Fargo continues to be smart and totally engaging

Building toward its conclusion - now finished episode 8/disc 3 of Fargo, the series continues to be odd, funny, surprising, and totally engaging - a really great job on building from the premise and ideas of the original same-name movie. By this point in the narrative we have moved a year into the future and seen an evolutionary change in the lives of the two main characters: Molly, the Bemidji police deputy, is married now and pregnant, goofily happy in her new life, but troubled by the belief that the wrong man was imprisoned for the murder of the police chief; meanwhile, Lester Nygaard, having a taste of the thug life, has now learned to stand up for himself, physically, sexually, professionally - he's married to a lovely co-worker from the insurance agency, has just won a national sales award - and the episode ends with his getting a glimpse of the thug for hire, Malvo (Billie Bob Thornton), the psychopath who got hi involved in this string of crime and murder, regaling some folks in a Las Vegas hotel bar. We know the investigation will continue and that Nygaard is due for a big fall. The acting is terrific throughout - wish I could recall all the actors' names, will do a better job next post - the writing smart, the pacing fast, the plot artfully designed.