Noah Hawley’s Fargo miniseries was one of the most unexpected delights of television this year, so it’s no wonder we’re keen to hear more about where the show will go from here now that FX has renewed it for a second season. Today, it was revealed that Hawley has begun casting for the next iteration of Fargo, adding Burn Notice‘s Jeffrey Donovan and Rachel Keller (Hollidaysburg) to what will be an ensemble cast. Additionally, he’s sent an offer out to Parks and Recreation actor Nick Offerman.
Hawley previously intrigued us by saying that the series will be set in 1979, with some of the same characters from season 1 returning, albeit much younger and played by different actors. Donovan has been set to play a character named Dodd, while Keller has been set to play Simone. If Offerman responds in the affirmative, he’ll play Carl.
Mike Bradecich and Allan Dobrescu have also landed roles, though we don’t even have names for their characters yet.
Fargo Season 2 will explore the infamous Sioux Falls incident often mentioned but never explained during the show’s first season. Lou Solverson (father of Molly, season 1’s lead character) will serve as the main protagonist, though Lou will appear differently than viewers previously saw him. Keith Carradine will no longer play the character, and when the second season opens, Lou will be a 33-year-old veteran of the Vietnam War. Molly’s mother plays a role in the season as well, and Molly is also back, though she’s only four years old.
Over the summer, during the TCA press tour, Hawley spoke a little about setting the season in a post-Vietnam America:
That time period is interesting — post-Vietnam, post-Watergate … the best of America versus worst. That sense, I think, that this war had come home with people, and the violence and brutality of it. Lou Salverson went to Vietnam and came home, but now he’s come back and it’s here — it’s domestic.
The earliest we could see Fargo return would be the fall of 2015, so let’s keep our fingers crossed that the wait will be worth it.