"Fargo" the TV show is its own stand-alone story, but it's having fun giving nods to fans of "Fargo" the movie, including a direct tie between the two in this week's episode.

[Related: The 'Fargo' Cast Names Their Favorite Moments From the 'Fargo' Movie]

"Fargo" Episode 4, titled "Eating the Blame," began with Stavros Milos (Oliver Platt), in flashback, coming across a briefcase full of money buried in the snow, flagged with a red ice scraper – the very same briefcase that Carl, Steve Buscemi's character in the movie, buried at the end of the film. Take a look:

Stavros and his family saw it as a sign from God, which is why all those horrible plagues Stavros is experiencing now, thanks to Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton), are really messing with his head. Well that and the hallucinatory drugs Malvo replaced Stavros's usual pills with…

[Related: 'Fargo' on FX: Noah Hawley and Adam Goldberg Decode the Show's Sign Language]

Yahoo TV talked to the series' executive producer Noah Hawley about even worse plagues to come, the very serious threat of death for everyone on the show, and that "gorgeous" Stavros portrait.

The plagues on Stavros Milos are just epic. I thought nothing could top the blood in the shower, but then the crickets in the store happened.
My wife holds a special place in hell in her heart for crickets, so that'll be the hardest thing for her to watch, I think. Worse than the murders. And it's only going to get worse.

Who kept that Oliver Platt/Stavros Milos portrait?
I don't know — I don't think Oliver wanted it! I kept the King's sign that was behind his desk in the office. But the painting… that was some gorgeous work.

And now everyone's finally in on the accent action.
Yes! How great was Billy's Minnesota accent? [Laughs.]

[Related: Billy Bob Thornton on His 'Fargo' Character's 'Sick Sense of Humor']

Amazing. But let's get serious: I'm concerned about death — at this point, it doesn't seem like anyone will come out alive.
[Laughs.] You're right to be afraid. The great thing about a 10-hour movie is that nobody has to be left alive at the end of it. It's not like there's a second season, like "The Continuing Adventures of…" necessarily. So the idea that we can put all these characters in legitimate danger and you're not gonna know, it's gonna change the way you watch it. That's the great thing about "Game of Thrones" — you watch it and nobody is safe. That's part of the selling point, which is so different than what television used to be, which was, "You can't kill your actors that people tune in to watch every week. That's suicide for the show!"

Just throwing this out there though: We'd totally watch "The Molly & Gus Show."
They're great. And a Wrench & Numbers spinoff. Wait till you see Key & Peele. They play partners, FBI agents, and let's just say they're on a spiritual quest.

[Related: How Newcomer Allison Tolman Landed a Key Role in FX's 'Fargo']

Obviously this is a stand-alone season, but do you already have plans and ideas for Season 2?
I do. What I said to FX in that very first meeting was the movie's called "Fargo," but only the very first scene takes place in North Dakota. But what is the movie called "Fargo"? Because the word is so evocative of the place and, for our purposes, it's a metaphor for a type of true crime story where truth is stranger than fiction. There's a world of Fargo, which is sort of the true crime history of this region, and we can pick a story from any point that may or may not connect to the original movie or this first season, I think that's really exciting. To be given the leeway to tell stories that have a similar tone of voice, but for an audience to tune into a second season and not know — meet new characters and know that whatever happens, it's going to be an unpredictable ride and it'll have that Coen brothers tone.

What can you tease about what's next?
I just watched the director's cut of the last one this morning, and I gotta tell ya… it gets good.

"Fargo" airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.