Fargo

[TheArm]

Did anyone watch this on FX? While I realize that obviously it owes it greatest creative debt to the Coen Bros.' film of the same name (and a few other films in their canon), it definitely felt like it also bore the "mark" of Twin Peaks and David Lynch. The slow, long takes, languid pacing, the strong small-town sense of place (with plenty of pine trees to spare), the focus on the do-gooders at the local sheriff's department, the other townspeople who are up to no good behind closed doors, and Billy Bob Thornton's bravura turn as a character who is the superior version of what I think they were trying to go for with Windom Earle. Not to mention the tonal combination of the folksy small-town oddball humor and the constant air of menace and dread. At any rate, I really enjoyed it and recommend that TP fans check it out. While stuff like True Detective and The Killing bear the brunt of lots of TP comparisons, I actually felt this was much closer to the actual spirit of TP as it had a sense of humor about itself, which those other, more dour series don't have (I feel like people forget just how very funny Peaks was, at its best).

[Brad D]

Did anyone watch this on FX? While I realize that obviously it owes it greatest creative debt to the Coen Bros.' film of the same name (and a few other films in their canon), it definitely felt like it also bore the "mark" of Twin Peaks and David Lynch. The slow, long takes, languid pacing, the strong small-town sense of place (with plenty of pine trees to spare), the focus on the do-gooders at the local sheriff's department, the other townspeople who are up to no good behind closed doors, and Billy Bob Thornton's bravura turn as a character who is the superior version of what I think they were trying to go for with Windom Earle. Not to mention the tonal combination of the folksy small-town oddball humor and the constant air of menace and dread. At any rate, I really enjoyed it and recommend that TP fans check it out. While stuff like True Detective and The Killing bear the brunt of lots of TP comparisons, I actually felt this was much closer to the actual spirit of TP as it had a sense of humor about itself, which those other, more dour series don't have (I feel like people forget just how very funny Peaks was, at its best).

Molly completely reminded me of Deputy Andy, if a bit more sophisticated... and everything about the sheriff's office screamed TP. Overall I loved it.

[bluefrank]

I always considered that the original Coen Bros film Fargo...seemed to have taken a huge influence from Lynch's Twin Peaks, and that was back in the mid-90's, a few years after TP. It always smacked of Twin Peaks to me (particularly the police services aspect), in the same way that Barton Fink is also seemingly a rendering of Henry 'Eraserhead' Spencer, even down to the hairstyle.