'Fargo' Season 2 Premiere Recap: Ah Jeez, Not Again

Warning: Spoilers ahead for tonight’s Season 2 premiere of Fargo.

The first season of FX’s Fargo was such a pleasant surprise — a fresh take on the classic Coen brothers film that established its own universe and stayed true to the original’s tone — that we feared Season 2 might fall victim to the old sophomore slump. But no need to worry: With an ambitious visual style and a new batch of intricately-drawn characters, Fargo’s second season might even surpass its first. It’s probably way too early to say that, but are we saying it anyway? You betcha.

Related: Ken Tucker Reviews the New Season of ‘Fargo’

Let’s play detective and examine tonight’s Season 2 premiere to determine what we liked (a lot), what we didn’t like (not very much), and the burning questions we’re looking forward to seeing the rest of the season answer.

What We Liked: First off, this season looks great, visually. Rather than settle into a comfortable storytelling rut, showrunner Noah Hawley and his creative team put the pedal to the metal here, establishing a visceral, pulsating look and sound (split-screens! Electric guitar!) that have more in common with Scorsese and Tarantino than the Coens. And it fits Season 2’s 1970s setting like a thick woolen glove.

Yes, Season 2 is technically a prequel, with Molly’s state trooper dad Lou Solverson (Patrick Wilson) investigating a grisly triple homicide at a local Waffle Hut. (We do see him reading to a six-year-old Molly at one point.) Wilson brings a homespun stoicism to Lou, and we can’t wait to see how he’s changed by the Sioux Falls massacre that we know is right around the corner. Plus, who doesn’t love Ted Danson? He’s great here as Lou’s unflappable father-in-law/sheriff, Hank. (When examining the body of a freshly murdered woman: “Yeah, don’t know her.”)

The early MVP, though, has to be Kirsten Dunst, as perky beautician Peggy Blomquist. We haven’t seen Dunst play a role this fun since the days of Drop Dead Gorgeous and Dick, and she nails it, giving Peggy both a manic dreamer’s spirit (she longs to escape the frozen fields of Minnesota for sunny California) and a frightening homicidal edge. Is it too early to push her for an Emmy nomination? Yeah, probably, but we’re doing it anyway.

Related: ‘Fargo’ Season 2 Preview: The Cast on ‘70s Hair, Minnesota Accents, and Ronald Reagan

And it wouldn’t be Fargo without a few murders, right? Twitchy criminal Rye Gerhardt (Kieran Culkin) — the black sheep of a local crime family — guns down three people in a Waffle Hut, then gets hit by Peggy’s car in a bit of cosmic justice. The diner scene is a masterclass in dramatic tension, with Rye first trying to threaten a local judge into doing his bidding, then pulling his pistol when she won’t cooperate. And a later scene in Peggy’s home, with her hapless husband Ed (Jesse Plemons) having to finish the job on Rye that Peggy’s car started, is even more gripping. Better watch out, Ed; your wife’s a real piece of work there.

What We Didn’t Like: The first hour of Fargo Season 2 was such a treat, it’s hard for us to find anything to complain about. But if we have to nitpick, let’s go back to the opening scene: a black-and-white flashback to the production of an old-timey MGM Western, Massacre at Sioux Falls. It’s a fun little fake-out — and another sign of how confident this season is — but we’d hate for a curious viewer to tune in, watch this for three minutes, mutter, “What the hell is this?” and change the channel.

Also — and it’s early, so this may end up being a emotionally resonant storyline — but does poor Cristin Milioti have to have a terminal illness in every TV show she appears in? Sorry, we’re still having bad flashbacks to that wretched How I Met Your Mother finale.

Our Burning Questions: What else is Peggy lying to her husband about? (Are we the only ones who think hitting Rye maybe wasn’t an accident?) Was that really a UFO Rye spotted in the sky before getting smacked by Peggy’s car? And will we get any further nods to Season 1? We wouldn’t mind catching a glimpse of Lorne Malvo, thirty years younger.

Fargo airs Mondays at 10 p.m. on FX.