I think we need a thread just for pictures of Martin in an under vest. 

Just kidding.  Well, kinda not.  LOL

Not sure how dude got out of the basement but I do believe the reason he left was because the other cops had showed up.  I was really shocked when he killed the chief.  When Molly went to tell his wife..............most heartbreaking moment of the episode.

But Lester certainly didn't think of that sort of help when he called him. He wanted him to help him get rid of his wife's body.  

Sherlock Holmes wrote:

This = just yes!
 

I love the first episode so much.  It usually takes me a few episodes to sink into the world and get to know the characters before I feel truly engaged in a show, but Fargo was one of the few where I felt immersed right away. 

As of right now, my favorite character is Molly.  She's adorable.  She's already been shown to be very bright and good at her job and I like seeing her become a little more confident in her abilities throughout the episode and the pride you could see on her face when her mentor told her that she'd make a great chief someday.  I think the writers were trying to tug at our heartstrings with the pregnant wife business, but I felt the most sad for Molly when he died.  She's going to have her job cut out for her given the incompetence of everyone else around her.

I had two favorite scenes.  The first was Lorne going to Sam's warehouse and telling him, "I just wanted to have a look at you."  So creepy.  The other was the last scene between Molly and Lou where he's just being a dad.  "...people in this world are less inclined to shoot a hostess than, say, an officer of the law."  Awww.    A good father/daughter relationship always gets me in the heart and I love the small glimpse we got of theirs in this episode.

The most uncomfortable scene was definitely the scene between Lester and Sam.  Ugh.  I do think they made Sam too much of a one-dimensional over-the-top villain (see also: Pearl), but Martin's acting in that scene was fantastic.  It was almost unbearable to watch.  A lot of people are disturbed by the violence/gore of the show, and fair enough, but it was the relentless bullying that made me squirm.  

The two biggest laughs for me were both at wildly inappropriate moments (as they should be in something Coen-esque): the "oh yeahs" from the girl Sam was having sex with and Lester's face just before/as he takes the hammer to his wife. 

I somehow forgot that Bob Odenkirk was in this and didn't recognize him when he first appeared on screen.  I was delighted when I realized who he was. 

Are future episodes going to be shorter then?

Noah Hawley talked about that briefly at the Paley Center Q&A.  I don't have any direct quotes (sorry) but the gist of it was that they edited the first episode and it ran long - 68 minutes when an hour long drama on US television is 47 minutes.  The network didn't ask them to edit it down any further and instead gave them a 90 minute slot.  He said that FX carried on that way with all ten episodes and didn't hold them to a standard running time.  I don't think he said how many of their episodes ran long though.

I also love seeing Keith Carradine again,   as Molly's ex-cop dad,  wisely out of law enforcement,
running the diner..   I really enjoyed the first episode.      I enjoy how the over-the-top accents and
over-the-top cold are almost characters themselves.

stoertebeker wrote:

Can anybody explain me what it is with the wound on Lester's right hand? He seemed shocked when he looked at it at the end of the episode. I suppose I missed something .

He was hit by a stray shotgun pellet when Malvo shot Thurman which is bad considering he wants people to believe he was unconscious in the basement when two people were murdered in his home.