Screener reaction at Gold Derby forums part 2

Watched the last two screeners that the press has, so I have now seen all but the finale of this nine-episode season.

#7 was the first one with an arc for Cruz that ran through the episode.  She was better in #2 though.  Then of course she, Ricky Martin and Edgar Ramirez were absent from #8.  It would not even surprise me if they all missed the finale.  It is not so much that their story is done as it was never theirs in the first place.  This is the story of Andrew Cunanan as played by Darren Criss, as well as the story of his victims, in reverse-chronological order.  Versace was his last, so we got to spend some time with Ramirez/Cruz/Martin early on, then the show moved on to before Cunanan had anything to do with Versace.  But because Ramirez/Cruz/Martin are big names under contract, the show randomly checks in with them.

Criss has been in all eight episodes, Ramirez has been in five (including one with only a cameo) and Cruz, Martin, Cody Fern and Finn Wittrock have been in four.  Somebody vaguely recognizable plays Cunanan’s mother in three episodes, but there were no credits on those ones and I cannot place her.  Max Greenfield (Schmidt on New Girl), Dascha Polanco (Daya on Orange is the New Black), Jay R. Ferguson (Stan on Mad Men) and Giovanni Cirfiera were in the first two.  Annaleigh Ashford (Betty on Masters of Sex) and Michael Nouri (Flashdance, Summer’s dad on The O.C.) were also in two.  Mike Farrell (Emmy nominee for M*A*S*H) has a notable one-off appearance as the husband of Judith Light’s character.

#1 and #8 are the best episodes.  Matt Bomer directs the latter and it the only one that runs over an hour.  The story of Cunanan’s childhood and teenage years, it features an excellent one-off guest performance by Jon Jon Briones as Cunanan’s father.  Who knew that Darren Criss is half Filipino?  I suppose that people usually do not think that I am half Asian either.

Sex is minimal in this show.  There is a lot of shirtlessness in the opening two Miami-set episodes.  Criss has some nice dancing and nude swimming sequences later on in the season.  Violence is not so bad, considering that this is a show about a serial killer.