The Supernatural Aspect of Season 3 of ‘Fargo’ has been Revealed

So far, every season of Fargo has had a supernatural element. These supernatural elements typically appear near the climax of the season, affecting and altering the characters and plot in critical ways. Fargo season 3 however, has introduced a different type of supernatural element; one that no one saw coming. Our good friend and drinking buddy, Paul.

Yes, Ray Wise’s Paul, the one who was Gloria’s travel buddy to LA and also her drinking buddy in LA. It turns out that Paul is not just some wise, old bystander. He’s something else. What that is, I have no idea. But he’s certainly not fully of this world.

We see Paul showing up here to give Nikki a sense of closure, presenting her with an adorable kitten named Ray. Paul then gives Nikki some solid biblical anecdotes, a whole ton of other tautologies and metaphors, and sends her out on a trip for revenge and justice. If the torture of Emmit at the end of the episode was a part of that, I cannot wait to see what is next.

It looks like Paul is some sort of moral-revenge type figure, as he instantly recognizes Yuri and reminds him of the sins of his people. Who knows what happened to Yuri? All we know is that he never came back. WHAT DID YOU DO PAUL? (Also, Paul is kind of a lame name for a supernatural figure, no offense to any Paul’s out there. Unless this is Paul like the guy who supposedly wrote half the New Testament Paul. Wait a minute…)

I would’ve never expected the supernatural element of this season to be a person, or at least some type of being that can disguise itself as a person. Given the elements of the past and the appearance of Mr. Wrench from season 1 reminding us that this is a connected universe, I can only wonder if all of this is somehow connected.

It could be the case that all of these are completely separate supernatural occurrences, but I find that unlikely. It’s not surprising that in Fargo’s most Twin Peak-esque episode yet, we start to see the influences of Twin Peaks on the show. As if it wasn’t enough to cast Ray Wise and have him play some sort of supernatural figure already.

I expect all of this to be connected somehow, in some way. I doubt ‘Fargo’ will ever reveal what that is, but it is extremely fun to speculate. Who’s to say that Paul is the only supernatural element this season? Maybe Ray is really haunting Emmit. You can never know for sure with this show, and I absolutely love it.

P.S. This was EASILY the best episode of the season thus far, and it moved the plot along monumentally. The animal imagery, the litany of metaphors, that entire opening sequence and subsequent 15 or so minutes when Nikki and Mr. Wrench were on the run — just brilliant. I can’t wait for what is next.