Stop! Drop everything, and proceed directly to your television and begin binge-watching the FX series Fargo. It’s the biggest and best original series launch so far this year, and is not to be missed.

If you liked the Coen Brothers’ masterpiece of the same name, you’ll love this 10-episode limited dramady series, produced by the Brothers C, which they’re promoting as an original adaptation. The characters and plot line of the “true crime” story look and feel the same, but they’re actually all new and updated. Don’t be taken in, however, by the humorous qualifier at the beginning that says the story is true, but the names have been changed, yada yada yada. That’s the first of many dark jokes.

With the introduction of malicious drifter Lorne Malvo, played adroitly by Billy Bob Thornton, this series gives you the next great TV anti-hero, ala Tony Soprano and Walter White. They’re the guys who are evil incarnate, but you root for them anyway. He’s Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men, in snow boots. He drifts into the small Minnesota town of Bimidji  and wrecks havoc in the livese of hapless insurance salesman Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman), as well as the entire police force and a number of others, both good and bad, in the surrounding counties.

Look for great performances from a supporting cast that includes Colin Hanks, echoing his dad Tom; Alison Tolman who might as well be Ellen’s sister, Better Call Saul/Breaking Bad’s Bob Odenkirk, Oliver Platt, Keith Carradine and Kate Walsh, all with twanging Minnesota accents and mannerisms. Those affectations might wear a little thin after awhile, but the subtle humor, coincidences and jaw-dropping plot twists will intrigue you for the duration.

See my panel review of Fargo on the PBS show Just Seen It