The ninth and final episode of the second series of American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace was a tidy if somewhat underwhelming 55 minutes of television. Slowly, over the past eight-odd hours, this true crime tale has built and built, peaking over its last few instalments as it benefits from a reverse storytelling plot device. As such, it was always going to be difficult to wring too much tension out of the story’s crescendo, given that it’s an ending that the viewing public is mostly familiar with.

We kick off with the eponymous murder. As it’s pretty well detailed and shown in the first episode, we quickly skip to the aftermath of events. But instead of focusing on the manhunt and how police captured Versace’s killer, Andrew Cunanan, we again end up dwelling on the man himself. And when he spends the entire post-Versace slaying part of his life holed in an apartment watching television before blowing his brains out, it doesn’t exactly make for gripping television.

We see minor glimpses of the cops’ efforts, including an interview with the criminally underused Max Greenfield. His character Ronnie may not have been pivotal to the story these past nine weeks, but the New Girl star lit up the screen every time he popped up with his handlebar moustache and baggy vests.

It was good to see a return for Judith Light to this final slice of The Assassination of Gianni Versace too. Along with Jon Jon Briones as Modesto Cunanan, Light – as Marilyn Miglin – came very close to stealing the entire series away from the main players of the piece. Almost, but not quite…

Whether he’s preppy and cocky, sad and alone, angry and gun-toting or shaven-headed and suicidal, Darren Criss, as Andrew Cunanan, utterly convinces at all times. Anyone hoping for a Gianni Versace biopic will have been disappointed by this series, but anyone hoping for a fascinating portrait of a social-climbing serial killer who’s equal parts sociopathic and vulnerable will have been elated. Criss runs away with the series and surely has Hollywood at his fingertips after this incredible performance.

So this last episode may have disappointed us a little. But that’s really only because of the high standard set by the rest of the series. All in all this follow-up to The People Vs O J Simpson was excellent. Gripping, intelligent, gorgeous looking, fantastically acted and subtle and mature in its subtexts and allegory, we’d be extremely surprised to see The Assassination of Gianni Versace not walk off with at least a few Emmys or Golden Globes come awards season.

The jewel in this anthology’s crown – and what we hope will lend it some real longevity as a television drama – is that it’s about more than just its story. Sure, we learned about the murder of Versace here – but we discovered more about the man responsible and his twisted motives. And even better? This was about more than Cunanan and his gun. It was about the 1990s. It was about the struggles of the gay community. It was about HIV. It was about conflict. Family. Parenting. The weight of parental expectation and how twisted the ‘American Dream’ can get.

It’s not often a TV crime drama ends and we immediately think about the next series – but with this, we can’t help ourselves. Which famous US crime can they use as a framework for the follow-up series…? We can’t wait to find out.

The Assassination of Gianni Versace episode 9 review – Dead Good