History Series / Fargo

** During a blinding snowstorm, Gus fires at the sound of gunshots without first identifying his target. He hits a fellow police officer.

* RecklessGunUsage: Pretty much 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 the only person capable of blowing his face off with an unloaded shotgun.

** The anecdote about the rich man who gave away everything to the poor, including his own life, is reminiscent of the pointless "Goy's Teeth" sequence in a ASeriousMan. Except for being considerably less pointless.
** The portrait of two bikini-clad woman on the beach is an allusion to BartonFink.

* ShoutOut: Not surprisingly, to Fargo and many other Coen Brothers pictures.

** The opening shot of a simple prairie field can be evocative of "O Brother Where Art Thou?"

* DisguisedHostagegambit: Malvo tricks the cops into wasting their time and killing [[spoiler:[[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Don Chumph]]]] this way: he uses [[DuctTapeForEverything duct tape]] to gag, tie him to an exercise wheel, and stick an unloaded shotgun in his hand which was pointed at the front door. He draws the cops' attention by firing a rifle at some cars outside, leaves, and then a tripwire makes the rifle fire more once the SWAT team arrives. When the team entered the front door, the light was in their eyes, so all they saw was a silhouette of a man holding a shotgun. Since the exercise wheel kept him propped up even after being shot, the ''entire squad'' continued firing continuously for several seconds until they could see he was dead.

* GunNot: Chaz

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: In a ShoutOut to the original film, the series opens with a declaration that it's based on a true story with the names changed.

* OneManArmy: Lorne. [[spoiler: He clears Fargo's organized crime headquarters in less than 2 minutes by himself, without so much as a scratch.]]

* ActorAllusion: Lorne gives one of his victims a choice between calling [[Film/SlingBlade "an ambulance or the morgue."]]

** Molly has elements of Marge, being a PluckyGirl with serious MinnesotaNice and is a [[GoodIsNotDumb surprisingly competent police officer.]]

* MoralEventHorizon: Lester crosses it when [[spoiler: he frames Chaz and Gordo via slipping a gun into the latter's backpack and implicating the former in Pearl's murder.]]

* ActorAllusion: Lorne gives one of his victims a choice between calling [[Film/Slingblade "an ambulance or the morgue."]]

* AmericanAccents: Just like the original movie, it's populated with Mid-West accents (save for Lorne Malvo and Mr. Numbers). \

* AStatisticIsAMillion: 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.]]

* AmericanAccents: Just like the original movie, it's populated with Mid-West accents (save for Lorne Malvo and Mr. Numbers).

* DisproportionateRetribution: As condescending and unsupportive Chaz may be as a brother, [[spoiler: he and his family pay greatly due to Lester's plotting.]]

* AMillionIsAStatistic: Examined and vaguely acknowledged. Bill muses about other tragedies-a ship sinking with hundreds of passengers, victims of a flu disease, etc.- and he admits to Lester that he's most grieved about a few murders within his own city, particularly when it involves the Nygaards, whom he knows most closely.

* DisproportionateRetribution: As condescending and unsupportive Chaz may be as a brother, [[spoiler: he and his family pay dearly due to Lester's plotting.]]

* FridgeLogic: Discussed. When Gus repeats the neighbor's parable about the rich man who futilely gave all (including his own life) for mankind, Molly remarks that the man could have just live on and worked for charity.

** "Who Shaves the Barber"- Molly's father is switching channels and the familiar "bark beetle" documentary (which Norm was watching in the original movie) is heard briefly.

** "Who Shaves the Barber"- Molly's father is switching channels and the familiar "bark beetle" channel is heard briefly.

* AMillionIsAStatistic: Examined and vagely acknowledged. Bill muses about other tragedies-a ship sinking with hundreds of passengers, victims of a flu disease, etc.- and he admits to Lester that he's most grieved about a few murders within his own city, particularly when it involves the Nygaards, whom he knows most closely.

* DisproportionateRetribution: As condescending and unsupportive Chaz may be as a brother, [[spoiler: he and his family pay greatly due to Lester's plotting.]]

* DisproportionateRetribution: As condescending and unsupportive Chaz may be as a brother, [[spoiler: he and his family pays greatly due to Lester's plotting.]]

* RecklessGunUseage: Pretty much 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 the only person capable of blowing his face off with an unloaded shotgun.

* DisproportionateRetribution: As condescending and unsupported Chaz may be as a brother, [[spoiler: he and his family pays greatly due to Lester's plotting.]]

* MinnesotaNice: Characters from Minnesota almost always affect a chipper and upbeat tone even when they're criticizing or insulting each other,.

** The anecdote about the rich man who gave away everything to the poor, including his own life, is similar to the pointless "Goy's Teeth" sequence in a SeriousMan. Except for being considerably less pointless.