‘Fargo’ Series Premiere Highlights & Recap: Top 10 Spoilers

Tonight was the 10-episode series premiere of the long-awaited television show Fargo. The new show emulates the movie, as its synopsis reads:

An original adaptation of the Academy Award®-winning feature film, Fargo features an all-new “true crime” story and follows a new case and new characters, all entrenched in the trademark humor, murder and “Minnesota nice” that made the film an enduring classic.

Have a look at all the best moments, highlights, and full recap from the very first episode below.

1. This Is a True Story

The opening to the series starts out by saying that the series is a true story, that names have been changed to protect the survivors as well as those who passed away. After this, Billy Bob Thornton’s character Lorne Malvo is driving down a dark road and hits a deer, swerving off the road. He crashes his car and his trunk pops open. Out of the trunk pops a heavy-set man in his boxers who runs away into the woods. Malvo gets out of the car and calmly watches the poor deer take its last breaths.

2. The Character Sam Hess Bullies Lester

After a short chat at their breakfast table, Lester Nygaard and his wife are introduced to viewers. Then, Nygaard heads into work where he deters a couple from buying insurance by unintentionally scaring them away.

While Lester is window-shopping, along comes his bully Sam and his two sons. Sam proceeds to call Lester names and insult Lester by saying that he fooled around with his wife in high school. He then proceeds to call him a rat face and a pencil dick. With this, Lester tries to leave and Sam stops him, telling his sons how he used to beat up Lester when they were in school. Then, out of nowhere, Sam smashes Lester’s face into a nearby window and Lester lands in the hospital sitting next to Lorne Malvo.

3. Malvo Says He Would Have Killed a Man Who Tried to Bully Him

Upon seeing Lester’s face in the hospital waiting room, Malvo asks him what happened and Lester starts to tell him that it was just a misunderstanding. As Malvo moves to a closer seat, Lester reveals to him that it was three against one and that he was beaten up in front of a bully’s children. When Malvo hears the full story, he tells Lester that he would have killed Sam.

As Lester and Malvo continue to discuss Sam’s bullying, Lester loosely talks to Malvo about murdering Sam. Malvo turns it into a more serious conversation and Lester becomes very worked up, not knowing whether to take Malvo up on the possible offer or not.

4. The Police Come Across Malvo’s Abandoned Vehicle

As a male and female police officer discover Malvo’s abandoned car, they investigate the blood on the steering wheel and end up finding the dead deer in the trunk. Then, the two cops, Molly and Vern, notice footprints leading from the car to the woods. They follow the footsteps and end up finding the frozen corpse of the man who had escaped from Malvo’s trunk.

Vern Thurman retreats to his house and we meet his wife who is very pregnant and fixing dinner. The two have a pleasant meal and we get a glimpse into Thurman’s life outside of work.

5. Malvo Kills Sam Hess

Malvo shows up at Sam’s business and comes upon his two boys who are bickering. When Sam comes down the stairs to see who Malvo is, Malvo tells him that he thinks one of his sons is slow. He then asks Malvo what he wants and Malvo says, “I just wanted to have a look at you … Okay. That’ll do it.”

Later on, Malvo follows Sam Hess to a strip club and keeps a close eye on him. Hess takes one of the strippers to the back and begins to have sex with her doggy-style. As the two are having sex, Malvo stabs him in the back of the head, he falls on top of the stripper and he dies.

Click the “Next Page” button below to see some footage from the new series, to hear about Lester killing his wife, and more.

6. Lester Punches His Brother

The Nygaards go over to Lester’s brother’s house for dinner and his brother reveals that he thinks his son may be autistic. He then shows Lester his big shotgun collection and his illegal machine gun in his garage. When Lester tries to hold it, he drops it and completely breaks it. As a result, Lester’s brother gets angry and fires at him saying that his wife has even had enough of him lately. He then digs the knife a little deeper by saying that sometimes he tells people that Lester is dead because he’s embarrassed.

It cuts to the next scene of Lester and his wife Pearl in their car as Pearl is scolding Lester for apparently hitting his brother.

7. Sam Hess’s Wife Gina Is Furious That He Cheated on Her

When hearing the news that her husband died while having sex with someone else, she says that she’s going to sing at his funeral. She then begins to cry and the phone rings. Malvo calls the house to speak with one of Hess’s sons, pretending to be Hess’s lawyer. He then tells Hess’s son that his father intended to leave all of his estate to the other son Mo. This enrages him and he takes Mo outside to beat him with a hockey stick. The police arrive and stop him.

8. Police Start Connecting the Dots on Sam Hess’s Murder

Lester is told at work to pull out Sam Hess’s insurance policy and then gets hit with the news that he was killed. Lester is shocked and meets up with Malvo at a diner to ask Malvo if he actually killed Hess. Malvo then tries to turn things around on Lester, saying that it was he who made the decision to kill Hess.

Police officer Molly continues to investigate the case of the abandoned vehicle and the Sam Hess murder. She then starts to think that the two cases are connected after hearing that Lester and an unidentified man with a head injury (Malvo) were talking about Sam Hess in the hospital just a day prior to his death.

9. Lester Kills His Wife

Lester’s wife begins to emasculate him. When he tries to fix their washing machine, she tells him that he’s not a man and that she doesn’t even know why she married him. He tells her to take back her mean words and she continues to provoke him. When Lester threatens her with a hammer, she basically laughs in his face. He then strikes her in the forehead and kills her, but that wasn’t enough. He hits her in the head with the hammer over and over again as she lies on the basement floor.

In a panic, Lester calls Malvo for help and he agrees to come to Lester’s aid. Lester loads a shotgun for protection as he awaits Malvo’s arrival, ready to pin the murder on Malvo. Then, to Lester’s surprise, officer Thurman shows up at his door.

10. Vern Thurman Gets Shot to Death by Malvo

In order to further investigate the Sam Hess case, Vern Thurman shows up at Nygaard household to speak with Lester. He then sees blood in the hallway and discovers Pearl’s dead body. As he begins to request for backup, Malvo appears and shoots him with Lester’s shotgun. Thurman’s partner Molly shows up to find Thurman dead. She then calls for help on her radio and begins to investigate the house as Lester is freaking out in the basement. All of a sudden, Lester gets an idea. He runs into the wall and knocks himself out so that when Molly goes down into the basement, she believes he is also a victim.

Sadly, Molly is forced to break the news of Thurman’s death to his pregnant wife. Then the screen flashes to Duluth, Minnesota where we meet officer Gus Grimly, played by Colin Hanks. Grimly ends up pulling over Malvo for speeding and Malvo warns Grimly that he should just get back in his cop car. When Grimly asks Malvo to step out of the car, Malvo asks him about his kid, which angers Grimly. Malvo then tells Grimly once again that he should retreat and let him leave peacefully so that he’s still alive to see his daughter. Malvo rolls up his window and drives away.