Fargo season 5

The fifth season of Fargo, an American anthology black comedy crime drama television series created by Noah Hawley, premiered on November 21, 2023, on FX. It consists of 10 episodes. Originally, the season was scheduled to premiere in September 2023, but was delayed due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes.

As an anthology, each Fargo season possesses its own self-contained narrative, following a disparate set of characters in various settings and eras, albeit in a shared universe. This is, however, the first season of the series to not have any remote connection to either a previous season or to the film, though it makes several homages to the latter. It is set in Minnesota and North Dakota in the fall of 2019. It stars Juno Temple as Dorothy "Dot" Lyon, a seemingly typical Midwestern housewife living in Scandia, Minnesota, whose mysterious past comes back to haunt her after she inadvertently lands herself in hot water with the authorities. Jon Hamm stars as North Dakota Sheriff Roy Tillman, who has been searching for Dot for over a decade. Other cast members include Jennifer Jason Leigh as Dot's wealthy, arrogant mother-in-law, Lorraine Lyon, David Rysdahl as Wayne Lyon, Dot's loving husband and the only child of Lorraine, Joe Keery as sheriff's deputy Gator Tillman, Roy's loyal but feckless son, Lamorne Morris as North Dakota State Trooper Witt Farr, Richa Moorjani as Scandia police deputy Indira Olmstead, Sam Spruell as a mysterious drifter named Ole Munch, Sienna King as Scotty Lyon, the 9-year-old daughter of Dot and Wayne, and Dave Foley as Danish Graves, Lorraine's in-house attorney and "fixer".

The season has been met with positive critical reviews with many critics calling it a return to form with the show and favorably comparing it to the first two seasons. The season was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards for Best Miniseries or Television Film and Best Actor and Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film for Hamm and Temple, respectively.

Main

 * Juno Temple as Dorothy "Dot" Lyon / Nadine Tillman (née Bump), a seemingly ordinary housewife from Scandia, Minnesota, who is haunted by her past after accidentally coming to the attention of authorities following a middle school board meeting gone wrong
 * Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lorraine Lyon, Dot's wealthy, arrogant mother-in-law; known as the "Queen of Debt", she is the billionaire CEO of "Redemption Services", the largest debt collection agency in the U.S.
 * David Rysdahl as Wayne Lyon, Dot's loving and respectful, yet often passive husband, who owns a small Kia car dealership
 * Joe Keery as Gator Tillman, Roy's brash son, deputy and protege who's eager to prove his worth to his father
 * Lamorne Morris as Whitley "Witt" Farr, a North Dakota state trooper who encounters Dot during her escape from kidnappers and becomes embroiled in the ensuing investigation
 * Richa Moorjani as Indira Olmstead, a Scandia deputy with financial troubles who investigates Dot's kidnapping and later becomes suspicious of her story
 * Sam Spruell as Ole Munch, a mysterious criminal-for-hire who holds vendettas against both Dot and Tillman, and who is also a 500-year-old sin-eater originally from Wales
 * Dave Foley as Danish Graves, Lorraine's in-house attorney and loyal right-hand man
 * Sienna King as Scotty Lyon, Dot and Wayne's tomboy 9-year-old daughter
 * Jon Hamm as Sheriff Roy Tillman, a corrupt rancher serving as the constitutional sheriff of Stark County, North Dakota who is also Dot's abusive ex-husband from 11 years prior

Recurring

 * Lukas Gage as Lars Olmstead, Indira's feckless husband, an aspiring pro golfer
 * Nick Gomez as Tony Joaquin, a Fargo-based FBI agent who is investigating Roy's abuse of power
 * Jessica Pohly as Agent Meyer, Joaquin's partner at the FBI
 * Rebecca Liddiard as Karen Tillman, Roy's current (and third) wife
 * Michael Copeman as Odin Little, Karen's father and a local militia leader
 * Kudjo Fiakpui as Jerome, Lorraine's bodyguard
 * Jan Bos as Wink Lyon, Lorraine's husband and Wayne's father, a mild-mannered alcoholic with an interest in historic military engagements
 * James Madge as Mick Thigpen, the attorney general of Minnesota, who is a friend of Lorraine
 * Conrad Coates as Bowman, foreman of the Tillman Ranch and Roy's right-hand man
 * Sally Bishop as Brandy, an associate of Gator
 * Erik Ermantrout as Pace, an associate of Gator
 * Stephen Joffe as Lemley, an associate of Gator
 * Clare Coulter as Irma, an elderly woman whose house Munch installs himself in
 * Steven McCarthy as Jordan Seymore, a cancer patient at Walter Mondale Medical Center
 * Paul McGillion as Captain Muscavage, Indira's boss at the Scandia Police Department

Guest

 * Devon Bostick as Donald Ireland, a freelance criminal Munch hires for assistance on a job
 * Brendan Fletcher as Gun World Clerk
 * Jason Schwartzman as Narrator ("The Tiger")
 * Kari Matchett as Linda Tillman, Roy's first wife and Gator's mother

Development
On the day of the fourth season's finale, "Storia Americana", series creator Noah Hawley was questioned about a potential fifth season. He said, "The danger is always that you're going to stay at the dance a little too long. So I have to put a lot of it in place in my head and really make sure that it's worthy of joining these 41 hours. I don't want to try and make another one unless I think, 'Oh, we have to make this one. It's the best one yet. By March 2021, Hawley said "I'll get to it in the next year."

In February 2022, FX officially renewed the series for a fifth season. Hawley said that the season would be more "comedic" in tone, saying "It's always a balance between how dramatic versus comedic it is, and this is the more comedic end of the spectrum. I really love it."

Casting
In June 2022, Juno Temple, Jon Hamm and Jennifer Jason Leigh were confirmed as main cast members for the season. In August 2022, Joe Keery, Lamorne Morris and Richa Moorjani joined the series.

In October 2022, David Rysdahl, Sam Spruell, Jessica Pohly and Nick Gomez joined the season. The following month, Dave Foley was confirmed to appear, while Lukas Gage also joined in January 2023.

Filming
Filming for the season started on October 17, 2022 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Marketing
On October 25, 2023, FX Networks released the season's full trailer.

Broadcast
The season premiered on FX on November 21, 2023, with the first two episodes, with the rest debuting weekly. It was originally scheduled to premiere in September 2023, but was delayed due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 93% based on 54 reviews, with an average rating of 8.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "A back-to-basics caper populated by the likes of a mesmerizing Juno Temple and a thick slice of Hamm, Fargo's fifth season is a superb return to peak form." On Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".