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Ever since it began airing in 2014, FX’s quirky hit crime series Fargo has thrived as a peculiar marriage of offbeat hilarity and criminal intrigue that perfectly matches the tone of the popular Coen Brothers movie from 1996 without being merely derivative of it. With each season exploring different characters and conjuring up its own intricate story of ambition and greed, the series’ five installments thus far have provided no small amount of high-end entertainment and suspense.
The very best entries of Fargo tend to be defined by both their chaotic tension and their off-kilter sensitivities. Perhaps unsurprisingly, episodes from the first two seasons dominate the series’ greatest installments, but seasons three and four are still represented, with only Season 5 being evicted from the list despite having such strong episodes as “The Tragedy of the Commons” and “The Useless Hand.” Ranging from the hysterically absurd to the captivating and violent, these are the best episodes Fargo has unveiled thus far.
10
“The Gift of the Magi”
Season 2, Episode 5 (2015)
The mid-point of Fargo’s enthralling second season, “The Gift of the Magi” was highly anticipated due to its cameo appearance from Bruce Campbell as U.S. President Ronald Reagan, and while that works an absolute treat, the episode has come to be celebrated even more so for its searing narrative dare. Peggy (Kirsten Dunst) and Ed Blumquist (Jesse Plemmons) are forced to make an irreversible decision as they try to cover up the accidental murder of Kieran Culkin’s Rye Gerhardt, while the Gerhardt family launch a counter-attack against Kansas City. All the while, Lou Solverson (Patrick Wilson) finds himself distanced from his work as he is assigned to Ronald Reagan’s security detail while the presidential candidate is in town.
The ignition of the gang war and the mounting stakes surrounding every decision the Blumquists make ensures “The Gift of the Magi” isn’t just a fantastic episode in its own right, but a pivotal episode within Season 2 as well. It is a masterpiece of suspenseful television, incorporating both high drama and looming dread into its building story without losing an ounce of the morbid intrigue the series executes so well.
9
“East/West”
Season 4, Episode 9 (2020)
Season 4 is widely regarded to be Fargo’s weakest. Transpiring in 1950 as an emerging black gang rises against the reign of the Fadda family in Kansas City, the season maintains Fargo’s trademark visual style, but its quirky intrigue and central messaging of honest goodness outlasting ambition and greed is present only in the periphery of the story. That being said, the season still produced some great episodes, with the best of them being “East/West.”
The ninth episode of Season 4 utilizes a gorgeous black-and-white display as it concentrates its focus on Rabbi (Ben Whishaw) and young Satchel (Rodney L. Jones III) as they live on the road, hoping to evade the pursuit of Calamita (Gaetano Bruno). It is not only a striking standout within Fargo’s fourth season, but an eye-catching change of pace for the series at large. Its subdued tone and its inspiration from The Wizard of Oz make it one of the more hypnotic episodes the series has ever released, as well as one of the best.
8
“Rhinoceros”
Season 2, Episode 6 (2015)
Following on from the climax of the aforementioned “The Gift of the Magi”, “Rhinoceros” opens with Ed being arrested by Lou who takes him to jail where Charlie Herhardt (Allan Dobrescu) is being held. While Lou finds himself being represented by an intoxicated Karl Weathers (Nick Offerman), the Gerhardt family sends men to the Blumquist residence to orchestrate a hit on Lou, but their abrupt plan for revenge goes wrong.
“Rhinoceros” is a prime example of the series’ impeccable ability to tell a gripping story with both building tension and constant hilarity. The entirety of the ensemble cast must be accredited for this, with the episode thriving as an actor’s showpiece where every single performer brings their A-game. The end result is a captivating hour of television in which virtually every major character is faced with a life-or-death situation and every building element of the story is progressed in interesting and sometimes unexpected ways.
7
“Who Rules the Land of Denial?”
Season 3, Episode 8 (2017)
Set in 2010, Season 3 of Fargo centers on efforts to exploit Emmit Stussy (played by Ewan McGregor). While he and his business partner find themselves in an awkward predicament with the conniving and vile V. M. Varga (David Thewlis), Emmit must also fend off attacks on his finances from his criminal twin brother, Ray (also McGregor), and his parolee girlfriend, Nikki (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). While the season is an enjoyable and intriguing story that comfortably stands equal to its two predecessors, it is a season that thrives through its overall story, more so than with several striking and memorable episodes.
Perhaps the biggest exception to that is its eighth episode, “Who Rules the Land of Denial?”. Nikki finds an unlikely ally in Mr. Wrench (Russell Harvard) following their escape from the attack on the prison bus, Emmit gets spooked after a meeting between Sy (Michael Stuhlbarg) and Varga turns deadly, and Gloria (Carrie Coon) finds more inconsistencies in her investigation. It’s lively, beautifully crafted, and gloriously performed to be a true standout of Season 3 and one of the better entries of the series.
6
“Morton’s Fork”
Season 1, Episode 10 (2014)
Interestingly, while Fargo is renowned for its captivating crime stories where the unpredictable occurs frequently and the stakes are ever-rising, Season 1’s “Morton’s Fork” is the only season finale to truly stand among the series’ greatest episodes. It sees all the conspiring and scheming of Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) coming undone as his uneasy partnership with hitman Lorne Malvo (played by Billy Bob Thornton) reaches a violent end and the police close in on his involvement in the murders that have plagued the area.
It delivers a swift and rewarding tale of comeuppance that sees Lester’s ambitions crash down around him in exceptional fashion, often meshing both agonizing suspense and hilarious comedy into the fold as the story reaches its climax. Able to strike a deft balance between morbid intrigue and upstanding morality, “Morton’s Fork” is easily the best finale Fargo has seen thus far.
5
“A Fox, a Rabbit and a Cabbage”
Season 1, Episode 9 (2014)
The overall climax to Season 1 of Fargo was handled with astonishing craft and boldness, with the season’s penultimate episode every bit as good as its grand finale, if not slightly better. Skipping ahead one year from the episode prior, “A Fox, a Rabbit and a Cabbage” sees Lorne Malvo’s efforts to create a new life as a dentist interrupted by a chance encounter with Lester in Las Vegas. All the while, Molly Solverson’s (Allison Tomlan) lingering theory of Lester’s involvement in the murders finds new supporters in the form of FBI agents Pepper (Keegan-Michael Key) and Budge (Jordan Peele).
With its moments of abrupt violence, comical absurdity, and its characters’ wry and self-serving cunning, the episode is a true highlight of the captivating intrigue that Fargo so often exhibits. The ending, in which Lester sends his wife Linda (Susan Park) into his office wearing his coat so he can see if Malvo is trying to kill him, is one of the most jaw-dropping moments in the entire series.
4
“The Castle”
Season 2, Episode 9 (2015)
The penultimate episode of Season 2 sees the South Dakota State Police called in to help with the case when Lou and Hank finally arrest Ed again, leading to a dangerous situation in which the Blumquists are wired up and sent to a pre-arranged meeting with Mike Milligan (Bokeem Woodbine) at Sioux Falls. The ploy results in a chaotic battle between the Gerhardt family and state police, one that brings about the demise of several key figures of the Gerhardt crime family.
“The Castle” is an episode laced with dread and carnage, a ticking time bomb of violence and death that beautifully builds the suspense right up to the grand finale. As far as heart-pounding episodes go, it is probably Fargo’s outright best, but it is also careful to maintain elements of absurdity and bewilderment, perhaps best exemplified by the presence of a UFO in the episode’s climax.
3
“The Crocodile’s Dilemma”
Season 1, Episode 1 (2014)
Fargo is often attributed with containing one of the best and most captivating pilot episodes television has ever seen. It is a good thing too, as the striking and compelling introduction instilled immediate faith in viewers that the series wasn’t just a cheap rip-off of the Coen Brothers’ 1996 film yet would maintain a similar sensitivity throughout. Lester, a meek insurance salesman, has a chance encounter with the mysterious and unsettling Lorne Malvo that will change is life—and the lives of several people in the town—forever.
Engulfing viewers in a story of deceptively cunning characters, hilarious eruptions of extreme violence, and a growing mystery of murder and crime, “The Crocodile’s Dilemma” ensured Fargo hit the ground running from the beginning. It is absolutely one of the best episodes Fargo has ever aired, but it is also a uniquely magnificent pilot, one that efficiently immerses audiences in the world of the show while launching into the story in an emphatic fashion as well.
2
“Buridan’s Ass”
Season 1, Episode 6 (2014)
The defining highlight of Season 1 and, in the eyes of many, the best episode Fargo has released, “Buridan’s Ass” is a masterpiece of tension and action intrigue. It opens with Malvo setting up Don Chumph (Glenn Howerton) to be killed in a police shootout in an agonizing sequence. The intensity ratchets up when several major characters find themselves in a deadly gunfight amid a snowstorm. Additionally, Stavros’ (Oliver Platt) epiphany that God is punishing him leads to an unlikely accident when fish fall from the sky, and Lester hatches a devious scheme to frame his brother for his wife’s murder.
Lester’s descent from apprehensive frustration to unfiltered amorality is one of the season’s most addictive elements, and it is on full show in “Buridan’s Ass.” However, the episode also excels with its boisterous sequences of heart-racing violence as rival characters clash in sensational fashion. The end result is a relentlessly gripping hour of television that presents the very best of Fargo from start to finish.
1
“Loplop”
Season 2, Episode 8 (2015)
With so many episodes of tremendous intrigue and heart-pounding suspense, it is difficult to pinpoint just one installment of Fargo to stand above the rest. Having said that, the Season 2 episode “Loplop” is a candidate that any fan of the series should be able to recognize as a worthy selection. When Ed returns home after escaping police custody and discovers Dodd (Jeffrey Donovan) tied up in the basement, he and Peggy take their hostage and flee to a cabin in Canistota. The police try to pursue the at-large couple, as does Hanzee (Zahn McClarnon), who leaves a trail of bodies in his wake.
The action-packed episode throws up one tantalizing twist after another, excelling as a commanding medley of carnage and conflicting ambitions that sees the Blumquists standing off against the police and the Gerhardt crime family. Its ceaseless excitement makes for an astounding hour of crime television that serves as the pinnacle of Fargo and as one of the greatest episodes of any series from the 2010s.
