Second Time Around: The TV series Fargo may be better than the original movie

I'm off and on with the Coen Brothers, though they have done some fine films and maybe Fargo above all - my memory of the film has faded over the years, but it definitely established a tone - a mix of sentiment and snarkiness, affection and condescension - with a good story line suppposedlly based on "true events" and with some great acting - pretty much introduced Frances McDormand and William Macy to a wide audience. The TV series loosely based on the movie, from first two episodes, seems to have picked up just enough from the original while also expanding the plot wide enough to embrace a full season of episodes and possible season renewals. The seemingly ditzy but actually quite wise and brave female officer is still there, as is the self-effacing, insecure family man drawn into a brutal crime - and most of all the sense of the cold winter landscapes of northern Minnesota and the good people trying to get along with one another and live their lives of quiet desperation - until events upend their lives. The strongest character seems to be the malevolent but beguiling hit man - Billy Bob Thornton, terrific in the plot, charming and revolting all at once - who's a pro at his job but can't resist messing with the lives of others off the book, so to speak. The series works especially well - at least so far - because of the constant surprises that force us, again and again, to reconsider our initial assessments of the main characters, yet that also seem consistent with their behavior (and misbehavior); the film plays just at the edge of plausibility - OK, sometimes stepping over the edge (could BBT have actually survived so many close encounters with thugs and bullies, just by his menacing tone and demeanor?; is it possible that Macy character, Nygaard, could live in his hometown for 18 years before he suddenly re-encounters his bullying high-school nemesis? No, not really, but who cares?), and, at least to my memory, it is developing a whole new plot line centered on a Duluth cop (Colin Hanks) who encounters the killer BBT and must determine whether to report that info and risk the safety of his daughter.