Fargo, Orange is The New Black and Breaking Bad were the big winners at last night’s Critics Choice TV Awards. (A list of winners is here.) Breaking Bad won for best drama and for best supporting actor, for the magnificent Aaron Paul. (Who wasn’t there to accept, boo!) OITNB took home best comedy series along with awards for Kate Mulgrew and Uzo Aduba. Bedhead will have more for you on OINTB in a short while, I’ll mostly be focusing on Fargo in this post.
Mild spoilers for Fargo follow
Fargo was up against American Horror Story: Coven, Bonnie & Clyde, Dancing on the Edge, The Hollow Crown and Luther in the miniseries category. After seeing the final and 10th episode of Fargo earlier this week, my only complaint is that these excellent characters are leaving us. I’m particularly sad to say goodbye to Molly, Allison Tolman’s thoughtful police detective. Allison won for best supporting actress in a movie or mini series, and I’m so glad that she’s being recognized for that performance. Fargo, albeit highly entertaining, was uncomfortable to watch at times. There was no telling what would happen and there were many moments when I was worried that Molly or another key character would be killed. That just added to the suspense, though.
Also honored for Fargo was Billy Bob Thornton, who received lead actor in a movie or miniseries. His portrayal of a sociopath killer was dead-on, I have to say. “Lester, do you really want to do this?”
I’m including some other photos of winners and nominees. There’s Bellamy Young, who won best supporting actress, for Scandal (she’s in an Honor gown) and other nominees in that category: Melissa McBride, for Walking Dead, and Maggie Siff, for Sons of Anarchy. (I’m glad Maggie didn’t win, maybe it was down to the writing but I did not like her character at all. She’s in Martin Grant. Oh and Allison Tolman is wearing Tadashi Shoji.)
photo credit: WENN.com, Getty Images and FameFlynet
Oh I loved Fargo! I really hope it comes back for another season. SPOILER SPOILER….I haven’t been this upset over the loss of a TV character since the old winnebago guy bought it on Walking Dead.
I loved Fargo, but it had a problematic portrayal of female characters.
I don’t think so. I think Molly being the smartest and most level-headed character to be the exact opposite of “problematic” and I think Allison Tolman is just wonderful.
Fargo definitely deserved to win. Imho Alison Tolman’s performance was adequate but Martin Freeman blew everyone else out of the water. I knew he was talented but, I had no idea he could be that good. Fargo isn’t actually based on real life events – it’s based on the Coen brothers 1996 movie which used the same “based on a true story” gimmick without much truth to the claim. It’s just there to catch your attention from the start.
Definitely. I always think he’d be a great silent film actor. He conveys so much with such subtle facial expressions. The moment where he spots Malvo in the hotel bar was amazing.
It was one of the producers of Sherlock who mentioned in an interview that Freeman would do away with chunks of dialogue and say “I can do all that with just a look.” Damned if he isn’t right lol. He may be a problematic person IRL big time but he’s a great actor and a master of subtlety.
Miss Mary,
I’ve never heard that Freeman’s problematic in real life. Well, I’v never heard anything about him IRL! That’s disappointing, if true. To what sort of thing are you referring?
Break–check out his interview in a recent Entertainment Weekly. He talks of it himself. He’s apparently pretty moody and dark and hates the Everyman label.
Freeman is great in it.I think people underestimate his acting because he makes it look so natural
I think the issue with Freeman is that he’s so good at playing an inept, conniving dweeb that you hate, that you end up disliking his character and not giving him credit for playing it so well.
Molly is the best female character I’ve seen in a long time. Alison is brilliant – well deserved win. Still yet to see the final episode… I almost don’t want to watch it, because then it will actually be over!
Same here, same here. I’m so scared for Molly and Gus!
The public “problem” with Freeman is that he is grumpy and resorts to sarcasm when he’s not in the mood to answer stupid questions. I like him for that, because it’s the exact thing I’d do, but it comes across as ungrateful sometimes and it’s not the cutesy behaviour people seem to expect of him.
Fargo over the Women Chewing Scenery showpiece that was AHS?? Well I guess it’s like Critics driven award…maybe that?
AHS – talented performers drowing in a tub of bad, aimless writing.
THIS!
Definitely a good show.
Dumb question – does it have anything to do with the movie Fargo? Should I watch it?
It’s tangentally related. Same general setting, same “mood,” but it’s not a sequel or continuation. EXCEPT one big spoilery thing I won’t mention here that’s like a tie to the original movie. BUT… it’s set years after, the “crime” is different, different characters and really no mention of the events in Fargo the movie.
Not a dumb question. It has one very minor tie-in to the movie, but if you’ve never watched the movie, it won’t matter. It’s more of a fun thing if you have watched the movie, but not important if you haven’t.
There are a few similar things, like the police detective is a pregnant woman, and a couple of scenes actually occur in Fargo, but that’s about it.
It’s basically, a completely different story with a similar feel.
It’s sort of inspired by the film. It has the same feel more than anything. There’s lots of little references in there for fans of the film, and events in the show tie in with events in the film occasionally but it stands on it’s own. It’s not a remake or a sequel of sorts, it’s a new story with new characters. The Coens are involved and you can definitely tell, it has their fingerprints all over it.
It’s a great show, one of my favourites this year. Definitely worth watching.
I think it has lots of moments where a Fargo movie die hard would say “Hey!!! OMG!!” But like BW said, it can definitely stand on it’s own and be enjoyable to someone that’s never seen the movie.
Thanks, everybody!
Oops, sorry I didn’t answer, but I couldn’t have done as well as the others anyway.
Oh. I thought they set it up so Molly would be coming back – as chief after she has the baby, so presumably they can jump ahead in time, and have a whole new batch of crims/crimes but keep some structure. Very sad if that’s that the last we see of Molly and her dad, who turned out to be the best.
I think the win was deserved. IMHO Fargo was a lot better than True Detective which was very impressive and got way more hype, but was terribly inconsistent. The fact they were writing the next ep as the filmed the current one (according to the director) really began to show through once the show got to later episodes.
Agh U.K. viewer so not reading any spoilers or comments on Fargo, just to say so happy it won stuff! Billy Bob is so great as a fun loving sociopath murderer! I think the elevator scene you quoted nailed this for him, hope he gets an Emmy.
Love Fargo! Completely enthralled from start to (almost) finish: we have 1 more episode to go in the UK. Every actor in the cast was great in their part – a rare treat to watch.
I found Fargo entertaining, but a tad slow, with a lot of loose ends. I wouldn’t have given it any awards outside of cinematography and perhaps something for Martin Freeman.
Love Melissa McBride as Carol on TWD. She puts her all into that character and is one of my faves.
I agree! Melissa’s performance in “The Grove” was spectacular! Can’t wait to see what happens with her character next season.
That was one of her best shows and she has had many on TWD. The Grove brought out many emotions in me and that rarely happens with a tv show.
TWD is often overlooked and there are some fine performances by all of the actors in my opinion. McBride is one of the best.
Melissa McBride was the best highlight last season. Carol has always been my favorite and it was great Melissa was given the spotlight. Best actor on the show IMO.
The Grove was killer no pun intended. I’ve seen it 3 times and cry every time. Melissa McB probably has had the biggest character development arc on the show and I’m glad they aren’t going comic book canon with her character. I HOPE she gets an Emmy nom at least and preferably a win.
I’m on board with these wins. Fargo was great – really quiet and tense at times, and all the performances were very good. Happy for Allison and her win.
I saw that Tatiana Malsany won for Orphan Black again – yay! Hopefully she’ll get an Emmy nomination this year.
And I’m very happy for the OITNB crew, and Uzo Aduba especially.
Yes! Loved “Fargo.” I’m only sorry that Martin Freeman couldn’t win too, because I still can’t get over how good he was as Lester (and I’ve been a fan for years). It would always take me a moment to remember what he really sounds like after hearing his Lester accent.
I haven’t watched Fargo yet but maybe now I’ll give it a try. Billy Bob used to be my favourite actor. Then he formed a band and did an interview at a Canadian radio station and Billy was such a little witch. Felt bad for the interviewer. Very uncomfortable and his band seemed embarrassed. Please look it up if you never knew this. He mouthed off at a concert after that, good booed, and went away for awhile. Anyway, it sounds like he doesn’t hate himself being referred to as an actor now and hopefully changed his baby pants for some bigger ones.