My husband has started watching the Fargo TV series, which began its first season this past month, and after watching the pilot episode, he declared that I had to start watching it. Why? Because a reel librarian shows up in the first five minutes of the pilot episode!
The series stars Martin Freeman as hapless insurance man Lester Nygaard, and Billy Bob Thornton as drifter Lorne Malvo. (And by the way, most of the action is set in Bemidji, Minnesota, and it is set in 2006, ten years after the events in the Fargo 1996 film.)
In the first episode, “The Crocodile’s Dilemma,” we first meet Lester in his house, and his wife is berating him for being a poor salesman. We then see Lester at work, sitting at his desk with a young couple. The man says they came in to get his wife on his health insurance plan, as she’s about to have a baby. Lester, no doubt smarting because of his wife’s earlier comments, tries to push them into purchasing a bigger life insurance plan.
Lester: What happens if you have an accident at your job?
Young man: I work at the library.
Ssss-NAP!
I get the joke — it’s SO hilarious to think that a librarian could get into an accident at the library, bwahahaha! — and I love all the deadpan reaction shots. The wife is giving her husband major side-eye, as seen above, and Lester’s reaction is like a deer in the headlights. He doesn’t recover well, as he then starts ratting off possible deaths (“What happens if you have a car crash and go out the windshield?”)
The young couple smile back nervously, grab their jackets, and high-tail it out of there as soon as they can.
Lester’s reaction? “Aw, heck.”
Andrew McKenzie plays the reel librarian, and his role is simply credited as “Young Man.” He’s also credited in the 10th episode of the Fargo TV series, so obviously I will have to keep watching the show!
You betcha I’ll be back with a follow-up post with more reel librarian references. Anyone else watching the TV version of Fargo?
Sources used:
- “The Crocodile’s Dilemma.” Fargo (TV show), aired 15 April 2014.
REEL LIBRARIANS 