Not one to pass up a good sense of wordplay, the second episode of FX’s Versace series is titled “Manhunt.” On the surface (and boy is this show delighted and seduced by glitzy, glistening surfaces!) this refers to the FBI’s literal manhunt for Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss). One of America’s Most Wanted killers— even before he shot the Italian designer—Cunanan narrowly avoided being caught by the FBI in the days leading up to the infamous assassination that guaranteed we’d all know his name. But, as the show is focused on the way gay men nurture different kinds of intimacies with one another, the literal meaning of a man hunt is always there in the edges of every scene.

The FBI describes Cunanan as a predatory escort: every interaction he has simmers with a kind of inauthentic authenticity. He’s always calculating how well his lies are landing and how successful he’s being at passing himself off as whoever the person in front of him would like him to be. Since we get to see him alone, where he rehearses his lines in front of the mirror and indulges in off-kilter behavior (like, you know, covering his eyes and nose with duct tape before telling his newfound Miami friend that he’s going to take a shower now), we know there’s something off about him. But he’s charming to a fault, which is why he’s able to lure an older man to hire him and allow him to toy with autoerotic asphyxiation while Cunanan dances around to Philip Bailey and Phil Collins’ “Easy Lover.”

And if the episode is clearly most interested in Cunanan’s ability to seduce any and everyone around him, “Manhunt” also shows us the intimacy that bonded Gianni Versace (Edgar Ramirez) and Antonio D’Amico (Ricky Martin). Despite what Gianni’s sister Donatella (Penelope Cruz) would have wanted, the two had found a way to live their lives in contradiction to what’s expected of a couple. No talk of kids or marriage or stability, things presumably Gianni wanted at one point. Instead, they had lots of fun, and often enjoyed inviting others into their bedroom. A point of contention between the two Versace siblings, the episode nevertheless suggests that days before the designer was killed, his beloved Antonio had finally decided to settle down:

“I don’t want this anymore,” he tells Gianni as they lounge by the pool. “I want you. I want to marry you.”

The response he gets is heartbreaking: “You can say it in the morning. But can you say it in the evening?” The hunt, both men know, calls out to Antonio once the sun goes down and he may not be able to let that go as easily as he’d like, even if it is what his lover would ultimately so want.

This Week’s MVP:

Given she’s a graduate of the Almodóvar school of melodrama acting, it shouldn’t be surprising that Cruz is nailing her role as Gianni’s caring if abrasive sister. Here is the kind of larger-than-life woman whose mood swings, paired with her raspy voice and striking blonde hair, would easily make her a punchline (see, for example, Maya Rudolph’s hilarious take on Donatella on SNL). But the Spanish actress plays her like a livewire always on the verge of lashing out (out of grief, out of anger, out of jealousy); what gives her strength is also what threatens to undo her.

Seeing her go head to head against Gianni (days before he’s killed, over disagreements about their runway show) and Antonio (years before, when the free-wheeling promiscuous lifestyle he and Gianni were leading finally took a toll on the designer’s health) was just divine. We expect to see that moment when she yells “You’ve given him NOTHING!” at Antonio to become a go-to reaction gif. But she’s just as good in the quieter moments, like when she seethes silently at seeing her brother’s latest collection be a success despite her reservations about it, or later still when she all but loses it as his remains are cremated, her face a frozen mask of grief.

Update on Ricky’s speedo: it made the briefest of appearances. More importantly, we also got treated to a full-blown sex scene in the Versace bedroom (including a third!) where Martin wore nothing but a black pair of briefs which he soon got rid of.

‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’ Episode 2 Recap: Penelope Cruz is MVP

It is July 15, 1997. The sun is shining in Miami Beach. Gianni Versace, the famed and opulent Italian designer wakes up, grabs a fabulous robe, and heads to his balcony where he looks out onto the immaculate view; he’s like a king surveying his sun-kissed kingdom. The camera guides us to the beach where a young man is enjoying the morning breeze. In his backpack, he has two items: a copy of the book The Man Who Was Vogue: The Life and Times of Conde Nast and a gun. One need only look at the title of Ryan Murphy’s new show, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, to see how these two men are connected. By the middle of the first episode of the FX series, we witness the young man (Andrew Cunanan, played by Darren Criss) approach an affable Versace (a balding Edgar Ramirez) and shoot him at the steps of his home.

These first scenes are scored, as most of the Murphy-directed episode is, with operatic chords that amp up the capital letter DRAMA. And really, when you’re telling the story of one of the most infamous assassinations of the late 20th century in the United States, one involving an Italian fashion designer known for an aesthetic that flirts with what’s gaudy, you could do worse than aim for operatic drama.

And boy does Murphy deliver on that account. The first episode follows the events of that fateful day as well as flashing back to when (allegedly, we’re encouraged to take everything our sociopathic antihero tells his friends with a grain of salt) Cunanan and Versace first met. But let’s be honest, the main draw of this latest American Crime Story is its amazing cast.

You wanted to see Ricky Martin tapping into his Alcanzar una estrella II and General Hospital roots? You’ll find him here screaming out for help as Gianni’s partner after finding him bloodied on the steps of their home.

You wanted Ramirez to finally get a chance to show off the talent that’s nabbed him roles with Steven Soderbergh, David O. Russell, and Kathryn Bigelow? You’ll see him in full deglam mode as the aging Versace who’s both intrigued and slightly wary of the charismatic Cunanan.

You wanted Almodóvar muse Penelope Cruz deliciously using her Oscar-winning phrase (“gee-nee-us!”) but on the small screen to talk about Versace? You’ll see her totally transformed into the heartbroken – if driven – sister of the slain style mogul Donatella, who’s all platinum blonde hair flicks and heavily accented put-downs.

In sum, this is the place to be this winter if you want to see your faves chewing scenery and plunging us deep into a sun-dappled, neon-tinged world of murder, homophobia, and fame.

This Week’s MVP:

Ramirez may have the title role, Criss may dazzle with his uncanny take on the compulsive liar that is Cunanan, and Cruz may nail Donatella’s lower voice register and no-nonsense attitude, but – and here, perhaps my own Ricky obsession is showing – I loved the interaction that Martin’s Antonio D’Amico (in a blood-splattered tennis outfit) has with the police investigating Gianni’s murder. It illuminated why this story needs to be told in 2018.

Framed by gold-encrusted patterns, D’Amico is humiliated, needing to explain that he was Versace’s “partner” (“His companion. I loved him,” he tells the cop), but that he also procured young men who sometimes came to the house to have sex with one or both of them. The cop, claiming ignorance, asks him, “These other men, did they consider themselves to be Versace’s partner?” to which D’Amico is forced to talk about how it wasn’t the same; he’d been with Gianni for 15 years. But to these straight cops, Versace’s unorthodox romantic arrangement is as alien as the Greco-Roman decor that littered his estate.

Therein lies the most radical aspect of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. It’s clear from the get-go that this show is interested in the insidious homophobia that still ran rampant in the late 90s and which encouraged law enforcement to treat crimes against homosexuals to be of lesser concern (and worthy of less empathy) than those happening to quote-unquote “normal” people.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, we’ll have to wait until next week (at least!) to get our first glimpse of Ricky in those tantalizing speedos he sports in the promo pictures for the show.

On Ep. 1 of ‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace,’ Ricky Martin Taps Into His Telenovela Roots