Plot Synopsis

Inspired by the Coen Brothers' film of the same name, each season of FARGO features a different all-new "true crime" story that has a connection to Fargo, North Dakota. Season 1 focuses on Lorne Malvo, a manipulative stranger, who meets and forever changes the life of Lester Nygaard, a small-town insurance salesman in Bemidji, Minnesota. Shortly after Lorne's arrival, Deputy Molly Solverson suspects that Lester is involved with a string of recent murders, including the death of local trucking boss Sam Hess. Even though she never wanted to land the big case or work with the FBI, she has no choice in the matter now. As she investigates the crimes, uncovers promising leads, and sets traps, she works with and encounters others, like: highway patrol officer Gus Grimly, a single dad and Duluth police officer, who must choose between his own personal safety -- including the future of his daughter, Greta -- and his duty as a policeman when he comes face-to-face with a killer; Deputy Police Chief Bill Oswalt, who has seniority over the younger, smarter and more ambitious Molly; Lieutenant Schmidt, Gus's superior officer; Stavros Milos, the Supermarket King of Minnesota and self-help book author, whose secret past has suddenly returned, threatening to destroy the way of life he has built up over the past 25 years; Gina Hess, a widowed mother to twins (Mickey and Moe) and a former Vegas stripper, who realizes her mistake moving to Minnesota 15 years earlier, and will now use whatever charms she has left to move the hell out; Mr. Wrench, a deaf contract killer employed by a Fargo Crime Syndicate, who is sent in to find out who killed Sam Hess and dispose of the problem; Mr. Numbers, the partner of and sign language translator for Mr. Wrench, who is the mouth to Mr. Wrench's muscle; Lou Solverson, Molly's father, who was also a state police officer for nearly two decades but is now retired and the owner of a local coffee shop; Don Chumph, a dim-witted and ambitious personal trainer, who is eye candy to many of the middle-aged women in Duluth's local gym but has bigger goals; Chazz Nygaard, Lester's younger and more successful brother; Bo Munk, Lester's boss at the Bo Munk Insurance Shop; and FBI partners Webb Pepper and Bill Budge, who, after a violent run-in with Malvo, become obsessed with finding him again and arrive in Bemidji hot on his trail.

FARGO returned for its 10-episode second season on Monday, October 12, 2015 at 10pm ET/PT on FX with a new story and cast for the show's second installment. Season 2 travels back to 1979 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Luverne, Minnesota. Lou Solverson, a young State Trooper recently back from Vietnam, investigates a case involving a local crime gang, a major Mob syndicate and a small town beautician Peggy Blumquist and her husband Ed, the local butcher's assistant. Helping Lou piece things together is his father-in-law, Sheriff Hank Larsson. The investigation leads them to a colorful cast of characters that includes: Karl Weathers, the town lawyer of Luverne, Minnesota, who is a Korean War vet and a flowery drunk blessed with the gift of gab and the eloquence of a true con artist; Joe Bulo, the front man for the northern expansion of a Kansas City crime syndicate, who is the new face of corporate crime bringing a Walmart mentality to small town America; and Joe's number two, Mike Milligan, who is part enforcer, part detective, and is always smiling -- but the joke is usually on you. Bulo and his crew have their sights set on the Gerhardt crime family in Fargo, currently led by matriarch Floyd Gerhardt. With her husband at death's door, Floyd takes over the family business, frustrating her eldest son, Dodd. An impatient hothead with a cruel streak to match his ambitions, Dodd can't wait for both his parents to die so he can take over and expand their business from kingdom to empire. Bear is the middle son, an intimidatingly large man who, although inarticulate, is the most decent of his clan. Rye, the youngest of the Gerhardt family, views himself as a big shot, but in reality he's just a small dog who barks big. The season ender, "Palindrome," may shed light on some of the mysteries about the events at Sioux Falls mentioned in the first series. Peggy and Ed decide they have no option but to make a run for it as the series of events started by Rye Gerhardt in the Waffle Hut diner reach a startling climax.

Season 3 of FARGO premiered on Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 10pm ET/PT on FX, with Ewan McGregor playing dual roles. Set in 2010, the third installment centers on Emmit and his slightly younger brother Ray Stussy. Emmit, the Parking Lot King of Minnesota, sees himself as an American success story, whereas Ray is more of a cautionary tale. Forever living in his more successful brother's shadow, Ray is a balding and pot-bellied parole officer with a huge chip on his shoulder about the hand he's been dealt -- and he blames his brother. Their sibling rivalry follows a twisted path that begins with petty theft but soon leads to murder, mobsters and cut-throat competitive bridge. Gloria Burgle, a newly divorced mother and the steady chief of the local police department, is trying to understand the new world around her, where people connect more intimately with their phones than with the people around them. Ray's girlfriend, Nikki Swango, is a crafty and alluring recent parolee with a passion for competitive bridge. V.M. Vargas is a mysterious loner and true capitalist whose bosses plan to partner with Emmit, whether The Parking Lot King likes it or not. In the 90-minute season opener, "The Law of Vacant Places," the petty sibling rivalry between the two brothers escalates and brings chaos to a small Minnesotan community.

The 11-episode fourth season of FARGO premiered on Sunday, September 27, 2020 from 9-11:45pm ET/PT on FX, with back-to-back new episodes. Subsequent episodes debut each Sunday at 10pm. n 1950 Kansas City, two criminal syndicates fighting for a piece of the American dream have struck an uneasy peace. Together, they control an alternate economy of exploitation, graft and drugs. To cement their truce, Loy Cannon, the head of the African American crime family, trades his youngest son Satchel, to his enemy Donatello Fadda, the head of the Italian mafia. In return, Donatello surrenders his youngest son Zero to Loy. When Donatello dies in the hospital following a routine surgery, the tenuous truce is threatened. Josto Fadda takes up his father's mantle, but his efforts to stabilize the organization are undermined by his brother, Gaetano, who has joined the family in Kansas City after building a reputation for ruthlessness in Italy. The other Fadda men -- including Ebal Violante, Constant Calamita, and Antoon Dumini -- must decide where their loyalties lie. Amongst the turmoil, Patrick "Rabbi" Milligan, a man who once betrayed his own family to serve the Italians, watches carefully to ensure his survival. Sensing an opportunity, Loy tests the Faddas for weakness, deploying his most trusted advisor, Doctor Senator, and top lieutenants, Leon Bittle, Omie Sparkman and Opal Rackley to do his bidding. However, to Loy's dismay, his oldest son Lemuel Cannon wants no part of the family business. Intertwined with this tale of immigration, assimilation and power, are the stories of Ethelrida Pearl Smutny, the precocious 16-year-old daughter of Thurman and Dibrell Smutny, an interracial couple who own their own mortuary; U.S. Marshal Dick "Deafy" Wickware, a Mormon lawman; Detective Odis Weff, the Kansas City cop known for his compulsive tics; and Oraetta Mayflower, a nurse who cannot abide others' suffering.

The fifth and final season of FARGO debuted on Tuesday, November 21, 2023 on FX, with back-to-back episodes from 10pm-12:25am ET/PT. The 10-episode new season takes place in 2019, where there's another kidnapping and murder. Season 5 opens with a series of unexpected events that lands Dot Lyon in hot water. Depending on who you ask, Dot is a wife and mother, a member of the PTA, a fighter, survivor or a tiger. But now they all agree that's she is plunged back into a life she thought she left behind, involving North Dakota frontier lawman Roy Tillman. Roy is one of those constitutional sheriffs, a rancher preacher, and defender of the American gospel. In his own reality, he is the law -- and therefore is above the law. But as Roy attempts to reset the "natural order of things," the poised and opinionated Lorraine Lyon, the CEO of America's largest Debt Collection Agency, becomes increasingly suspicious. She oversees a company that has two billion dollars in annual revenue, and is always looking for more. Lorraine's son (and Dot's husband), Wayne, has the forced cheer of a man whose mother raised him with a thick brew of disappointment and guilt. Dot also gets the attention of two local cops: North Dakota Deputy Witt Farr, who is the guy when you look up the word "reliable" in the dictionary, you see his picture; and Minnesota Police Deputy Indira Olmstead, who is a practical woman -- socks before shoes -- and good at puzzles, which may have led to her career in law enforcement. But the body count around them might be caused by Ole Munch, whose age and birthplace are unknown. On any given day, Ole Munch looks as though he could be 30-60. He's carved from stone, relentless as the sea, and the forces of physics don't apply to him.
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On Tuesday, January 16, 2024 at 10pm ET/PT, FX premiered "Bisquik," the 65-minute series finale of FARGO. Lorraine makes a visit; Dot prepares biscuits.