American Crime Story: Versace Recap: ‘I’m Not Like Most Escorts’

Ladies, when you ask your men what their plans are while you’re away and they say “working,” know this: There’s at least a chance they’re planning a rendezvous with a murderous gay escort.

At least that’s what happened to poor Marilyn Miglin (played to perfection by the most special of guest stars, Judith Light) on Wednesday’s third chapter of American Crime Story: Versace, which blew us back to Chicago in May 1997.

The moment Marilyn returned home from filming a Home Shopping Network segment in Canada, she sensed something was wrong. And there was something wrong: Her husband Lee had left an open carton of ice cream on the kitchen counter. Also, he’d been murdered.

A flashback to a week earlier revealed that Andrew and Lee had a semi-regular thing going on, though Andrew’s latest visit — which would turn out to be his last — came as a welcome surprise to Lee, who didn’t even know that Andrew was in town. And he definitely didn’t know that Andrew was going to wrap his head in masking tape and drop a cement brick on his head.

“I want you to know that when they find your body, you will be wearing ladies’ panties, surrounded by gay porn,” Andrew told him, making sure to yell loudly enough that Lee could hear him without his hearing aid. “Soon, the whole world will know that the great Lee Miglin, who built Chicago, built it with a limp wrist. Your wife will know … your children will know. Tell me something, Lee: What terrifies you more, death or being disgraced?” Splat.

Of course, there are a few details about Lee and Andrew’s night together that weren’t made public — like the entire “Andrew” part. “He won’t steal my name,” Marilyn told investigators. “Our good name. We worked too hard.” (That speech and the one about why she wasn’t showing her grief were exquisite.)

With his third kill under his belt, Andrew took off in Lee’s Lexus. But when it became apparent that the authorities were tracking him via Lee’s car phone (remember car phones?!), he ditched it in favor of the now-iconic red pickup truck. And all he had to do was kill one more person.

Also worth discussing…

* How did you feel about the episode’s noticeable lack of… Versace?

* Also, I looked into Marilyn’s son on IMDb. He was indeed a pilot in Air Force One, but he only snagged two more roles before quitting the business. (His latest credit is for appearing as himself in a Dateline NBC special about Gianni Versace’s murder.)

‘The Assassination Of Gianni Versace’ Recap: Andrew Cunanan Commits His Most Vicious Crime Yet

Before Andrew Cunanan killed Gianni Versace, he murdered four other innocent people in cruel, vicious ways. His third and fourth victims, Lee Miglin and William Reese, are the subject of the Jan. 31 episode. The episode opens in May 1997. Marilyn Miglin (played by the incredible Judith Light) returns to her Chicago mansion from a work trip to find her house empty. Her husband, Lee, is nowhere to be found. She notices a half-eaten ice cream carton and a liter of Coke sitting on the counter. She immediately knows something is wrong. A half-eaten ham and bloody clothes are found after searching the house.

When a police officer asks if anyone has looked in the garage, her friend opts to go and help. They find Lee’s Lexus is missing. Suddenly, the friend’s piercing scream fills the house. The stoic Marilyn whispers to herself, “I knew it.”

The episode then flashes back to one week earlier to when Lee and Marilyn are attending a special dinner. Marilyn gives a speech about Lee and practically bursts with pride about him. She’s so proud of how far he’s come — from being a coal miner’s son to one of the most successful real estate moguls in the midwest. He’s a self-made man to a tee. Lee also helped Marilyn achieve her dreams of running a beauty line. “He is my partner in every sense of the word,” Marilyn says. But is there a secret side to the great Lee Miglin?

Marilyn interrupts a secret phone call Lee is having with Andrew, and Lee keeps mum about who he was talking to. The next day, Marilyn heads off on a business trip. Lee seems overwhelmed with something, and Marilyn asks Lee to come along. He stays behind. Alone in the house, Lee’s free to wander. He sits at the same vanity Marilyn takes off all her makeup every night. He goes to pray and cries, “I try. I try.” Is Lee itching to reveal his true self?

‘This Is Me’

Andrew arrives at the house, and Lee ushers him in. They clearly know each other. Andrew stumbles around the house, and Lee asks him if he can stay the night. While Lee is trying to show Andrew a drawing of his beloved Skyneedle, a proposed building that would have become the tallest building in the world, Andrew points a gun directly at Lee. He puts it away before Lee notices it.

Andrew is stunned that Lee doesn’t want to name the Skyneedle after himself. It’s not about the fame for Lee, but for Andrew, that’s everything. Andrew plays right into Lee’s vulnerability: his desire for men. Andrew and Lee passionately kiss, and Lee admits that he finally feels “alive.” Lee notes that Andrew is not like most escorts. Andrew takes it a step further. “I am not like most anybody,” he says. Lee replies, “You make it seem so real.” Andrew’s been a star on his own stage for his entire life, so this is child’s play for him.

Andrew takes Lee out to the garage to “make a mess.” Andrew is in complete control. He tapes up Lee’s face and ties his legs together. He punches Lee in the face, drawing blood. “I’ve killed two people, Lee,” Andrew says. “Two people that were very close to me. I know it’s hard to believe. The intellectual Andrew. Well read, well spoken Andrew. Well dressed. But here I am. This is me.”

Andrew tells Lee exactly how he’s going to humiliate him. When they find Lee’s body, he’ll be wearing ladies panties and be surrounded by gay porn. “I want the world to see the great Lee Miglin is a sissy,” Andrew seethes. Andrew knows that Lee is terrified of being disgraced, and that’s exactly what he plans to do. Andrew doesn’t waste any time hitting Lee over the head with a heavy bag of concrete. He retreats back into the house with blood all over himself after killing Lee. He rips up Lee’s Skyneedle drawing and watches it burn.

A Good Name

The superintendent in charge of the case doesn’t want any details leaked. Marilyn reveals that $2000 has been stolen, as well as jewelry, gold coins, and clothes. The superintendent wants to talk privately with Marilyn about the gay porn found near Lee’s body. Marilyn refuses to see any other motive other than a random killing. “He won’t steal my good name,” Marilyn says, talking about Andrew. “Our good name. We worked too hard making that name.” Lee and Marilyn’s son, Duke, is an aspiring actor and will be seen in Harrison Ford’s Air Force One. Superintendent Rodriguez brings up Andrew’s name to Marilyn and Duke. Marilyn and Duke claim they don’t know him at all.

An officer notices a red jeep near Lee’s house. The car is quickly connected to the homicide of Andrew’s first victim, Jeff Trail. There’s a phone in Lee’s car, the one Andrew stole, so the police can track him. Andrew is already in New York. He steps inside Versace’s store and envisions the life of luxury he’s always wanted. He picks up a book about South Beach. Is this the moment he decides to go to Miami?

Marilyn has yet to openly grieve Lee’s death, and she knows people are judging her. Marilyn doesn’t want anyone to think her marriage to Lee was a sham. She loved him, and he loved her. She finally does break down to Lee’s business partner. “We had a fairy tale life,” she says. “We didn’t even fight.” Marilyn promises that she will fight to make sure Lee is not disgraced.

Andrew discovers that the police are tracking his phone and tries to get rid of it. When he realizes he can’t, he pulls into a national cemetery in New Jersey. He waits for everyone to leave and comes across the caretaker, William Reese. Andrew draws his gun and says he’s here to steal William’s truck. He takes William down to the basement. William begs for his life, but Andrew kills him anyway. He steals William’s truck and drives away without even blinking.

Marilyn finally does show her grief publicly on HSN. “He believed in me,” Marilyn says through tears. “We were a team for 38 years. And I miss him very much.” Marilyn knows that Lee would not have wanted her to wallow in grief. He would want her to push forward with her dreams, and that’s exactly what she’s going to do.

‘The Assassination Of Gianni Versace’ Recap: Andrew Cunanan Commits His Most Vicious Crime Yet

The Assassination of Gianni Versace Recap: The Little Red Light

Editor’s Rating: ★★★★☆

This is going to be less of a recap and more of a For Your Consideration” ad for Judith Light. Give her all the Emmys. Give her every last one: Supporting Actress in What Used to Be Called a Mini-series, Guest Actress in Anything More Than 30 Minutes and Less Than Two Hours, Best Reality Television Show Host Who Is Not RuPaul. She has earned every single one of them in her turn as Home Shopping Network perfume maven Marilyn Miglin. (Here is the real-life Marilyn, for those of you who have never ordered anything through a television screen.)

The episode starts with Marilyn walking into her Chicago townhouse (which is decorated much like The Townhouse, New York’s historic gay piano bar, which should have been a clue) and she instantly knows that something is wrong. There is ice cream melting on the counter and a ham hock with a knife stuck in the middle of it on her husband’s desk. The mood is creepy as she enlists the help of some friendly neighbors to investigate the house. The scariest thing, though, isn’t that the house is empty and something obviously disturbing happened. The scariest thing is that the Miglins have a weird chapel in their basement, complete with a sectional. Why would someone need to sit on a sectional in his own home crypt? I guess to repent for his closeted homosexuality.

Anyway, Marilyn sits at the kitchen counter, clacking her nails in a way that’s reserved for tense television dramas and female villains in children’s movies. Eventually her neighbor finds her husband Lee’s body in the garage. “I knew it,” she whispers, sending shivers down my spine and getting awards nominations like quarters coming out of a slot machine. God, Judith Light is so good.

This episode is oddly structured, however. It’s clear that the series is moving backwards, starting with the titular assassination and then finding out how the fashion designer and his spree killer got to that fateful moment. It’s also simultaneously following the manhunt for Andrew Cunanan both before and after Versace’s murder. In that way, each episode is a little bit like a whirlpool, going both forwards and backwards intermittently. Lee Miglin gets the same treatment as Gianni Versace, stringing the details of his encounter with Andrew out over the course of the hour while simultaneously showing the aftermath. Miglin is this episode’s Versace and there’s no Versace at all. (Ricky Martin’s bare ass was definitely missed.)

The other weird thing is that we see Andrew kill Lee before we find out why he wants to do it in the first place. We see Andrew as a menace who terrorizes a man in his own home, as a total monster. But there needs to be more to the story than that, right? Anyway, Andrew shows up to meet Lee while Marilyn is out of town and Lee has a sense of foreboding about his favorite sex worker calling him out of the blue and telling him he’s going to stop by the house.

The two have a less than entertaining evening, where Andrew skulks around the house, asking Lee about his plans. Lee shows him the drawings for the Sky Needle, what he hoped would be the tallest building in the world, and Andrew gets upset that Lee doesn’t want to have his name on it. He can’t imagine anyone doing anything for a reason other than getting recognition. He knows he wants to leave his mark on the world, but he’s just not sure how he’s going to do it.

“I’m not like most escorts. I’m not like most anybody. I could almost be, a husband. Or a partner. I really could, almost,” he tells Lee, as if he’s asking for a ring. As if he’s asking for legitimacy and the entré into polite society that he’s always craved but been denied. This is where things get murky, though. I’m just assuming these things because we don’t know enough about Andrew or his motivations to know for sure.

Finally, Andrew tapes Lee’s head up in duct tape just like he did his john in Miami in last week’s episode. This seemed like a specific kink for that john, but it’s actually something Andrew likes to do, something that gets him off. “You’re so dominant out there and so pathetic in here. But you like being pathetic, don’t you?” he asks Lee while lording over him. Is it that Lee likes to be pathetic or that Andrew likes to be dominant? That he likes to be in control over these rich men who pay him for sex?

Andrew’s ultimate anger seems to be a coupling of Lee not wanting to marry him and Lee wanting to stay in the closet. Maybe he thinks that if Lee came out, he could get what he wants, or maybe it’s his perverted idea of a political statement. Andrew thinks that men who aren’t brave enough to live life honestly should be punished. We know this because he threatens Lee by telling him that his body will be found in women’s underwear, surrounded by gay porn magazines. Or maybe this is meant to be the ultimate humiliation, outing his secret lover to the world.

That plan is thwarted when the police, obviously in the Miglins family’s back pocket thanks to their years of donation, refuse to disclose any details about the murder. “He won’t steal my good name. Our good name,” Marilyn says. “We worked too hard to make that good name, and we made it together.” Marilyn is still clutching onto the illusion that her husband was faithful, good, and, most of all, straight.

Through this swirl of story, we learn all about Lee and Marilyn’s marriage and how they helped each other become moguls and prominent residents of Chicago society. They even had kids together and Marilyn thought that they were truly partners. She had no idea that he was hiring hustlers on all of his business trips. Or did she? Was that “I knew it” less about the body and more that something weird was going on with Lee all along?

Marilyn continues to insist that her husband was killed so that his car could be stolen, and that it was a random act of violence. Ironically, the random act of violence happens later, when Andrew figures out he’s being tracked by the gigantic Zack Morris cell phone in Lee’s car. He finds a red pickup somewhere in South Carolina, follows the driver home, and shoots him in point blank in the head while he pleads for his life. That is the “random killing” of the episode’s title, not the plotted-out bashing of Lee Miglin’s head with a sack of concrete.

This episode really digs into the conflicted emotions and motivations of all the people affected by these crimes. It’s as much about Marilyn Miglin as it is about anyone else, and how her life was forever altered because of all of these men, many of whom she never even met. Just like last year’s O.J. chapter, ACS is at its best when it’s trying to find the humanity in everyone, even the most despicable of creatures.

The episode started with Marilyn, so it’s fitting that it ends with her too, sa she publicly mourns her husband’s death to sell pheromone perfume on national television. She tells a story: When she started her broadcasting career, a friend told her to “think of the little red light as the man you love.” She stares into the little red light of the camera and closes her eyes. With that, chills rushed throughout my body, and Emmys erupted from the sky like a blizzard that had been building for weeks.

The Assassination of Gianni Versace Recap: The Little Red Light

‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’ Recap: The Grisly Miglin Murder

And now for something completely different. The first two episodes of The Assassination of Gianni Versace centered largely on the fashion designer and his murderer in Miami. But for the third episode, the entire Versace storyline disappears.

Instead, “A Random Killing” goes back to Andrew’s two previous murders, starting in Chicago. It feels rather disjointed from the first two episodes, with a new setting and new major characters, primarily Judith Light and Mike Farrell as the Miglins. Really though, the entire episode feels like a showcase for Light, who is mesmerizing in every scene and, by far, the best thing about the entire series so far.

Meet Marilyn Miglin

The episode starts in May 1997 in Canada where Marilyn Miglin (Judith Light) is on a home-shopping network. She’s a cosmetics magnate, the Queen of Perfume, a confident and strong woman. When she returns home to Chicago her husband Lee (Mike Farrell) doesn’t pick her up from the airport.

At their home she senses that something is wrong and some neighbors arrive to investigate. Marilyn waits, stone-faced, as the neighbors and cops search the house. When the cop and a neighbor go into the garage, a car is missing and we hear the neighbor scream. Marilyn, sitting inside, whispers to herself “I knew it.” It’s immediately clear that this is a woman who is always in control.

The show jumps to a week earlier, with Marilyn and Lee Miglin at a political fundraiser. They are the ultimate power couple: he’s a real estate tycoon and she’s a cosmetics queen, the charming, driving force behind their partnership.

Lee and Andrew

After Marilyn leaves for her Canada trip, Andrew Cunanan visits the Miglin home. Lee is deeply religious and a closeted homosexual, a painful combination for him as he’s plagued with shame. But he can’t resist the allure of Andrew, the charming, attractive young gay escort. The two obviously have a history together, but the show doesn’t explain it.

That’s going to be an ongoing theme over the series: introducing new characters who have a rich and detailed history with Andrew, but not actually explaining it until a few episodes later. Get used to it.

Andrew almost shoots Lee, but first the old man wants to show him blueprints for the Sky Needle, which he plans on being the tallest building in the world. Lee fantasizes about going to the top and having none of the tourists know that he built it. Obviously this offends Andrew, whose greatest fear in life is being invisible.

Andrew’s indignation triggers him to take control, calling out Lee for trying to impress him and pointing out that their relationship isn’t real, it’s just a business transaction, although Andrew loves making Lee believe that it could be real.

Andrew’s Third Murder

Andrew takes Lee to the garage and says “I’m in control now.” He shoves a glove in Lee’s mouth and then proceeds to tape up Lee’s entire head, which seems to be his M.O. Their kinky S&M games get very disturbing as Andrew ties up his legs and starts choking him. Andrew punches him in the face and brags about how he’s already killed two people who were very close to him.

It turns into a serial killer monologue as Andrew explains that after he kills Lee, he’s going to dress him in women’s panties and leave gay porn around the body so he will be disgraced in death. The murder is then shown. The whole scene is uncomfortable, especially when you stop to think that this is based on a true story and Lee Miglin was a real person who was actually murdered. It makes the graphic nature of these scenes unpleasant to watch.

The Police Investigation

We’re back to after the body was discovered. Marilyn is in full spin-mode, explaining to the superintendent of police that it was clearly a robbery. She emphasizes that the culprit stole unusual gold coins which should be easy to trace if anyone tries to pawn them (well, maybe not so easy given how we saw that unfold in the first two episodes). Marilyn tells the story the way she wants it to be, making it very clear that she will not allow any potentially scandalous details to get out.

Just like when Donatella said that she wouldn’t let Andrew kill her brother twice by having the press invade his personal life, Marilyn insists that she won’t allow the killer to take away her good name. Sadly, this idea probably contributes to why Andrew could stay free for so long, because the actual details of his crimes were covered up to hide the shame of being a closeted homosexual back in the late ‘90s. We also get random factual details, like Lee and Marilyn’s son being an aspiring actor who was in the Harrison Ford movie Air Force One.

The cops find the car Andrew left behind, reported stolen from Minnesota and connected to someone named Jeff Trail (that’s a tease for next week’s episode). Also, the new car Andrew stole from Lee has a phone that automatically tuned on when the car was started, so the police can ping it and track him.

Andrew’s Fourth Murder

They figure out he’s going to New York City, where we see Andrew visit a Versace store, the only real connection to the designer in the whole episode. Unfortunately, a radio news show reports about the police using the car phone to track the killer, which has to be some of the most irresponsible journalism ever. And of course Andrew hears it.

Andrew ditches the car in New Jersey after following a man to a cemetery. He takes the man hostage and kills him. Ironically, this one actually is a random killing and this poor man was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Andrew takes his red pick-up truck (the one we’ve seen Andrew take to Miami in the first two episodes) and heads to Miami, ending right where the second episode started with him.

Marilyn Goes Back to Work

The episode ends as it began, with Marilyn Miglin on the home-shopping channel, this time after the news of her husband’s death. She delivers a powerful, emotional speech about how her husband believed in her dreams and treated her like an equal. It’s about the fifth or sixth scene that is just a beautiful acting showcase for Judith Light, whose performance alones makes this entire episode worth it.

How did you feel about the Miglin storyline?

‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’ Recap: The Grisly Miglin Murder

‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’ recap: Lee Miglin’s terrible ending

We gave it an A

It’s a Versace episode without Versace. Week three takes us back a few months before Cunanan’s most high profile murder to his second-most high profile murder: that of wealthy Chicago real-estate developer Lee Miglin.

It takes some time before this episode even gets to Cunanan. Instead, we’re given a brief slice-of-life picture of the marriage between Lee and his wife Marilyn, a Home Shopping Network star. Marilyn returns home from a trip to promote her perfume on television to find that her husband isn’t at the airport to pick her up. And so instead she takes a cab, and returns home to eerie silence and the unmistakable sense that something isn’t right. The house is set like a stage, with creepy tableaus — ice cream melting on the counter, a hunk of deli meat in Lee’s office, stabbed with a knife. Marilyn enlists the neighbors and calls the police, who tell her what she already knew. Lee is dead.

Flashback to a week earlier, when Lee and Marilyn were at a fundraiser for Illinois governor Jim Edgar. Marilyn’s speech introducing her husband as a guest of honor gives us a clear picture of who he was and sort of relationship they had. He was wealthy and powerful. He and Marilyn were a partnership, working together to grow their individual careers. “Without a hint of cynicism, my Lee is the American dream,” Marilyn says to the full banquet hall.

Of course, the façade falls when they return home, but only slightly. This isn’t a marriage of convenience, but it’s not one of passion either. Not long after Marilyn leaves town for her television appearance, Lee invites over a certain young male escort: Andrew Cunanan. From their interactions, it’s obvious the two men have had a relationship for a while — Lee mentions that he’s wanted to show Cunanan his plans for the “Sky Needle” building for some time, and Cunanan kisses him deeply enough for Lee to be able to pretend that theirs isn’t just a financial transaction.

It’s at the Miglin house that we get see one of Cunanan’s most distinctive habits return: He loves to eat with his prey, stuffing his face with no regard for whether they’re eating too or whether they’re comfortable. It’s a disruption of social patterns (food is something to be shared, enjoyed together), almost an act of aggression on Cunanan’s part.

The real aggression comes a few moments later, when the men move to the garage and Cunanan initiates the most disturbing sequence we’ve seen on the show thus far. The interaction begins with the cadence of a consensual BDSM encounter until it becomes terrifyingly obvious that Cunanan has something awful in mind. When Miglin is fully bound, with duct tape around his face and cords around his ankles, Cunanan punches him hard enough in the face to break his nose and reveals that he’s killed two men already, and that he’s planning on killing him as well, leaving his body in women’s underwear, surrounded by gay porn. “What terrifies you more, death or being disgraced?”

Cunanan crushes Miglin’s ribs with a bag of concrete and stabs him with a gardening tool. He tears up the drawing of Miglin’s dream architecture project — the Sky Needle, 500 feet taller than the Sears Tower — and burns it at the altar where Miglin had prayed earlier that day. He leaves the meat with the knife in the study. He seems to spend the night.

The police arrive when Marilyn calls, and when they find the body, they understand that the situation surrounding the murder makes the case more sensitive than most. Marilyn — stoic and dry eyed in her interactions with the police, graciously bringing them free sandwiches — bears no anger when she hears that her husband was found surrounded by gay porn. It clearly belonged to the murderer. “That’s all I’ll allow that man to steal from me,” Marilyn says. “I won’t let him steal my good name. Our good name.” She and her awkward milquetoast son (a Hollywood actor, she brags) are staunch in their approach that this was just a random killing, and that Andrew Cunanan had no relationship with her husband aside from being the stranger who took his life.

The police traced an abandoned car a few blocks away to Cunanan, already wanted for two other murders, and because he stole a car from Miglin that had an attached phone, they are able to trace his movements and see that he’s making his way to New York. At least, they’re able to trace him until that strategy leaks to the paper. Cunanan hears from a news story on the radio, while driving Lee Miglin’s car, that the police are tracking the suspect through Lee Miglin’s cell phone. He snaps off the car’s antenna, but he knows that’s not enough. He need to swap out cars.

Cunanan pulls into a rest stop and watches for victims, waiting until he sees a man driving a red pickup truck. When the man starts driving away, Cunanan follows him, shadowing him through a graveyard as if the scene weren’t ominous enough. Finally, the man goes into his home, and Cunanan follows with a gun drawn. “Stay calm,” Cunanan says. “No one’s going to get hurt. I’m here to steal your truck.”

The man is terrified, and polite. He shows Cunanan the car keys and walks down to the basement to let Cunanan lock him downstairs. He gets on his knees when Cunanan asks, and he’s telling him about his wife and their son when Cunanan shoots him, point blank, in the head.

If any viewer had any sympathy or affection for Cunanan up until this point, this episode stripped that away entirely. He is terrifying and merciless, but not just merciless — cruel. The final moments of the episode are given back to Marilyn Miglin, back on the air, talking about how much her husband meant to her. Maybe she’s just speaking to the cameras, maybe their entire marriage had been something for appearances, but when she talks about their partnership of 38 years, it comes across as heartbreakingly genuine. There are many kinds of marriages. Theirs might have had secrets, but it would be flippant to dismiss decades of friendship and affection for Lee’s brief and fatal fling with Cunanan. Cunanan isn’t anyone’s partner. He is a taker. He takes food, and cars, and reputations. He takes lives. He is someone who consumes and never gives anything back.

‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’ recap: Lee Miglin’s terrible ending

‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’ Episode 3 Spotlights Andrew Cunanan’s Less Famous Victims

One of the most surprising things about The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story is how much time the show is spending not just with Andrew Cunanan, but with his less famous victims. Prior to murdering Versace, Cunanan had already killed four men in a killing spree spanning several states, and this week’s episode (in-keeping with the show’s reverse Cunanan chronology) centers on his third victim, Lee Miglin, and briefly on his fourth, William Reese.

“A Random Killing” commits so thoroughly to fleshing out the character of Miglin (Mike Farrell)—a Chicago real estate tycoon whose ties to Cunanan remain ambiguous to this day—that Gianni Versace and his family don’t appear in the episode at all. Let’s get into five talking points from tonight’s hour.

1) Cunanan’s breath-play antics last week were a callback to his third murder.

Remember the nameless elderly man Cunanan seduced and then very nearly smothered with masking tape in last week’s episode? Of course you do. That startling sequence makes a lot more sense in light of this episode, which takes place several weeks prior and sees Cunanan murdering Miglin in a very similar fashion. In real life, it was never proven whether Miglin and Cunanan knew each other prior to the murder (the FBI considers it likely they did, which the Miglin family staunchly denies), but in the show, Miglin’s depicted as a deeply closeted regular client of Cunanan’s—and a pretty heartbreaking character in his own right.

2) Cunanan’s self-loathing emerges in his cruelty to Miglin.

Though the murder itself was brutal—a police officer notes that every one of Miglin’s ribs was broken—it’s the viciousness of Cunanan’s words that really stand out in this episode. Despite knowing theirs is purely a business relationship, Miglin seems quietly besotted with Cunanan, who in turns seems repulsed. Miglin is touchingly eager to tell Cunanan about his plans to build a 125-story tower (the tallest in the world) in Chicago and name it The Sky Needle. “I’ve wanted to share this with you for a long time,” he tells Cunanan, who all but sneers in his face, mocking both Miglin’s ambitions and his clear emotional investment in their relationship.

Later, when Cunanan brutally kills Miglin and leaves his body to be found in a deliberately humiliating fashion—wearing women’s underwear and surrounded by gay porn—I was reminded of the scene early in Episode 1, when Cunanan claims to be straight and casually throws out the F-word (“I mean, what are we supposed to call them? Homosexuals sounds so scientific.”) He doesn’t just want Miglin dead—he wants him outed and humiliated, remembered as “a pansy.” There’s so much internalized homophobia in Cunanan, and it almost feels like Miglin seals his fate when he admits to having real feelings for him—moments before Cunanan calmly confesses that he’s already “killed two people who were very close to me.”

3) The tower conversation tells you everything you need to know about Cunanan’s worldview.

Miglin is excited about the Sky Needle because he imagines families visiting together and children thrilled to ascend the tallest tower in the world. Cunanan, though, hones in on the fact that the hypothetical tower would loom over the Sears Tower, “so you can look down on the Sears Tower Observation Deck.” To Cunanan, there’s nothing more powerful than the idea of looking down on people.

The contrast between these two worldviews really comes into focus, though, when Miglin describes his fantasy of being able to visit his tower and “just roam among people, unannounced. They wouldn’t know who I was!” But the notion of being anonymous is so galling to Cunanan that he flies into a sudden rage, affronted by Miglin’s insistence that the tower is not about him. “Of course it’s about you—it’s the Lee Miglin Tower!” To Cunanan, there is no value in building anything for any reason other than putting your name on it.

4) Did a local radio station really scupper the Illinois police’s investigation of Cunanan?

Miglin is an immensely powerful figure in the community, and as such the police are all over this case, managing to track Cunanan for some time using the car phone in the Lexus he stole from Miglin. But when a local radio station runs a news item giving that information away, Cunanan is able to ditch the car—claiming his fourth victim in the process—and evade justice for another two months.

Apparently, this happened in real life, too. Here’s how it went down, according to Maureen Orth’s Vanity Fair article “The Killer’s Trail” (her book Vulgar Favors is the source material for this season of American Crime Story):

An activated car phone in [Miglin’s] Lexus was used three times the following week in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia police confirmed a news report of the attempted phone calls, angering Chisago County sheriff Randall Schwegman, who told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, “Everyone who was working on [the case] was outraged. Once he heard that, he’d have been a fool to use a phone after that.”

5) William Reese is the only victim not to have an episode to himself.

But he does get a death scene that’s surprisingly affective for its brevity. Unlike Cunanan’s other victims, there was no apparent personal connection between Cunanan and Reese, and investigators concluded he was killed solely for his truck. After giving Cunanan his keys, Reese calmly and politely begs for his life before being shot execution-style in the back of the head.

‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’ Episode 3 Spotlights Andrew Cunanan’s Less Famous Victims

‘American Crime Story: Versace’ recap: ‘Manhunt’ – TheCelebrityCafe.com

It’s getting better and better.

American Crime Story: Versace has released the second episode of the season entitled “Manhunt” and hoo boy, what a doozy. Seriously, we’re probably going to be having nightmarish flashbacks to Andrew dancing in his underwear to Phil Collins from now until the rest of eternity.

That being said, the season is getting better and better with every outing — and we’re only on episode two. What could possibly still be in store for us during the rest of the season?

The episode starts with Versace in the hospital, alive this time (they jump around in the timeline a lot, which can get a little confusing). We’re not told the exact reason why Versace has been brought to the hospital, but we know it’s for some sort of serious treatment. The obvious answer — and the one the show seems to be hinting at — is AIDS, but the Versace family has repeatedly said that Gianni Versace was HIV negative.

Nevertheless, Versace has some kind of life-threatening disease, and it’s got him in a real dour mood. He sits with both Antonio and Donatella, reflecting on how everything could have to lead up to this.

Antonio and Donatella seem to hate each other, by the way. Donatella seems perfectly fine with blaming every single thing that goes wrong in Gianni’s life on Antonio, as she won’t give him a single moment of respect.

That’s because she knows what’s up — Gianni loves Antonio. Antonio says he loves Gianni as well, but constantly brings home other men to sleep with. Gianni only goes along with it to keep Antonio around and happy. It’s somewhat of a toxic relationship, to say the least.

That’s why Donatella wastes no time in kicking Antonio to the curb after Gianni is murdered. Back in the present, she tells him that, now that Gianni is dead, there’s no need for the two of them to pretend anymore.

Versace’s funeral then follows. While he was shot in the face, the mortician actually does a pretty good job to make Gianni’s body look decent — making it all the more difficult for Donatella to look at. The body is then cremated and the ashes are put in a gold box.

Then we jump back to 1996. Again. Andrew is on the run (which can get confusing, because he’s on the run for murdering Lee Miglin at this point. Versace is still alive.) in a red pickup truck. He stops at Walmart to steal someone’s license plate, then has a pretty incredible scene in which he’s passionately singing “Gloria” while driving to Miami.

With a fake passport and an attitude that’s far too polite for someone who just murdered someone, he checks into a motel before promptly visiting Versace’s home. The door is locked, but we know Andrew has a gun in his backpack and his intentions are all too clear.

Back in the present, and the FBI are trying to figure out how this all happened. Cunanan had been a wanted suspect for some time now, but they’ve constantly paid him little mind as the FBI has tried to distance themselves from the Miami homosexual scene. Detective Lori Weider (Dascha Polanco) calls them out on this, as it looks like she’ll be the one leading the investigation from here on out.

Back in 1996, Andrew makes a new friend — Ronnie (Max Greenfield. Yes, that’s Schmidt from New Girl, but this role is COMPLETELY different and we love it). Ronnie is somewhat of an odd character. Despite being HIV-positive, he’s rather clingy — which is why he latches on to Andrew so fast.

Andrew doesn’t necessarily mind, but he can’t have Ronnie following him everywhere he goes. Especially when he’s up to such shady stuff — which brings on the most memorable scene of the season thus far. Andrew has a habit of being an escort for older, wealthy men. He scores a new customer and is brought back to the man’s hotel room, which is when the man says that “he can be submissive.”

Cue the duct tape. Cunanan wraps it around the man’s entire face — to the point where he can’t breathe. The man struggles and begs to be cut loose, but Andrew begins performing a dance routine — while being practically naked the whole time — and tells him to “Accept.” Eventually, Andrew cuts him lose, but the man is obviously pretty shaken by the whole thing (can you blame him???).

Cut back to Versace. He spends some time arguing with Donatella arguing over the size of his models and certain kinds of dresses. Later, we see him with Antonio — who is finally coming around to commitment. It all eventually leads to Antonio saying he wants to marry Gianni, FINALLY.

Ronnie and Andrew aren’t having the same kind of connection, though (although, to Ronnie’s credit, he seems to think they are). While sitting in a hotel room, Ronnie opens up and asks Andrew if he wants to open a florist shop. Andrew clearly isn’t interested. He’s got bigger plans for his life.

He blows by Ronnie, headed to a pawn shop to sell a gold coin he stole from the duct tape man (that poor, poor guy). While walking by Versace’s house, he spies him leaving to a nightclub and realizes this is his chance. He grabs his gun and heads after him, only after first being recognized from America’s Most Wanted by a gas station employee.

Versace and Cunanan don’t end up seeing each other at the club. Instead, a man slyly approaches Cunanan, hoping to buy him a drink. He asks Andrew who he is, and after a lengthy response in which he rattles off every profession imaginable, Cunanan finally says, “I’m the person least likely to be forgotten.”

And that’s how you end an episode.

Catch American Crime Story: Versace every Wednesday night on FX, and check out our other recaps by clicking here.

‘American Crime Story: Versace’ recap: ‘Manhunt’ – TheCelebrityCafe.com

American Crime Story: The Assassination of Versace Season 2 Episode 2

Another episode of Versace’s assassination is amongst us and so much more was revealed. From Versace’s unknown illness, to family relationships, to an insight in Andrew’s life pre Versace murder. For this episode, the story unfolds in reverse chronological order and recounts the events preceding before the main event. A chilling bedroom scene involving an elderly man, duct tape, scissors and Cunanan dancing takes centre stage, alongside Andrew’s ability to lie more easily than people tell the truth.

So much of the story is yet to unravel; what or who made Andrew the killer he is? Was it the lack of support from friends and family as a gay man? Was violence a key point of his life? Why is he so enthralled by successful elderly men? So many questions and yet no answers! With seven episodes remaining, I have my fingers crossed that all will be revealed.

For now though, I would like to share with you five of the best moments from American Crime Story: The Assassination of Versace, season 2, episode 2:

Versace’s Cremation

“After everything he survived – to be killed like this.”

After a heated argument with Antonio, Donatella has a private one-on-one cremation for Versace, dressing him up in his fanciest suit. This scene was incredibly powerful and emotional; seeing Donatella mourning her brother’s death is so heartbreaking. She always shows such a strong persona, so it was very appreciated to see a much more vulnerable side of her. After Versace’s ashes were delicately wrapped up, Donatella took him on her private jet, where she hinted at Versace already having a close-to-death moment previously. In the very first scene of the episode, Gianni is shown seeking treatment at a hospital with his partner Antonio. Although nothing is specifically said in the episode, there have been previous talks of Gianni having HIV/AIDS in 1993 – 1994, which lead him to become too sick to work and on bed rest for a while.

Donatella’s devastation and anger is shown when she says to his ashes, “After everything he survived — to be killed like this,” shows that Versace was a strong man and managed to cheat death, only to be murdered three years later.

Versace and Donatella’s relationship

There are still pieces of Versace and Donatella’s relationship that we’re missing, but in this episode, we saw a little more of a bond between the siblings. When Versace is dealing with his illness, Donatella has a fear of losing her brother, and what a touching scene this was. “What is Versace without you?” “It will be you.” “Who am I without you?” “You will find out.”

Later on in the episode, Donatella pushes Versace to reach his potential when she believes he is stuck in a rut and another fashion designer will soon swoop in and take his spotlight. With her push, Gianni wows the crowd with his models and designs, and although he doesn’t say the words, the silent exchange between him and Donatella says that he is thanking her. I can’t wait to see more moments between the two of them, as this is a bond that seems unbreakable.

Donatella and Antonio’s relationship

It’s incredibly clear to see that Donatella and Antonio never really saw eye to eye. During Versace’s illness and struggling to keep his company relevant, an argument erupts between the pair starting with Antonio claiming that Donatella has never been supportive of he and Gianni’s relationship. Donatella opens up to Antonio about how she feels, claiming that he has never been a real partner to her brother and has given him nothing throughout their time together.

“You knew he wanted a family. Why didn’t you give him one?” “What have you done for him? What have you given him? Stability? Safety? Children? If you had given him anything, I would have given you respect – but you have given him nothing.”

I would love to know whether or not Donatella and Antonio put all their tension behind. If they did, it’s a shame they had to do it due to a tragic loss!

Andrew Cunnanan’s story reversed

The premiere of American Crime Story: The Assassination of Versace started off in the present, with Cunanan killing Versace. This time, we was taken back two months to the day Andrew first arrived in Miami to find Versace. At the point of present day, Cunanan has already killed four people and landed himself a spot on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. Now we’re going to sit back and watch those four murders take place, alongside still seeing how Andrew is doing in the present.

Andrew’s false identities

Darren Criss consistently puts on the most terrifying performance of Cunanan, and with all of these false identities forming within seconds of each other, the creepiness has gone from 80% to a whopping 110%! With his simplicity of practicing everyday conversation in the mirror to himself to reflect his individual personas, you really do get the chills. I applaud Ryan Murphy every second for giving Darren this role… although I may never look at Blaine Anderson the same ever again.

He begins the episode as Kurt, a fashion student from Nice who travelled all this way for a few words with Versace. With his newfound friend Ronnie, he describes his close personal friendship with Versace effortlessly and with the elderly man he seduces, he tells the story of the lobster and black pepper his mother used to pack for his school lunches. The question is, are any of these stories true or at least connected a little to his real life? Or he just that good at manipulating and lying? Who knows!

A rather interesting moment, though, was the final nightclub scene where Andrew is approached by a guy. When asked what he does, he replied with, “I’m a serial killer!” He then covered his back by rambling a list of jobs that he supposedly does from a banker to a writer — and the episode ended with him telling this guy his true identity. “I’m the person least likely to be forgotten. I’m Andrew Cunanan.” Wowza! I can’t wait to see more of his identities throughout the season. Bravo once again, Darren Criss!

American Crime Story: The Assassination of Versace Season 2 Episode 2

American Crime Story: The Assassination of Versace season 2 premiere

He wanted to be famous… so he killed a man who was. Join us on examining the shocking 1997 murder of legendary fashion designer, Gianni Versace.

The premiere of American Crime Story: The Assassination of Versace centers around serial killer Andrew Cananan. With the series, we get to explore the motives behind such a memorable and tragic death. The inspiration behind this exciting new series was Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in US History — a book that journalist Maureen Orth published in 1999.

Ryan Murphy took the first episode in a whole new direction, in which we witness the murder of Gianni Versace within the first ten minutes, and then we go back in time to 1990 where flashbacks are given to show how these two men were connected to one another. We also see Versace’s sister, Donatella, dealing with the loss of her brother and making sure that his legacy lives on. The episode ends with the police on a manhunt to find Andrew and failing. However, Andrew is an extremely clever man and I cannot wait to follow the rest of this hunt.

Check out the 5 best moments of American Crime Story: The Assassination of Versace season 2 premiere:

1. Aesthetically pleasing

Although the story is tragic and all in all devastating, Ryan Murphy shows such beauty within this episode. It starts off so blissfully over Versace’s breathtaking villa, the sun-kissed 90’s Miami beach and genuinely good looking people with their tanned and glorious bodies out on what should have been a normal and joyful day. It shows such a flawed beauty throughout and you can’t help falling in love with every moment of it, until Murphy turns our bliss in to shock within seconds.

Oh and you know, the faces of Darren Criss and Penelope Cruz may have also played a role in us falling in love.

2. Versace and Cunanan’s first meeting

As it is well recognised, Andrew Cunanan was known to create extraordinary tales in order to impress others. He fed on the wealthy and famous lifestyles and who better to make his victim than pop culture icon and billionaire, Gianni Versace? The episode showed us that the two had met in 1990 (seven years before Versace’s death) in a San Francisco night club. Andrew approaches Versace, where at first, Versace is quite ignorant and is too fascinated in telling his stories to pay attention to Andrew. Soon enough, Versace remembers him from a previous event in his own villa and Andrew is honored that he would remember such a brief moment. Versace eventually invites Andrew to attend the opera with him, where the two bond over Versace’s love for fashion and how he can have an input in to Andrew’s novel that he hopes will one day become a movie where Versace can design the looks.

3. Versace’s death

We all know when it comes to Ryan Murphy he has absolutely no chill on how much gore and realism he will put in to his shows, and he once again showed no signs of toning this one down with the in depth glance of Versace’s death. It is clear in the beginning that Andrew has aimed for Versace’s face, but at this point, we don’t know for sure.

Later on when Versace is rushed to the hospital, we see him with two gunshot holes in his face as he lays dying amongst all of the doctors trying to keep him alive. They pronounce him dead at 9:12am on July 15th, 1997 at the University of Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital. Gianni’s death really did tug at my heart strings, and being that I knew little of his death before watching this, I was so enthralled by his story and his legacy that this just wasn’t fair. This man deserved a whole lot better than was given. Will my opinion change as the story unravels? Who knows!

4. The focus on LGBT and homophobia

The main focus was the underlying theme of homophobia circulating Cunanan’s murders. The murder happened 20 years ago, and to say the way we respect and look at the LGBT community today as of then, has come an extremely long way. Andrew was an openly-gay male prostitute who drew himself into the wealthy and glamorous lives of older gay men before killing them. He killed four in total before adding Versace to his list, and the significance of his death goes beyond the moment of tragedy, in which the show highlights important issues that were undiscussed at the time of his death. For instance, his partner Antonio D’Amico, who was with Gianni for 15 years. The police didn’t want to accept this and instead suggested that they were ‘business partners’. Versace’s death finally goes public and the police finally pay attention to Cunanan’s identity.

5. Darren Criss

There were many magnificent actors in the debut episode of season 2, however I think all applause should head in Darren Criss’ direction, as he portrayed Andrew Cunanan spot on. Reading more into Andrew’s life, his father left him and his family to avoid arrest for embezzlement and he and his mother got into an argument about his sexuality. Andrew’s aggressive behavior was shown in this argument when he threw his mother against a wall, dislocating her shoulder. Due to this, he had examinations for his behavior and reports later recognized that he possibly suffered from antisocial personality disorder and a personality disorder characterized by lack of empathy.

What I really loved about Darren’s portrayal of Andrew is when he comes face to face with a TV broadcasting the events of Versace’s murder, he watched the TV with no sign of emotion, until he sees a woman’s reaction where she covers her mouth in horror and shock. He then covers his own mouth up to convince people he was also in shock and managed to fill his eyes with emotion. That just showed so evidently how unaffected Andrew is to his murders. I can’t wait to see how this murder starts to affect Andrew — whether it fills him with guilt or pride, Darren is going to be outstanding as always at telling us the story!

American Crime Story: The Assassination of Versace season 2 premiere

American Crime Story: Versace Recap: “Manhunt” Provides Insight Into A Killer’s Mind With Some Sex And Duct Tape

Just when you thought Darren Criss as Andrew Cunanan couldn’t get any more unsettling, this week’s episode of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story basically said “hold my beer” to the audience as it gave us more insight into Cunanan’s crazy mind.

While the premiere episode definitely set the tone of the show and what is yet to come, this week’s episode, aptly titled “Manhunt”, completely broke down Criss’ squeaky Glee persona as he solidified his performance as Cunanan, unnerving as it is to watch. Much of the action in the episode took place in the past, which gave us a better understanding of what led Cunanan to murder Versace.

Additionally, a glimpse into Antonio’s and Versace’s relationship was also provided as some light was shed on why Donatella is so antagonistic towards her brother’s partner.

Gather ’round and let’s discuss “Manhunt.”

Back In 1994: The episode started by taking us back to 1994, the year Versace was allegedly diagnosed with HIV (though the Versace family states the famed designer had ear cancer to this day). Versace looked very distraught about his health situation, but was also determined to beat whatever was ailing him (the story about his eldest sister dying and how it made him feel like anything was treatable was a particularly touching moment). Meanwhile, on the other hand, his sister wasn’t feeling as optimistic as the diagnosis brought out Donatella’s true feelings about Antonio, whom she blamed for her brother’s infection. “He wasn’t enough for you,” she said. “You wanted more. More fun, more men.” She also chastised him for not finding a way to give her brother a family, which she claimed Antonio knew he always wanted. “If you had given him anything, I would have given you respect,” she said. “But you gave him nothing.” Those feelings never did change as Antonio and Donatella feigned getting along while in Gianni’s presence but the second he was dead, Donatella flat out told Antonio “there’s no need to pretend.”

Antonio was not the only thing that they disagreed about as the siblings had their moments of fighting in-house when it came to the future of the company. Versace clashed with his sister, who expressed concerns about newer designers stealing attention — and business — away from the company. She wanted to have a more extreme and edgy look to push towards the future while Gianni still wanted his designs and his shows to show off his heart and come from it as well. He also argued that the Versace models were too skinny (which we agree with him). Determined to prove her wrong, and to prove that he wasn’t going to let his recent diagnosis slow him down, he pulled off a crowd-pleasing runway surprise, temporarily silencing Donatella’s concerns.

Despite their disagreements, Donatella did love her brother, as we were taken back to 1997, shortly after Gianni’s death. Donatella arrived to see his body, bringing a suit for him. She tenderly tightened his tie in the coffin and fixed his cufflinks. He looked perfect, almost living, and then he was cremated. All of that beautiful effort was turned to ashes, and put in a gold box to go back to Italy on a plane with Donatella.

In 1997: Andrew Cunanan was arriving in Miami Beach ready to make a name for himself. His first order of business was to secure a room at Miami’s Normandy Plaza, where he came upon a tragic soul named Ronnie, a drug addict afflicted with HIV who seemed very interested in Andrew (or Andy, as he introduced himself to Ronnie). Cunanan either took a liking to or felt pity for Ronnie as he befriends him and offers to help pay for things. Luckily, money wasn’t an issue for the duo, as Andrew’s side business — which mostly involved seducing married men, wrapping their heads in duct tape, then eating room-service entrees, was doing rather well.

Ronnie had high hopes for the pair of them but Andrew did not. After wrapping his own head in duct tape (there was a lot of that this week) and taking a long shower, Andrew walked out of their shared apartment — and Ronnie’s life — for good. Even worse, when Ronnie questioned if Andrew considered him a friend, Andrew chillingly replied, “When someone asks if we’re friends, you’ll say no.” That line takes us back to last week’s premiere when Ronnie was found by the police and asked about Andrew.

This episode also really showed how little interest the police — and even the FBI — had in pursuing a string of gay-related crimes, even one as twisted as Andrew’s killing spree.

Quote of the Night:

“What is Versace without you?” Donatella
“It is you.” Gianni

American Crime Story: Versace Recap: “Manhunt” Provides Insight Into A Killer’s Mind With Some Sex And Duct Tape