Fargo viewers mourned a heartbreaking death during Year 5 , and creator Noah Hawley fully backs the “necessary” decision. Deputy Witt Farr ( Lamorne Morris ) saw his untimely demise at the hands of Roy Tillman ( Jon Hamm ) during the fifth season of the FX show. “I feel in telling stories that I’m saying are true, the good guy doesn’t always win and the bad guy doesn’t always get punished,” Hawley told TV Insider during an interview published on Wednesday, August 21.
Witt had become a key ally to Dot Lyon ( Juno Temple ) after feeling indebted to her when she saved his life during a gas station shootout. However, when Dot is confronted by her past abuser Roy, she unsuccessfully tries to kill him and he gets away. Witt goes after a fleeing Roy, only to get stabbed to death.
“It felt like as we reached this end game in which you had a literal siege where a shootout was going to take place, and the idea that the law enforcement officers would emerge unscathed wasn’t realistic,” Hawley continued. “I suppose the choice could have been one of our two FBI agents, but the audience wasn’t as invested in them. And Witt is the guy when you talk about death, who felt like he owed his life because Dot saved him in that first hour and he was going to do whatever he could to pay her back.
” Witt’s death kept the plot grounded and gave viewers a sense of “real danger.” “I always talk about Fargo as a tragedy with a happy ending, but the tragedy has to be real.