Getting Hooked on FX’s Crime Story
Question: Wow, that was an extremely intriguing episode of FX’s American Crime Story last night! I found it superior to the previous installments, which is ironic, because this episode didn’t feature Versace at all. (Hence, I left The Assassination of Gianni Versace off the title). I admit it is sometimes difficult to watch and enjoy, because the lead character is absolutely one of the most evil characters I have ever watched. I realize he is severely demented, but he takes his violent acts to another level.
Judith Light will almost surely receive well-deserved award nominations. What a fantastic performance! I admired her from way back in the ’80s when she was on the ABC sitcom Who’s The Boss? with Tony Danza. Since then she has portrayed countless compelling characters flawlessly. Thank you for recommending this great series. — FJ
Matt Roush: I was impressed in this episode by both Judith Light and Mike Ferrell (as her doomed, closeted husband, a real change of pace), and when I screened the series—FX made all but the finale available in advance—this was the hour that really made me sit up and take notice, as it became clear how Andrew Cunanan’s crimes were going to be presented. First the crime, then as the episodes unfold in reverse time, the backstory. (It’s even darker in the next episode when we meet two of his younger victims in relationships already in progress. All becomes clearer later, and man, is it tragic.) The Versace angle doesn’t entirely go away, because we revisit the designer (Edgar Ramirez) in parallel storylines as he is making a name for himself while Cunanan, his future assassin, is pretending to be who he’s not in a deadly cycle of narcissistic delusion. Darren Criss may be hard to watch when Cunanan is at his worst, but it’s an electrifying performance.
Tag: february 2018
ACS: Gianni Versace – “A Random Killing” – Blog – The Film Experience
The third episode of American Crime Story opens with Judith Light selling perfume in a home shopping commercial.
And what initially seems like a campy an even playful image, slowly devolves into one of the most chilling and disturbing episodes of television (and the best one in this season so far), anchored by outstanding guest performances, strong thematic elements, and as yet another reminder that Darren Criss is miles away from the gelled Warbler of Glee...
Episode 3: “A Random Killing”
Judith Light plays Marilyn Miglin, a Chicago perfume entrepreneur. She’s coming back home from a business trip, and she immediately senses something is wrong in her house. A series of shots show the empty, immaculate white rooms, and a sense of dread and disconcert that will not leave for the rest of the episode crawls under our skins, until her greatest fear is revealed: her husband has been murdered.
Continuing the backtracking format of the season, this episode takes us to the events that happened right before the previous one. That is, the week right before Andrew Cunanan first arrived to Miami. It revolves around the killing of his third victim thus far, Lee Miglin, and as such the episode feels stand-alone in nature. It doesn’t really do much to the overall narrative of the story (other than showing us another step in Cunanan’s killing spree), and it has almost zero to do with the Versaces. In fact, they’re completely absent from this episode, their presence only conjured by a storefront in New York.
“A Random Killing” puts the victim front and center, and forces us to remember that while we sometimes may consider victims of a serial killer part of a statistic, each of them were complex, human, and (in Lee Miglin’s case) deeply pained living beings.
We learned in previous episodes that Cunanan’s victims tended to be older and closeted, and we see the embodiment of this in Lee Miglin, an architecture magnate who lives a comfortable life with his wife Marilyn. But they are both unhappy and unsatisfied, and Lee cannot help to fill his void as soon as Marilyn leaves town, and hires Cunanan as an escort in an evening that goes terribly awry.
One of the themes that the show has been teasing is the pain and isolation that comes with being in the closet. This episode dives in with a rawness that is at many times incredibly hard to watch. Not only is this man projecting his deepest desires and insecurities onto a young boy who we knows is a monster, but Andrew is fully taking advantage of his fears and exploiting them for his sick mind games.
In a conversation he has with Lee about his plans for building the tallest tower in the world, Cunanan’s pathological desire for recognition and acknowledgement by the outside world is evidenced once again. And just minutes later, as he is torturing Lee with duct tape, makes sure to let him know that disgrace is a fate worse than death.
Darren Criss continues to expertly balance the charming and psychopathic sides of Cunanan, though this episode showcased the latter, as he was mostly shown in isolation or in hunting mode. There was a point where his eyes involuntarily expanded with pain, desperation and child-like eagerness that was truly disturbing.
Judith Light is, however, the highlight of the episode. While this role is thematically similar to the one she plays in Transparent, her Marilyn is a woman that will not allow herself to be broken and vulnerable (until the weight of the situation falls on and crumbles her). She has built an empire based on appearances and she will keep it that way until the very end. Disgrace is fate worse than death.
Additionally, in this episode we narratively understand why the police and the national manhunt went through so many obstacles to find Cunanan. The victims and their circumstances of death (which Cunanan made sure exposed their sexual identity) tended to complicate the process.
“A Random Killing” was not an enjoyable hour of television. There were moments that exposed both the inhumanity of the killings and the humanity of the people affected that were truly bone-chilling, just devastating to watch. But the acting continues to be masterful. The narrative is still scattered and struggling to find a balance of plot and theme, but it finds moments when it soars.
The sick irony of all this is that, as much as the show is portraying Cunanan as a messed up character and the path of devastation he left behind him, a TV show about him is probably giving him what he most desired in the world.
ACS: Gianni Versace – “A Random Killing” – Blog – The Film Experience
TV Review: American Crime Story S02E01 – “The Man Who Would Be Vogue” ⋆ Rogues Portal
“I tell people what they need to hear.”
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story opens in dramatic fashion. The titular Gianni Versace (Edgar Ramirez) wakes up and eats breakfast in his palatial home before leaving to pick up some magazines, politely rebuffing some autograph seekers. Meanwhile, Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss) contemplates on a beach, pukes in a public bathroom and drinks a soda. Their paths come together, in a swirling mix of music, pleasant bliss and sweaty desperation, when Cunanan walks up to Versace and shoots him.
It’s a hell of an opening and sets this season apart from the previous, impressive season. Presumably, this 9-episode season will show the manhunt for Cunanan after he killed Versace and his life leading up to the event.
And it is absolutely an event. When news of Versace’s death quickly spreads people pop out of the woodwork to become part of the story. A man quickly runs to his car, grabs his Polaroid and snaps a pic of Versace’s body being taken to the hospital. A couple that tried to get Versace’s signature earlier drenches a magazine ad in his blood and seal it in a bag to sell later. A woman walks through the throngs of news cameras wearing a Versace bathing suit. Post-O.J. Simpson every crime involving a celebrity could bring money or fame.
Is that why Cunanan did it?
We don’t really know. We don’t even get a hint of why the murder happened during “The Man Who Would Be Vogue.” In any other show, it would be easy to follow the breadcrumbs. Cunanan mets Versace at a club, then invited to the Opera with him and went on a date. They had some falling out, and Cunanan snapped and killed him. Except… I’m pretty sure most of that didn’t happen.
Cunanan definitely shot Versace. He maybe, possibly, ran into him in a club. Everything else we see from his perspective is pretty comfortably a fiction. Criss’s performance is fantastic. He’s a proto-Patrick Bateman, pretending and striving to be the perfect “whatever” he has to be. When he’s spinning the yarn about meeting Versace to his friends he pretends he isn’t gay. When he “meets” Versace, he pretends to be born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He’s whatever anyone needs him to be, and whatever makes it easier for him to get by. It seems like his ability to blend in will become a major aspect of the series. The FBI even had fliers made up — that they didn’t distribute until way too late — which showed his ability to transform his look with ease.
It will be interesting to see the Versace family drama alongside the actual crime stuff. As much as this seems centered around Cunanan, and rightfully so, it’s hard to deny the pull of the Versace empire. We get a bit of Edgar Ramirez’s performance as the titular assassinee, and he’s great if nebulous, but the other members of the family make just as strong an impression. Donatella Versace (Penelope Cruz) stomps into the show from a private jet and completely takes over, caring only for her brother’s legacy and the legacy of the company.
The true surprise of the episode is Ricky Martin as Versace’s live-in partner, Antonio D’Amico. He gets a few scenes in this episode that are packed full of drama. He discovers Versace’s body. D’Amico has to deal with an interview from a cop who has no idea how to handle a gay relationship. He has to come face-to-face with Donatella. Martin easily wins the “David Schwimmer Award” for Most Impressive American Crime Story Performance, and I’m excited to see him in the weeks to come.
As the episode ends, we get a clear picture of how easily Cunanan was able to avoid detection and how incompetent the FBI was during the manhunt. They had fliers with his picture on it and knew he had killed before but didn’t distribute them. A pawnshop owner sent in forms that had his exact name and address. They were never flagged. He was able to evade detection and head back to his hotel after killing Versace.
The scene that sticks with me is Cunanan in the hotel bar, watching the news. The woman in front of him learns about Versace’s death and holds her hand over her mouth in shock. Cunanan examines her, like a lizard or a Terminator, and copies her body language. It’s a creepy little performance by Criss, and it’s a big part of the reason I’ll continue tuning in.
Verdict: Keep watching. It’s a very solid opening that promises some great and surprising performances. It seems to be a departure from the first season, which makes it way more interesting than if they had just done another popular trial. I plan to keep watching for a few reasons: the development of the Versace family, to keep seeing what Ricky Martin has to offer and Darren Criss’s star-making performance.
TV Review: American Crime Story S02E01 – “The Man Who Would Be Vogue” ⋆ Rogues Portal
“American Crime Story” Proves One Type Of Soul-Baring Scene Is Always TV Gold
Life as a woman in this world is difficult. So very difficult. We’re forced to deal with everything from societal gaslighting to rape culture and systematically sexist policies. Since the world can feel like a battlefield — and women are socialized from birth to believe we’re too weak to defend ourselves with traditional means — many have turned the “feminine” accoutrements left to us as armor. A shining example of this is makeup, a shield countless women use to create the version of themselves they want the world to see. That’s why, as Wednesday night’s American Crime Story episode proved, there’s no more revealing a television scene than the moment a female character removes all of that protection.
The latest episode of The Assassination of Gianni Versace, “A Random Killing,” gives us two such looks at Marilyn Miglin (Judith Light), home shopping beauty mogul and wife of Andrew Cunanan’s (Darren Criss) third victim, Lee Miglin (Mike Farrell). The first quietly reveals all of the work Marilyn puts in to remain a conventionally beautiful woman, and how important that status is for her. Off goes the pinky-red lipstick. Then the false eyelashes. Eventually, the defined eyeshadow disappears. It’s messy work, but, in Marilyn’s mind, necessary work.
The final step in her process is meant to subtly highlight the tragedy of the character. Once all of Marilyn’s makeup is gone, she puts a few drops of what appears to be perfume on her neck and then down her décolletage. It’s a purposefully sexual move, one a woman only enacts if she hopes someone — like, say, her husband — will be close enough to her cleavage to take a deep, arousing whiff. Yet, viewers know no such seduction is possible since Marilyn’s spouse is a closeted gay man counting down the hours until his male escort arrives; it doesn’t matter how appealing Marilyn’s chest is, Lee isn’t interested. But, at least she can hope, right?
Unlike most Ryan Murphy-Brad Fulchuck set pieces, we don’t learn all of these details through dazzling colors and camp. Rather, the scene is completely silent, and it still manages to tell us everything we need to know about this proud, hopeful, image-obsessed woman. That’s because these are the moments where, in front of a mirror and surrounded by cosmetics, the manufactured version of a woman collides with the true one and her idealized dream.
This is what makes the second time we see Marilyn remove her makeup so powerful. First, she tries to contain her composure following Lee’s murder by applying even more cosmetics. “I know what they’re saying about me,” see says, steely as ever while swiping what looks like a second coat of blush on her cheeks. “‘How could a woman who cares so much about appearance appear not to care?’” Continuing to fiddle with the contents of her cosmetics bag to battle back the grief, Marilyn details her and Lee’s love story from her own point of view.
Finally the emotional dam breaks, and Marilyn’s first instinct is to ruin her perfectly-done eye makeup. “I loved him,” she says between sobs. “I loved him very much.” Overcome, she then absentmindedly dabs at her mouth, slightly smearing her pink lipstick. In her most powerful moment, Marilyn growls, “There, is that better? Am I a real wife now?” All of this occurs because Marilyn is forced to confront her faux-calm exterior and devastated interior in front of that mirror.
Although Marilyn’s makeup-free appearance on TV is the latest one to quietly — or sometimes not-so-quietly, considering that much-needed meltdown — plunge the depths of steadfast women, it’s certainly not the first. The greatest modern example of this trend still hails from How To Get Away With Murder’s “Let’s Get To Scooping,” when Annalise Keating (The Great Viola Davis) removes every last stitch of makeup amid the chaos of finding out her husband’s nudes are on the cellphone of a murdered college student. Where Marilyn’s scenes explore her own self image and grief, HTGAWM gets to the heart of what it means to be a powerful, dark-skinned Black woman in a white world.
The findings of that investigation is it’s an exhausting uphill battle. In the now-iconic closing scene, we see Annalise remove her wig to reveal her cropped natural hair, pull off her fake lashes, and wipe away a full face of makeup. If you look closely, you’ll notice Annalise’s foundation is markedly lighter than her actual skin tone. But, that’s just another way to get by. Plus, it’s unlikely she could find the appropriate shade in the wealthy neighborhoods of Philadelphia. This is Annalise at both the end of her rope and at her most real. Finally, at her most honest, she’s ready to ask her husband why his penis is on a dead girl’s iPhone.
The biggest cosmetics strip down after Annalise’s arrived three years later with the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel pilot, when we find out the titular marvelous Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) goes to sleep every night in a full face of makeup. She then wakes in the middle of the night to remove it, falls asleep, and wakes once more with the sun to re-apply. This way, her husband of nearly half a decade only sees Midge at her radiant best.
So, whether the women of television are battling grief, devastation, or lifetimes of self-doubt, ditching makeup can unveil it all. No wonder it’s called war paint.
“American Crime Story” Proves One Type Of Soul-Baring Scene Is Always TV Gold
Murder most fashionable: ‘The Assassination Of Gianni Versace’
Insinuate” is such a delicious word. It is suggestion at its most furtive, a sly whisper, a meaningful nudge. An insinuation stops well short of being direct—direct enough to trigger litigation, at least—yet is pointed enough to assassinate a character. It is something the most omniscient fictional characters throughout the ages have done most artfully, from Iago to Jeeves, bending less aware characters to their will, with but the timing of a cough or a specifically sharpened question mark.
I, for one, have always been fascinated by those who can insinuate themselves into a conversation. This cunning is demonstrated rather strikingly in the first episode of the second season of American Crime Story, titled The Assassination Of Gianni Versace, where would-be killer Andrew Cunanan is introduced to Versace at a crowded nightclub and, through rude but relentless persistence, wangles his way to the designer’s ear. His impudence is startling as he brushes off the man who introduced him to Versace while keenly working his way to the centre, making unwanted conversation and dropping entirely unsolicited details to get noticed. It is obnoxious but effective, and Versace is drawn to the man’s single-minded focus. It’s hard to look away.
That last line could exemplify this new season of Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story, streaming in India on Hotstar. It is an anthology series that looks at one dazzling crime per season. The first season—The People v. O.J. Simpson—was a remarkable true-crime narrative, a cinematic and nuanced telling of a story that continues to beggar credulity even though we all know how it turned out. The new season, based on the book Vulgar Favors by journalist Maureen Orth, is much less brilliant but much more shiny.
It is a baroque production. It is obvious from that gilded Medusa logo that Gianni Versace will be draped in couture and that he will clothe those around him in otherworldly outfits, but this series is entirely about gloss. Even the coffin he lies in positively gleams because of the show’s relentlessly polished aesthetic. We’re told Versace forgave beauty everything, and that’s what this show provides, stylized overture after stylized overture.
A swooping overhead drone shot of “bondi blue” waves and a sun-drenched beach is used to introduce us to Miami, while Laura Branigan’s Gloria—a song with inevitably built-in exclamation marks—plays loud and proud. A station wagon Cunanan steals is fire-engine red to go with his neatly tucked cerulean blue T-shirt, and even the mud spatter on the side of the vehicle looks just right. Forget the mesmerizing lushness of the Versace mansion. Even when the surroundings call for drabness, like the interior of a cheap motel, the pastel shades are pleasantly picked to match shirts and skies, and the relative lack of flash is compensated for with a picture of Marilyn Monroe on the wall. Who wants verisimilitude when you can have va-va-voom?
The visuals are colour-corrected beyond Instagram filters, while the cast is unfairly attractive. The most dismal character on the show is blessed with Ricky Martin’s jawline (because the singer plays him), while Darren Criss, as the sociopathic serial killer Cunanan, shakes his hips wavily as he moves, as if he were an expensive handbag hanging off a high-heeled woman. One casting decision says it all: The distinctive-looking Donatella Versace is, flatteringly enough, played by Penelope Cruz.
This approach of sheen over subtlety makes an undoubted grab for the eye, but it is exhausting to constantly look past something this meticulously tailored. It is too designed—and while that may sound like an odd criticism for a show about a designer—that just might be the problem: This particular American Crime Story isn’t about Versace after all. Despite a tender and melancholic Gianni Versace portrayal by the great Édgar Ramírez (you may remember him from the Carlos miniseries), this is a show about the serial killer instead.
Criss is wonderfully supple in the chameleonic role of Cunanan, but this shape-shifting and obsequious artifice is too reminiscent of Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley, without quite having the unpredictable edge of that great character. Cunanan juggles masks well, but the show only seems to beat with a human heart when he isn’t around, which isn’t very often. The most affecting scene in the early episodes, for example, comes when Cruz’s Donatella tightens the necktie around her brother’s corpse before breaking down far, far from the cameras.
Orth’s journalism has always been sensational and speculative, and this hastily written source material—combined with Ryan Murphy’s naturally lavish storytelling—feels too lurid to matter. This is a shame because there are telling moments throughout this new season, moments about homosexual heartbreak and gay struggles of the 1990s, which deserve place on a more affecting (and less affected) show.
“I don’t like his clothes,” a man tells Cunanan about Versace. “That’s because you don’t know him,” snaps Cunanan defensively. “I don’t know him,” says the man, “but his stores have windows. I can see his clothes.” Cunanan argues back passionately, saying that only when you are familiar with the artist and his heart can you truly appreciate the clothes and what they mean. The first season of American Crime Story allowed us to know people and made us reflect on their lives and choices. This season shows us their clothes.
Murder most fashionable: ‘The Assassination Of Gianni Versace’
David Furnish ‘Deeply Dissapointed’ By ‘Completely Inaccurate’ HIV Comments From ‘Assassination Of Gianni Versace’ Producer
David Furnish is taking issue with some remarks made by Brad Simpson, an executive producer on FX drama “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” regarding the choice to depict the slain fashion designer as HIV-positive in the fact-based series (whether Versace was or wasn’t HIV-positive isn’t known).
During an interview with NPR on Wednesday, Simpson commented on the creative decision to depict Versace as carrying the HIV virus.
“This was a time in which HIV was still a death sentence,” said Simpson, “it was killing thousands and thousands of gay men, and we personally don’t think there’s any stigma anymore to having HIV.”
Upon hearing Simpson’s comments, David Furnish felt compelled to issue a statement in his capacity as chairman of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
“I was deeply disappointed by comments made by Brad Simpson, which were completely inaccurate and ignore the real-life experience of millions of people living with HIV today. HIV stigma is not only real, it is severe. In fact, today the primary barrier to ending the AIDS epidemic continues to be widespread stigma and discrimination against people living with or perceived to be living with HIV/AIDS,” begins the statement from Furnish, who has been John’s partner for two decades (they wed in 2014).
“It’s because of stigma that people are hesitant or fearful to be tested, to discuss their HIV diagnosis with their doctor or pharmacist, to reveal their HIV-positive status to family and friends, or to seek treatment and services. It’s because of stigma that there are still laws on the books in many states that criminalize HIV-positive people for having consensual sex — even when no HIV transmission takes place,” his statement continues.
“Mr. Simpson should use his platform to help end the stigma and ignorance that persist on this issue,” Furnish concludes. “Instead, sadly, he is perpetuating it. At the very least, he should apologize. But more importantly, he should educate himself and join the critical work of ending the stigma and discrimination that targets all people affected by the epidemic.”
The series, based on Maureen Orth’s book Vulgar Favors, has been met with resistance from Versace’s fashion house, which issued a statement declaring the events depicted in “The Assassination of Gianni Versace” as “pure fiction.”
“The Versace family has not authorized nor has it in any way been involved in the TV series dedicated to the death of Gianni Versace,” reads the statement. “Since Versace has not authorized the book from which it is partially drawn and has not taken part in writing the script, this TV series must be considered a work of fiction.”
edgarramirez25: “Sho” y mi mate/Mi mate y “sho” 🇦🇷 #acsversaceenfx#acsversacenofx #acsversace •
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🇬🇧 In case you we’re wondering: MATE sometimes spelled maté in English though not in Spanish or Portuguese. Also known as chimarrão (Portuguese) or cimarrón (Spanish), is a traditional South American caffeine-rich infused drink, that was first consumed by the indigenous Guaraní and also spread by the Tupí people. In the last centuries, it became particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay (where it is defined by law as the “national infusion”),as also in Paraguay, the Bolivian Chaco, Southern Chile and Southern Brazil. It is also consumed in Syria, the largest importer in the world, and in Lebanon – source: Wikipedia-
https://ia601506.us.archive.org/31/items/PVRMACSS02E03/PVRM_ACS_S02E03.mp3?plead=please-dont-download-this-or-our-lawyers-wont-let-us-host-audio
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The People are … loving the direction ACS Versace is taking! The third episode gives us a (Judith) light at the end of the tunnel. Natalie and Maren are reading your kudos for Cunanan –Well, Darrin Criss– and break down the truth of the Miglin murder scene.
Follow all of Ryan Murphy’s shows on the TV Time app and leave your comments after each episode. You could be included in the show! Or follow on Twitter: @PPLvRyanMurphy.
THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE Review: “A Random Killing” | Birth.Movies.Death.
While The Assassination of Gianni Versace is at least partially devoted to detailing the life of the famous gunned down fashion mogul – complete with his possible struggle with and recovery from HIV/AIDS – it’s mostly a serial killer profile at heart. Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss) is the true center of American Crime Story’s second season, as he drives halfway across the country, amassing a body count along with way. Before Versace (Edgar Ramírez) was shot dead on the front steps of his Miami estate on July 15, 1997, Cunanan killed four other men, his spree a primal expression of his own self-loathing (as this series seems to posit). Lee Miglin (Lee Farrell) was Cunanan’s third victim – a wealthy Chicago commercial architect with a “perfume queen” wife (Judith) who loved and trusted him with all her heart, his weakness for male prostitutes allowing Andrew into their bedroom, which would lead to his sad demise.
Much like the controversy that surrounds the artist’s supposed HIV diagnosis – which the Versace family adamantly disputes to this day – The Assassination of Gianni Versace may be playing fast and loose with the facts again (though investigative tomes like Wensley Clarkson’s Death at Every Stop have also included Lee’s murder in Cunanan’s sordid history). The Miglins have always maintained that the architect’s death was “a random killing”, hence the title of this episode. Though Ryan Murphy & Co. don’t make it clear how Cunanan and Miglin met, it’s an ostensibly familiar late-night phone call to Lee’s home office that prompts the deadly meeting. When Marilyn (Light) takes off on a business trip – hocking her “Pheromone” spritz for the Home Shopping Network – Lee goes to the tiny chapel in their basement and prays for forgiveness for what he’s about to do. “I try,” he almost begs with the Lord to understand. Then he goes upstairs to meet Cunanan – clearly not for the first time – but the episode leaves it up for us to decide whether Marilyn knew about her husband’s “secret life” the whole time.
It’s all campy and trashy in that inimitably Ryan Murphy sort of way – bringing longtime fans back to his work on Nip/Tuck – but any flamboyance is balanced by a mournful and sympathetic tenor. Suddenly, decades of closeted senators and CEOs are flashing through the audience’s mind, as they ponder how the Miglins’ functional yet fundamentally flawed relationship is just one of how many over the course of history – two human beings who love each other, are successful, while possibly knowing there’s something missing sexually between the two of them. “I knew it,” Marilyn says upon arriving home during the episode’s lengthy, hyper-portentous opening (which feels pulled straight out of a horror picture), and we’re not sure if she’s commenting about a premonition about Lee’s death or his attraction toward men. The whole hour is masterfully paced, fastidiously composed, and ends on a note that’s shatteringly sad.
Judith Light gets to do the bulk of the heavy emotional lifting in “A Random Killing”, and Light is in complete control of every moment. Seconds after Lee’s murder is discovered by an investigating officer, Marilyn is up and taking stock of all the items Cunanan stole from the house (including the couple’s Lexus). Throughout the rest of the episode, she struggles to remain strong, delivering a speech on HSN about how she’s always loved her “American Dream” of a husband, and only breaking down ever so slightly at the very end. Yet this minor lapse is quickly painted over by rage, as Marilyn doesn’t let anyone – including the police – try and label Lee’s death anything but a mere act of chance. “He won’t steal my good name,” she says of Andrew, echoing the sentiments of Donatella Versace (Penélope Cruz) in the wake of Gianni’s death. It’s another portrait of a female made of granite, as waves of grief attempt to erode their tight-jawed visages.
For all the sorrow, this is still American Crime Story, and Murphy lets director Gwyneth Horder-Payton and writer Tom Rob Smith indulge in some rather ghoulish sexual violence and horror set piece creation. “A Random Killing” contains a version of Andrew we haven’t seen up until now – the lying con man replaced with a venomous assassin, ready to lash out at any moment as if his murderous impulses are nothing more than diversions he indulges to tickle his loins. The actual staging of Lee’s death is difficult to watch, as Cunanan again tapes his victim’s face shut before beating and cutting him to death. Later, after discovering that Chicago PD are tracking the cell phone in the Miglins’ Lexus, he dumps the luxury car and coldly executes the driver of the red pickup we’ve seen him sporting during every episode up until this point. Darren Criss is just amazing, jettisoning any need for us to empathize with this psychopath as he transforms into a pistol-toting land shark, constantly swimming and killing in order to survive uncaptured another day.
The chronology of The Assassination of Gianni Versace continues to be a little unnecessarily convoluted – jumping from several periods between ‘92 – ’97 – but what the show might be overdoing in terms of storytelling style, it’s more than making up for in terms of raw poignancy. The final shot of Marilyn Miglin’s face, captured in a slow creeping zoom, is as haunting as OJ staring up at that statue at the very end of The People v. OJ Simpson. Perhaps the most miraculous element of American Crime Story (and there are so, so many) is its ability to isolate pure truthful emotion inside of headline-grabbing sensationalism, mining the country’s tabloid myths for what they actually mean to the figures who lived through these horrid exploits.
THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE Review: “A Random Killing” | Birth.Movies.Death.
ACS news 