FX announced today that it has renewed Fargo for a third season, with showrunner Noah Hawley returning to helm the series. This is terrific news, not so much because there was much doubt that FX would want the critically-acclaimed series back, but because Hawley’s dance card is filling up pretty quickly as of late, and until he signed on, there was an open question as to whether he’d decide to focus exclusively on those other projects. But nope. Fargo‘s back, Hawley’s back, quirky tales of horrific violence in the upper Midwest are back. Everyone take off your underpants and throw them into the fire. We’re having a party.
The third season renewal brings up at least two important questions, which we should quickly address in the interest of being comprehensive. The first is how in the world they’ll manage to continue improving on the show. The first season of Fargo was a masterful piece of television, and yet somehow, so far, the second season has been markedly better. Again, that’s not a knock on season one, at all. It would be like if Michael Jordan retired and the Bulls replaced him with, uh… double… Michael… Jordan. I’ll work on the analogy. The point is that the trajectory they’re on sets the bar for season three really high.
The second and more important question is where they go for season three. Will they keep the prequel train rolling and take us back to the adventures of a young Mike or Karl, or even The Rise of Otto Gerhardt? Will they go 25 years into the future to follow Molly’s baby from the first season? Or will they go off the board entirely to tell a new story. Anything’s on the table, at this point.
Personally, I hope season three centers on the shady guy who sold weapons, drugs, and clean urine out of his unmarked van in season one. I feel like there’s so much more to his story for us to learn.
