If you’re a fan of Fargo, the FX anthology series set in the universe of the 1996 Coen Brothers film of the same name, you’re probably already aware that each new season has shared some minor connections with the previous ones. Season 2’s connection was the most direct and obvious, as it starred Patrick Wilson as the younger version of Keith Carradine’s character from Season 1. Some of the others have been more of the Easter egg variety, such as when Mr. Wrench (Russell Harvard) and Mr. Numbers (Adam Goldberg), two intimidating enforcers from Season 1, appear briefly as children in Season 2, with Mr. Wrench returning as a major recurring character in Season 3.
Image via FX
Obviously, even though every season of Fargo stands on its own, they all fit into a larger universe of characters and events that frequently cross paths, and Hawley has indicated that Season 4 will be no different. “It’s no coincidence that Ben Whishaw’s character is named ‘Milligan,’” Hawley said to The Wrap. Whishaw has been cast as Rabbi Milligan, who shares a last name with Bokeem Woodbine’s Season 2 character Mike Milligan, a mob enforcer from Kansas City. Season 4, starring Chris Rock as the leader of a crime syndicate comprised of Black Americans escaping the Jim Crow south, takes place in Kansas City in 1950.
There are likely more connections woven into the storyline, but Hawley was tight-lipped about any other details, saying only that Season 4 likely appears in the Big Book of True Crime in the Midwest from Season 2. And while he stated that there are currently no plans for a Season 5, he admits that has been the case in between each season of Fargo. “Every time I do one, I think it’s the last one. And then some period of time passes, and I go ‘Oh, I could do that.’” He goes on to joke that a hypothetical fifth season could take place in the distant past or future. “I always joke that the next season could be on the Starship Fargo, Year 2150. Or we could go back and do 1812. Those are all available but I don’t have any plans at that moment to make any more.”
Fargo Season 4 premieres on FX April 19, 2020.
