The fourth season of the American black comedy crime drama television series Fargo, billed as Fargo: Year Four and Fargo: Installment 4, aired on FX from September 27 to November 29, 2020, totaling 11 episodes. The series is an anthology about violent crime in the American Midwest, with each season acting as a self-contained story within the show's shared continuity. Set in Kansas City, Missouri from November 1950 to early 1951, the story details the rivalry between a crime syndicate made up of African American migrants fleeing the Jim Crow South, and the Italian Kansas City Mafia, as they both vie for control of the city's criminal underground.
The season was produced by FX Productions and MGM Television, with Noah Hawley serving as showrunner. It was originally scheduled to premiere on April 19, 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Year Four stars a large ensemble cast featuring Chris Rock, Jessie Buckley, Jason Schwartzman, Ben Whishaw, Jack Huston, Salvatore Esposito, E'myri Crutchfield, Andrew Bird, Anji White, Jeremie Harris, Matthew Elam, and more.
Year Four was generally well received by critics, who praised its themes of immigration and culture, as well as its production values and performances. However, many saw it as a step down from previous seasons.
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The fourth season was announced in August 2018 and it was confirmed that Chris Rock was cast in the lead role. In July 2019, 12 actors were announced to have been cast, including Francesco Acquaroli, Andrew Bird, Jessie Buckley, Salvatore Esposito, Jeremie Harris, Jack Huston, Amber Midthunder, Jason Schwartzman, and Ben Whishaw. Midthunder ultimately did not appear and her role was recast with Kelsey Asbille for undisclosed reasons. Uzo Aduba was originally cast as Zelmare Roulette, but dropped out of the role due to "some personal family issues". The role was recast with Karen Aldridge in December.
Production began in October 2019 in Chicago, Illinois, with Hawley directing the first block of episodes. In March 2020, FX suspended production on the series for at least two weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The original premiere date of April 19, 2020, was also pushed back due to production delays. The series completed production on eight of the eleven episodes before production shut down. Production resumed in August 2020 and was completed by September 8, 2020.
The fourth season has received generally positive reviews from critics, though less acclaimed than previous seasons. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an 84% approval rating based on 58 critics' reviews, with an average score of 7.3/10. The website's critical consensus is: "Though Fargos ambitious fourth season struggles to maintain momentum, fine performances and a change of scenery make for an engaging â if uneven â departure from the series' norm." On Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100 based on 37 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Matt Zoller Seitz, writing for Vulture, gave the season a negative review. He criticized the writers' missed opportunity to link the season's unique premise of children swapping among gangs to its themes of immigration and culture, as well as their tendency to make subtext obvious through excessive monologues.
For the 11th Critics' Choice Television Awards, Chris Rock received a nomination for Best Actor in a Limited Series and Glynn Turman received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series.