A character, typically speaking to our hero, stops a conversation abruptly to tell a story.
Now, theyll lay out this tale with great care.
Its about people we will never meet, or maybe they never actually existed.
Credit: Chris Large/FX
Hey, they might even stop it for an irreverent digression.Who the f knows?
But eventually, they come to the end of the story.
And their sentences become very pointed.
Now, listen closely, because this is very… very… important.
You see, this is the point of the story the character is telling.
Thats why the scene ends with the protagonist staring off and thinking about the story.
Fargoloves doing this, and its better at it than most shows.
Its fun and showy and an easy way to imply that there are many layers to the seasons arc.
These pauses also draw a lot of attention to themselves.
Youre supposed to notice how deep and significant they are.
But there isnt always a lot oftherethere.
The fifth episode of season 3 brought two such detours.
The shorter of the two came from Varga in a more abbreviated form.
A chicken is an eggs way of making another egg, he tells Sy while defiling a mug.
Its all about perspective, you see.
From the point of view of the egg, the entire existence of its end form can be rewritten.
Good point, but I dont know what that has to do with anything or why I should care.
And oh, never mind.
Varga is making Sy drink from the cup.
Im too grossed out to probe the meaning of that story any further.
Im ranting a bit, but this gadget is emblematic of most of my problems withFargoseason 3.
This story has all markings of a prestige drama.
But its all thin.
There is no investment in their dynamic other than the lip service paid to it.
McGregor, thankfully, does get some substance with Ray.
That changed after her run-in with Yuri.
His beating is brutal and is completely sold thanks to another stellar performance from Michael Stuhlbarg.
