'Fargo' Season 4 Episode 11: From 'Raising Arizona' to 'Barton Fink', the show’s many Coen Brothers references
Noah Hawley, in the first season of ‘Fargo’, paid a number of homages to the 1996 Coen Brothers film of the same name. For starters, the lead characters William H. Macy’s Jerry Lundegaard and Martin Freeman’s Lester Nygaard were very similar men -- mousey, small men who made some very wrong decisions. Both the show and the film had a female cop as a protagonist. And both were rather unconventional takes on the crime thriller genre. Plus, the show had a direct connection with the events of the film.
And while subsequent seasons have not really had any connections to the film, Hawley has continued to imbibe themes, aesthetic choices, and character structures into the show that heavily remind of the Coen Brothers’ huge body of work. The show itself follows the darkly funny and twisted form of storytelling the filmmaker brothers employ over and over again. Which brings us to season 4 of the show. It is by far the most unique season of ‘Fargo’ in many regards. Yet, the show is replete with Coen Brothers themes and tidbits. So, let’s take a look at just how this season stays true to that style.
Hawley, earlier in September, said, "There's a lot of history I needed to deliver before the story starts. I looked at [the Coen Brothers film] ‘Raising Arizona’, which is one of the great examples of an opening segment, in which you get all of this information with a lot of personality and style that really defines the tone of voice for the movie. I thought it was an interesting idea -- turning the back story into entertainment. My lead character is a 16-year-old girl [named Ethelrida, played by Emyri Crutchfield] in Kansas City, Missouri, and she can talk about her history report; she can walk you both through who she is and what her family dynamics are, while also going through the history of true crime in Kansas City."
‘Raising Arizona’, starring Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter has been referenced in this season to a great degree. The opening titles of the first episode don’t appear until 23 minutes in, just like ‘Raising Arizona’ which doesn’t start its credits until the beginning of Reel 2. In a later episode, when Swanee (Kelsey Asbille) and Zelmare (Karen Aldridge) go to rob Loy Cannon’s (Chris Rock) headquarters, they disguise themselves like Nicolas Cage’s H.I. McDunnough in ‘Raising Arizona’. There is also a gender-flipped variation on “Son, you’ve got a panty on your head.”
But a number of other Coen Brothers films are referenced throughout.
For example, in episode 6, Antoon (Sean Fortunato) reluctantly taking Satchel (Rodney L. Jones III) to an abandoned camp for his execution is an homage to ‘Miller’s Crossing’, where Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne) takes his mistress’s brother, Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro), into the forest for a hit. Although this was also a scene referenced in season 2 of ‘Fargo’ -- when Simone (Rachel Keller) is lured into the woods by Bear Gerhardt (Angus Sampson), and she pleads for her life. Also, in the same episode, the man popping out from behind a shower curtain to abduct Odis (Jack Huston) reminds of Jean Lundegaard’s kidnapping in the film ‘Fargo’.
In episode 5, the many crates of guns driven away by Treehorn Trucking is a nod to Jackie Treehorn, Ben Gazzara’s character in ‘The Big Lebowski’. In the same episode, Doctor Senator’s (Glynn Turman ) sudden death -- fired at multiple times in the chest -- reminds of the death of Wade Gustafson in ‘Fargo’. In episode 9, the Barton Arms, where Rabbi Milligan (Ben Whishaw) hides out with Satchel, is an obvious nod to the Hotel Earle, from ‘Barton Fink’. Barton Arms is also the name of Tom's apartment in ‘Miller's Crossing’. In the same episode, the tornado is a nod to ‘A Serious Man’. Of course, it is also a nod to ‘The Wizard of Oz’, which has recurring themes in this season.
It is connections and easter eggs like these that make ‘Fargo’ -- an already great show -- much more fun to watch! 'Fargo' Season 4's new episodes air every Sunday at 10 pm ET on FX and can be streamed on Hulu.