Fargo‘s fifth chapter may have only recently aired on FX, but when it comes to the anthology series’ future, creator and showrunner Noah Hawley isn’t giving up quite yet.
“Yeah, I mean I definitely think there should be another one,” Hawley told TV Insider when we caught up with the creative to discuss Fargo‘s Year 5 run. “I’ve been a little busy making Alien, and I know that that’s a priority for FX.”
Hawley is currently the creator behind the network’s forthcoming earth-set Alien spinoff series, Alien: Earth, which even features Fargo alums like David Rysdahl and Timothy Olyphant. “The timetable is sort of up to them really when they would get it,” Hawley added. In other words, Hawley isn’t done with Fargo, it’s just a matter of when it will be back that remains a question.
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When asked whether he’d consider connecting a new chapter with previous entries like he’s done before, Hawley said, “If it’s organic, I always think that that’s interesting for an audience. As we introduced in Season 2, the big book of [The History of True Crime in the Midwest] has all these stories in there and it’s not a huge region.”
“We’ve moved through the ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s; there might be some overlap [but] I don’t tend to bring back characters just because it begins to be a little less realistic,” Hawley continued. “But certainly, if there’s a way to do it, I’m always happy to see my friends again.”
An opportunity was definitely posed in Year 5 with the introduction of a character like Ole Munch (Sam Spruell), who turned out to be a centuries-old sin-eater. “Who doesn’t want to watch the Ole Munch-Lorne Malvo team up in Season 19 or whatever? But yeah, it’s a buddy cop show,” Hawley joked, referencing the new character and Billy Bob Thornton‘s Season 1 baddie.
According to the showrunner, “After Season 2, [executive producer] Warren Littlefield came to me and said, ‘We’ve got to do the Patrick Wilson-Lou Solverson show, that is a television show.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, but if I do that, I can’t say it’s a true story, and then we’ve basically blown up this whole thing,’ as much as I love Patrick and would’ve loved to make that TV show.”
As fans know, Fargo‘s opening always includes the line “This is a true story,” when in fact, elements may be inspired by true stories but are not strictly adhering to any one particular person’s story in reality. Still, Hawley acknowledges how this element has hindered the possibility of spinoffs, like the one mentioned, above. “And so the things you could have had, America, that I kept from you,” he added jokingly.
Stay tuned for any possible news about Fargo‘s future as we await word on a Season 6 renewal, and let us know if you’d like to see the anthology return in the comments section, below.
FX’s Fargo, Streaming now, Hulu