, it really does feel like [[Creator/TheCoenBrothers Coen Brothers]]: TheSeries. WordOfGod has described Season 1 as ''Film/{{Fargo}}'' meets ''Film/NoCountryForOldMen'' and ''Film/ASeriousMan'', while Season 2 is ''Fargo'' meets ''Film/MillersCrossing'' and ''Film/TheManWhoWasntThere2001'' and Season 3 is ''Fargo'' meets ''Film/RaisingArizona'' and ''Film/ASeriousMan''. Season 4 has some ''Film/Miller's Crossing'' again, with hints of ''Film/RaisingArizona'' and ''Film/TheHudsuckerProxy''.

* MassiveMultiplayerCrossover / UltimateUniverse: With the number of {{Expy}} characters, it really does feel like [[Creator/TheCoenBrothers Coen Brothers]]: TheSeries. WordOfGod has described Season 1 as ''Film/{{Fargo}}'' meets ''Film/NoCountryForOldMen'' and ''Film/ASeriousMan'', while Season 2 is ''Fargo'' meets ''Film/MillersCrossing'' and ''Film/TheManWhoWasntThere2001'' and Season 3 is ''Fargo'' meets ''Film/RaisingArizona'' and ''Film/ASeriousMan''.

'''Season one''' is set in 2006 and follows insurance salesman Lester Nygaard (Creator/MartinFreeman) and his trek into darkness due to the machinations of shady drifter Lorne Malvo (Creator/BillyBobThornton). Intrepid Sheriff's Deputy Molly Solverson (Creator/AllisonTolman) and Officer Gus Grimly (Colin Hanks) join investigative forces to take the two criminals down.

** "I can help." Usually said by characters who are misguided or naive about their actual ability to help.

* ArcWords: "I'm the victim here."

* ViciousCycle: It is repeatedly demonstrated that the power and wealth gained through crime and violence can't be held for long, as VillainDecay and AlwaysABiggerFish inevitably come into play. In 1900, the Kansas City criminal underworld was controlled by the [[KosherNostra Moskowitz Syndicate]]. In 1920, the [[TheIrishMob Milligan’s Concern]] started gaining power in the area, and in 1928, they wiped out their rivals. Owney Milligan ruled crime in Kansas city until the [[TheMafia Fadda Family]] arrived in 1934. A few years later, Owey Milligan and most of his gang were dead and the Faddas ruled uncontested till 1950. In 1950, Cannon Limited and they allies, the Fargo-based Kellerman gang, challenged the Faddas for power and the resulting MobWar led to the creation of the Kansas City Syndicate. Kellerman was killed in 1951 on orders of Otto Gerhardt. The Gerhardt Family then ruled the Fargo region with an iron fist until they were destroyed in a MobWar with the Kansas City Syndicate in 1979. Kansas City was then in command until they were ousted at some point by Moses Tripoli's organization. He reigned supreme until he was gunned down in 2006 along with all of his associates. By 2010, V.M. Varga's international criminal network has moved into the region, but it is unlikely that they will remain forever. Without fail, "great empires fall and are forgotten."

'''Season four''' transports things back to Kansas City, 1950, where black gangster Loy Cannon (Creator/ChrisRock) challenges the local branch of the Mafia and its young prince Josto Fadda (Creator/JasonSchwartzman). Caught in the middle are the young mixed-race prodigy Ethelrida Pearl Smutney (E'myri Crutchfield) and eccentric Minnesotan nurse Oraetta Mayflower (Jessie Buckley).

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: In the spirit of Carl and Grimsrud from the film, each season has a pair:
** Grady Numbers and Wes Wrench in Season 1. [[spoiler:Wrench, somewhat uniquely for the trope, manages to survive long past his partner's death and becomes a semi-recurring character through the rest of the series.]]
** Mike Milligan's CoDragons, the ruthless, near-silent Kitchen brothers, take up this role in Season 2. [[spoiler:Once again, one member of the pair survives while the other carks it, though he receives much less independent focus than Wrench.]]
** Varga's CoDragons, the sinister Cossack Yuri and the silently professional Meemo in Season 3. [[spoiler:Both are gone by the end of the series, though it takes Meemo until the final episode to join Yuri.]]
** Zelmare and Swanee, a lesbian couple who classify themselves as "outlaws" from season 4. They're arguably the most sympathetic pair in the series, yet ironically [[spoiler:have by ''far'' the biggest body count when they're cornered in a train station and forced to go in guns blazing]].

* InnocenceMeansNaive: In Season One, Gus Grimly is a Barney Fife-esque beat cop and NiceGuy, who comes off as far more innocent than a cop should be; his naivete is exploited by the twisted hitman Lorne Malvo, who intimidates Gus into letting him go at a traffic stop, resulting in Malvo committing several more murders. By the end of the season, Gus has grown a little more cynical [[spoiler:but redeems himself by killing Malvo]].