8 Coen Brothers Easter Eggs We Spotted in the 'Fargo' Season 2 Premiere
One of the best things about the first season of FX’s Fargo was the way it threw in sly references not just to the original Fargo, but to all the movies in Joel and Ethan Coen’s filmography. And we’re happy to see that tonight’s Season 2 premiere gives us plenty more Coen brothers Easter eggs to spot.
Let’s start with the ones that tie back to the original Fargo film:
1. Dodd has a silent Native American henchman, just like Shep Proudfoot
We didn’t hear much from Gerhardt accomplice Hanzee Dent (Zahn McClarnon) in the premiere, but that would make him about as talkative as Shep, the crooked car mechanic who beat up Steve Buscemi’s character in the film.
2. Rye’s mustache and clothes match Carl Showalter’s
Weaselly crook Rye Gerhardt (Kieran Culkin) shares a preference for facial hair — and turtlenecks! — with the weaselly crook played by Steve Buscemi. Both end up shooting people they were trying to negotiate with, too.
3. Lou lives in a split-level home like Marge Gunderson did
Lou’s suburban Minnesota house makes him walk up the stairs after entering the front door, just like Marge’s when she shouts to her hubby Norm, “Prowler needs a jump.”
4. Otto Gerhardt looks just like Wade Gustafson
We did a double-take when crime patriarch Otto Gerhardt (Michael Hogan) first appeared on-screen, because he’s the spitting image of Harve Presnell, the actor who played Jerry Lundegaard’s father-in-law Wade in the Fargo film. Unfortunately, Presnell passed away in 2009, so it can’t be him — but really, they could be twins.
And now for the references to the Coens’ non-Fargo films:
5. Lou’s paranoid friend Karl — The Big Lebowski
The gruff, cynical guy played by Parks and Rec’s Nick Offerman would’ve happily traded conspiracy theories with John Goodman’s Lebowski character Walter Sobchak. (One likes bingo; the other likes bowling.) And did Karl’s skinny, goofy friend remind anybody of Steve Buscemi’s Donny? (We know, we know: “Shut the f–k up, Donny.”)
6. Rival gangs at war — Miller’s Crossing
The Gerhardt family and the rival crime bosses plotting against them reminded us of the Coens’ 1990 gangster flick and its Irish-versus-Italian gangland battles. But will Fargo’s end up with as much gunfire as those did? (It’s hard to imagine.)
7. The Waffle Hut — The Ladykillers
The site of Rye’s triple homicide, the Waffle Hut, was also the site of some serious criminal plotting in the 2004 remake starring Tom Hanks as a dapper casino thief — leading to the immortal line from Marlon Wayans, “You brought your bitch… to the Waffle Hut?”
8. The closing song — O Brother, Where Are Thou?
Did the song playing over the premiere’s closing credits, “Didn’t Leave Nobody But the Baby,” sound familiar? Maybe you remember it from O Brother, when the Sirens sang it to lure in George Clooney and his escaped convict pals. See, we told you: This show’s Coen brothers obsession runs deep.
Fargo airs Mondays at 10 p.m. on FX.
