Anybody else watching Fargo Season 5 out there?

We tigers got some real nice pull quotes in E5 but I *really* wish they'd dial back the writing on Jon Hamm's MAGA sheriff a bit.

Don't get me wrong, I'm loving the fact there's a mainstream TV villain who is an absolutely unapologetic Trumpie caricature. But this is a really frustrating trope for me.

I spent so much time debating conservatives in the interest of dumb centrist "fairness," back in the Livejournal days. I have a pretty good idea how they think.

Roy Tillman is FAR too willing to say the quiet parts out loud to convince me he's a real MAGA character. He's too honest about his motives, both with himself and others.

A MAGA sheriff doesn't walk straight up to, say, a feminist CEO and say "Well, I think women should be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen." He tests the water. He whips out one of the Standard Lines about how he loves American women and their independent spirit. He probably prods to see if maybe trans people make her as nervous as they make him. He seals the deal and saves the *open* misogyny for the strip clubs.

Because the modern right is all about fending off the constant reminders that their values are out of touch. Sheriff Roy's just not *paradoxical* enough in his thinking. He's not paranoid enough. They got the facade of strength absolutely right; they forgot the persecution complex.

How the hell can you have a convincing MAGA character without a persecution complex a mile wide and a habit of blaming others for their crimes?