Much like NBC's Hannibal, I was against the idea of FX doing a TV series based on a classic movie property when they announced a new version of the Coen brothers' classic, Fargo. I didn't dismiss the idea outright, but I was certainly leery. It wasn't a remake, nor a reimagining. It was simply to be a series done in the frozen noir style and tone of the movie. The upside? It was billed as a "limited event" series. Which is what networks call miniseries nowadays. So it would have an end. It wasn't designed to linger on longer than the set story demanded.

Billy Bob Hobbit

Allison Tolman as Molly.

Billy Bob Thornton as Malvo.

Lester Nysenberg

Polite Nods

This is a True Story...

Martin Freeman as Lester.

Zero Degrees Given

The downside? It was intended to replicate/pay homage to/add to/expand upon a piece of creative work that most everyone felt was perfect in its original form and on its own. Which is like looking at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and saying "Yeah, I could do something with that, for sure." Plus, there are so few works today that are original stories and not, say, something that's based on a comic book, book series, or previous movie franchise. So the feeling can sometimes be that those things from the past that were original and superb all on their own should remain untouched.Two different TV shows helped me get over my pre-judgey hump though. As it turned out, the aforementioned Hannibal, airing on NBC, is spectacular. And not only did it perfectly and poetically honor the original movies (and books), it's introduced us to nightmarish complexities we'd never even considered.The second show that gave me hope for Fargo was HBO's True Detective. No, it wasn't based on anything (it was actually original) but it was a "limited series" crime show with marquee names involved. And so even if Fargo hadn't gotten the "Fargo"-iness of it all right, we could probably expect a good, close-ended crime caper with fun actors.In the end, FX's Fargo (now with one more episode to go) turned out to be a revelation. Amazingly crafted, awesomely written, and wonderfully acted. Not only did it nail the Coen-y tone of the original movie, but its season was even filled with fun nods to it. Some subtle and some blatant. So here's why Fargo managed to work as a TV series.Fargo didn't just cast big name actors, like Martin Freeman and Billy Bob Thornton (Love, Actually reunion?), as primary characters, it filled its ranks with cool, quirky character actors like Oliver Platt, Keith Carradine, Adam Goldberg, and Colin Hanks. Plus, comedic performers like Glenn Howerton, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, and Bob Odenkirk (who's now TV famous from Breaking Bad). Doing this managed to bring a certain gravity to the series while introducing us to a relative unknown, Allison Tolman, who plays Molly Solverson. And then, after a few episodes, it became clear that the series was hers to own. It had become her Molly's more than most anyone else's.And certainly part of Fargo's ability to cast top-shelf talent came from the fact that it was a close-ended story. You're more likely to attract big stars if your story is meant to be finite. No one has to sign on for extra seasons and for those who sign up there's no worry about whether or not the show will get picked up for more. It's one of the reasons why "event series" are on the rise.But yeah, Fargo's cast is incredible. These are veteran performers who can deliver pages of dialogue with ease and make a conversation between two people in a diner feel more scary and threatening than a full-on gunfight.No one is even going to attempt to deny that Bryan Cranston's six-year transformation on Breaking Bad, from a mild-mannered teacher into ruthless meth lord, was anything short of awe-inspiring.BUT if you're looking for a quicker transformation - a faster darkening of the soul - Martin Freeman's Lester Nygard essentially pulled a "full Walter White" in the course of one season. No, he didn't get heavily involved in a criminal enterprise, but he did murder, and use murder, to advance his own weasley station in life. In fact, it was no sooner than the premiere episode that Lester, who'd been previosuly browbeaten by almost everyone in his life, found a new swell of confidence through violent, deplorable action. He was almost instantly addicted to "getting away with it."Of course, without a slow build from slouch to sadist there's also almost no empathy for Lester. We may have sided with Walter White for years as he struggled with his own conscience and morality but when it comes to Lester, we just kind of want to see the son of a bitch go down. At the hands of Molly Solverson. Because he's no anti-hero. The things he does are just wicked. Plus, he started off so weak-willed that he wasn't even someone we could root for before chose to sully his soul.Lester may not be layered with humanity, but Freeman's milquetoast-turned-murderer is good, devious fun. As is Thornton's "agent of chaos" Lorne Malvo. A man so calmly evil and treacherous that it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to imagine that he's the Devil incarnate. In fact, he's even stated as much on a few occasions.Fargo is filled to the brim with references and parallels to the original film. In fact, the two stories are meant to co-exist - the series taking place nineteen years after the sordid events from the movie. Oliver Platt's Stavros Milos actually found the money that Steve Buscemi's Carl buried in the snow and used it to start up a successful grocery chain. So the two tales are connected within the Fargo-verse.That connection aside though, there are characters, lines, and moments that the TV series directly lifts from the movie. Molly is the TV show's Marge, Lester is the show's Jerry, Numbers and Wrench are Carl and Gaear. A lot of the archetypes from the 1996 film are intact. But in no way does it ever take away from the series. Yes, despite direct pulls from the Coen brothers movie, the series manages to remain its own brilliant entity.Molly speaks to Wrench about the futility of violence the same way Marge spoke to Gaear. She talks to Gus the same way Marge talks to Norm. Gus' traffic stop of Malvo echoed the state trooper pulling over Carl. Even Lester had a scene that proved what an inept and ineffectual salesman he was. And the little references continued on like that for the whole season.The nods didn't stop with Fargo though. There's just an overall Coen Bros feel to the show, and echoes of everything from Blood Simple to No Country for Old Men (as felt in the penultimate episode's dance between Lester and Malvo). And so even if Malvo doesn't necessarily have a Fargo movie doppelgänger, there are elements to him that remind us of Anton Chigurh.Of course, none of this is a true story. But creator/writer Noah Hawley realized what the Coens had done by putting "This is a true story..." at the beginning of their movie. They'd created a sort of mutually agreed upon freedom with the audience. Things didn't have to play out standardly. Things didn't have to get neatly wrapped up. There was more creative breathing room.Which is why an episode like "The Heap" can include a lengthy speech from Bill about how he'd adopted a young man from Sudan. Or why riddles and folkisms can get brought up but never fully explained. It allows for interactions and musings that might not fit into the normal way of telling a story on TV. And why most every episode can be named after famous philosophical puzzles and paradoxes.As shown in the Coens' Fargo, the snowy, freezing terrain of Minnesota and the Dakotas is a tremendous backdrop for dark and violent behavior. As creator Hawley said back at Austin's ATX Festival last week, he loves the dichotomy. How families have somehow chosen to live in a place that's so wildly inhabitable. How there are big family chain restaurants aplenty, but that one could easily freeze to death in the parking lot.And, as with the movie, the TV show uses the landscape spectacularly. As well as the local customs and culture. It's that sort of "are they making fun of Minnesotans or honoring them?" deal. There's nothing quite like crime and punishment in a land known for politeness and pleasantries.Frozen lakes, icy windshields, and blinding blizzards are all a part of the wild, untamed tapestry. Where folks have decided to live beneath mounds of Gore-Tex in order to survive the lethal cold.

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/Showrenity