Fargo season 4 is different, not deficient
Anthology television gives viewers a useful escape hatch: if one season misses the mark, another can be chosen instead. That has arguably worked against the fourth season of Fargo, which is often ranked last by fans of the FX crime series.
The criticism is understandable. Compared with the other seasons, this chapter has fewer eccentric, Coen-inspired personalities, a slower rhythm and a noticeably different setting. It leaves snowy Minnesota for Kansas City, Missouri, and moves the timeline back to 1950, well before most of the series’ other stories.
Those changes make season 4 an outlier, but they do not make it a failure. Across 11 episodes, it delivers a carefully constructed crime drama, strong performances and a story shaped by one of the Coen brothers’ finest films. For viewers willing to adjust their expectations, it makes a rewarding weekend binge.
A new crime story in a familiar anthology
Fargo takes its name and broad premise from the Coen brothers’ 1996 darkly comic crime film, in which a small-town Minnesota police officer investigates a series of brutal crimes. The television series follows a related pattern, introducing new police officers and criminals each season against backdrops across the snowy American Midwest.
Season 4 breaks from that template in several ways. The action is largely urban rather than rural, the season unfolds during autumn rather than winter, and the familiar Minnesota accent is mostly absent. Its 1950 setting is also a substantial leap backwards from the modern-day stories elsewhere in the anthology; only season 2, set in 1979, comes close.
Two crime families fight for Kansas City
The central conflict involves two rival organisations: a Black crime family led by Chris Rock’s Loy Cannon and an Italian family controlled by the established Kansas City boss Donatello Fadda, played by Tommaso Ragno.
The uneasy arrangement between the families includes an old peacekeeping custom. Each side has handed over a leader’s son to the opposing organisation. As a result, the Faddas are raising Cannon’s son while the Cannons are raising Fadda’s son.
Donatello’s death destabilises that arrangement. His replacement, his impulsive and insecure son Josto Fadda, played by Jason Schwartzman, makes a series of poor decisions that push both families towards open war. The escalating conflict brings heavy losses and several sharp turns.
Among the season’s most unusual figures is Oraetta Mayflower, Josto’s unsettling girlfriend, played by Jessie Buckley. She is the only member of the principal cast to retain a Minnesota accent and the character closest to the series’ more recognisably strange Coen-style figures. On the law-enforcement side, Timothy Olyphant brings charm to U.S. Marshal Dick “Deafy” Wickware.
A deliberate, methodical crime drama
Season 4 takes time to establish its large cast, and there are many characters to follow. Most are involved in terrible acts, so the story offers few straightforward heroes. Even so, its measured approach feels grounded and purposeful, particularly in the way it addresses the racial prejudice of the period.
The season’s links to the second chapter of Fargo are another reason to stay with it. The connection is best discovered without spoilers, but it provides a satisfying reward for viewers familiar with the wider anthology.
The humour is quieter and less prominent than in other seasons. That may disappoint anyone expecting a steady stream of dark jokes, but the drama remains compelling. Rock delivers what the source material describes as the strongest performance of his career, Schwartzman is excellent as a feckless heir, and Buckley’s work is likely to provoke some genuine shock.
The Miller’s Crossing connection
The closest comparison is not necessarily the Fargo film. Season 4 more closely resembles Miller’s Crossing, the Coen brothers’ 1990 crime drama: both favour a direct, restrained approach over flamboyant humour while maintaining precise storytelling.
That kind of connection fits the television anthology’s broader relationship with the filmmakers’ work. Season 3’s Emmit Stussy, the “Parking Lot King of Minnesota”, recalls Nathan Arizona from Raising Arizona. In season 1, Billy Bob Thornton’s seemingly unstoppable assassin evokes Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men.
Why it works as a weekend watch
Placed immediately after the lighter and more playful seasons, season 4 can feel jarring. A viewer moving from films such as The Big Lebowski, Burn After Reading and O Brother, Where Art Thou? straight into Miller’s Crossing might experience a similar shock. A shift in tone is not the same thing as a drop in quality.
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Viewed on its own terms, Fargo season 4 is an intelligent, patient and thoughtful crime drama. It may not be the funniest entry in the anthology, but its 11-episode story builds towards a worthwhile payoff. All seasons of the series are available on Hulu.
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