I watched the movie for the first time about two months ago in anticipation of the series and I was amused, but not enthralled. The show, however, has won me over. From his first scene, Billy Bob Thornton (and the writers) has made Lorne Malvo into one of my all time favorite characters. While I don't want to emulate his illegal ways, I do admit, I wish I was half as cool as he was. His scene with Gus in the first episode was great ("Because some roads you shouldn't go down" is now a part of my list of phrases I keep handy in my brain in case I ever have cause to use them) and I loved this past episode's bit with "You've made a mistake."
Lester Nygaard, despite Martin Freeman's perfect casting, reminds me too much of Jerome Lundegaard. Both seem envious of successful family members (Jerome his father-in-law and Lester, his brother), end up getting their wives killed (though Lester actually kills his wife and Jerome's wife dies inadvertently due to his plan), not to mention them both being mediocre salespeople. I think, overall, Lester is the show's weakest plot line, though that's saying a lot, since it is still quite enjoyable to see him squirm.
The Stavros storyline really picked up this week with his "origin" story connecting to the film and Lorne's plans kicking in. I loved the last scene at the supermarket and am eagerly awaiting the next installment to see where this thing goes.
As I said, the show really won me over. It was enjoyable for the first three episodes, but this past week catapulted it to "Must Watch."