‘Fargo Season’ Two Wrap-Up: Award Nominees Watches, Trivia, and Season Three Hints

This week marks the conclusion of Fargo’s second season on FX. Created by Noah Hawley, the anthology miniseries is already raking in award nominations, and for good reason.

For a 10 episode mini-series, Fargo moves fast, and it doesn’t give viewers much time to play catch up. To help you keep track of what exactly you finished watching and to give you an update on where the series is heading, we’ve compiled a Season Two wrap-up guide. From plot twists you missed to who’s favored come awards time, this cheat sheet will help you sort through the dense (and, at times, super confusing) world of Solversons, Gerhardts, Blumquists and aliens.

How did this begin again?

There are three things that made the madness of Season Two happen: the changing nature of Fargo’s organized crime syndicate, Rye Gerhardt’s impulsiveness, and Peggy’s bad driving.

After Otto Gerhardt’s stroke, the Gerhardt crime syndicate isn’t doing so well. The youngest son, Rye, decides to take the law into his own hands and ends up killing a judge, cook, and waitress in his attempt to bribe said judge. As he’s escaping the scene, Rye gets distracted by a passing UFO, and Peggy Blumquist (Kirsten Dusnt) accidentally hits the heir to a major crime empire. Cue epic Jeff Russo music.

So the UFO was real?

You betcha. As Decider’s own Olivia Armstrong caught well ahead of the critical curve, aliens are in fact real in Fargo. Though some have argued that the outer space visitors exist mainly as a well-earned plot device for Noah Hawley, it’s unlikely aliens were thrown in just for the fun of it. There was a “real-life” UFO encounter that happened in 1979 Minnesota that many fans have already pointed to, which nicely complements the show’s “Based on true events” claims. However, Episode Nine’s brief alien encounter was more powerful as a symbolic force than as an actual one.

In a way, that encounter represented the inexplicable and inevitable rules that hold Fargo’s chaotic universe together. EW’s Melissa Maerz has another, equally interesting interpretation of the series’ alien symbolism: it represents the realization that we are not the center of the universe.

Do you know what else this season was real? State Trooper Lou Solverson’s (Patrick Wilson) story about the man saving his family on the helicopter.

It felt like the body count was higher this season.

That’s not just you. It was higher by more than 20. Whereas Season One contained 42 deaths (21 of which occurred one afternoon at the hands of Lorne Malvo), Season Two featured 66 deaths. This is based off of the Fargo wiki and good old fashioned counting, so I realize I may be one or two off. Episode Nine’s police shootout with the Gerhardt clan was a little confusing.

Unsurprisingly, Season One’s most prominent killer was Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) with 34 kills. No one this season can take that bloody title away, but Season Two’s top killer was Hanzee Dent (Zahn McClarnon) with 18 kills. Additionally, five of those deaths were major characters (Wayne Kitchen, Joe Bulo, Dodd Gerhardt, Floyd Gerhardt, and Ed Blumquist). But what about the gang war breakdowns?

The Kansas City Mafia accounts for 18 of the season’s total deaths, with Mike Milligan and the Kitchen Brothers responsible for 15 of those. Meanwhile, the Gerhardt clan was responsible for 26 deaths, including one of their own (Simone) and not including Dent’s time off the Gerhardt chain.

Geez. Are there any main characters still alive?

Yep! Lou, Betsy (Cristin Milioti), Molly, and Sheriff Larsson (Ted Danson) all survived the Sioux Falls massacre. There were even some survivors on the other side of the law. Peggy and Charlie, the last remaining Gerhardt, are in jail, and Mike Milligan (Bokeem Woodbine) is unwillingly leading that corporate life. Oh, and Hanzee Dent (Zahn McClarnon) is still out there…sort of.

Wait, what’s going on with Dent?

You’ve already seen him before. During Fargo’s finale, “Palidrome,” Gerhardt righthand man, Hanzee Dent, mentions getting facial reconstructive surgery. Hanzee later becomes Season One’s Mr. Tripoli, the crime boss who ordered Lorne Malvo’s (Billy Bob Thorton) death. However, his time warping return to the Fargo universe was short lived. Malvo killed Mr. Tripoli in the next episode.

Though this piece of cannon has some fans saying “Well now,” Dent and Mr. Tripoli’s very specific orders are almost identical. The change is incredibly drastic, but in a show that had aliens casually stop by only one episode ago, it’s not out of the realm of possibility. After all, Dent did say he wanted a new life.

Who do I need to know for awards season?

A little bit of everyone, to be honest. The frontrunners are looking to be Jean Smart, who already nabbed a Critics Choice nomination, and Kirsten Dunst, who has received a Golden Globe and a Critic’s Choice nomination. Dunst’s fall into increasing insanity, and Smart’s portrayal of the Gerhardt matriarch wheeling and dealing against all odds are more than award worthy. However, don’t count the men out just yet.

While Patrick Wilson, our fearless and oh-so-handsome protagonist, has gained nominations from both awards as well. Meanwhile, Nick Offerman, Jesse Plemons, and Bokeem Woodbine are all competing for Best Supporting Actor in the Critics Choice Awards. My money is on Dunst, Smart, and long-shot Woodbine. Sure, Woodbine doesn’t have the name recognition of Offerman or Plemons, but what he does have is one of the most terrifying and innovative characters of 2015.

So what’s better? Season One or Season Two?

I depends on how you like your Midwestern crime story — quick with a small cast or building to a war. There wasn’t a central relationship as powerful as Lester (Martin Freeman) and Malvo’s, but there was more than enough bloodshed, betrayal, literary references, and great music. Check it out for yourself. Season One is on Hulu.

Any updates on Season Three?

Yes, but it’s a bittersweet one. According to Variety, show runner Noah Hawley doesn’t expect Season Three to air before 2017. The reasoning behind that timeframe is twofold. Fargo’s third season is going to be shot in the winter, making the crew dependent on the seasons, and Hawley is busy with other FX projects, including a Marvel sci-fi series called Legion and a miniseries adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle.

But we do know the timeline of Season Three. It will be set in 2010, four years after the events of Season One. Here’s hoping Allison Tolman will make another appearance.