Tonight’s ‘Assassination of Gianni Versace’ Sees Andrew Cunanan Slowly Unravel

The Assassination of Giani Versace is back after a two-week hiatus, and Episode 6 delves into the not-quite-yet-murderous—but still utterly horrifying—Andrew Cunanan of 1995. Though he’s still repressing his violent urges at this point, Cunanan’s relentless thirst is on full display during his 26th birthday party in California, a lavish and deeply fraught affair that ends up marking the start of Andrew’s descent into violent madness.

Here are five talking points from tonight’s appropriately titled episode, “Descent.”

1) The opening moments emphasize the biggest fact vs. fiction divide in this show.

In brief: Andrew Cunanan’s physique. In Vulgar Favors, the book upon which this series is based, author Maureen Orth notes on several occasions that Cunanan gained a large amount of weight towards the end of his life. Unusual for a crystal meth user, he had a big appetite, and was apparently self-conscious about his body in contrast to the chiseled physique that was de rigueur in the gay community. Let’s just say that this is not the case with Darren Criss’s Cunanan, whose slammin’ bod has been on display in earlier episodes this season, and is highlighted in this week’s opening sequence.

Andrew arrives at a palatial house in California, strips naked and takes a swim in the pool. It’s the kind of ostentatiously luxurious setting in which he’s most at home—but of course, the house is not his. It belongs to Norman Blachford, the wealthy older man who allegedly “kept” and bankrolled Cunanan for several years before the murders. Though the real-life nature of Cunanan and Blachford’s relationship is still unknown to this day, American Crime Story posits them as a couple. On the show, Andrew tries to pretend he’s just Norman’s interior designer, and that he has his own apartment back in New York, but the truth behind their “arrangement” is clear to everyone who attends the party.

2) Despite being entirely murder-free, Andrew’s birthday party is the show’s most excruciating sequence yet.

Despite his involvement with Norman, Andrew still thinks he can have it both ways—he’ll keep the wealthy older companion to pay for his lifestyle, while also pursuing what he sees as true love with David. “He’s a future,” Andrew tells Lizzie of David, “and so far I’ve only dated the past.” He’s determined to win David, and in order to do that, he wants to transform himself into “someone David can love.” This sounds like a touching sentiment, until you remember that it’s coming from Andrew Cunanan.

Andrew’s version of being “someone David can love” turns out to mean peacocking— and he ropes poor Jeff Trail, who at this point is still a real friend, into playing along. He gives Jeff a lavish gift to give back to him at the party, which is one of the most obnoxiously extra moves I have ever seen on screen—not to mention rude as hell, since Jeff brought an actual gift—and also gives him a nicer pair of shoes to wear. Jeff draws the line at pretending to still be a naval officer, and later in the episode, he and Andrew come to blows over that postcard we heard about in Episode 4, with Jeff openly accusing Andrew of trying to out him.

Andrew’s lies are beginning to catch up with him and clash with each other, and the party sequence culminates with a photograph that really sums up this messy collision of Andrew’s two worlds. On one side of Andrew, Norman and Lee Miglin; on the other, David and Jeff, who have only just met but have already struck up a warm, easy rapport that’s infuriating Andrew. “It’s everyone I love in one photo!” Andrew coos, but there’s a manic glint in his eyes from this point on, and it never really goes away.

3) Norman’s friend David is having none of Andrew’s nonsense.

And it’s deeply enjoyable to watch. This David sees through Andrew from minute one of the party, and it’s clear from their interaction that their mutual dislike goes back some way. David sees Andrew as the opportunist he is, taking advantage of Norman in a vulnerable moment following the death of Norman’s longtime partner from AIDS.

“What a volatile mix you are,” David tells Andrew, in one of several catty, telling, exchanges. “Too lazy to work, and too proud to be kept.” That line lays the groundwork for Norman and Andrew’s eventual separation, which comes after Andrew presents a list of absurd demands to Norman in exchange for continuing their relationship. By now, Norman has looked into Andrew enough to figure out that “Andrew De Silva” is an alias, and just about everything he’s ever said about his past is a lie.

What’s amazing, though, is that all this lying isn’t a deal-breaker for Norman—he’s willing to overlook it. What he’s not willing to overlook is Andrew’s laziness, and when he offers to pay for Andrew to go back to college and finish his degree, it prompts a rare moment of honesty. “What is it about education and work that you find so insulting?” asks Norman, to which Andrew spits, “It’s ordinary!” They’re at a stalemate, and so Andrew smashes a glass table and storms out with the admittedly fabulous closing line “I expect you to call.” Spoiler: Norman will not call.

4) There was, at one point, the possibility of something real between Andrew and David.

Thanks to the show’s reverse chronology, the history of these relationships is deliberately ambiguous, and so it hasn’t been clear up until now whether Andrew’s obsession with David is fully delusional, or whether it sprung from something real. But “Descent” suggests that it’s the latter. Andrew makes yet another desperate grand gesture, flying David first-class to California for a spontaneous getaway at a luxury hotel, and though David is clearly on his guard, he still seems somewhat genuinely charmed.

“I wanted to see if we could take the next step,” he admits to Andrew, but tells him that their first night together in San Francisco—a meeting we’re yet to see onscreen—meant more to Andrew than it did to David. “I get the feeling you don’t have that many great nights with people,” David says, with real empathy. “So when you do, it feels huge.”

Andrew insists he’s willing to do anything if David will give their relationship a chance, so David calls his bluff and asks him to tell the truth. “Get rid of all this,” he says, moving them away from the lavish three-course room service dinner and earnestly asking Andrew to give him a genuine response for once.

And for a few seconds, it feels like Andrew might actually do it. He begins to tell what seems to be truth about his father, a stockbroker for Merrill Lynch who has now returned to the Philippines. But then the truth gives way to a lie, and David gets visibly sadder and angrier as the lies keep coming. As it turns out, telling the truth about himself is the one thing Andrew won’t do, even for David.

5) Andrew Cunanan and Gianni Versace meet again.

In a crystal meth-fueled dream sequence after his getaway with David falls apart, Andrew visits Versace’s store, where Gianni himself is waiting to serve him. Bathed in hellish red lighting, Andrew complains about how many people have taken and taken from him, and how “this world has wasted me, while it has turned you, Mr. Versace, into a star.”

Dream Gianni is calmly taking Andrew’s measurements through this rant, but when Andrew tries to draw a parallel between their lives, he has to object. “You think you’re better than me, but we’re the same,“ Andrew says. "The only difference is you got lucky.” Gianni’s reply cuts right to the heart of everything that drives Andrew’s rage: “Not the only difference, sir. I’m loved.”

What’s interesting about this is it’s an overt dream sequence, but Gianni and Andrew’s opera date in the first episode can also be interpreted as a dream—even Darren Criss himself is not convinced it wasn’t. “As we were shooting it, I was like, Is this just in Andrew’s head?” he told Esquire. “We don’t know! The grandeur of the show in general is almost like a machination of Andrew’s brain. There’s a beauty and a color and a sweeping, operatic feel to the show that feels like we’re seeing it through the eyes of an unreliable narrator.”

6) Andrew’s visit to his mother is a sad, scary interlude that hints at the upbringing that shaped him.

On the one hand, Andrew’s mother is clearly devoted to him—she’s ecstatic to see him, and bathes him while singing an Italian lullaby, a sequence that’s simultaneously moving and creepy. On the other, though, her love seems extremely conditional on Andrew’s success. Everything she says to him, almost without exception, is about his “accomplishments,“ which are, of course, pure fiction. She’s particularly thrilled that Andrew is traveling the world with Gianni Versace designing costumes for operas. She’s so preoccupied with his success that she’s not actually listening to him at all, and chooses not to notice that he’s clearly in crisis; when he says outright that he’s unhappy, she acts as though he hasn’t spoken. As it turns out, this visit to his mother’s house came right before Andrew’s visit to Minneapolis, where his murder spree began. “They have an opera house in Minneapolis?” his mom asks, sunnily, and in a truly great line delivery from Criss, Andrew replies: “No, mom. I don’t think they do.”

American Crime Story: Versace Season 1 Episode 6 Review: Descent

So, I’m just going to put this out there right away: I was not a fan of this episode.

From Lee Miglin’s death, to Jeff Trail and David Madson, I’ve been completely engrossed in the show’s expedition into the past. But I was officially lost this week and not in the least bit intrigued.

Perhaps I’m in the minority though? Maybe you thoroughly enjoyed yet another peek into the fantastical, make believe world that Andrew Cunanan exists in. Maybe you thought American Crime Story: Versace Season 1 Episode 6 was a good way of culminating this part of the story.

I would have to wholeheartedly disagree with that assessment.

Let’s begin with this birthday party. Jumping back in time to a year before his murder spree, Andrew seems to be living the dream. He’s staying in a breathtaking mansion in California and getting ready for his birthday party.

And who’s throwing this swanky affair? Norman Blanchard. Oh, Norman. It’s pretty clear from the onset that Andrew doesn’t just work for Norman. These two are tied together, but it’s hard to tell at first if they’re tied together physically, emotionally or both.

It turns out that for Andrew, his tie to Norman is purely financial.

We’ve seen over the weeks that Andrew not only thinks very highly of himself, but he also believes he’s owed something from the world. He’s as narcissistic as narcissistic gets.

The way he approaches Norman with all his outlandish demands is incredibly insulting. And Norman just sort of takes it, but not before letting Andrew know that he’s no dummy.

You’ve made a beautiful home. I want you to be happy, I really do. And I don’t mind that you tell a few lies to smooth over the discomfort of this arrangement. Hell, I can allow you all of the lies that you want. Except for one. That I’m a fool.

I wanted to like Norman but I honestly felt nothing. He was a lonely older man who was trying to help Andrew, but also enabling him in many ways. Andrew throwing a hissy fit and escaping that situation was a blessing for him.

So anyway let’s circle back to the party, where Jeff and David meet for the first time and Lee Miglin makes a very awkward appearance.

Andrew has this fixation on David that we’ve seen in prior episodes, but it’s on full display here. To go through the effort of buying and wrapping a gift for yourself and then basically forcing your friend to present it to you, just to show some guy your friends like you is beyond weird.

Jeff handles the situation well because Jeff is a decent human being who does seem to care about him. David also seems to care for Andrew but not nearly as much as he cares about him.

Andrew: I need to get back to my party. That room is full of people that love me.
Gallo: Then that room is full of people that don’t know you.

The party is odd and an eclectic mixture of people, as it seems as if most of these people are just there because Norman knows how to throw a party. When Andrew hops in a picture with Norman, Lee, Jeff and David and declares them all the people that love him, it’s single-handedly one of the most awkward and chillingly sad moments of the series.

We get a small taste of the falling out between Jeff and Andrew and it’s not only just about the postcard, but Andrew’s jealousy. There’s an ease about Jeff that easy to fall for and Andrew’s worst fear is that with Jeff and David in the same city, David will soon fall for Jeff and suddenly he’s the outsider seeing his two “best” friends fall in love.

Andrew being Andrew, he thinks the way to David’s heart is through money. Poor David is very clearly not buying anything that Andrew is selling but he goes along with it until he just can’t anymore.

But even knowing that he isn’t in the same place as Andrew, David decides to give him a chance. David is inherently good. That much we’ve clearly seen over the past few episodes. But he’s never better than when he sits pensively and listens to Andrew spin yet another tale about a childhood that just never existed.

Everything that follows the impromptu LA trip is a disaster.

Tiring of cocaine, Andrew goes for something a little harder and hits rock bottom. And rock bottom is not begging outside of Norman’s house.

Rock bottom is the home of Mrs. Cunanan.

It’s very apparent that Andrew must have had one hell of a childhood with a mother like that. She’s a doting mother and an affectionate woman, but it’s all rooted in this belief that somehow her son is better than others. Her son is a star. She has the ‘maybe we didn’t have much growing up, but my son made it!’ type of attitude.

And that’s an okay attitude to have when it’s rooted in reality.

At this point in time, Andrew is a shell of himself. Gone is the macho bravado and confidence. Instead he’s defeated and forced to rely on the one person he knows has some kind of love for him.

The only word I can think of to describe their interaction is depressing. When your own mother brushes off your pleas for help to continue convincing herself that you’re better than the bitchy neighbors kid, you realize you’re truly alone in the world.

What did you guys think of ‘Descent’? What are you hoping to see over the last few installments? Do you miss the Versace storylines?

Editor’s Rating:★★★☆☆

American Crime Story: Versace Season 1 Episode 6 Review: Descent

‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’ Episode 6: A Nothing Man

Episode 6: ‘Descent’

In a poignant moment of this week’s episode, perhaps the most poignant of the series so far, David Madson, the down-to-earth Minneapolis architect who has become the unfortunate object of Andrew Cunanan’s obsessive affection, looks across a lavish room-service dinner into the eyes of the man who one day will kill him.

“We had a great time in San Francisco,” David tells him. “One great night. And maybe there was a chance, but … I get the feeling you don’t have many great nights with people — am I right? So when you do, it feels huge, it feels life-changing.”

It is intended to be a gentle letdown — one that Andrew, of course, can’t or won’t accept. It is also a reminder that this series is about failures of recognition: not only failures to recognize gay lives, worth and dignity, but also failures of self-recognition.

After my last recap, in which I lamented this show’s failure to offer a compelling explanation for Andrew Cunanan’s homicidal rampage, some readers faulted me for seeking a motivation, much less redemption, where none can be found. One reader, Toni from Maine, argues:

Obviously, Cunanan hated the wealthy old men he serviced as a gigolo and hated the younger men he desired who didn’t want him and, feeling time slip away, started retaliating against life by murdering those he resented, which he found to be a drug more powerful than anything he’d ever experienced. Eventually, he murders Versace, the genius artist, who he’s more jealous of than anyone.

Obviously, Cunanan hated the wealthy old men he serviced as a gigolo and hated the younger men he desired who didn’t want him and, feeling time slip away, started retaliating against life by murdering those he resented, which he found to be a drug more powerful than anything he’d ever experienced. Eventually, he murders Versace, the genius artist, who he’s more jealous of than anyone.

That succinct hypothesis is very much supported by this episode (brava, Toni!), in which Cunanan’s dismal career as a rent boy, his failure to attract men his own age and his jealous rage are examined in considerable detail. I’ve come to accept that origin-of-evil questions are outside the scope of “American Crime Story.” But that acceptance doesn’t make this unrelenting portrait of pathology any easier to absorb.

The episode begins in 1996 — a year before the murders — at the spacious San Diego villa of Norman Blachford, a sixtysomething businessman who, after losing a partner to AIDS, became Andrew’s sugar daddy. In exchange for free housing, a luxury car and a monthly housing allowance, Andrew gives Norman advice on acquiring art and antiquities, and occasional sex.

Norman also throws Andrew a birthday party, to which Andrew invites the object of his infatuation, David. To impress him, Andrew asks his friend Jeff to impersonate the naval officer he used to be and to present Andrew with a gift of Ferragamo shoes — as a sign, Andrew says, that he is loved. (Jeff agrees, grudgingly, to present the gift but not to dress up.) The stunt backfires: Jeff and David take an immediate interest in each other, but not so much in Andrew. And we know from a previous episode that they will end up getting together, which Andrew discovers before killing them both.

Andrew’s pathologies are apparent to anyone who bothers to look. Norman’s protective friend Gallo spots Andrew snorting drugs and confronts him. “You think Norman’s the lucky one, don’t you?” he says. “But you’re wrong: You’re the lucky one.” Andrew is only able to parade himself around like an equal because Norman, who has built an immensely successful company from scratch, is generous enough to want Andrew to feel that way.

When Andrew insists that he is Norman’s equal and then tries to storm off, Gallo delivers the bons mots that will prove to be an unfortunate understatement: “What a volatile mix you are: too lazy to work and too proud to be kept.”

That mismatch between Andrew’s laziness and ambition comes to the forefront when he presents Norman with an ultimatum: He demands a higher living allowance; first-class flights; a Mercedes-Benz XL600; and a place in Norman’s will, as his sole heir. Norman refuses. He has performed some “due diligence,” he says, and has learned that Andrew is not Andrew DeSilva, Ph.D., the estranged son of New York millionaires, but Andrew Cunanan, college dropout, who was recently working at a Thrifty drugstore for $6.16 an hour and living in a cramped condo with his mother, MaryAnn.

It is an extraordinary scene. Confronted with the truth, Andrew remains in denial. When it becomes clear Norman won’t relent, Andrew grabs a patio chair and smashes a glass tabletop with it — a mere hint at the serious violence to come.

Andrew’s aggression also extends toward Jeff, whom he suspects of trying to steal away David, particularly after Jeff says that he is leaving San Diego to move to Minneapolis, where David lives. Ever in denial, Andrew persuades David to fly to Los Angeles, where Andrew has reserved a room at a five-star hotel and buys David an expensive suit. Andrew can’t stop lying — asked what he does for a living, he suggests that he is financing a major movie — and the dinner culminates in excruciating fashion with Andrew declaring, “David Madson, you are the only one I have ever really truly loved.”

David, the industrious son of a Wisconsin hardware-store owner, gives Andrew what amounts to a final chance, asking simply for the truth. Andrew still can’t stop his prevarications. He says his father was a stockbroker at Merrill Lynch who later returned to the Philippines “to run vast pineapple plantations”; that his mother oversaw a literary publishing house until she retired; and that his parents adored him so much that they lavished little Andrew with the master bedroom, a credit card and an occasional lobster when the school lunch wasn’t good enough.

Andrew seems unaware that high-achieving people from modest backgrounds tend not to be impressed by tales of pampered childhoods.

In the remainder of the episode, we learn more about Andrew’s drugs and dreams. (Maureen Orth’s book “Vulgar Favors,” upon which the series is based, says that Andrew was a drug dealer, not just a drug user.)

In one bizarre scene, Andrew dreams that he has walked into a Versace boutique and is being measured for a suit by the designer himself. His self-indulgent lament:

What could be more generous than spending everything on other people and being left with nothing? What could be more generous than finding soul mates for other people and then ending up alone? People have taken from me, and taken from me, and taken and taken from me. Now I’m spent. And they say this man has nothing left to give. And a man with nothing to give is a nothing man.

The fantasy Versace replies, more than a tad sardonically, “That is very poetic, sir.” Andrew tells him: “This world has wasted me. It has wasted me while it has turned you, Mr. Versace, into a star.”

Andrew adds: “We’re the same. The only difference is you got lucky.”

Consumed by self-pity, delusion and addiction, Andrew hits bottom. He returns to Norman’s mansion, desperate for money; Norman threatens to call the police. Finally Andrew goes home — to his mother’s dingy apartment.

MaryAnn seems, if such a thing is possible, even more deluded than her son. She believes he has been traveling with Versace to Tokyo, Sydney, Moscow and Milan. She gives him a bath.

Although we don’t know much of her story yet, she appears simple-minded and emotionally fragile, and her hold on Andrew nonexistent. Telling her that the next stop in his glamorous life is Minneapolis, Andrew drives off to begin his murderous spree. She will never see him again.

‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’ Episode 6: A Nothing Man

‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’ Recap: What Caused Andrew’s Descent Into Madness?

The sixth episode of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, is titled “Descent,” and that’s very appropriate. We’ve already seen Andrew Cunanan’s murder spree where he killed five people. But now it’s time to go back even earlier to see the tipping point, the thing that pushed him into madness.

However, it’s not just one thing. This episode is filled, from start to finish, with potential reasons for why Andrew became a serial killer, from financial ruin to drug addiction to romantic jealousy to a mother who is more Norma Bates than June Cleaver.

Andrew’s Birthday Party

This episode starts in 1996 when Andrew is living in a lavish home owned by Norman, Andrew’s interior decorating “client.”. It’s one year before the murders and Andrew is celebrating his birthday, though it’s all one big attempt to woo David Madson.

Andrew is head-over-heels in love, romanticizing David as someone he could spend the rest of his life with. But he admits to his gal pal Lizzie that he’s pretending to be someone who he hopes David will love. He even gives Jeff an expensive present to give to him in front of David so that David will think Andrew’s friends love him.

The whole thing is obviously a crazy and terrible plan. Very few successful relationships are built on a foundation of deceit. Andrew reeks of desperation when David arrives and he seems to get a bit jealous when David and Jeff meet as they have an easy, flirtatious chemistry.

Andrew’s descent begins quickly, snorting cocaine to take the edge off and being confronted by Norman’s friend who sees Andrew for what he really is, a con man who uses people to get what he wants without working for it. Things get more chaotic for Andrew because Lee Miglin is also there, desperate to talk to him.

Lizzie takes a photo of Andrew with Norman, Lee, David and Jeff as Andrew says that he’s with all of the people he loves. That’s a tad heavy-handed, considering the fact that he’s going to murder three of them in the next year.

Andrew vs. Norman

After the party, Andrew has a list of demands for Norman if he’s to continue living with him, including being written into his will. Norman isn’t OK with this and reveals that he has investigated Andrew and knows that all of his fanciful stories about having millionaire parents are lies. Norma knows that Andrew was working in a thrift store two years ago, living with his mom in a condo.

Norman is willing to help Andrew by paying for him to go back to school and sharing his life with him, but Andrew is too proud. He doesn’t want to work for anything. Even after being confronted with the truth, Andrew still can’t help himself from lying and demanding that Norman give him what he wants. Norman refuses and Andrew has a hissyfit, throwing a chair through a glass table and leaving.

Andrew goes back to his crappy apartment. Jeff visits him, upset because his dad just received the infamous postcard. Jeff is very upset and also reveals that he’s moving to Minneapolis for a job. Andrew gets mad because he thinks Jeff is trying to steal David from him, but Jeff is simply tired of being unhappy.

Andrew and David’s Weekend Getaway

Desperate to win over David, Andrew calls him and invites him to Los Angeles for a weekend getaway in a five-star hotel. This is yet another story we’ve already heard about over the past few episodes, where Andrew spends a ridiculous amount of money to trick David into thinking that he’s rich and sophisticated.

David is impressed, but he explains to Andrew that he’s not the one for him. Andrew doesn’t accept this, insisting that they are meant to be together and David is the only person he truly loves. David explains that they had one fun night in San Francisco, but Andrew is making more out of it than it really was.

David tries to give Andrew one last chance to see if they can work as a couple, asking him for the truth about his parents. Andrew continues his wild lies about his rich, successful, loving parents, and it seems like David is starting to realize that none of this is true.

The Descent

After David leaves, Andrew goes to a gay bar and talks to a drug dealer, asking for something stronger than what he normally gets. This is the true descent. Andrew injects himself with crystal meth and goes into a hallucinatory dream where he meets Gianni Versace.

In his dream, Versace fits him for a suit while Andrew waxes poetic about how he’s so generous, giving everything to everyone, and he is left with nothing. Andrew turns into a total psycho, claiming that Versace thinks he’s better than him, insisting that they are the same and the only difference is that Versace got lucky. It’s clear from this dream sequence that Andrew is resentful and jealous, fixating on the fact that Versace is loved while he is not.

Andrew’s drug addiction quickly spirals out of control. Desperate for more money to buy more drugs, he goes to Norman’s home, but he’s locked out. Andrew begs to be let in, but Norman refuses.

With nowhere to go, Andrew visits a crappy condo and meets his mother. She’s exactly who Norman said she was and nothing like the literary publisher Andrew has claimed she is. She’s happy to see him and seems to be just as delusional as he is, believing that her son is a fancy, jet-setting success. She gives her adult son a bath, which is evidence that Andrew may have always been destined to be a serial killer because this is some real Norman Bates-level creepiness.

Andrew tries to tell her that he’s unhappy, but she’s off in her own world, complaining about all the big shots who look down on her, but now she can look down on them because her son travels the world with Versace, designing costumes for the opera. I see we’ve reached the point of the series where the show blames the awful mother for Andrew being the way that he is.

This episode certainly had a lot of triggers for Andrew: Norman kicking him out, David rejecting him, the paranoia over Jeff trying to steal David from him, spending way too much money, becoming more addicted to drugs and the way he was raised by his mother. Instead of giving one explanation, the show decides to throw a dozen reasons for Andrew’s descent into becoming a serial killer, and I guess you can decide which one you think is the primary reason.

What do you think was the biggest cause for Andrew’s descent?

‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’ Recap: What Caused Andrew’s Descent Into Madness?

The Assassination Of Gianni Versace, by Jim Shelley

Penelope Cruz’s bizarre portrayal of Donatella and outstanding acting by Ricky Martin were two of the more startling features that stood out in The Assassination Of Gianni Versace.

But, as with The People vs. OJ Simpson the reality the drama was based on was even stranger. The white dove found lying by Versace’s body, also killed in the shooting for example, was a detail the best crime writers couldn’t make up.

There’s one big problem with making a show as universally acclaimed and exactly right for the times as The People vs. OJ Simpson and that’s what do you do next?

The Assassination Of Gianni Versace was not just the perfect follow-up but arguably, amazingly, even better material.

It made similar observations about the downside of celebrity, the appetite of the media, and flawed police procedure and prejudice (sexual this time rather than racial) but was more glamorous, more intriguing, and revealing than the first American Crime Story mini-series – largely because most viewers knew the details of the OJ case/murder (the Ford Bronco chase, the gloves etc) beforehand.

In contrast, this had an assassin few of us knew much about, that (strangely) never became as famous as the likes of Mark Chapman or John Hinckley Jn, despite killing Versace and being wanted by the FBI for four other murders at the time.

Episode One suggested that instead of facts established by a court case and endless analysis in the media, the story here revolves around speculation and ambiguity.

Even the show wasn’t sure we could believe what we were seeing, or saying that we should.

The issue whether Gianni Versace had ever met his killer Andrew Cunanan before their fatal encounter on July 15 1997 is disputed by the designer’s family.

Here though we saw Cunanan approach him seven years earlier in the VIP area of a nightclub in San Francisco and subsequently meet him at the opera he had created the costumes for.

The various versions of how these came about (and whether they did at all) was a product of three sources: the book Vulgar Favours by Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth who supposedly uncovered them; scriptwriter Tom Rob Smith who by the series’ own admission ‘filled in a lot of the blanks involving the relationship between predator and prey’; and anecdotes by Andrew Cunanan himself.

The problem was, as we saw, that Cunanan was an inveterate liar, a pathological fantasist, and seemingly a sociopath – unable to empathise with other people emotionally or understand why telling the truth even mattered.

‘Is it real?’ a friend at Berkeley asked him about the story of meeting Versace.

‘How do you mean?’ frowned Cunanan, genuinely puzzled. ‘Honestly, truthfully, I really do swear I have a date with Gianni Versace !’

Given the lies he’d told about being half-Jewish and his sexuality his friend (like us) found Cunanan’s claims unlikely.

‘You tell gay people you’re gay and straight people you’re straight,’ he pointed out.

‘I tell people what they need to hear !’ countered Cunanan gleefully.

Darren Criss (Blaine Anderson in Glee) was superb portraying Cunanan’s dual personalities: the American Psycho-styled loser with ‘nothing’, consumed by self-hatred, torment over his sexuality, and jealousy of Versace’s lifestyle also able to pass himself as a handsome, camp, student at UC Berkeley and then blend into Miami’s beach scene.

He was wearing a grey t-shirt, shorts, and ordinary orange baseball cap when he walked up to the designer and shot him in broad daylight outside his house on Ocean Drive.

Criss certainly had a whale of time depicting Cunanan’s derangement (mimicking the shocked response of a woman watching Versace’s death on TV, placing his hand over his mouth as she did – except to conceal his glee at the news), not to mention his chilling charm and penchant for elaboration.

‘For my first job I worked for my father on his pineapple plantation in the Philippines ! Can you imagine that?!’ he purred to Versace (supposedly), before claiming his father had also been a pilot for Imelda Marcos and that he was writing a novel about his ‘crazy’ family.

Edgar Ramirez was equally brilliant as Gianni Versace (not to mention eerily similar physically) but the contrast between characters couldn’t have been greater.

Every time Versace spoke about his childhood and his family, his stories were touching and admirable.

His inspiration was his mother’s ethos as a dressmaker and the Versace company logo (the head of Medusa) far from the crass, pretentious, symbol people regarded it but a memory of his childhood playing in Rome’s ruins.

‘For me family is everything,’ Gianni gently explained to Cunanan (again allegedly). ‘The first dress I ever made was for my sister Donatella. Maybe every dress I make is for her.’

Penelope Cruz as Donatella made a late entrance but predictably a drama one, descending from a private plane wearing trademark leather trousers and a huge pair of shades.

When she took them off she didn’t look much like Donatella, or sound like her (or even Italian) when she confronted Gianni’s partner Antonio D’Amico (Ricky Martin), dismissing his sobbing snapping: ‘that’s not what I need from you right now. You are not to speak about my brother without consulting me first.’

D’Amico had just been grilled by the police – the scene that showed most that the Versace story may lack the resonance of OJ Simpson’s but it still has a striking relevance to modern-day politics/prejudice.

Asking about the lovers and one-night stands Antonio arranged for Versace, one FBI officer wondered: ‘did they consider themselves to be his partner too? Do you see why I’m confused? What’s the difference?’

‘I lived with Gianni for 15 years. I was his companion not his pimp !’ D’Amico wept. ‘It’s a good length of time,’ conceded the Fed. ‘Were you paid?’

Cruz came into her own when Donatella declared she was cancelling her brother’s plan to float Versace on the New York stock exchange and intending to keep it in the family.

‘Gianni grew his company from one small store in Milan, from a single rack of clothes, a little simple bench,’ she reiterated to their lawyers. ‘This company was his life. My brother is still alive as long as Versace is alive. I will not allow that man, that nobody, to kill my brother twice.’

Admittedly her words (and her accent) were more reminiscent of a woman announcing she was taking over South American drug cartel than the heir to an Italian fashion empire.

Everything about her portrayal of Donatella right down to the styling was suitably flamboyant without ever necessarily being completely convincing.

But even this was a reason to watch, to see how it/she progresses, and part of what made The Assassination of Gianni Versace as mesmerising as its predecessor about OJ.

The Assassination Of Gianni Versace, by Jim Shelley

The 4 Best Moments Of ‘American Crime Story: The Assassination of Versace’ 2×05

This week we are welcomed back by the Versace family, in which Versace is considering coming out with Antonio. We also follow the story of Jeff Trail (Finn Wittrock), Navy sailor and Andrew Cunanan’s first victim. Be prepared to relive the most heart-breaking episode of American Crime Story: The Assassination of Versace so far.

Here are the 4 best moments from the episode:

Versace and Antonio’s Coming Out Interview

Gianni Versace arranges an interview with an LGBTQ magazine, in which he has intentions on coming out publicly with Antonio. Donatella is incredibly against her brother’s idea and she believes this will only lead to a negative impact on Versace’s career. She tells Versace that this isn’t just about him and he needs to think about how his company can be affected by such decisions. She reminds him of the time when people stopped purchasing Perry Ellis’ clothes after he appeared on a runway, currently dealing with AIDS, and how his models had to help keep him on his feet. She also reminds him that there are multiple countries who believe gay relationships to be a crime, therefore, many businesses would want to stop working with him. Versace has none of it though and says he is done hiding and he intends to live his life being who he truly is.

Later on in the episode, Gianni and Antonio head off to a hotel, in which their interview will be orchestrated. To start off with, Gianni intends on facing the interview alone, however, with a quick change of heart, he asks the journalist if Antonio could also join the interview, in which he replies “absolutely.”

Sexuality in the Navy

Jeff Trail is a Navy Officer with a good recording a bright future; that is, until he essentially outs himself by comforting another officer who he saved from being beat to death for his sexuality. Jeff receives subtle and not-so subtle threats; leading him to attempt removing a tattoo off of his leg and attempt suicide. Eventually, Jeff embraces who he is and finds himself in a gay bar, in which he meets Andrew.

Andrew inevitably wins Jeff over with his charming persona, treating him to rounds after rounds of drinks and maneuvering himself in to Jeff’s world. Jeff is the complete opposite of Andrew; he is genuine, kind, handsome, good-hearted and what he doesn’t know, is that being with Andrew is also the same as being on deaths doorstep. Andrew tries to convince Jeff to not go ahead with the interview about being a gay man in the Navy, however, just like Versace, Jeff is done hiding.

“So humiliating! Your face shadowed, your voice altered like a criminal!”

We see Jeff drive to a motel for his interview at the same time Versace is about to do his coming out interview; one famous, one an invisible sailor, one in the spotlight, one in the shadows, one is comfortable, one is asking for reassurance of not being seen on camera. Two complete opposites, yet they both want their identity to be accepted, they want to feel self-acceptance and they want their sexuality to be destigmatized and not looked upon as controversial. They also have one more thing in common; they will both be murdered by Andrew.

At the beginning of the episode, we see Jeff and his sister having a heart to heart about Jeff coming out to his parents, although Jeff insists on not going ahead with that idea. He then kisses his sister’s baby bump and expresses how excited he is to be an Uncle. Fast forward to Jeff’s death; whilst Jeff has now just been beat to death in the head with a hammer – at home, his family are trying to get in contact with him to inform him that his sister is in labour and she has had a baby girl.

“No one wants your love”

We return to the day of Jeff’s murder in Minneapolis; Jeff enters his apartment and finds his Navy uniform in a wrinkled mess on the bed, Andrew sitting on the living room floor. Andrew consistently tries to convince Jeff that the military don’t care about him and don’t want him. However, Jeff has had enough of his manipulative ways and confronts him for the man he truly is.

“You’re a liar. You have no honour.”

Andrew still tries to manipulate Jeff by telling him how much he loves him, in which Jeff replies with an explosive “No-one wants your love!”. By the look of Andrew’s face, that is the moment where Jeff has officially knocked on Death’s door and sealed his extremely short future. Andrew walks out of the room with Jeff’s gun zipped away in his bag and head’s over to David’s apartment.

Jeff presses and puts away his Navy uniform, seconds later receiving a phone call from Andrew saying, “I have your gun”. This is Andrew’s way of luring Jeff to David’s important, ready to commit his first murder. The murder that is about to change his life forever.

Finn Wittrock

The last time I watched Finn Wittrock in a TV show was his debut appearance on American Horror Story: Freakshow, as Dandy. This was a character I absolutely despised to the point in which I really couldn’t appreciate how incredible Finn is… American Crime Story has allowed me to fall completely head over heels in love with Finn and his portrayal of Jeff.

He made this episode, the most heart-breaking episode of American Crime Story: The Assassination of Versace so far. Being reminded of how homophobia used to be, and how parts of it still exist today will ache your heart, however, it is indeed a crucial piece of the story for television to see and allows us to relive America’s history of homophobia being an unforgivable crime.

Darren Criss has stolen the spotlight the entire series so far, but this time he took a step back and let Finn take the spotlight. I was completely in awe of Finn’s acting and I hope this isn’t the end of Jeff’s story, as he has become my favourite one so far!

The 4 Best Moments Of ‘American Crime Story: The Assassination of Versace’ 2×05

Recapping ‘Versace’: Episode 6, ‘Descent’

**MAJOR SPOILERS FOR EPISDOE 6**

As we enter the back half of “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” it’s becoming clear that this is the Andrew Cunanan story. The show is less an examination of how the fashion designer was murdered but why he was murdered, putting the spotlight on his killer, marvelously portrayed by the dynamic Darren Criss. This is another week where we don’t see the Versace crew, including Penelope Cruz, Edgar Ramirez (Ramirez’s Gianni does appear in one scene but as a figment of Andrew’s imagination) and Ricky Martin.

In the sixth episode of the season “Descent,” directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton and written by Tom Rob Smith, the show travels further back in time – a year before Andrew went on his cross-country murdering spree. The episode opens with Andrew celebrating his birthday in San Diego where he’s living with an older, wealthy man named Norman (Michael Nouri) in a fabulous seaside house. But it’s all a show, an attempt to woo and impress David Madson (Cody Fern). Andrew explains to his best friend Elizabeth Cote (the wonderful Annaleigh Ashford), that he’s staying with Norma “curating” his home and designing its decor. Andrew goes on to say he sees a “future” with David and that he’s trying to be “someone he can love.”

Also at the birthday party is Jeff Trail (Finn Wittrock), dressed in blue jeans and sneakers. Andrew hands Jeff a pair of fancy loafers to wear for the party. Jeff has brought a gift for Andrew, but Andrew gives him another gift to pass him in its place.

“I want [David] to see I have really good friends,” Andrew tells Jeff. “…I need you to look the part.”

“What does a good friend look like?” Jeff asks. “How is this going to help?”

“I need him to know [that you love me],” Andrew says.

Jeff finally agrees but before Andrew tells him that he told David he is still serving in the Navy. He reluctantly agrees.

As the episode goes on, it continues to dig into Andrew’s compulsive lying as well as his drug addiction. Not only does he lead David to believe Norman’s house is actually his, but he tells him he used to design clothes with Gianni Versace. Later in the episode, we see Andrew doing hard drugs.

“We’ll have a house like this one day. Maybe this very one,” he tells David. Shortly after, Jeff hands Andrew the gift Andrew gave him, which turn out to be a pair of Ferragamo shoes.

That’s when Jeff and David meet for the first time – and seemingly make a connection, upsetting Andrew.

“Descent” also features one of the few characters in the series who acts as a direct foil to Andrew. One of Norman’s friends, played by “Saturday Night Live” alum Terry Sweeney, is fully aware of Andrew’s lies and act, giving him a hard time throughout the episode, letting Andrew know he’s on to him.

“I have a birthday present for you, it’s a piece of advice. You think Norman is the lucky one. You’re wrong, you’re the lucky one,” he tells Andrew. “Norman is a conservative old queer… most men would make it clear you’re an employee, but he wants you to feel like you’re an equal. But you’re not an equal.”

He goes on to say Norman was vulnerable when he met Andrew and that his partner died of AIDS, suggesting Andrew preyed on his friend during a difficult time.

“What a mix you are,” he tells Andrew. “Too lazy to work, too proud to be kept.”

“I need to get back to my party that room is full of people who love me,” Andrew says.

“Then that room is full of people who don’t know you,” Norman’s friend responds.

As the party continues, Andrew grows more concerned about Jeff and David getting closer and he attempts to balance out his lies. Later on, Lee Miglin (Mike Farrell) shows up at the party, adding to the episode’s fever dream quality – like at the end of “Alice in Wonderland,” where Alice confronts all the characters she’s met throughout her bizarre journey.

After the party, Norman confronts Andrew about his lies, his past, and his current behavior. He says he won’t be taken for a fool, and if Andrew can’t share his life with him then he has to leave Norman’s multi-million-dollar home. This upsets Andrew, who smashes Norman’s glass table with a chair and announces he’s leaving but “expect[s Norman] to call me.”

Andrew indeed leaves, moving into a crummy studio apartment. Jeff then visits Andrew, and the two fight about Andrew sending Jeff’s father a postcard that suggested Jeff is gay. During their argument, Jeff tells Andrew he’s moving because he’s unhappy, and Andrew contributed to that unhappiness.

Andrew then invites David to Los Angeles, where he arranges a five-star hotel stay, rents a sports car and wines and dines David, continuing his unhealthy, lying lifestyle. Despite all his attempts to impress David, which includes buying him a new suit, David still isn’t connecting with Andrew and tells him so.

A desperate Andrew tries to impress David even more but it doesn’t work and David says the two can’t take the next step in their relationship. He says he wants to get to know the real Andrew and get to the truth. But Andrew can’t help himself and he continues to lie about his family, saying his dad was a wealthy stockbroker and his mother ran a successful publishing house. David, however, sees through Andrew’s lies; an excellent Cody Fern plays the moment so well you can see David’s face drooping in disappointment.

“David, I’m a good person, who wants to be good to you,” Andrew says.

“One day you’re going to make someone very happy. I know you will,” David responds.

After things dissolve with David, Andrew is left feeling helpless and spiraling out of control. Parts of “The Assassination of Versace” have had a dreamlike quality, as writer Tom Rob Smith had to create a number of moments. “Descent” features one of the most vibrant and creepy scenes in the series, where a drugged-out Andrew envisions himself meeting Gianni Versace; the scene is cloaked in a crimson red glow as Andrew debates with Gianni about the life he should have had and that Gianni stole it from him.

“People have taken from me and taken from me… now I’m spent,” he tells Gianni, as he measures him for a suit. “This world has wasted me while it has turned you, Mr. Versace, into a star.”

“You think you’re better than me? You’re not better than me. We’re the same – the only difference is you got lucky,” Andrew adds.

“It’s not the only difference, sir,” Gianni says.

“What else you got?” Andrew asks.

“I have love,” the designer responds.

After the nightmare, Andrew, disheveled, high and desperate, tries to break into Norman’s house late at night, pleading with him to take him back. Of course, Norman doesn’t and threatens to call the police.

The next morning, Andrew goes to his mother’s home, who lives in a sad one-bedroom apartment. The end of “Decent” is completely devastating, as it’s the first time we see Mary Ann Cunanan (Joanna P. Adler), who is a sad and unhinged woman.

“I’m unhappy,” Andrew tells his mother, who ignores him and launches into a story about how she ran into a friend and bragged about Andrew working with Versace, traveling the world – of course, none of this is true and only adds to Andrew’s self-hate in the moment.

“I wish you could stay with me,” Andrew’s mother says, holding her son. “But I have to share you with the world.”

As Andrew leaves, he tells his mother he is going to visit Minneapolis – where David lives and where Jeff eventually moves.

“Descent” gives more context to Andrew and why he is the way he is, but it’s only scratching the surface of what’s to come.

Recapping ‘Versace’: Episode 6, ‘Descent’

The Bay Area Reporter Online | Gay heroism on & off the ice

We forget from the vantage point of 2018 what 1995 was like. We forget how hard it was to be gay and out. We took our eyes off the Olympics briefly this week to watch the latest episode of “American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” and the counterpoint of what Ryan Murphy is doing with this deeply incendiary and political series to the extraordinary presence of Adam Rippon and Johnny Weir at the Olympics. (We haven’t forgotten you, Gus Kenworthy, you just aren’t flaming for us like they are.) Murphy took us back to 1995. To Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. To the simmering violence always just below the surface, waiting to erupt against us.

In 1995, Adam Rippon was six years old. Johnny Weir was 11. Jeff Trail was 28. Gianni Versace was 48. In 1995, no one was imagining an out gay star at the Olympics or even the end to DADT, which itself was a net-positive to what had come before. In 1995, when Andrew Cunanan met his first victim, Jeff Trail, and Gianni Versace came out on the pages of The Advocate, the fight for our rights was still a nascent movement despite a quarter-century since Stonewall, despite the impact of the AIDS pandemic, despite the work we had done collectively to get Bill Clinton elected and how visible David Mixner was.

Murphy, who was just 29 in 1995, does a masterful job of positioning Andrew Cunanan at the epicenter of the fear of coming out for gay men who had survived the AIDS crisis. When Andrew meets naval officer Jeff Trail on his first time in a gay bar, Trail’s just come off saving the life of a fellow sailor who was nearly beaten to death by other sailors. His career in the Navy is threatened, but his own desire to be in the company of other men propels him into that bar and into a relationship with the then-fabulist, soon-to-be serial killer.

There are so many things happening in this series that we expect thesis papers will be written about it in the future. Each scene has its own trajectory, and the non-linear telling of the tale makes it all the more disturbing to watch. The foreshadowing has been removed: we already know the outcome beforehand. Yet that seems to make the impending tragedy in these men’s lives all the more real.

The most chilling juxtaposition for us was between Trail speaking to CBS “48 Hours” reporter Richard Schlesinger about his experience as a gay naval officer, and Versace talking with The Advocate.

The “48 Hours” interview was real. In late 1993 DADT is about to become law, and Trail decides to speak out about his own experience as a gay man in the military. The episode of “ACS: Versace” begins with an out-take from that episode in which a group of Navy men talk about what they would do if a gay sailor were onboard with them. It foreshadows the violent beatings we see later.

In “ACS: Versace,” the back-and-forth between the two scenes (both Trail and Versace were being interviewed in hotel rooms, where no one else would see them) borders on being heavy-handed, yet overcomes that because each new reveal elevates this from easy comparison to heartbreaking reality.

As Trail relates what he’s going to do to Cunanan as they sit in the bar together, Cunanan warns him against doing it. He says Trail is being hidden in silhouette, like a criminal, while the real criminals, the Navy men who are beating fellow sailors within an inch of their lives, are being shown without masking, because the world still views gay men as criminals, and those who would kill them if given the chance as normal. It’s stark, because we know that soon Cunanan will kill Trail.

Prior to doing The Advocate interview, Versace has a conversation with his sister, Donatella. She is horrified that he’s contemplating this option. She reminds him that when designer Perry Ellis, who was then dying of AIDS, did his final show just weeks before his death, he had to be supported by two assistants on the runway. Versace tells her that was Ellis’ greatest show, and she says no one bought his clothes after that. But he explains to her, “I was sick, and I did not die. And I have been asking myself, what have I done to deserve it?” So he’s doing this: he’s coming out. He’s hoping to make a difference.

One of the most heartbreaking elements of “ACS: Versace” is, we love Versace from the outset. He’s a kind and generous man, a caring lover, a great designer, a humble visionary. Even as we know Cunanan will murder him because we’ve seen the killing in the first episode, we hope somehow he will survive.

We feel equally for Trail, who risks everything to save another Navy man’s life and to tell the story of how hard it is to live under DADT. We’re heartbroken for his family that as his sister is giving birth, he is already dead, his body in a rolled-up rug, bludgeoned to death by Cunanan.

The Bay Area Reporter Online | Gay heroism on & off the ice

‘American Crime Story: Versace’ recap: ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ – TheCelebrityCafe.com

The bad news: there’s no new episode of American Crime Story: Versace this week. Good news: we still have episode five, entitled “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” to talk about.

More good news: Gianni Versace is finally back, even if most of the episode takes place even further back in the past. Seriously, I was under the impression that most of this season was going to be about the relationship between Versace and Andrew, but that doesn’t look to be the case anymore. Oh, well.

The message that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” hits the audience with relates back to the idea of homosexuality — what does it mean to come out as gay? Is it easier for some people? Harder? Or is it just different?

We start with Versace arguing with Donatella about coming out. Versace’s scheduled an interview with Advocate magazine in which he plans to reveal his secret, which Donatella says is a bad idea. It’ll hurt their brand, after all, and the world isn’t ready for this kind of announcement.

Versace, with Antonio at his side (who may or may not have his own motives here, as he’s been called Gianni’s assistant for the past 13 years and wants to make a name for himself), still plans to go forward with it though, despite Donatella’s dissatisfaction.

Then we go back in time, before the murder of Jeff Trail — a move that seems odd at the time, but eventually makes sense by the end of the episode.

Andrew is booking a flight to Minneapolis to see his two best friends — Jeff and David. He’s low on money, injecting heroin into his toes and lives in a pretty empty and sad living space. But we do see an important, albeit, hidden image: a collage of Gianni Versace, with the Advocate interview at the heart of it.

At the airport, David and Jeff are reluctantly waiting for him. Neither of them is particularly happy to see Andrew — especially Jeff, who thinks Andrew is a creep after he “accidentally” sent a postcard to Jeff’s dad that tried to out him as gay. Yet, both of them owe Andrew in some way, so they’re more or less forced to show up.

That doesn’t mean they plan to be around the whole weekend, though. Jeff is letting Andrew stay in his apartment, while he plans to stay at his sister’s (who is pregnant and due any day now). The less he has to interact with Andrew the better.

Instead, Andrew goes home with David. David doesn’t particularly care for Andrew either, but he’s at least sympathetic towards him. At least, he is initially. That feeling doesn’t last too long when Andrew to gives him a $10,000 watch and proposes — something David has no interest in accepting. To make matters worse, Andrew won’t even take no for an answer. He tells him to think it over for the weekend, assuming David will change his mind in that time.

The situation goes downhill from there. David takes Andrew along with him to a polka club that night to meet up with one of his co-workers. David introduces Andrew as a friend, only for Andrew to get offended and re-introduce himself as a lover. After hearing Andrew make up a bunch of lies about what he does for a living, David can’t take it anymore: he tells him flat-out that he will never marry him.

Andrew heads back to Jeff’s house in a saddened glaze, unsure of how to react or what he’ll do next. He starts poking around Jeff’s belongings, only to find his Navy uniform. He takes it out, puts on the hat and then finds a hidden VHS tape at the bottom of it.

Putting it in, we see a news report that’s covering the topic of homosexuals in the military. All of the witnesses are anonymous, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the blackened shadow we hear speaking in the video is Jeff.

Then we go to ANOTHER flashback, two years earlier when Jeff is in the Navy. We first see Jeff break up a fight in which a sailor is being mercilessly beaten for being gay. Later that night the same thing happens again — the sailor is being attacked, and Jeff saves his life.

Jeff brings the sailor into the bathroom to look at his injuries. He tries to offer him some advice (just leave, he says), but winds up just silently comforting him. And, of course, that’s right when someone walks into the room and sees him.

The two aren’t beaten to death right there, thankfully. Instead, the man that saw him tries to intimidate Jeff the next day. He says that a gay sailor is going to identify all the other homosexuals on board by revealing what tattoos they have (the sailor doesn’t actually know their names, in this story).

Jeff just so happens to have a tattoo on his leg. After unsuccessfully trying to remove it with a knife (a scene that made me want to vomit), Jeff decides to give up and hang himself in the bathroom.

After gasping for air for a few minutes, he changes his mind just in time. Instead, he decides to try something else — he’ll embrace it.

He heads off to a gay bar, clearly out-of-place and uncomfortable. Yet, that’s where he happens to run into Andrew, and suddenly we realize what Jeff meant when he said he owed Andrew. The two hit it off that night (Andrew once again proves he’s perfectly capable of being friendly and charming when he so pleases), and Jeff suddenly feels a lot better about himself.

Better enough to where he agrees to do this anonymous interview for CBS, talking about his experiences as a gay man in the military. We then cut back-and-forth between the Jeff interview and the Versace interview with Advocate, showing the difficulty that different figures in different lines of work have in coming out as gay.

Cut back to the day of Jeff’s murder. Jeff walks in on Andrew, still in his apartment. It doesn’t take him long to figure out that Andrew touched his uniform, and Jeff rightfully freaks out. After arguing for a bit, which ends with Jeff saying “No one wants your love,” Andrew leaves to head back to David’s place.

We know the rest from there, seen in the previous episode. However, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” hits us with one last heartbreaking moment. We end this week’s edition of Versace in Jeff’s house, seeing his Navy uniform laying out on the bed. We hear the phone ringing again and again — his sister has gone into labor, and his parents are calling to tell him to come on down to the hospital.

Too bad the apartment is empty and we know the truth: Jeff (and David) are dead.

‘American Crime Story: Versace’ recap: ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ – TheCelebrityCafe.com

The Assassination of Gianni Versace Recap, Episode 5

I have to be honest and note that I felt this episode was a little bit of a structural mess — with the caveat that it’s still remarkably well-acted, and “a little bit of a structural mess” for this program is the equivalent of giving a kid on the honor roll a B+. It’s still something to be proud of, but that kid might be a little irritated that you didn’t just hand over the A-. Yet again, I think the problem in part stems from something we’ve talked about at length — namely, that this show is about Andrew Cunanan, and not Gianni Versace, but the title means there’s a narrative requirement to check in on Versace every now and then, even when it feels a little ham-handed. This week, there is a parallel drawn between Versace coming out to The Advocate, and Andrew’s victim Jeff (who is so well portrayed by Finn Wittrock) speaking to 48 Hours about the question of gays in the military, and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. While the scenes between Versace and Donatella are very well-acted (if weirdly blocked; half the time, Gianni walks into a room, sits at a table, does nothing, then gets up and walks to another table, and I honestly think it’s to show off the sets), they felt like unnecessary, if interesting, bookends to the REAL story in this episode, which is how Andrew knew Jeff Trail and David Madson, and why he eventually killed Jeff. You could have cut both Versace scenes out of this episode without it impacting the narrative thrust of the story, and to me the parallels felt a little clonky, even though I found them independently compelling.

I also highly recommend Vulture’s fact-checking of each episode, especially for episodes like this one, where I often wondered how much was fact and how much was supposition. It seems that everyone in real life is still in the dark about why Andrew hated Jeff Trail as much as he did, or what happened between them — because everyone who knew the answer died, I suppose. And the scenes that are supposed to elucidate this do seem a little flabby. Jeff and Andrew’s confrontations felt like they were written without The Powers That Be having actually made a creative decision about why Jeff is really so mad at Andrew in the first place, and why Andrew actually chose to kill him. Last week, I assumed Andrew killed Jeff because he knew Jeff and David were hooking up and he was jealous, but that doesn’t seem to be the case; this episode sort of implies that he just kills him because they have a big fight and Jeff hates him for vague reasons. I mean: Andrew is hate-able and also tried to “accidentally” out him, and is also a creepy person who wears other people’s dress whites; there are MANY legitimate reasons for Jeff to hate him. But the actual scene of their confrontation felt like strangely unspecific to me. Certainly, Jeff is miserable not being in the military anymore but his blaming Andrew for that seemed like a narrative stretch for that character, who comes across as a hugely kind, decent, and conflicted person. I think that’s the main stumbling block of this show — there is so much we don’t, and can’t know, that the story-telling by nature turns a little vague.

Alson: This was the episode were I really realized that they actually are telling the story backward and it felt a little confusing; my theory is that, in retrospect, this will prove to be the one episode where that conceit is a little bumpy (it worked well in previous episodes, I thought). It was hard for me, on occasion, to hold in my head where, exactly, we were in time and how much we were jumping around; there are flashbacks within flashbacks within flashbacks, and it was somewhat dizzying.

Other thoughts, before we look at some visuals: Finn Wittrock, as I mentioned, was amazingly good in this episode, and Jeff Trail’s story broke my heart. I found the scenes of his suicide attempt, and his attempt to remove his own tattoo, as painful to watch as anything I’ve seen on TV in a long time; he is heartrending in this. Cody Fern, who plays David, is also excellent in this episode (although last week was more of an acting tour de force for him, naturally). And Darren Criss is just great. He is so chilling in that scene wherein he’s going through Jeff’s stuff and puts on his dress whites; it says something that it’s just terrifying to watch him put on a hat and watch a video tape. I don’t know that this show is getting as much buzz as The People Vs. OJ Simpson — what has? — but I hope the acting is recognized, because it’s really superb.

These scenes with Gianni, Antonio, and Donatella are VERY compelling to me, although at this point in the series, they also kind of feel as if they’ve been ported in from a show that’s more about Versace’s life. I obviously wanted to include this so you can see Versace’s amazing wall of books.

And this was a nifty shot – and that’s a glam jacket on Donatella, who is arguing against Gianni’s coming out publicly because she thinks it might hurt the business; 1993 was a very different time.

I did have to kind of laugh in this scene; Gianni is explaining to Donatella why the Advocate interview is important to him, and all Edgar Ramirez does is walk to various work stations, briefly stand next to them, and then walk to the next one. It seems like…an unrealistic look at his atelier. That being said, I actually thought this scene was really interesting and illuminating. I didn’t know, for example, that Perry Ellis had died of AIDS, and nearly collapsed on his own runway, which is incredibly sad. I’m currently reading Tina Brown’s Vanity Fair Diaries – which are dishy and great, and you’d like them, I think; a lot of the Amazon reviews are like, “there’s so much name-dropping!” but when you’re EiC of Vanity Fair, you have a lot of names to drop – and much of it is about the AIDS crisis in New York in the early 90s, and it’s so sad and poignant. There is also a whole bit here where Gianni is talking about how he should have died, but it’s a miracle that he didn’t, and again the show is kind of vague about whatever medical issue he’s talking about: IS he talking about AIDS? (I also wonder how much of this vagueness is due to the show’s unwillingness to get sued by the Versace family.

This is a very naive question, but what do we think Andrew is injecting into his toe? He seems too peppy for it to be heroin? I am assuming it’s speed, but this is not my area of expertise.

It made me laugh in the Vulture piece where they noted, essentially, “we do not know if Andrew had a creepy stalker wall of anyone in San Diego.” (He did NOT have a creepy stalker wall of Versace in Miami.) Nevertheless: there’s no better way in TV to explain that you’re dealing w. a real crackpot. FWIW, this vaguely reminds me of my own shrine to Ralph Fiennes when I was in college.

I’d like to commend the costumer for absolutely nailing Man Denim of the Early 90s.

Darren Criss is SO GOOD at being…very alarming even when he’s ostensibly being nice.

This actress, Sophie von Haselberg, is Bette Midler’s daughter, which I figured out because I thought, “WOW, she looks like Bette Midler.”

I thought the Jeff Trail storyline tracing his time in the military – he’s terrified that people will find out he is gay – was really, really moving. I also think this INSANE COMIC the Navy gave to officers to explain Don’t Ask Don’t Tell seems BONKERS. Can you imagine being the artist who had to make this thing?

The Assassination of Gianni Versace Recap, Episode 5