Every new season of Fargo begins with the phrase 'based on a true story,' and every time, it’s little more than a joke. But in Season 5, things are slightly different. Hard to believe, but the story of Dorothy, who’s hiding from her ex-husband, is actually the closest to the truth — but only because it almost exactly mirrors the plot of the Coen brothers’ film!
- The 1996 film: inspired by a real murder (a woman really was killed using a wood chipper), but all other details are fictional.
- Season 5: same setup — kidnapping, car salesman, greedy relatives. But Hawley openly admits that it’s 100% made up, just stylized to look like a 'true story.'
So yes, it’s the 'most real' season — but only because it best parodies the original Coen lie. A brilliant hoax in the spirit of: "We fooled you again, and you believed it again."
