Sunday, December 30, 2018

REVIEW: 'Angie Tribeca' - Angie and the Team Head to Fargo and Find Unexpected Murders in 'Freezing Cold Prestige Drama'

TBS' Angie Tribeca - Episode 4.06 "Freezing Cold Prestige Drama"

In Fargo, South Dakota, the team is tasked with waiting for the arrival of a certain truck, the contents of which are unknown to the team. Charo and AJ cover up an unfortunate incident which has ties to the mysterious arrival of the truck.



In 2018, there were 495 scripted shows airing amongst the linear channels and streaming services. The way people are consuming content now is so different than it used to be. It happens according to one's own schedule. As such, there is less necessity to provide ample coverage of each specific episode in any given season from a show. Moreover, it is simply impossible to watch everything. As such, this site is making the move to shorter episodic reviews in order to cover as many shows as possible. Premieres and finales may feature longer reviews. With all of that being said, here are my thoughts on the next episode of TBS' Angie Tribeca.

"Freezing Cold Prestige Drama" was written by Scott Hanscom and directed by Brennan Shroff

As a fan of both the film and television versions of Fargo, this episode may just provide the best spoof of a specific genre so far this season. It compromises so much of what audiences have come to expect from this very specific world. Even the title is a play on how things must play in order to be considered a prestige drama in today's current media climate. Plus, the various details are on point in so many effective ways. This is a world that is so consumed by death. It seems like it is around every single corner of this small town in North Dakota. Everyone is so casual about it all. And yet, everyone is so inept about it too. No one knows what to do as soon as they have a dead body to handle. Meanwhile, the various strangers don't think it's strange at all. They don't even care about the obvious dead body that is just being casually covered up for some nefarious reason. This is a genre that exposes the trauma and darkness lurking within this small-town environment. Of course, the central murder isn't done by someone familiar to this world. Instead, it is Charo. She runs over someone just after he got done killing someone and covering up the body in the woods. As such, this episode delves further into who she is as a character. She is absolutely freaking out and believes that she can only trust AJ to help her deal with this. She has never killed someone before. She is a part of this very elite team. They are all more than comfortable with death and murder. However, Charo may not have the stomach for it. She can expertly analyze any person from the smallest details on their body. She can deduce that the man driving the truck at the center of the main reason for the team to be here was killed while he was eating his lunch. Of course, she doesn't figure that it's in the same place where she killed the person. Nor does Angie think anything is suspicious when she is invited onto that investigation by the local police. This has always been a very nonsensical show. And yet, it's baffling to watch as none of this really matters in the grand scheme of things. Charo killing a person is ultimately no big deal whatsoever. The rest of the team is just somewhat frustrated that she can't point a gun at Pierre Cardin in order to set them free. They don't think anything of Pierre mentioning that she has already killed once. And yes, the visual of hiding the body in a snowman who is melting is absolutely fantastic. It also proves that Charo and AJ will be growing even closer as the season goes on. They may follow the same trajectory of Angie and Geils. Angie may warn against that because she knows that her life may not be something any rational person would like to mimic. But she may be unable to stop them from their impulses. That's the way the story is currently heading in. Moreover, there are a bunch of teases here that could suggest something even more grand and dark is going on. Atkins continues to suggest that he is dying. Meanwhile, Scholls has a phone call with someone which may prove she's working against the team. Plus, it's never revealed what is actually in the truck that the team was suppose to track down. It's classified and the team just follows the orders of not looking. And finally, it's just hilarious that Pierre can also perfectly blend into this environment simply by adopting a new hairstyle and accent. That's how the team goes unnoticed even though Charo can't do the accent. Meanwhile, it's obvious to the audience that this is connected to the overall story of the season. But it still works even though the protagonists are woefully oblivious - though not as oblivious to some of the characters in this North Dakota region.