What I’m Watching: Fargo (Season Premiere)

Fargo: Season 3, Episode 1 “The Law of Vacant Places” (B)

I’d like to start by saying that I’m incredibly excited about this show being back. Season one was incredible and season two, while not quite as excellent, was still very solid. The reason that this premiere gets only a decent grade is that the exposition felt slower and less purposeful than usual, and things haven’t quite kicked into gear yet. Don’t get me wrong – there were some fantastic scenes and some tremendous characters introduced. The actress I was most excited about being cast for this show, Carrie Coon, currently also starring in the final season of “The Leftovers,” barely had anything to do, and I’m hopeful that she’ll be given a more prominent role as things progress. I was thrilled to recognize a few actors, however, starting with Ewan McGregor, who I remembered was going to be playing twins, and he does a formidable job. The high-powered businessman and the less accomplished parole officer are very different people, and of course, in true fashion for this show, one of them tried to rob the other and that’s going to result in a huge mess with lots of bodies along the way. I’m happy to see Michael Stuhlbarg from “Boardwalk Empire” as Sy, Emmit’s lawyer, and David Thewlis from “Anomalisa” as V.M. Varga, the mysterious third party who doesn’t want his company’s loan paid back. The best find of all, even more compelling than Kirsten Dunst last season in just this one episode, is Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who didn’t even flinch when a gun was being pointed at her, emerged naked from a bathtub to diffuse the situation, and then promptly unscrewed an air conditioner to drop on the man who was going to make Ray’s life complicated. That ending was fantastic, and I’m very ready to see how the season plays out and who else we get to meet.