Change Your Image
thane-russey
Reviews
Fargo: The Tender Trap (2023)
The Sins of Man(kind)...
Although the entire series is an interlude (morality play) in exploring the Seven Deadly Sins, this episode reveals the players and their true roles more clearly. You could probably argue Sheriff Roy embodies all the sins, but picking out the individual players is more fun.
Lust - Vivian Dugger - This one first emerges in this episode, almost a bit of a force, by introducing Vivian's apparently uncontrollable appetite for strippers.
Gluttony - Wink Lyon - He appears always to be drunk and lost in consuming the wealth around him.
Greed - Lorraine Lyon - This one is obvious, but you could argue that She and Sheriff Roy could be interchangeable in either sin.
Sloth - Lars Olmstead - Despite 'working" so hard at being a better golfer, he is the embodiment of laziness. He blames everyone else for his problems, including his equipment. He needs to be more active in working to achieve his dreams.
Wrath - Ole Munch - He is the actual instrument of (God's) revenge.
Envy - Gator Tillman/Danish Graves - You could argue that they are both satellites of Roy and Lorraine, respectively, and are, to some degree, jealous of who they are and what they represent.
Pride - Roy Tillman - ironically, because he views himself as an instrument of God's wrath.
Irony (as well as the 7 Deadly Sins) are hallmarks of the Fargo franchise, and they play out with emphasis in this episode.
A Murder at the End of the World (2023)
In my opinion, people should withold their reviews until they have seen all the episodes
Many of the negative reviews I read, were written by people who "lost interest" after the first 1-4 episodes... I don't believe that it is appropriate to judge the modern streaming "TV Series" in the same way you would a classic TV series.
The medium has evolved into an experience more akin to reading a novel, or more directly, watching an 8-to-10-hour movie.
Many movies recognized as "great" and had a similar "slow burn" plot, would never have been recognized as such if the reviewers walked out after the first 15 minutes because they were bored.
When viewing this show as an 8-hour movie, the pacing is not as onerous, but given the painfully short attention span of the American people these days, I can see how this show would be intolerable.
The other aspect of this show that makes it intolerable for most is that it is an open and multi-faceted criticism of society these days and the specter of Artificial Intelligence rapidly growing, exponentially, and inexorably at a break-neck speed.
Virtually every line was deliberate and thought provoking. The characters and the actors were deliberately bland, as it was entirely a thought exercise on the corruption of humanity and the danger of AI, simply because we are building it in our own image...
If you don't watch the whole thing, you will miss the totality of the message.
I view this "film/novel" as a catalyst for deeper thought and discussion into the prospect of AI and how humanity is probably not suited for the task of developing artificial intelligence.
This concept is summarized in a discussion toward the end of the final episode.: "(AI) is an us, without feeling." "The real terror is the "us" part. If A. I. takes our data and reflects ourselves back to us, it is a mirror of an often-disfigured society."
Which begs the question: Is humanity fit to create an artificial intelligence...an artificially sentient being?
Whether intentional or not, humanity has no choice but to create AI in "our own image"...There is a very controversial book out there that states that mankind was created in its creator's image.
Isn't that a scary thought?