This article is based on a TV show that I actually watched. The names and events reflect what I actually saw.

The best drama that I have seen on television so far this year is the one that I expected to actively dislike. Instead of trying to simply imitate its source material, Fargo went in a completely new direction. It kept all of the darkest elements of the original Fargo while weaving together a completely original story. It is a triumph.

While Fargo is its own entity, it also does Joel and Ethan Coen proud. The Coen Brothers have such an original voice that it seems nearly impossible to replicate it. Yet, Noah Hawley somehow managed to do this. The Coen Brothers Universe are the kind of people who base stories off true events that never happen and adapt movies from novels that they have never read. Fargo does just the same, and it has a blast messing with our heads.

What Fargo made me realize is that everything the Coen Brothers does definitely exists in the same world. It is a singular universe that I may just enjoy more than, say, the one created by the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. While Fargo goes its own way, it also references films of Coen Brothers past, and connects itself to their universe many times over. Like Deputy Molly Solverson would do, its time to create a crazy web of conspiracies. Here is every Coen Brothers reference that I could find in FX’s Fargo:

Based On True Events- At the beginning of Fargo the film, the audience is informed that what they are about to see is based on true events. This has become a very famous inside joke, as Fargo is completely fictionalized. You can see this same warning at the beginning of every single episode of Fargo, and it is stretched even further (letting us know that the characters are also real). Once you know that none of this is real, the disclaimer becomes hilarious.

The White Russian- The Dude’s drink of choice is referenced in the pilot when Lester walks into a bar offering the drink as a special.

Front of the Car- One distinct characteristic of a Coen Brothers film is a POV shot from a car’s front windshield. Off the top of my head, I can remember seeing it in Blood Simple, The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men, and Inside Llewyn Davis. There were plenty on the show.

Lorne Malvo- Malvo is perhaps the most Coenesque of all the characters in Fargo. Malvo is a cross of Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men and Leonard Smalls in Raising Arizona. Like these two characters, Malvo’s motives and morals are questionable. What he does value most is survival, and he will kill anybody who stands in his way, whether you are a cop or an innocent bystander.

Lester Nygaard- Lester is clearly the Jerry Lundergaard of this version of Fargo. Initially, Freeman played Nygaard as a William H. Macy imitation but deviated as the season went on. Like Jerry, Lester is a timid man who is stuck in a dead end job. Unlike Jerry, Lester got to prove he was much more than just that. He was also a half-decent liar who just wanted to get revenge on everyone who ever wronged him.

Molly Solverson- Molly is obviously the Marge Gunderson figure here. She is a pregnant cop who is a whole lot smarter than her co-workers. She’s a dynamite detective in a Minnesota Nice world.

The Rich Man’s Parable- In one episode, Gus’s neighbor tells him the story of a rich man who killed himself because he discovered that he alone could not solve all of the world’s problems. The moral of the story is, well, you can’t solve all of the world’s problems. This is the kind of lesson the Coen Brothers would love to teach in their films. Also, this parable is shot and told similarly to the story of The Goy’s Teeth from A Serious Man, complete with characters mouthing the words of the narrator. There’s something very Jewish about it. I don’t know, I can’t explain it.

The Briefcase- Creator Noah Hawley confirmed that Fargo the TV show and Fargo the film take place in the same universe. This was apparent in a flashback from 1987 when Stavros Milos found the briefcase of money buried in the snow not long before then by Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi). Marge Gunderson warned us all that nothing good would come of that money. Too bad Stavros wasn’t around to hear that.   

The Ducks/Former Cop Backstory- This is just a minor detail, but Lou’s Coffee Shop is covered in duck decor. Maybe this is just a symbol of The North Star State, but I believe that it is a montage to Norm’s duck paintings from the film. While making the film, the Coen Brothers had Frances McDormand and John Carroll Lynch (who played Marge’s husband Norm) come up with a backstory for the couple. They came up with the idea that Marge and Norm met on the police force but one of them had to quit once they got married. Marge was a better cop, so Norm decided to quit. I always thought that backstory was cool, and should have been made into a prequel. Luckily, Gus and Molly’s storyline was basically that. (Information via IMDB’s Fargo trivia page)

Knudsen- One of Molly’s fellow officers working in the Bemidji Police Department goes by the name of Knudsen. In The Big Lebowski, it is briefly mentioned that Bunny Lebowski’s birth name is Fawn Knudsen. Fawn is originally from Moorhead, Minnesota, a town that is not too far away from Fargo, North Dakota. If only the characters of Fargo could share some of The Dude’s zen attitude, then maybe less people would have ended up in wood chippers and frozen lakes.

Band of misfits. Image via Business Insider

Okay, so being negative about awards is fun. But I got that out of my system yesterday. So today, it is time to be nice.

Luckily, there is a lot to be nice about, because Emmy voters did a pretty good job this year. They didn’t do the best that they could have. On that note, can somebody please photoshop a picture of Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer holding Emmys?

Anyway, if you look close enough at the nominations, you will see that this year’s lineup does as good a job as possible at reflecting the incredibly diverse array of programming that makes up the current golden age of television that we are living in.

For this, I have decided not to include shows like Game of Thrones, Louie, or Breaking Bad. While their inclusion makes me happy, their nominations were foregone conclusions. So instead, let’s focus on some of the people and shows that might not have expected to heard their names called yesterday morning:

Adam Driver (Girls)

In a sometimes inconsistent season of Girls, Adam Driver was the most consistently good part about it. While his character is incredibly unpredictable, you know that (most of the time) he does things because he actually believes in them. Even if you hate Lena Dunham, he makes the show worth sticking around for. With Inside Llewyn Davis last year and Star Wars down the road, Adam Driver is about to explode. We don’t even know what we are in for.

Fargo

I haven’t finished Fargo yet (I have just one episode left), but that has been enough to tell me that this is one of the most unique new shows on television. Given that this is a miniseries, we will have to see if we get anymore of it (or, for that matter, if any one of these characters will make it out alive). Fargo is a pitch perfect black comedy that manages to be the best imitation of the Coen Brothers I have ever seen. Among the many great things about it, there is a tracking shot in it that rivals the much more well known one from True Detective, as well as incredible performances from the likes of Billy Bob Thornton and Allison Tolman.

Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live)

Kate McKinnon is not the first SNL performer to be nominated for acting. However, this occurrence is few and far between, and you have to be really good to bring what are supposed to be two dimensional characters to life. McKinnon can do everything from flawless impressions (some of the best include Justin Bieber and Jemima Kirke) to original characters (Olya the Russian Villager). She is the show’s current answer to Kristen Wiig. And like Wiig, McKinnon will find success in her career long after she leaves Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center.

Key & Peele

There’s a lot of weird, yet awesome, sketch comedy happening on TV right now (see: Kroll Show, Comedy Bang! Bang!). Key & Peele does the typical sketch comedy formula well while maintaining its own unique voice. They can execute simple ideas like The East/West Bowl as well as odd ones like Mr. T PSAs. While it didn’t get the nomination for Best Variety Show, a nod for writing is nothing to complain about, even if it doesn’t quite acknowledge the visual genius and directing choices of the show.

Silicon Valley

Sometimes, it is hard for a freshman show to get much attention, but Silicon Valley knew exactly what it wanted to be from the beginning. Silicon Valley is the satire of the modern tech world that I didn’t know we needed at this moment. It has a perfect ensemble that helped bring perhaps the greatest dick joke in the history of television to life. While its cast members were unfortunately overlooked by voters (especially Thomas Middleditch and the late Christopher Evan Welch), it always makes me happy to see Mike Judge get rewarded, given that many of his past projects were overlooked upon initial release.

Episode 14: In the latest episode, Ian and Cassie discuss the most recent late night shakeup following Chelsea Handler’s move to Netflix. Plus, a recap of season four of Louie, a review of 22 Jump Street, and new Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavors!