Fargo isn’t an easy show to make — not that you’d be able to tell from looking at it. Even though the temperature range on its Calgary set has spanned 135 degrees, executive producer Warren Littlefield recalls production only shutting down due to weather once. In Year 1, the show was trying to film a scene that involved a nearly naked man running through the snow on the coldest day Calgary has seen in 20 years: minus 37 Fahrenheit without accounting for windchill. It wasn’t until a traffic cone shattered from the cold that production finally threw in the towel. 

Over the series’ nearly 10 years of existence, Fargo has worked through shocking restraints. It’s a show so ambitious and complicated you would assume it requires years to film a single installment instead of six months, and multi-millions to cover its top-tier talent and expert directorial work instead of a fairly average budget. When you account for all of this, the creation of a single episode of a show that’s stood toe-to-toe against some of the TV’s heaviest hitters is miraculous. And yet when you walk on the set of Fargo Year 5, all of these impossibilities feel effortless.

“The metaphor I use is: OK, we’re going to walk right up to the edge of the cliff and hang our toes over it. We’re just not going to fall in,” executive producer Kim Todd told a group of reporters that included Decider. “We’re going to go to the edge of our ability, the edge of our resources — the time and money we’ve got — to execute these scripts. Every member of the crew bought into that. And if they didn’t, they didn’t last beyond the first two episodes.”

For all of its intensity, it’s a strategy that’s worked. Executive producer Steve Stark estimated that of the roughly 250 crew members currently working on this installment, 94 of them have been with the series since the beginning. The limited series has won eight Emmys and is consistently part of awards conversations and “best of” lists. But it’s difficult to fully appreciate the talent of these actors and crew members unless you see them in action. While on a set visit for Year 5, Decider witnessed Juno Temple and David Rysdahl filming a tense conversation about grocery shopping. One second, the scene was no different than any heated moment you may expect on any prestige TV show. Minutes later, a spell had been cast and the same scene was nearly unrecognizable. A few barely explained notes and some camera alterations transformed a forgettable moment into one that could only belong on Fargo; something that was simultaneously terrifying, infuriatingly passive, fragile, and still darkly funny. 

In that way, the culture of Fargo is as distinct as the show itself. It’s a place where the costume department will work tirelessly for weeks to believably wear down one of Jon Hamm’s coats and where directors give crew members customized cookies, referencing on-set in-jokes. It’s a set that places a dizzying amount of effort into finding the perfect, vaguely upsetting wallpaper to channel the inner turmoil of Juno Temple’s character yet whips up its gore from dyed bananas and bread found from the craft services table. Welcome to the chaotic world of Fargo Year 5 and one of the most impressive productions on television.

Fargo Year 5 premieres Tuesday, November 21 at 10 pm ET/PT on FX, and streaming the next day on Hulu.