'Fargo' Season 2 Casts 'HIMYM's Cristin Milioti as Betsy

Say what you will about How I Met Your Mother squandering titular star Cristin Milioti, FX’s hotly-anticipated Fargo Season 2 will give the actress another chance at playing a revered matriarch. Milioti will join the cast of FX’s Emmy-nominated Coen brothers adaptation in the Season 2 role of an oft-discussed mother, but will her fate prove as dire this time around?

Per Deadline, Milioti will appear in the recurring role of Betsy Solverson, mother to Season 1's Molly (Golden Globe-nominee Alison Tolman), wife to central character Lou (Patrick Wilson in Season 2, Keith Carradine originally), and daughter to Rock County Sheriff Hank Larsson (newcomer Ted Danson). Though her fate was left somewhat ambiguous by the initial season, Milioti’s Betsy is described as “A woman of the plains — pretty but firm — she can both jump start a car and make a casserole, clean a gun as well as the gutters.”

In the meantime, here’s how FX describes the cast and plot of the new season, which features the talents of Breaking Bad star Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst, Patrick Wilson, Parks and Rec favorite Nick Offerman, Frasier star Jean Smart, Jeffrey Donovan, Brad Garrett, Kieran Culkin, Bokeem Woodbine, and Angus Sampson:

The all new “true crime” case of Fargo’s new chapter travels back to 1979 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Luverne, Minnesota, where a young State Police Officer “Lou Solverson” (Wilson), recently back from Vietnam, investigates a case involving a local crime gang and a major Mob syndicate. Helping him piece things together is his father-in-law, “Sheriff Hank Larsson” (Danson). The investigation will lead them to a colorful cast of characters that includes “Karl Weathers” (Nick Offerman), the town lawyer of Luverne, Minnesota. A Korean War vet, Karl is a flowery drunk blessed with the gift of gab and the eloquence of a true con artist. Three-time Emmy winner Brad Garrett will play “Joe Bulo,” the front man for the northern expansion of a Kansas City crime syndicate. The new face of corporate crime, Joe’s bringing a Walmart mentality to small town America. His number two is “Mike Milligan” (Bokeem Woodbine). Part enforcer, part detective, Mike is always smiling – but the joke is usually on you. Bulo and his crew have their sights set on the Gerhardt crime family in Fargo, currently led by matriarch “Floyd Gerhardt” (Smart). With her husband at death’s door, Floyd takes over the family business, frustrating her eldest son, “Dodd Gerhardt” (Jeffrey Donovan). An impatient hothead with a cruel streak to match his ambitions, Dodd can’t wait for both his parents to die so he can take over and expand their business from kingdom to empire. “Bear Gerhardt” (Angus Sampson) is the middle son, an intimidatingly large man who, although inarticulate, is the most decent of his clan. “Rye Gerhardt” (Kieran Culkin), the youngest of the Gerhardt clan, views himself as a big shot, but in reality he’s just a small dog who barks big.

Elsewhere, we know the 1979-set Fargo Season 2 will also factor in the character of eventual Duluth police lieutenant Ben Schmidt, while creator Noah Hawley claims the Coen brothers’ 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. The more comedic tone is also expected to explore early issues of feminism, and bring in Ronald Reagan himself as a character.

Jokes about how we met Fargo’s mother aside, what do you expect from Season 2, due on FX this fall?