The season that began with a bang went out with a whimper. After tense moments and a thrilling chase across the country with a trail of murder victims, we finally see Andrew Cunanan scared and alone on a houseboat in Miami, before he puts a gun in his mouth and pulls the trigger.
There was so much this show got right – nuances in Cunanan’s many relationships, little details during the murder scenes – yet so much was made up, especially conversations after both participants were deceased. Even though Cunanan’s transition from flamboyant school boy to murderous sociopath was clearly traced, especially in last week’s episode, there are still huge chunks missing.
A steady theme throughout the entire show has been that Versace’s murder was seen as a gay-on-gay crime, and wasn’t taken seriously by law enforcement. Lee Miglin’s widow goes so far as to ask the FBI what they’ve been doing during the two months that Cunanan was on the run. Ronnie, the junkie from Cunanan’s flop house, tells them Cunanan’s been hiding in plain sight – he wants to be found. Clearly, big things were overlooked.
Naturally, questions remain. Did Cunanan really know Lee Miglin? Was David Madson wholly innocent? Why did Cunanan target Versace? Was he just an obsessed fan, or was there more to the relationship? Cunanan’s murder spree, up to that point, included two possible ex-lovers, a close friend and an unlucky bystander with a car that Cunanan needed. Wouldn’t it make sense, then, that since most of the people killed were close to Cunanan, he was also close to Versace? Andrew’s livelihood was all about collecting sugar daddies – could Versace have been another one?
We know Antonio and Versace enjoyed an open relationship at times. We also know that Antonio was cast out of the family upon Versace’s death. Could Antonio have hidden their relationship with Cunanan to avoid the wrath of Donatella, who would surely blame him? Or did Versace have a relationship with Cunanan that he kept hidden from Antonio? Because of the sexual orientation of the murderer and his victims, there has to be more to the story that the police chose to ignore.
Andrew seemed like a mystery at first, but we finally discovered that he had a lot of friends, a misguided family who loved him and even godchildren who wanted him to come home. He was never a mystery – he lived loudly. This season took a mugshot and transformed it into a living, breathing man with feelings, hopes, dreams, failures and mistakes. He was humanized, but never exonerated. It’s too bad we’ll never know the entire story.
Tag: daily break
Dailybreak.com
The apple never seems to fall far from the tree, and now we finally have answers as to why Andrew Cunanan is such a lying, delusional, narcissistic sociopath: his dad basically groomed him to be that way.
Modesto Cunanan favors his son over his other children, brags about how successful he is even though he can barely hold a job and eventually flees the country with stolen money and most of his family’s savings. He tells Andrew he’s special, that his dreams will come true if he just imagines them and to appreciate the best things in life. These are not terrible things to teach your children, but Modesto lays it on so thick that Andrew begins to live in Modesto’s fantasy world. Once Modesto flees and Andrew’s vision of him is shattered, it doesn’t seem to shake Andrew out of his privileged fantasy. He just doubles down and picks up the trail of lies where his Dad left off.
This is all in stark contrast to Versace. The scenes between him and his Mother are incredibly brief, but his mom is supportive of him at a young age (instead of in denial about who he really is) and when Versace balks at challenging work, his mother urges him to continue. It would have been nice to see even more of Versace’s childhood, but as we’ve slowly discovered, this show isn’t really about Versace.
I’ve been wondering since this series started who Andrew really was and how he got to be so awful. As we set up for the final showdown next week – when Andrew’s time on the run will finally be over – I feel like I finally know who this man is. The backwards timeline took a long time to figure out, but now part of me wants to go back and watch it again. In hindsight, it would be so much easier to understand the progression of this spoiled little boy who turned into cold-hearted killer.
It makes us feel better to know how someone became capable of so much evil. The reasoning separates us from them, because we don’t dare dream that there’s only a thin line separating those who snap and those who don’t. It feels good to know Cunanan had a violent, delusional upbringing and there was total justification for what he did, right?
The truth is, there are a lot of crappy parents out there, but not every child grows up to go on a murder spree. Cunanan’s parents were definitely one of the secret ingredients that led to his downfall as a human being, but there had to be something else. That, I think, is the unknowable thing about Andrew Cunanan. He had friends, and at times he had money. But he still decided to do terrible things. We’ll never know the specific reasons for his horrible choices because we were only able to skim the surface of his story, but at least Cunanan is no longer a blank canvas. We know he was loved, he had his heart broken and he was somebody’s best friend. This show humanized a man who was previously just a headline to me. It does not make me feel sympathetic for him, though. If anything, it just adds to the list of tragedies surrounding him.
Next week, we jump back to the ending and follow the events immediately following Versace’s murder. We know there will be closure on Cunanan’s side, and hopefully the Versace and Donatella arc will feel just as satisfying.
Dailybreak.com
Are you doing everything you can to live up to your fullest potential? Andrew Cunanan thought he was. Instead of putting in the hours at Rite Aid or staying in school, Cunanan connives and schemes, moving his way up through a ladder of sugar daddies.
Meanwhile, Donatella is afraid. She has the opportunity to be her brother’s successor, but she doesn’t have the confidence to shine. She holds herself back by passing off someone else’s work as her own.
Luckily, realizing Versace’s ailing health, Donatella knows it’s time and steps out on the red carpet wearing a collaboration by her and Gianni, an iconic bondage-inspired black leather dress. The photographers eat it up and Donatella is firmly in the spotlight. But, she clashes again with Versace. She suggests a more wearable version of the dress to sell and Gianni, ill and angry, flips out. But she’s not wrong. He can’t have it both ways – if she is truly the future of the brand, he’s got to let go.
Donatella’s struggle is so relatable – we might not be working on one of the biggest high-fashion brands, but do we always seize every opportunity with gusto? When we try to step up to the next level, especially as women, is it always welcomed? Donatella is going to have to fight for her place, even if both she and Versace know it has to happen.
Then there’s Andrew, who lives in his dreamland, believing his best gifts are his charm and his impeccable taste. He is clearly very smart and can hold his own in a crowd, but he’s got no substance, no work ethic and resents those who have a lot, no matter how hard they have worked. As he moves from rich guy to rich guy, Cunanan becomes a professional leech. He makes good arm candy and all he requires are the finest things in life.
When Cunanan’s rejected by Sugar Daddy #1, Lincoln Aston, he seems genuinely shocked. It’s a pattern that we saw last week with Sugar Daddy #2, Norman Blanchford, friend of Aston’s. All Cunanan did was use Aston’s money to romance another guy in an expensive hotel room. What’s the problem, he wonders? He feels entitled to a hefty allowance he can use however he wishes because he’s so alluring.
Am I being too hard on Cunanan? After all, he’s just using the gifts that come naturally to him. I think I judge because I know he’s clearly capable of so much more. Whereas Donatella might be lacking some of the talent of Versace, she still tries. Cunanan settles for hustling because he’s either too lazy or too vain to do anything but flirt. What a waste of a life, in so many ways.
This doesn’t seem shocking, knowing all the bad things Cunanan is capable of, that he didn’t have anything to do with Aston’s murder, especially knowing he just got dumped by Aston. Drifter Kevin Bond confessed and served time, but it’s veeeeerrrrry suspicious. It seems that no matter where Cunanan goes, blood follows.
Dailybreak.com
I’m beginning to think this show isn’t really about Versace. Yes, he appeared in Cunanan’s drug-fueled dream tonight, but he’s barely been in the last four episodes as we travel back in the timeline to a year before the murders. To be honest, I can’t say I really mind. Versace’s story seems rather one-dimensional. He and Donatella clash while managing their fashion empire and Donatella hates Versace’s partner, Antonio. Every appearance by these three seems like a repeat of that storyline. OK, we get it.
The portrait of Cunanan, a pathologically lying psychopath wrapped in self-loathing and designer clothes, has been much more compelling. I think a lot of that is owed to Darren Criss for laying on the charisma thick like honey. Finn Wittrock and Cody Fern have also sparkled as two of Cunanan’s friends-turned-murder victims, Jeff Trail and David Madson.
In this episode, we finally discover how Trail and Madson met, which has been bugging me for the last two episodes. They were introduced at Cunanan’s birthday party, thrown by his sugar daddy, Norman Blanchford. There were no murders this week and all these fringe characters converged at one party, including his friend Lizzie (Annaleigh Ashford), Lee Miglin (Mike Farrell), Trail and Madson. There is no indication this actually happened (the party did, but Trail is the only one confirmed to have been in attendance), but knowing what we know now, it was a thrilling assembly of personalities. I also quite enjoyed the super b*tchy interactions between Cunanan and one of Blanchford’s friends, who was clearly onto his trickery.
From day one, I understood that a lot of this show’s plot was invented for dramatic effect. I’m starting to grasp that maybe 75 percent of the show is made up. Investigators that know Cunanan did certain things at certain times (like that L.A. hotel stay was totally real). But almost every conversation is fictional. That seems crazy to me, because if someone told such tall tales, was flashy with money and had so many friends, you’d think people would know more about him and remember talking to him. That, or the other people in the conversation are dead. This is frustrating, but leaves a blank canvas that gives the writers a lot to work with.
Once again, Cunanan was portrayed as pathetic in this episode. He’s trying desperately to make Madson love him and he shows off hard. The rejection only makes him plummet further into drugs, lies and sorrow. Now it makes sense why he gets so pissed when Madson eventually rejects his proposal. The same goes for the sneaky postcard he sent Trail’s father – this is why Trail is so unhappy to pick him up at the airport. This rejection and the jealousy Cunanan feels when he thinks Madson and Trail are a couple is a clear motive for murder. Case closed.
What about Versace, though? It’s beginning to seem that it was not personal at all. It wasn’t an affair gone wrong or anything juicy. Versace was just an obsession; a symbol of all Cunanan wasn’t. He got caught in the crossfire of Cunanan’s twisted mind.
I loved the interaction between Cunanan and his mother this week. Finally, we see where this guy actually came from and from her dingy apartment to her frumpy housecoat, it’s not what you would expect. You think that Mama is going to talk some sense into her child, but no. She seems delusional in her own way, obsessed with how much everyone else has and how much she lacks. This is where he gets it from – she isn’t going to save him or do anything to prevent the awful things about to happen. It finally makes sense…a little.
Luckily, we get more of Mrs. Cunanan and her unhelpful wisdom next week, along with more on how Cunanan met Norman Blanchford. This oughtta be good.
Dailybreak.com
As we continue to go back in time (are these backwards timelines hurting anyone else’s brain?), we learn more about the events leading up to the murders of Jeff Trail and David Madson – still not a satisfying “why,” in my opinion. The one thing Trail, Madson and Versace had in common, though, is the fear that they would be outed as gay.
Versace seems quite fearless about wanting to be interviewed by The Advocate, much to the trepidation of Donatella, who is afraid his outing will ruin their business. How could anyone not know Versace was gay, right? It was the ‘90s and “don’t ask, don’t tell” didn’t just apply to the military. Maybe we all knew, but back then celebrities didn’t feel comfortable confirming their sexuality, and not with great risk (Ricky Martin, who plays Versace’s partner, Antonio, came out only 10 years ago).
Jeff Trail feels the real effects of “don’t ask, don’t tell” since he serves in the military. It is pure fiction if he feared he would be found out or if he contemplated suicide, but as this show sometimes does, it really isn’t about the facts as much as it is about tapping into the culture of the time when being gay in the military meant secrets, dread, and consequences. Who knows if Trail in fact felt this way? What does matter is that this was a common feeling amongst LGTBQ service people. It was the mood.
Just like Versace, Trail bravely goes forward with his interview with “48 Hours” too (it really happened). Even though his identity is hidden, it is still a major step for him to share his experiences. He’s not publicly coming out, but he is speaking up for military personnel hiding in their own proverbial shadows.
David Madson was “out” to his co-workers and his family (though that didn’t go well for him as we saw last week), but he still seems to be dealing with a great societal fear. When Cunanan proposes, he keeps protesting “it’s illegal,” not “I don’t love you.” I think that was a choice of the writers to show 1) Madson was sympathetic to Cunanan and was trying to let him down easy and 2) Madson is very concerned with what people would think. Cunanan shames him easily after Trail’s murder that he will be judged by the police if he reports it. Again, we don’t know what was actually said, but it’s not entirely wrong as Trail’s and Madson’s murders were originally thought to be a domestic dispute and it was not taken seriously that a serial killer was on the loose.
Then there’s Cunanan. Does he have an internal shame he’s not outwardly expressing? Is his self-hate the true reason for his murder spree? It’s still not clear if his anger stems from insecurities about his own sexuality, jealousy over the success of others, or his rejection by both Trail and Madson. The man is such an enigma I feel like we still may never know his heart – or lack thereof.
We’ve come a long way from the ’90s – gay military personnel now serve openly, a celebrity’s sexual orientation barely makes headlines and gay marriage is now legal. But it’s not over yet and if this show does not solve Cunanan’s case, it still gives us an insight into the LGBTQ community we may not have been aware of. And for that, it is valuable.
Next week, we continue our journey back in time to how Madson and Cunanan met and another speculative interaction between Versace and Cunanan.
Dailybreak.com
One challenge I’ve found while watching this show is separating fact from fiction. Much of the series is based on the heavily researched book “Vulgar Favors” by Maureen Orth, but as that book supplies facts, many of the private conversations shown on television must have been invented for the plot. As many of the key players are dead, we may never know the truth about what really happened between Andrew Cunanan and his victims.
In episode four, we see Cunanan murder his first victim (that we know of), Jeffrey Trail (Finn Wittrock), and second victim, David Madson (Cody Fern). It was unclear during this episode how the three are related – friends, lovers, exes? For now, we mostly focus on Cunanan and Madson on the run after the murder of Trail. The episode paints Madson as an innocent bystander and possible kidnapping victim, but what if none of that were true?
After Trail’s murder, Madson seems afraid for his life and possibly shell shocked. But as time goes on, he stays silent, helping Cunanan make his getaway. Madson appears to have many opportunities to escape from Cunanan – when the two walk the dog, during several stops for food, a night out in a bar (shout out to the totally random guest star of the week, Aimee Mann, as a bar singer). So why didn’t Madson run? They were on the road together for five days, surely during that time he could have bolted, asked for help or simply overpowered Cunanan. What if he wasn’t so much a hostage…but more of an accomplice?
Personally, I don’t know which way I think it went (in reality, Madson was initially blamed more for the murder, since it was his apartment), but the show definitely takes a stance that Madson was innocent, seemingly based on his stable, middle-class upbringing. He is painted as a sympathetic victim in comparison to Cunanan’s cold monster. Could Cunanan, master of lies and manipulation, have talked Madson into being more than a bystander? Did he brainwash Madson into helping him kill Trail?
All of this remains a huge question mark, and we STILL don’t have a clear motive for any of these murders (aside from the fourth, William Reese, who was carjacked by Cunanan). Maybe Trail’s and Madson’s backstories with Cunanan will help with that a little, but I’m starting to feel like no one really knows why Andrew Cunanan murdered these people. Here’s to hoping (for my sake and for that of the victims) that isn’t the case.
Do you think David Madson was more of an accomplice than the show let on?
Dailybreak.com
This week’s episode rewound once again, this time to May 1997 to the killing of Lee Miglin. As Andrew Cunanan crosses the country on a murder spree, Miglin was victim three of five and the second murder we see.
As far back as episode one, a subtle theme of the series is the masks we all wear. Beyond the fashion, there is our persona and how we present ourselves to the world.
Lee Miglin’s wife Marilyn (the impeccable Judith Light) wore a literal mask of makeup. During a Home Shopping Network broadcast for her perfume brand and while introducing her husband at a political fundraiser, Marilyn exuded confidence and power. You could tell by looking at her she was all about getting shit done. She brags about her epic romance with her husband, but behind closed doors, you could feel a strain between them.
As Marilyn takes off her mask by slathering on the cold cream, she lets her guard down and she is vulnerable and yearning for something her husband isn’t giving her. After her husband’s murder, she lets her façade crack so very briefly to show her grief, but then it’s back to literal business at HSN. It’s all about keeping up appearances for her and sticking by her statement “It was a random killing.” No one must know the truth, especially Marilyn. Is is sadder that she lies to herself or to society?
Miglin’s (Mike Farrell) mask was more metaphorical than his wife’s. On the surface, he seemed like a typical Chicago millionaire, a doting husband who helped his wife with her business, a religious man who kept a prayer altar in his basement. The show portrayed him to be racked with guilt at his infidelity and at odds between his Catholicism and gayness. “I tried,” he pleads in prayer.
It seems like a punishment worse than death when Cunanan sets out to not only murder Miglin, but expose him to the world as he wraps him in one of his signature tape helmets, changes him into women’s underwear and scatters the crime scene with gay porn magazines. Miglin can no longer hide and he knows this will expose him to Marilyn and to the world. What is the worse fate for him – to be dead or disgraced?
Finally, there’s Cunanan. He seems to wear a different mask all the time and his motives still are not clear. The writers and producers of the show told Vanity Fair that Cunanan loathed successful people like Miglin who only magnified his supposed failures, but that didn’t come through clearly except with Cunanan getting annoyed with Miglin’s plans for a Chicago skyscraper.
Otherwise, three episodes in and we still don’t know who the real Cunanan is. Clearly, he’s a monster, but what broke and how? Did anyone get a chance to see behind his mask? Or is it uglier than we can even imagine?
Next week, we’ll see Cunanan’s first and second victims and get an insight into his homelife, which will hopefully answer some of these questions!
Dailybreak.com
Gianni and Donatella. Gianni and Antonio. Donatella and Antonio. Andrew and Ronnie. Yes, this week’s episode featured duct tape sex helmets, Daren Criss dancing to Phil Collins in a speedo and Ricky Martin’s butt, but don’t get distracted. The focus of this week’s episode was these fraught relationships. As it jumped around in time, we got a closer look at the dynamic between these various pairs.
First, we see Donatella (Penelope Cruz) hissing at Antonio (Ricky Martin) over Gianni’s illness (fact check: the Versace family denies Gianni having HIV, but Marleen Orth’s 2000 book, “Vulgar Favors,” claims that Gianni’s autopsy revealed that he was HIV positive at the time of his death). Donatella blames Antonio’s promiscuity for Gianni’s illness and she’s upset with Antonio for not giving Gianni the stability he craves.
Donatella seems out of line here, though – why is she intruding on the intimate details of her brother’s relationship with his partner? She may not agree with their lifestyle, but she shouldn’t freeze Antonio out. Gianni seems very capable of fighting his own battles, especially with Antonio. It is especially tragic after Gianni dies. The two could lean on each other, but Donatella sees no reason to keep up the charade and flies back to Italy, with Gianni’s gold-boxed ashes in tow.
Whether it was Donatella’s words or simply good timing, Antonio is finally ready to commit to Gianni. Even though Gianni questions his decision, challenging him and asking if he’ll change his mind when the two are out clubbing like the kings of Miami they are, I truly believe Antonio. All he wants at this stage of his life is Gianni. When Antonio repeats himself outside of the club, his words are shattering because you know it’s too late and Gianni will be dead the next day. The storyline between Antonio and Gianni is arguably the most devastating in the entire show, because they care for each other so deeply in a way that not even Donatella can recognize.
Gianni and Donatella, who clearly share a deep bond and mutual respect, have their moments of discord too, especially when it comes to their creative visions. They clash over a fashion show – Gianni thinks the models are too skinny and she scolds him for not being edgy like McQueen and Galliano. They fight, as families do, and agree to disagree and each dress separate models for their show. This is why their business and personal relationship works so well. They can throw down and quickly pick back up and move forward, despite their passionate creative difference. What an envious partnership they have.
In stark contrast to all of this, we see loner Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss) desperately trying to make a connection with someone, even if that connection is as fake and shallow as himself. Arriving in Miami after killing four other men, he latches on to the first junkie he sees at his fleabag motel, Ronnie (an unrecognizably gaunt Max Greenfield). This relationship is the only one that isn’t factual and was probably created for plot reasons, but it shows us how sleazy Cunanan is and how much he yearns for a companion. He breezes in, offering Ronnie a cut of his escort business, regaling him with false stories of his fiancé, Versace.
Despite his transparent braggadocio, Cunanan seems well liked wherever he goes – the kid is charming AF – so it’s hard to understand why he is so broken inside. He seems to feel cheated by life, but perhaps if he put half as much effort into having a career as he does being a conman, he really could have accomplished something. Instead, he uses all of his creativity to snow the people around him.
Next week, we jump in time again, back to one of Cunanan’s other murders. And as for Darren Criss in a speedo, you can resume thinking about that now.
ACS news 