Patrick Wilson is back again as Ed Warren alongside Vera Farmiga‘s Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring: Last Rites, the latest horror installment from the beloved horror franchise that’s been a huge box office sensation. Wilson’s right at home in the horror genre. He’s the ultimate, modern-day Scream King between his starring roles in both The Conjuring and Insidious franchises, and is one of horror’s most valuable actors.
He can make a single eyebrow raise feel ominous and has a calming aura in the face of extraordinary evil. Even though it wasn’t horror, Noah Hawley‘s brilliant series Fargo allowed Wilson to completely immerse himself in situations of suspense and violence, and it’s some of his best work to date in a performance that continues to fly under the radar.
What Is Season 2 of the FX Crime Series ‘Fargo’ About?
Fargo Season 2 had a tough act to follow after the heralded Season 1, starring Billy Bob Thorntonin an Emmy-Award winning performance as a psychopathic hitman, and Allison Tolmanas the Minnesota cop hunting him down. Created by Noah Hawley, the anthology crime series is based on the film of the same name from 1996, which was written and directed by The Coen Brothers. Over the course of Fargo‘s five seasons, Hawley has created beautiful, sprawling nightmares of crime and greed across the vast Midwest landscape. Led by a fantastic Wilson, Season 2 remains Fargo‘s most violent and wild installment, with quirky, colorful characters played by Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Cristin Milioti, and Jean Smart, to name a few.
Set in the winter of 1979 in Minnesota and North Dakota, Fargo Season 2 is a sleek, stylish period piece that takes no prisoners. It all starts with Kieran Culkin in his most unhinged role yet as the crazed Rye Gerhardt, the youngest member of the notorious North Dakota crime family. Rye wants to prove his worth to the family, and proceeds to shoot up an entire diner in a small Minnesota town in an attempt to blackmail a prevalent judge. He then gets killed in a hit-and-run while fleeing the scene by the local hairdresser, Peggy (Dunst). Peggy then convinces her husband, the butcher, Ed (Plemons), to help cover it up.
But, nothing is kept secret long from the observant state trooper, Lou Solverson (Wilson), who responds to the murders at the diner and solves the case with the help of Rock County Sheriff, Hank Larsson (Ted Danson). As they gather suspects, the matriarch of the Gerhardts, Floyd (Smart), leads a witch hunt to find those responsible for murdering her youngest son, and simultaneously enters a territory war with a fellow Kansas City crime syndicate. The sprawling cast also features Nick Offerman, Brad Garrett, Bokeem Woodbine, and Zach McClarnon in Fargo’s most ambitious saga to date.
Patrick Wilson Plays an Earnest State Trooper Hunting Down the Mafia in ‘Fargo’
It was no small feat for Wilson to lead the sprawling cast of Fargo as state trooper Lou Solverson and to be the steady anchor in the twisty season. Wilson plays the younger version of Keith Carradine from Season 1, a retired state trooper in present day who runs a local coffee shop with a limp, due to the time he became involved with one of the state’s most brutal massacres in 1979. In Season 2, we get to see why Carradine’s Lou had a striking wisdom and taste for spotting bad guys, as he aided his daughter Molly (Tolman) in a confounding murder mystery over the course of Season 1. It’s a fantastic origin story of an unlikely hero, and Wilson had both the humility and earnest charm to play the young, unassuming Lou.
No secret can be hidden from Lou. Even if it’s frozen in the ice, it will thaw, thanks to his disarming kindness that can get the toughest suspects to sweat. Wilson is the embodiment of Midwest nice as a restrained Minnesota trooper, and says dirty words with a smile on his face as he deals out threats to North Dakota crime families and murderous butchers. In a tense showdown with Gerhardt mafia member, Dodd (Jeffrey Donovan), he toys around with the hotheaded brother by insulting his mother, and Wilson oozes charm out onto the snow as he practically purrs the line. When everyone else panics, he remains completely cool, which becomes a crucial trait as the season continues.
As no one can solve the disappearance of crime family member, Rye Gerhardt, Lou begins to suspect the sweet local couple of Peggy and Ed in a hit-and-run gone wrong. Played by Dunst and Plemons, they are fantastic as edgy murder suspects that are in way over their head, and their scenes with Wilson are gripping, tense confrontations. One of Wilson’s greatest scenes is when he visits Peggy and Ed in the nerve-wracking Episode 4, “Fear and Trembling.” It’s a stand-out interrogation scene, and the three leads of the series take the show to new heights, which is partially why it’s still regarded as the series’ best season.
Patrick Wilson Is the Master of Suspense and Tension in ‘Fargo’
“Fear and Trembling,” is a masterclass in suspense, led by Wilson. Warm blue eyes delivering chilling news makes Lou an anomaly of a detective, as he warns Peggy and Ed that they may already be dead. Wilson turns a supposedly friendly conversation in a cute Minnesota living room into a moment of horror, and his sinister, Scream King qualities come to the forefront in a foreboding warning. He delivers Hawley’s fantastic line of, “You still think it’s Tuesday,” as a death sentence to the couple, as he lets them know they got involved with a dangerous crime syndicate.
He brings the dread of a grim reaper into Peggy and Ed’s cozy home, and Wilson’s restraint in doing so is what makes Lou such a stand-out character amidst the madness. When Dunst and Plemons nervously tell him they have nothing to hide, Wilson’s response is a smile and a simple, “Okay.” But, it’s more so a tragic check mate, in realizing there is nothing he can do to save the psychopathic-leaning hairdresser and meek butcher. It remains the best interrogation scene in Fargo, and it’s all thanks to Wilson, who never loses his Midwest manners while delivering polite threats over a burning fireplace.
Season 2 of Fargo is a never-ending game of cat and mouse, played tirelessly right up until the end as Peggy and Ed fight for their lives. Just as Lou predicted, they’re marked for death, and the following episodes are at once a slow-burn and relentless parade of action across 10 meticulous episodes. At the end of the day, Lou is just a family man, and Wilson plays him as such by giving an unexpectedly sweet, sensitive performance while bloody carnage unfolds. It would be remiss not to menton Cristin Milioti’s crackling performance as his cancer-stricken wife, Betsy, who is the brain behind his investigation and moral compass. Whether Lou is doting on her as she cooks up eggs in the kitchen, or he enthusiastically reads a book to his daughter before bed, he carries a disarming vulnerability to the very end, and it’s more dangerous than any bullet.
