CALGARY, ALBERTA. Jesse Plemons has killed on the small screen and there's a pretty good chance he'll kill again.

On Friday Night Lights, Landry Clarke wasn't always homicidal, but if you threatened the woman he loved, he wasn't afraid to send you to the morgue.

On Breaking Bad, however, Plemons' character was most definitely a psychopath, which made Todd Alquist a fan favorite of sorts.

Viewers are so accustomed to seeing Plemons build up a body count TV that when mild-mannered butcher Ed Blomquist used a garden tool to help finish wife Peggy's hit-and-run in last week's "Fargo" premiere, there was great excitement.

On the "Fargo" set in April, I spoke with Plemons about what I'm calling a three-part series studying the effects of committing murder on ordinary individuals. We also discussed the actor's remarkable run of TV work that has seen him land regular roles on some of the best shows of the past 25 years. Plemons isn't doing so badly with his feature career either, as he can currently be seen on the big screen in "Black Mass" and "Bridge of Spies" in addition to his "Fargo" work.

In the chat, Plemons talks about how this TV murder is different and how Ed reminds him of his own father.

Before Monday (October 19) night's "Fargo" episode, check out my Q&A with Plemons.

CALGARY, ALBERTA. Patrick Wilson has had a long day on the set of FX's "Fargo."

It's early April and the "Watchmen" and "Angels in America" has been trudging from location to location in the maroon-accented uniform that makes up his regular "Fargo" attire. 

He began the morning nearly an hour outside of Calgary at the Waffle Hut. A wholly assembled restaurant, the Waffle Hut is the setting for the gory homicide that sets "Fargo" Season 2 in motion and Wilson and co-star Ted Danson were doing a few scheduled reshoots on a key scene from the October premiere. Over and over again they enter the diner and discover several bodies, each surrounded by spreading pools of blood. 

Between shots, the key corpses get up and wander around the set, conversing with the crew and getting their wounds tuned up to a sanguine shiny. Wilson and Danson, meanwhile, begin working their way through a series of interviews with assembled reporters, a lengthy process.

It's nearly 12 hours later that I finally sit down with Wilson on a bus outside of a different location for a scene that's late enough in the season that no details can be revealed. Wilson's Lou Solverson, 25 years younger than the role played by Keith Carradine, has been investigating crimes in 1979, but the actor has investigating the new trailer for "Star Wars: The Force Awakened," which dropped during the day. It was a long day for Wilson, but at least he had his priorities straight when it came to killing time.

That's why this may be the only "Fargo" interview you read this week that reveals how many times Patrick Wilson watched the "Star Wars" teaser. We also talked about how Vietnam impacted Lou Solverson and the audacity that comes from "Fargo" creator Noah Hawley. 

We didn't talk about Wilson's Minnesota accent or his experience with the first season of "Fargo," but that's because we talked about those things on a rainy Park City balcony during the Sundance Film Festival in January. Watch that chat above in drizzle-capturing video form.

Check out the full Patrick Wilson Q&A below and the "Fargo" Season 2 premiere on Monday, October 12.

'Fargo' producers talk Season 2 pressure and challenges

CALGARY, ALBERTA. Success has not bred comfort for the creative team behind FX's "Fargo."

It's early April at one of the vast stages housing props and interior sets for "Fargo." Just one day earlier, it was announced that "Fargo" was receiving a prestigious Peabody Award, an honor that capped off a Season 1 haul that included a Golden Globe, several Emmys and perhaps the best reviews for any 2014 television series. Not bad for a show that met with many raised eyebrows when FX announced it was bringing the Coen Brothers' Oscar-winning favorite to TV, only without any of the same actors or characters and with only the tacit blessing of its original creators. 

Noah Hawley, creator of FX's "Fargo," was initially cagey regarding what a second "Fargo" installment might even look like, only to reveal later that the 1979 Sioux Falls Massacre referenced in the initial season would be the basis for a new round of episodes.

Not that the first season had any trouble rounding up an all-star cast, but Season 2 features Patrick Wilson as Lou Solverson, the younger incarnation of the character played by Keith Carradine originally. Ted Danson, Jean Smart, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Jeffrey Donovan lead the deep ensemble.

In production on two episodes and setting up locations and shots for more, the key "Fargo" producers have to cobble together time with the group of reporters visiting the set, so I got four minutes with Noah Hawley and slightly more time with former NBC Chief Warren Littlefield and source-of-Coen-continuity John Cameron, Q&As which are all being combined here over two pages.

With Hawley, I discussed the process of seeding a sequel in the original season and how the legacies of World War II, Korea and Vietnam impact "Fargo"  Season 2.

With Littlefield and Cameron, I talked about the new pressures they faced this season despite the rapturous response to Season 1, pressures of added expectations and also of the period setting. We talked about the ongoing input of the Coens and when this will simply become a standalone "Fargo" of its own. They also talked about whether or not this season was different with Hawley opening up the writers' room and also directing for the first time.

Check out the three interviews below, as "Fargo" returns to FX on Monday, October 12.

Melancholy Thursday, Boys & Girls!

It's time for the final installment of The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast.

In this week's installment, we tried to balance doing a regular podcast and giving in to nostalgia. 

So we reviewed "Dr. Ken" and "The Leftovers" and "Homeland" and "Red Oaks," because that's what y'all would want us to do. We talked, with pre-finale spoilers, about the second season of "Review," because it's awesome.

And then we talked for nearly 40 minutes about the podcast and its journey and all of that sentimental stuff. 

It's been a pleasure doing this podcast for over 300 episodes and we're incredibly grateful to our loyal listeners and our periodic listeners. And if this is your first time listening, you have a huge catalogue to catch up on.

Sorry for all of the tech problems over the years and some of the audio problems even in this very podcast. We've done the best we could!

At least we avoided the "Moonlighting" Curse.

I reckon Alan and I will talk about TV again someday. 

Today's breakdown:
"Dr. Ken" (00:02:55 - 00:13:30)
"The Leftovers" (00:13:30 - 00:24:30)
"Homeland" (00:24:30 - 00:33:35)
"Red Oaks" (00:33:40 - 00:41:55)
Listener Mail - "Review" Season 2 (00:42:10 - 00:48:35)
Listener Mail - "Fear the Walking Dead" and teens (00:48:35 - 00:54:30)
Listener Mail - Nostalgia (00:54:30 - 01:33:30)

Thank you, as always, for the emails.

Happy Thursday, Boys & Girls.

It's time for a Yom Kippur-delayed installment of The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast.

Lots to review this week, but not as much as last week, so the "Sanford and Sons" timer no longer is in play.

We talked Emmys and then we reviewed "Heroes Reborn," "The Player," "Quantico," "Grandfathered" and "The Grinder." Some of them aren't awful!

Today's breakdown:
Emmys (00:00:50 - 00:21:50)
"Heroes Reborn" (00:21:50 - 00:35:20)
"The Player" (00:35:30 - 00:46:30)
"Quantico" (00:46:30 - 00:56:55)
"Grandfathered (00:56:55 - 01:02:45)
"The Grinder"  (01:02:50 - 01:10:40)
Listener Mail - First Show Cancelled (01:11:00 - 01:18:10)

As always, you can subscribe to The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast over at the iTunes Store, where you can also rate us and comment on us. [Or you can always follow our RSS Feed or subscribe on IHeartRadio.] 

And as always, feel free to e-mail us questions for the podcast.

Happy Thursday, Boys & Girls!

Time for another installment of The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast.

It's Episode 300! Or Episode 299!

But no time for ceremony. We have to preview the Emmys and review seven new shows and one returning show in "Gotham."

There was so much to cover this week that we had to use a timer to cut our discussion off at the seven-minute mark. Of course, by the end, we didn't have seven minutes worth of things to say about several lackluster shows. It's a bad fall. Don't blame us for not loving bad things.

Here's today's breakdown:

Emmy pre-chatter (00:02:30 - 00:24:15)
"Key & Peele" Draft (00:24:15 - 00:27:10)
"Gotham" (00:27:50 - 00:34:55)
"Life in Pieces" (00:35:00 - 00:42:00)
"Minority Report" (00:42:05 - 00:49:20)
"Blindspot" (00:49:25 - 00:56:50)
"The Muppets" (00:56:50 - 01:04:30)
"Scream Queens" (01:04:25 - 01:10:05)
"Limitless" (01:10:05 - 01:16:00)
"Rosewood" (01:16:00 - 01:24:00)

As always, you can subscribe to The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast over at the iTunes Store, where you can also rate us and comment on us. [Or you can always follow our RSS Feed or subscribe on IHeartRadio.] 

And as always, feel free to e-mail us questions for the podcast.

Happy Wednesday, Boys & Girls! It's time for this week's installment of The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast.

You may have seen my announcement yesterday regarding my new job at The Hollywood Reporter. We covered that a bit at the top of the show before moving along to an exciting mixture of new show reviews ("The Bastard Executioner"), reviews of returning shows ("You're the Worst" and "The Mindy Project"), some talk about the "Mr. Robot" finale and the conclusion of our Summer Finale Rewatch with a little show called "MASH" and what remains the most watched non-sports program in TV history.

It's a busy podcast.

Today's breakdown:
"The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" premiere (00:03:20 - 00:11:25)
"You're the Worst" (00:11:25 - 00:20:40)
"The Mindy Project" (00:20:45 - 00:28:50)
"The Bastard Executioner" (00:28:50 - 00:43:05)
"Mr. Robot" finale (00:43:05 - 01:02:00)
"MASH" finale (01:02:00 - 01:17:30)

As always, you can subscribe to The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast over at the iTunes Store, where you can also rate us and comment on us. [Or you can always follow our RSS Feed or subscribe on IHeartRadio.] 

And as always, feel free to e-mail us questions for the podcast.

Happy Tuesday, Boys & Girls.

Alan may be on vacation, but it's still time for another installment of The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast.

The bulk of this week's podcast is dedicated to discussing the NBC series finale of "Hannibal" and, as part of our Summer Rewatch, the series finale of "The Sopranos."

We also reviewed Amazon's "Hand of God" and answered a trio of Listener Mail questions. We were going to be discussing the season finale of "Mr. Robot," but USA delayed the episode by a week and we'll talk about it in our next podcast.

Here's today's breakdown:
"Hand of God" (00:01:20 - 00:14:55)
Listener Mail - Showrunners (00:15:05 - 00:23:45)
Listener Mail - How "Lost" would do today (00:23:55 - 00:31:15)
Listener Mail - TV about Teens (00:31:15 - 00:35:05)
"Hannibal" finale (00:35:10 - 00:59:55)
"The Sopranos" finale (00:59:55 - 01:23:20)

As always, you can subscribe to The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast over at the iTunes Store, where you can also rate us and comment on us. [Or you can always follow our RSS Feed or subscribe on IHeartRadio.] 

And as always, feel free to e-mail us questions for the podcast.

Happy Tuesday, Boys & Girls! 

Yes, we just gave you a Firewall & Iceberg Podcast last Thursday, but it's time for another one!

In a well-balanced podcast, we review NBC's "The Carmichael Show" and "Narcos," answer Listener Mail as an excuse to touch on "Rick and Morty," we chat about the third season of "Rectify" and our Summer Finale ReWatch brings us to "Lost," which isn't a bad place to be brought to...

Here's today's breakdown:
"The Carmichael Show" (00:00:50 - 00:11:30)
"Narcos" (00:11:30 - 00:23:50)
Listener Mail - "Rick and Morty" (00:24:00 - 00:31:55)
"Rectify" Season 3 (00:31:55 - 00:43:35)
"Lost" finale (00:43:35 - 01:10:00)

As always, you can subscribe to The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast over at the iTunes Store, where you can also rate us and comment on us. [Or you can always follow our RSS Feed or subscribe on IHeartRadio.] 

And as always, feel free to e-mail us questions for the podcast.

Happy Thursday, Boys & Girls! It's time for another installment of The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast.

As promised/warned/prophesied, this week's podcast was a bit delayed, but we have a handful of reviews including at least one very good returning show ("Survivor's Remorse"), one not-so-great new show ("Blunt Talk") and we offer our reactions to AMC's "The Walking Dead" spinoff "Fear the Walking Dead."

And this week's Finale Rewatch covers the last episodes for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel."

Today's breakdown:

"Blunt Talk" (00:00:55 - 00:09:35)
"Survivor's Remorse" (00:09:35 - 00:17:50)
"Fear the Walking Dead" (00:17:55 - 00:31:40)
Listen Mail - Jon Hamm Fatigue (00:32:05 - 00:40:20)
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer"/"Angel" finales (00:40:25 - 01:07:15)

As always, you can subscribe to The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast over at the iTunes Store, where you can also rate us and comment on us. [Or you can always follow our RSS Feed or subscribe on IHeartRadio.] 

And as always, feel free to e-mail us questions for the podcast.