While America brushes up on its nihilist philosophy and binge-rewatches all eight Season 1 episodes to prepare for the sophomore season of HBO's acclaimed crime anthology True Detective (debuting this Sunday night), FX is slowly gearing up for the grand unveiling of its own crime anthology Fargo's second season. The network's updated take on the Coen Brothers' classic 1996 film premiered just three months after Detective, and the two anthologies dominated most of the awards chatter last year. It's appropriate, then, that FX has finally released the first teaser for Fargo Season 2 on the eve of True Detective's premiere.
Detective may have ultimately dominated the blogosphere with discussions of the Yellow King and the McConnaisance, but Fargo came out on top with the critics, taking home both the Golden Globe and the Emmy for Best Miniseries. The clash of the titans will continue this year, with both networks unleashing brand new iterations of their series on a salivating public. While Detective leaves the Louisiana bayou for the streets of L.A., Fargo will stay put in the Minnesotan tundra — but will travel back in time, from 2006 to 1979.
As previously reported, Season 2 will revolve around a younger version of Detective Molly Solverson's father, Lou, played in the first season by Keith Carradine, as he tackles a particularly nasty case referenced in passing in Season 1. Patrick Wilson ( The Conjuring, Watchmen ) stars as young Lou, alongside such big names as Kirsten Dunst, Ted Danson (Cheers, Damages), Jean Smart (Frasier, 24), and Jesse Plemons (Friday Night Lights, Breaking Bad).
But you won't see any of their faces in the teaser that FX just dropped. Only 20 seconds long, it doesn't feature any actual footage from the season, preferring to set the tone rather than reveal plot points. (They have to save something for later — Season 2 won't premiere until September.) But that doesn't mean we can't analyze those 20 all-too-brief seconds within an inch of their lives.
For The Birds
We open on a shot of a woodpecker hammering away at a tree trunk. It's hard to tell whether the season will actually be shot in black-and-white (which would make sense since it's a period piece), or if the wintry Minnesotan landscape is just so bleak it looks washed out. These opening moments give birth to a few tantalizing theories:
A) The only living thing seen in the teaser is an animal, which means Season 2 will be devoted to analyzing the animalistic nature of man. Every character will have a bestial counterpart. This bird is Lou, determinedly chipping away at crime one annoying insect at a time.
B) The monotonous, repetitive pecking of the bird is a symbol for the Sisyphean endeavor that is the battle against our own worst nature. Season 2 will focus on "an escalating war between a local crime gang and a major Mob syndicate." But, given that Molly's mom is nowhere in the picture in 2006, and crime is still rampant 27 years after the event of Season 2, we know Lou's fight won't end well.
C) The word "woodpecker" is awfully close to "woodchipper." Could we finally be getting a recreation of this infamous scene from the original film?
A Shot In The Dark
Question: If a gun is fired in a forest and only a woodpecker is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
Answer: Obviously.
The peaceful quiet of the Minnesotan woods is suddenly shattered by the sound of gunfire. Could it just be someone out hunting? No, the shots sound too close together to be a hunting rifle. Is it a young cop at target practice, training himself for the upcoming crime war? Perhaps. Or is it something more nefarious, like the aforementioned Mob executing a hit on some poor soul? Aw, geez.
On Thin Ice
Next, the teaser leaves our stalwart woodpecker friend behind, heading out to the shores of a frozen lake. Could this be the same body of water into which Lester Nygaard fell to his icy doom in last season's finale? Regardless, something about the shot feels ominous; something about the precariousness of cracking ice automatically lends Season 2 an atmosphere of imminent doom.
Once again, the silence is shattered by gun shots — but this time it's clear that there are two separate gunmen, presumably shooting at each other. So much for any non-sinister explanations for that gunfire. Obviously something not very Minnesota-nice is going down in those woods.
A Song Of Ice And Blood
It's cool how the red logo of the show's title blots across the cloudy white sky like a bloodstain. But then the word "September" fades into view and I immediately go into apoplectic convulsions. SEPTEMBER? Why do we have to wait five months into the year longer for Season 2 than we did for Season 1? Why most you torture us so, FX?
Check out the teaser below.
Images: Matthias Clamer/FX; Kevin Winter/Getty Images
