V.M. Varga is a character so disturbing and so layered, he embodies the Coen brothers' ultimate villain, surpassing the great Anton Chigurh.
The Coen brothers are known for creating excellent villains throughout their movies and series, but V.M. Varga (David Thewlis) from Fargo season 3 tops them all—including No Country For Old Men's Anton Chigurh. The Fargo series premiered in 2014, created by Noah Hawley with the Coens as executive producers, and it was based on the their 1996 movie of the same name. Each season revolves around a different set of people in different timelines, desperate to get to the bottom of a complex web of crimes. The only things every season has in common are the Coen's specific brand of dark humor, the Midwest setting, and their traditionally impeccable villains.
In Noah Hawley's Fargo season 3, Ewan McGregor plays quarreling brothers Ray and Emmit Stussy, caught in between agents of chaos more powerful and much darker than they can ever imagine. Ray's parolee girlfriend Nikki (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) wants Ray to impersonate Emmit and steal (or "take back") his successful brother's inheritance, but Emmit and his lawyer friend Sy (Michael Stuhlbarg) are too busy to handle that. V.M. Varga, a sinister businessman, inserts himself into Emmit's life in an attempt to grow his organized crime empire and conquer the world with money. Chief Gloria Burgle (Carrie Coon) is on Varga's tracks, but is always a few steps behind—visualized by the automatic doors that never open for her.
When V.M. Varga introduces himself to Emmit, the Fargo villain is wearing a second-hand tie and his teeth are rotting. And yet, he exerts a sort of control over Emmit and Sy's lives, that all they can do is gradually accept futility. While slowly engulfing them in his schemes, Varga explains that his modest clothing is a way to mask his extreme wealth in order to escape, in his words, "the retribution coming from the poor." As of his rotting teeth, the viewers learn in the episode "Peter and the Wolf" that Varga is the wolf, and that he is bulimic. David Thewlis broke down his character's bulimia (via Deadline) stating, "It’s obviously an expression of extreme greed, which is oozing out of Varga, but he’s such a controlling figure."
Noah Hawley and the Coen brothers kept perfecting their classic villains throughout their dense filmography. In Fargo season 1, Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) engulfs Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) in his violent schemes, but Lester grows into an outstanding criminal himself, killing his wife, framing his brother for the murder, and tricking Malvo into trapping himself. But Varga has no matching adversary, at least not for more than one episode at a time. He is a parasite hidden in plain sight, using capitalism against itself, and consuming everything—and everyone—in his way.
The Coen's No Country For Old Men's villain Anton Chighurn (Javier Bardem) speaks calmly and commits to killing everyone in his path. However, his bloodshot eyes and weapons give his game away. V.M. Varga is an insidious, transparent member of middle management, hunting his prey from a truck forcefully parked in Emmit's parking lot. He doesn't just kill his victims: he removes their hope, humiliates them (as seen in the scene with Sy and the mug), and reduces them to irrelevant people - excess, purged after the pleasure of consumption. David Thewlis demonstrates an acting lesson that embodies the Coen brothers' ultimate villain.
While Anton Chigurh is death embodied—through his chilly calm and ruthlessness—V.M. Varga is chaos embodied, making the viewers feel uneasy with every toothpick scratching his gums. It's every disturbing detail added together that makes Fargo season 3's Varga such a standout villain.
