Fargo is one series that has gained quite a lot of traction in recent times, having a unique concept and being based on the iconic 1998 film of the same name. The series features a new storyline each season, about crimes in different time periods, all centered around the Midwest in the United States. The most recent addition to the series was its fifth season, which has received a huge amount of critical acclaim.
The creator of the series, Noah Hawkey, recently spoke about the lower ratings of the previous, fourth season of the series, and his opinions were very interesting. The director and producer revealed that he did not agree with these lower ratings, and had a very interesting theory as to why he thinks the season was unfairly treated.
Noah Hawley Thinks Season 4 of Fargo Was His Best
Noah Hawley gave an interview with GQ, where he was asked if the fourth season of Fargo was underrated. Interestingly enough, he revealed that he absolutely loves this season and even thinks that it was one of his best works as a storyteller and a filmmaker. The director confessed that it was certainly one of the biggest stories he had ever told, even for this series. The season features 23 main characters, which can certainly be a lot for an audience member to keep track of.
“Look, I love that season. That season, in some ways, is the culmination of my work as a storyteller and a filmmaker, and it’s certainly the biggest story that I’ve told. It has 23 main characters, but I think it’s just as compelling and immersive as any of the smaller seasons.” He went on, “Yes, I think that in the long run, that season, those 10-11 hours of film will go down as some of my best work. I believe that. Does that mean that in September through January of 2020, 2021, that it’s what America wanted to watch?”
Despite this, however, he believes that this made this season a lot more compelling and immersive compared to past seasons. He was so proud of this work that he believed that this would go down in history as his best work ever. Even though this is the case, he doubts if this is what the audiences were looking to watch at that particular time, having been released in September 2020.
Noah Hawley Thinks Timing Ruined This Season’s Performance
Noah Hawley elaborated on this, stating that originally, the fourth season of Fargo was supposed to air sometime in April 2020. However, due to the pandemic, the production of the season was postponed, to get released on a later date. Unfortunately for this show, the season dealt with race and class, something that was a big topic of conversation during that year. There were a lot of works that came out before this, that dealt with these topics and got a lot of attention for it.
The show was supposed to premiere in April of that year, but we got shut down by the pandemic, and it was six months before we could go back. There was a real reckoning with race and class in America, and if it had aired in April, it would’ve come at the beginning of a trend. Because after that, there were many. Lovecraft County. I think Watchmen had come out before that.”
“There were a number of shows and films that addressed the issue, but instead of being at the beginning of that trend, we were at the end of that trend. And so, the appetite for wrestling with that and being entertained by those characters in that question—I think we ran into some fatigue.
The director believes that the reason why this season did poorly for audiences, was because, by that point, they had already had their share of cinema about race and class. He added that distant audiences were not interested in being entertained by these topics all over again. Running into fatigue on the subject matters, the season performed poorly.
