History YMMV / Fargo

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Mr. Wrench and Mr. Numbers, the quirky duo of henchmen. Many praise the actors's chemistry, their cool scenes, and their catchy theme music. It helps that in one way or another, [[spoiler:they're some of the only characters to have a presence in all three seasons]].

** Jerry’s car sales fraud is committed by faxing his boss false car registration numbers that were handwritten to be as unreadable as possible. Nowadays it’s unlikely a car dealership would rely much on handwritten records, having every sale recorded digitally.

** In only a few years, the overwhelming accessibility of cell phones would make several of the movie's plot points moot -- there would be no reason for Jerry to not give the crooks burner phones so he can get in touch just in case (though considering the way Jerry fouls things up as it is, he'd probably fail to do that, too). Another bit that wouldn’t work with cell phones: Jean having her house’s landline phone yanked out of her hands by the wire when she attempts to dial 911.

** When Carl [[spoiler: shoots Wade death on the ground]] you can clearly seen he's using a gun loaded with blanks.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Norm Gunderson's consolation prize of having his painting picked for the 3-cent stamp used to cover the difference after postage hikes. In 2006, the USPS would adopt the Forever® stamp, obviating the need for these stopgap stamps.
** In only a few years, the overwhelming accessibility of cell phones would make several of the movie's plot points moot -- there would be no reason for Jerry to not give the crooks burner phones so he can get in touch just in case (though considering the way Jerry fouls things up as it is, he'd probably fail to do that, too).

* CompleteMonster: [[YMMV/FargoSeasonOne Lorne Malvo]]; [[YMMV/FargoSeasonThree V.M. Varga & Yuri Gurka]]; [[YMMV/FargoSeasonFour Owney "Yiddles" Milligan]]. See those pages for details.

* [[YMMV/FargoSeasonFour Season 4]]

* ValuesDissonance: Margie basically has a "Well, how about that!" reaction when she finds out the truth about Mike. Today, this kind of creepy, stalkerish behavior is infinitely less acceptable, and we'd expect a cop like Marge to get aggressive with him instead of basically ignoring it.

* StarTrekMovieCurse: A weird example, given how all four seasons of ''Fargo'' are well-regarded. However, the odd-numbered seasons had significant criticisms: ''[[Series/FargoSeasonOne Season 1]]'' sometimes had too many [[CallBack Call Backs]] to [[Film/{{Fargo}} the original movie]], and [[ItsTheSameSoItSucks even felt like a retread]] to some viewers. ''[[Series/FargoSeasonThree Season 3]]'' had a SlowPacedBeginning that made the season drag, and an AmbiguousEnding that upset some for a lack of closure. Both are in contrast to Season 2, which had near-universal acclaim for its more original plot and [[GreyAndGrayMorality complex character arcs]]. Finally broken with Season 4, which is generally considered the weakest, if still with merit.

* StarTrekMovieCurse: A weird example, given how all four seasons of ''Fargo'' are well-regarded. However, the odd-numbered seasons had significant criticisms: ''[[Series/FargoSeasonOne Season 1]]'' sometimes had too many [[CallBack Call Backs]] to [[Film/{{Fargo}} the original movie]], and [[ItsTheSameSoItSucks even felt like a retread]] to some viewers. ''[[FargoSeasonOne Season 3]]'' had a SlowPacedBeginning that made the season drag, and an AmbiguousEnding that upset some for a lack of closure. Both are in contrast to Season 2, which had near-universal acclaim for its more original plot and [[GreyAndGrayMorality complex character arcs]]. Finally broken with Season 4, which is generally considered the weakest, if still with merit.

* CatharsisFactor:
** Marge shooting Grimsrud in the leg. After all the people he's killed, it is a damn relief.
** Jerry's arrest, while somewhat pitiable, is still what he deserves for his selfish and cowardly behavior.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: Unfortunately for the Coens, the movie was filmed during one of the warmest winters in decades, and they had to truck snow around and place it for certain shots. This is most evident during the scene where Carl steals a license plate at the airport parking lot. If you look beyond the lot, you can clearly see there’s no snow in the background. Remember that the movie was filmed before snow could’ve been easily, or cheaply, put in the shot digitally, so it’s understandable.

** Wade again. He majorly screws up the money handoff by insisting on going himself, but regardless of the kidnappers insisting on dealing with him only or not, Jerry is obviously way too much of a wimp to be the frontman on something like this. Also, Wade wanting confirmation of his daughter still being alive is a good point (doubly so since while the audience knows that Jerry being the frontman is not an issue due to him ''hiring'' the kidnappers, he won't ask for proof-of-life like Wade will, thinking she's fine and it's part of the plan).

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Wade has every right to not want to just give Jerry nearly a million unsecured dollars to build a parking lot. He’s even willing to give him a handsome finder’s fee even though he’s under zero legal obligation to do so.

* StarTrekMovieCurse: A weird example, given how all four seasons of ''Fargo'' are well-regarded. However, the odd-numbered seasons had significant criticisms: ''[[Series/FargoSeasonOne Season 1]]'' sometimes had too many [[CallBack Call Backs]] to [[Film/{{Fargo}} the original movie]], and [[ItsTheSameSoItSucks even felt like a retread]] to some viewers. ''[[FargoSeasonOne Season 3]]'' had a SlowPacedBeginning that made the season drag, and an AmbiguousEnding that upset some for a lack of closure. Both are in contrast to Season 2, which had [[HundredPercentAdorationRating near-universal acclaim]] for its more original plot and [[GreyAndGrayMorality complex character arcs]]. Finally broken with Season 4, which is generally considered the weakest, if still with merit.

** To people who watched the film before 2008, UsefulNotes/SarahPalin talks like the people in ''Fargo''. To people who watched it after, the people in ''Fargo'' talk like Sarah Palin. Either way, you laugh (and cringe a little).

*** Similarly, does Grimsrud kill Carl because he refused to pay for half the car, or because Carl threatened his friend Shep?

* StarTrekMovieCurse: A weird example, given how all four seasons of ''Fargo'' are well-regarded. However, the odd-numbered seasons had significant criticisms: ''[[Series/FargoSeasonOne Season 1]]'' sometimes had too many [[CallBack Call Backs]] to [[Film/{{Fargo}} the original movie]], and [[ItsTheSameSoItSucks even felt like a retread]] to some viewers. ''[[FargoSeasonOne Season 3]]'' had a SlowPacedBeginning that made the season drag, and an AmbiguousEnding that upset some for a lack of closure. Both are in contrast to Season 2, which had [[HundredPercentAdorationRating near-universal acclaim]] for its more original plot and [[GreyAndGrayMorality complex character arcs]].

* IdiotPlot: The movie takes this trope and runs it into the ground; it's ''astounding'' how the ever-growing shitstorm created by Jerry's plan could have been mitigated or even avoided completely if some people had just been a little bit smarter or stopped to think for one second.
** If you're Jerry, make sure the guys you're hiring to kidnap your wife aren't trigger-happy psychos and that you have a reliable way to reach each other in case the plan changes or something goes wrong. Have a cell phone[[note]]although, in 1987, cell phones were still in their infancy[[/note]] and hire people who you trust will stay professional.
*** And don't have your greedy father-in-law as an investor when the man makes no secret of despising you and doesn't even wait until you leave the room to tell his partner he's cutting you out of the deal.
*** Let your wife in on the plan and ask her to play along. Better yet, ''why not fake the whole thing''?
** If you're Wade, listen to your son-in-law; you are '''NOT''' a western movie hero who's about to save the day like Clint Eastwood.
** If you're Showalter, maybe your first instinct when you get pulled over shouldn't be to try and bribe the cop.
*** It's also probably not a good idea to piss off your partner, who almost never talks and has [[spoiler: already killed four people by this point... Though, in Showalter's defense, he had been driving nonstop without sleep since he got shot, was suffering blood loss and in unimaginable pain, and very likely wasn't thinking straight]].
** If you're Grimsrud, perhaps the best way to dispose of [[spoiler:your dead partner's body isn't to grind it up in a woodchipper, painting the snow red and creating so much noise it allows the cop who just pulled up to instantly find you and catch you by surprise.]]