It has been plodding along the last 3 episodes. Have a feeling when all is said and done we will look back and say they could have done this in 6 episodes. Still have hope for a strong finish and/or twist of some kind.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Only one episode left. This last one was not bad I guess. Kind of pushed the storyline ahead with Gator and some of the other ancillary characters. I found it ridiculous that the Sheriff's deputy shows up on scene at the ranch and basically asks the SWAT and FBI folks if he can lead a team, and they just let him. No way that actually happens. I'm interested to see how it all wraps up. I would say this was better than seasons 3 and 4 but not as good as the first two.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

A whole episode that just bookmarks for the finale.

I believe I mentioned it earlier in the thread but this probably could have been a better series at 7 or 8 episodes.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I don't understand the Munch character. Is he supposed to be an immortal? If so, why? Couldn't he just be a quirky killer? It's weird.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

My wife hates that storyline and she’s been impatient with this season especially in the last few episodes. When Roy was making the video “calling all Patriots” she said, “Oh, January 6th…” like. Yeah, this is probably the most egregious case of beating (abusing) you over the head (call the national domestic violence hotline) that Hawley has done.

Also, the line about witch hunting was also wrong. Plenty of women were hunting witches in that century. A lot of the accusations came from women.

I think Munch is a perfect name—literally eating the scenery to pad a very thin plot.

I think it's supposed to be more like the Bundy family.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

that was probably the shell of the concept, a jumping off point; but that was a land dispute and this is about a man in power who can't relinquish it. hawley is not subtle. he even can't resist writing a completely uncharacteristic line of dialog for lorraine when she refers to trump as "the orange idiot".

even the vulture article creaming all over the episode (proving more and more that these recap droids are stroking off to what they learned in their writing classes at Columbia) sees it:

You guys notice the female impersonator of Law and Order Richard Belzer? Good ol' Detective Munch. I'm going to assume Hawley made a homage?

Great from beginning to end. A beautiful ending, actually.

after the 9th episode, i was expecting to be underwhelmed by the finale as well...and i was. the whole thing with munch was pretentious empty-headed drivel. the guy started off as a bit funny, almost fish-out-of-water, i guess a symbol of "old world" to "new world" and eating the biscuit washed away the sin-eating. seriously, this is creative writing 011 or junior high level superficiality.

lorraine's character arc made no sense because i honestly don't believe that someone who begins the story insisting on holding assault rifles for a christmas card suddenly has a change of heart because she sees some horrific pictures of her daughter-in-law (that she seemed to hate even more when she found out she had a former identity she lied about) and becomes the champion of all women. it was contrived and way too on-the-nose.

the first few episodes and last few episodes were like two completely different shows. the latter was so abrasively noble that it twisted my stomach. and i swear the girl who plays scottie already has no soul.

i couldn't wait for this to be finished...and it just kept going on, and on, fade after fade. it's a shame, it had some great moments. but it ended on a whimper.

out of

Had quite a bit of hope for this one halfway through but once it started to unravel it just lost all form and function. I don't even know what that was all about at the end with Munch at the house.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Yeah, I'm not sure either. But Nardi is right that it was kind of beautiful.

I guess I just don't understand a show where every element is based in reality (okay, so you have to suspend disbelief to accept Dot as a cross between Chuck Norris and Rambo), and then there's this one supernatural character.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

Would you rather put your time into Grey's Anatomy? I mean, c'mon, get off your high horse. All the Fargos are pretty goddam good compared to all the schlock we see in theaters and TV.

It was about Dot taking off his ear. Sure, it's a reach. So what? So is every Batman.

i'd rather put my time into shows that are written well. i have never watched "grey's anatomy" but i certainly watched "ER" for at least most of its run.

as i've said before, a lot of modern shows are horribly written. the storytelling is extremely off-pace or contrived, the characters are peaks and valleys but very rarely 3-dimensional. and then there's the sociopolitical motivation behind so many shows that it's off-putting.

i was happy to see that "northern exposure" finally came to streaming. rich in character, good storytelling, and although i stopped watching after joel left, it was pretty solid through those years. also, a show that could balance reality and surreality extremely well.

i hope this also paves the way for more offbeat 90's shows to get this treatment: "due south" comes to mind.

at this point i'm finding myself re-watching stuff from that era, drawn to it more, than anything that's current.

WZ is seconds away from revealing that he's a big Ally McBeal fan. True story.

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RDJ almost saved that show from itself, but even he couldn't. it was even too tough a task for peter mcnichol.

david e. kelley sucks.

Well, you watched 10 episodes. So you either liked it or hate watched it. There is no in between or you would have turned it off and never given it a second thought.

I liked the first half or so; I do not hate watch. That’s dumb and a double waste of time. I will finish something I started if the time commitment is warranted.

I’d say the season started falling apart for me around the 8th or so episode and I was pot-committed by then, so I was obliged to at least finish it.

On the flip side, I maybe got 4 episodes into the 3rd season years ago and gave up. Same with “True Detective” S2 (maybe lasted 2 episodes), and another recent example would be “The Sandman” (only made it halfway). I only watched the pilot of “Lucky Hank”. See, I hated it. Had I watched the rest of that season I would’ve been “hate-watching”.

Fair enough. I guess I'm a simp for being moved by the ending. Yes, it's odd hubby and little girl aren't scared shitless but it's Fargo. It's always Fargo. It's Fargo culture.

Frankly I was most pissed about Trooper Whit not blowing Jon Hamm's brains out. Luckily, that got cleaned up promptly.

I hate watched Lost. Probably like most people.

I gave up on “Lost” around the time of the time traveling being introduced. I did come back for the final half of the last season including the finale. I was so angry about how that show fell apart that it made me give up on TV for years. I had to play catch-up on better shows years after it was over.

Had a plot hole every fucking scene. It was great to yell at a TV other than at a sports event.

Just a trial run for the great The Leftovers.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

I agree that Fargo has raised the bar on occasion, most notably the first two seasons. I watched the other two seasons although they felt a bit like work. Season 5 was really moving along and was enjoying it, but just didn't understand what they were trying to achieve with the last 4 episodes or so. I am certain there is a much "deeper" meaning I was supposed to be pulling from this, but it sailed completely over my head.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Same as always really. Naive people trying to keep their chin up in the face of senseless violence. It's a fantasy and it's why every episode has claims it's a true story. It's part of the fabric.

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'Your AT&T Universal Card has arrived'? Oh God, Kick-fucking-ass, I got a Master Card! I don't believe it, man. Life is kinda cool sometimes.

I somehow missed Northern Exposure in the 90's. My wife and I just finished S1, E1. It was okay, but not great. If you viewed this series through 2024 eyes, would you think it was still a worthy investment of your time?

it depends on how much you like the characters, because that's what drives the show. it's very offbeat, but the pilot isn't necessarily the best example of the series. it's a pilot. a lot of setup. joel comes off as just whiny.

i'd say the show starts to take shape around episode 3 or 4. for me it still holds up. we're up to about episode 7 so far. it's not really a "binge" show.