‘Fargo’ Series Premiere Highlights & Recap: Top 10 Spoilers

Tonight was the 10-episode series premiere of the long-awaited television show Fargo. The new show emulates the movie, as its synopsis reads:

An original adaptation of the Academy Award®-winning feature film, Fargo features an all-new “true crime” story and follows a new case and new characters, all entrenched in the trademark humor, murder and “Minnesota nice” that made the film an enduring classic.

Have a look at all the best moments, highlights, and full recap from the very first episode below.


1. This Is a True Story

The opening to the series starts out by saying that the series is a true story, that names have been changed to protect the survivors as well as those who passed away. After this, Billy Bob Thornton’s character Lorne Malvo is driving down a dark road and hits a deer, swerving off the road. He crashes his car and his trunk pops open. Out of the trunk pops a heavy-set man in his boxers who runs away into the woods. Malvo gets out of the car and calmly watches the poor deer take its last breaths.


2. The Character Sam Hess Bullies Lester

After a short chat at their breakfast table, Lester Nygaard and his wife are introduced to viewers. Then, Nygaard heads into work where he deters a couple from buying insurance by unintentionally scaring them away.


While Lester is window-shopping, along comes his bully Sam and his two sons. Sam proceeds to call Lester names and insult Lester by saying that he fooled around with his wife in high school. He then proceeds to call him a rat face and a pencil dick. With this, Lester tries to leave and Sam stops him, telling his sons how he used to beat up Lester when they were in school. Then, out of nowhere, Sam smashes Lester’s face into a nearby window and Lester lands in the hospital sitting next to Lorne Malvo.


3. Malvo Says He Would Have Killed a Man Who Tried to Bully Him

Upon seeing Lester’s face in the hospital waiting room, Malvo asks him what happened and Lester starts to tell him that it was just a misunderstanding. As Malvo moves to a closer seat, Lester reveals to him that it was three against one and that he was beaten up in front of a bully’s children. When Malvo hears the full story, he tells Lester that he would have killed Sam.

As Lester and Malvo continue to discuss Sam’s bullying, Lester loosely talks to Malvo about murdering Sam. Malvo turns it into a more serious conversation and Lester becomes very worked up, not knowing whether to take Malvo up on the possible offer or not.


4. The Police Come Across Malvo’s Abandoned Vehicle

As a male and female police officer discover Malvo’s abandoned car, they investigate the blood on the steering wheel and end up finding the dead deer in the trunk. Then, the two cops, Molly and Vern, notice footprints leading from the car to the woods. They follow the footsteps and end up finding the frozen corpse of the man who had escaped from Malvo’s trunk.

Vern Thurman retreats to his house and we meet his wife who is very pregnant and fixing dinner. The two have a pleasant meal and we get a glimpse into Thurman’s life outside of work.


5. Malvo Kills Sam Hess

Malvo shows up at Sam’s business and comes upon his two boys who are bickering. When Sam comes down the stairs to see who Malvo is, Malvo tells him that he thinks one of his sons is slow. He then asks Malvo what he wants and Malvo says, “I just wanted to have a look at you … Okay. That’ll do it.”

Later on, Malvo follows Sam Hess to a strip club and keeps a close eye on him. Hess takes one of the strippers to the back and begins to have sex with her doggy-style. As the two are having sex, Malvo stabs him in the back of the head, he falls on top of the stripper and he dies.


Click the “Next Page” button below to see some footage from the new series, to hear about Lester killing his wife, and more.