Why ‘Fargo’ should be the first thriller you watch on Hulu
Why ‘Fargo’ should be the first thriller you watch on Hulu
The anthology crime series keeps reinventing itself with epic villains, wild twists, and some of the best storytelling in modern TV.
If you just signed up for Hulu and you’re looking for a thriller to watch right off the bat, I’ve got an easy recommendation. Hulu actually has a pretty deep lineup of thrillers, but the one series that really shows off what the platform can do in the prestige TV space is “Fargo.” This show has been quietly delivering incredible seasons for more than a decade, constantly reinventing itself while still feeling unmistakably like “Fargo.” The show is funny, brutal, unpredictable, and packed with great performances. Here’s why “Fargo” is the first thriller series you should watch when you sign up for Hulu.
Top thriller TV show to stream first when you sign up for Hulu
Why ‘Fargo’ is the must-watch thriller on Hulu
“Fargo” feels different from almost every other crime show out there. The series is inspired by the Coen Brothers movie of the same name, but instead of the creator, Noah Hawley, just copying that story, it expands the whole world. Each season tells a completely new crime story set somewhere in the American Midwest, usually involving ordinary people making one terrible decision that spirals into absolute chaos.
And if you’ve seen the original movie, you know that the real magic trick is the tone. One minute, something incredibly dark is happening (usually involving an ax or a knife or a hammer), and the next minute someone is saying “oh geez” in the most polite Minnesota accent imaginable. That mix of comedy and sudden, brutal violence gives the show a personality you really don’t see anywhere else in the thriller genre.
Another reason this show works so well is that it keeps reinventing itself. Every season has a new cast, a new crime, and a slightly different flavor. Season 1 is still legendary, with Billy Bob Thornton playing one of the most unsettling villains TV has seen in years and Martin Freeman slowly unraveling as a man who makes one terrible choice after another. Season 2 somehow topped it for a lot of people, expanding the story into a huge 1970s crime saga with Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons caught in the middle of a gang war. And then there’s Season 5, which is one of my personal favorites. Juno Temple plays a seemingly ordinary housewife with a secret past, while Jon Hamm shows up as a terrifying small-town sheriff who refuses to let her escape. It’s tense, weird, funny, and totally gripping.
“Fargo” has been a really important show for Hulu, especially early on when the platform was still defining itself. When the first season exploded, Hulu quickly locked down the streaming rights, which immediately gave the service a prestige thriller that people were talking about everywhere. At a time when Netflix had “House of Cards” and HBO Max had “True Detective,” Hulu could point to “Fargo” and say it had a top-tier crime drama too. The show ended up winning major awards, including the Emmy for Outstanding Miniseries and a Golden Globe for Billy Bob Thornton’s performance. More importantly, critics and audiences keep showing up season after season because the storytelling continues to be bold and unpredictable.
I don’t really care about the awards, though. I watch this show because it’s just ridiculously fun to watch. The deeper you get into a season, the more the storylines start colliding in ways you never quite see coming. Small-town cops cross paths with mobsters, criminals make unbelievably bad decisions, and characters who seem harmless suddenly become the most dangerous people in the room. The writing loves to play with fate and coincidence, and sometimes the story will take a bizarre left turn that somehow makes the whole thing even better. It’s a smart TV, and it’s the perfect thriller to start with when you’re scrolling Hulu for the first time.
Fargo
A close-knit anthology series dealing with stories involving malice, violence and murder based in and around Minnesota.
Watch the trailer for ‘Fargo’
What is ‘Fargo’ about?
“Fargo” is an anthology crime series where each season tells a new story connected by tone, setting, and a shared sense that something strange is always lurking beneath everyday Midwestern life. The show usually begins with an ordinary situation that somehow turns violent, pulling small-town residents, law enforcement, and criminals into a web of lies, violence, and bad decisions.
While the characters and time periods change every season, the stories all explore the same themes of greed, morality, and fate. The result is a thriller that feels fresh every time while still carrying the same dark humor and snowy noir atmosphere that defines the “Fargo” universe.
Other must-stream thriller shows on Hulu
If “Fargo” hooks you and you’re in the mood to stay in that tense, character-driven thriller lane, Hulu has some really strong follow-ups. “The Americans” is one of the best spy dramas ever made, following two Soviet agents living undercover as a suburban American couple during the Cold War.
“Under the Banner of Heaven” leans into psychological crime drama, with Andrew Garfield playing a detective unraveling a murder tied to religious extremism. And “Alien: Earth” brings some sci-fi horror energy to the thriller lineup.
Hulu
Hulu is a video streaming service that gives access to thousands of full seasons of exclusive series, hit movies, kids shows, and Hulu Originals like “Only Murders in the Building,” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.”