FX’s ‘Fargo’ Season 2: 1979 Setting, Returning Characters and Coen Influences Revealed

Earlier today brought the expected, if somewhat disheartening news that FX would indeed move forward with 'Fargo' season 2 in 2015, albeit with an all-new story and cast. Now, 'Fargo' producer Noah Hawley has generously stepped up to reveal a major character connection to the first season, as well as the new 1979 time period, and what other Coen brothers films we can expect as influences!

You're warned of minor spoilers for the first season of FX's 'Fargo' from here on out, but where it seems fan-favorite Allison Tolman won't return to the role of Molly Solverson, we'll in fact see a younger version of the character in 1979. It won't be in flashback, no-siree-Bob, as screenwriter Noah Hawley reveals that 'Fargo' season 2 will follow Molly's father Lou Solverson during the 1979 "Sioux Falls" incident Keith Carradine's incarnation of the character often referenced in the modern day.

In addition to introducing and detailing the fate of Molly's mother and Lou's wife, 'Fargo' season 2 will see the (recast) 33 year-old Lou as a recently-returned Vietnam vet who "thought he’d left the war behind and here it is, it’s domestic [now]." The new season will also factor in the character of eventual Duluth police lieutenant Ben Schmidt, while Hawley claims the Coen influences of the new season can be found in the original 'Fargo,' as well as 'Miller's Crossing' and 'The Man Who Wasn't There.'

Moreover, portions of the new season will also take place in Laverne, Minnesota, in addition to the titular Fargo. Hawley joked about the regional setting, saying “Minnesota [and] North Dakota, that region is a character in the show. That’s part of the personality. Believe me, we would do Fargo, Honolulu, if we could get away with it. But we can’t.” The new season is expected to shoot from January to May 2015, airing (at the earliest) sometime in the fall.

However disheartening to think we might not see any of the original 'Fargo' cast or characters beside Lou Solverson and young Molly, what say you? Would you be on board to explore the Sioux Falls mystery with a familiar lead, as 'Fargo' season 2 takes us back to 1979 next fall? How would you like to see FX's Emmy-nominated drama play out in season 2?