Fargo Season 5: What Time Period Will The Story Take Place?

After a three-year hiatus, "Fargo" returns in November to tell a brand-new story about crime and corruption. The previous four installments of Noah Hawley's anthology series have set their twisted tales in various time periods, ranging from the 1950s to the 1970s to the mid-2000s. Season 5 will be no different, but this will be the FX series' most modern outing yet.

According to Entertainment Weekly, "Fargo" Season 5 takes place in 2019, and the action will oscillate between Minnesota and North Dakota. The story centers around Dorothy "Dot" Lyon (Juno Temple), a housewife who must confront her dark past after encountering legal trouble. This puts her back on the radar of Sheriff Roy Tillman (Jon Hamm), who's out to ensure justice is served.

"Fargo" Season 5's locations are a callback to the Coen Brothers' original movie, which tells the story of a Minnesotan car dealer who travels to North Dakota for nefarious matters. Furthermore, the more recent time period and intimate story should come as good news to fans who didn't enjoy Season 4.

For the most part, Noah Hawley's "Fargo" has told small-scale stories about crime. Season 4, however, shifted the action to 1950s Kansas for a more sprawling story about organized crime. It lacked the element of seemingly regular people turning to the dark side, which some fans believe was too much of a departure from the "Fargo" they know and love.

"The small-town crime story with mystical elements and intimate portraits of interesting characters isn't there," Redditor u/mcbunn wrote. This view is shared by u/JonOrangeElise, who believes the series lost its way in Season 4. "Like someone else commented, there's no obvious "normal person" slowly falling into a well of corruption. That's a theme that should never be lost season to season."

"Fargo" Season 5 seems set to please fans who want a more low-key crime caper. The story follows a housewife who's running from a mysterious past, suggesting that the show will return to the philosophy of telling stories about normal people getting involved in abnormal matters. Furthermore, the 2019 time period is closer to the 21st-century settings of Seasons 1 and 3, both of which were warmly received by audiences.