Review by 021325_a

This may just be the closest that Fargo, the TV series, has ever gotten to feeling like a direct companion to Fargo, the movie. It's easy to write about how there's a direct correlation between the events of the movie and this episode that will feel immediately familiar to anyone who has it in their working memory, but what hammers it all home is one fundamental change. Season 4's gambit of taking Fargo out of Fargo met with mixed results, but so far, Season 5's eschewing of the period piece trappings that have made the last four seasons stand out among other contemporaries works surprisingly well... so far. If you loved Fargo for the period piece angle it's taken, I will say that it's best if you temper some of your expectations going into this. Otherwise, this is a fairly solid episode that manages to almost immediately offload Fargo's signature black humor without it feeling tacked on or obvious, and integrate it with a helpful serving of tension in the latter half.

Extra points for literally starting this series on one of my favorite Yes songs (the music nerd in me was SQUEALING). Extra-extra points for using the full version of that song, and not just the Single version that cuts off after the song's first half. And to top it all off, its use feels fairly natural and lends the opening scene of the episode a credence of absolute chaos-because, y'know, it's Fargo. It's only going to get crazier from here, folks.

Overall, very solid, and I'm looking forward to see what else is in stock.