Well, it doesn't have to be that literal to be qualified as a reference, that's what I'm thinking. Add to that all the other stuff happening and there it is.

So, Varga uses tea to poison Sy. A poison in a cup of tea.
It's putiniana all over the place, guys. And the place is, well, the US.

Damn, yes! He's also something of a father figure, a kind of a character that I don't think the film or any other seasons have.

and yes, speaking of Lou, I didn't mean its him who's stupid. it's rather funny that this maybe the only genuinely good MALE cop in all seasons and the movie. the rest of the cops are either supporting characters with not much input or they're not so good at their job.

I'm not saying that dumb cop routine is something repeating on Fargo. On the other hand, what seemed like following the original film's tropes looks more like pattern, if you know what I'm saying:
- smart female cop and so-so to ridiculously stupid male cop(s) - Lou fits those shoes in season 2 but the events depicted…

In essence, both Bill Oswalt from season 1 and Moe Dammick from this season are kinda two sides of one coin: incompetent male, whose incompetence stems from different roots, but is in both cases aggravated by the fact that it's law enforcement, not just some regular douche, you know.

"I have to sit there with him while he makes his jokes. The guy’s laughing while he tries to starve an entire country."

Speaking of Oleg's Moscow activities, and considering that the events of this season take place in 1984, I think we may hear more about Eliseev Store. This was a huge investigation back at the time, one of the biggest of a kind in Soviet history.
Since there's no Wiki page on this in English (only in Russian and…

Well, if you go for devastating, please add The White Lady Loves You More.

This show's best finales are the ones when everyone gets hell, as opposed to that shitty, ahem, resolution of sorts we've seen in the end of season five. Also, that finale became like a point where I was, like, "no, this shit's not going to work for me anymore". Of course, it's fictional, of course it's inaccurate to…

At his ranch. Here's an exact quote: "And in the midst of all this was Michael, clad in white pajamas with animals on them. He told us that he had stayed up all night in this room, dancing. That being one of the few things that gave him pleasure. He'd go to this gigantic dark room at his ranch and stay there by…

"When Asia Argento was born in Rome, the city registry office refused to acknowledge Asia as an appropriate name, and instead officially inscribed her as Aria (a name accepted by the city registry although it means Air in Italian). She nonetheless always went by the name Asia, which she later used professionally"

First season had a flavor of something like, I dunno, Flannery O'Connor's characters to it. This now is quite different in that respect.
Also, color palette in this season sometimes looks even more forced that any of Vaughn's lines one can think of. I mean that scenes in the bar made me think everybody has fucking…

Pärt's music maybe overused, but that's all proles to blame, who cares?

Betty's words about how she'll always be younger than Don now have quite a different meaning. Quite literal, I'd say, but somehow it doesn't feel like a bold move from the screenwriters.

Carrie Fisher in her inimitable "Shockaholic" had a description of Michael who stayed all night long dancing all by himself. That was one of the simplest and yet one of the most heartbreaking accounts of his life given by anyone who knew him quite close.

Yeah, reminded me of the very first episode of the series, you know, when Lip discovers Ian to be gay. That's a nice flashback.

I've read people complaining about Ian/Mickey and here-goes-Sammi scene and I think I know what it reminds me of. Try searching "Breaking bad as a sitcom" video in YouTube - that pretty much sums it up what's wrong with this last episode.

Shit, I hope it's not going to be the case here.
There's just no way, right?

I wonder how much do the writers keep the script from UK original series. I mean, yeah, there may be good writing and not-so-good writing, with characters becoming third wheels - doesn't it happen all the time in Shameless? - and so on. I don't assume that since we've seen a lame/awesome resolution to this or that…