This week’s American Crime Story review takes a look at the latest (and final) episode of The Assassination of Gianni Versace, “Alone.” Spoilers follow.

No Way Out

Time has run out for Andrew Cunanan. After committing one murder after another with ease and seemingly no danger of being caught, Andrew’s luck has finally run out due to his murder of Versace.

The final episode of American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace is all about the end. Here is the culmination of it all. The final weary days in the short, destructive life of Andrew Cunanan. There’s no catharsis here. No sense of release. Instead, there’s a sense that if Andrew was given the chance to do it all over again, he’d probably do everything exactly the same.

After weeks of episodes moving backwards, we finally arrive where we started: with Andrew gunning down Versace on the steps of Versace’s Miami mansion. But unlike Andrew’s other murders – which, aside from the murder of Lee Miglin, attracted very little attention – this one is markedly different. Cop cars are everywhere, speeding through the Miami streets at night. News coverage splashes tabloid-like headlines left and right.

Andrew retreats to a seemingly abandoned houseboat and watches the result of his work on multiple TVs. He seems elated at first – even when the news anchors report him as a suspect. He’s famous now; he’s changed the world. He celebrates by popping open a bottle of champagne. Later, he’ll watch Versace’s televised funeral with reverence and even a little pride. Versace’s funeral is filled with celebrities – Princess Diana, Elton John, Naomi Campbell – and they’re all there because of something Andrew did.

The celebration is short lived. When Andrew tries to get out of Miami, he finds roadblocks at every turn. The police are leaving no stone unturned. He’s trapped. With no one left to turn to, Andrew frantically places a call to his father, Modesto.

Modesto, never one to miss an opportunity, has been selling interviews to the press ever since it was revealed Andrew was the killer. When Andrew calls, he assures his son that he’ll come to America and whisk him off to safety. Andrew, who has apparently learned nothing, believes him. He packs up some things and waits, hopeful that his father will be there in 24 hours.

But his father never shows. Instead, Andrew catches Modesto on the news, mugging for the camera, insisting this is all some mix-up because his son isn’t a homosexual, and revealing that he’s talked to Andrew on the phone.

For Andrew, this is the final nail in the coffin. He knows it’s hopeless now. No one is going to come save him. Soon, police have discovered his location and have him surrounded. With nowhere left to turn, Andrew places his gun in his mouth, sparing one last look at his reflection in a mirror before pulling the trigger.

Special

While anyone who happened to read the Wikipedia entry for Andrew Cunanan knew where this was all going, there are still a few surprises in the final episode, “Alone.” For one thing, Judith Light returns as Marilyn Miglin, widow of Andrew’s victim Lee Miglin. Marilyn just happens to be in Miami during these events, filming a new commercial for her latest perfume. She seems to sum up the feelings of everyone involved here when she says that all she wants is for this to be over. She’s sick of having her good name attached to Andrew Cunanan, and she wants nothing more than for people to stop associating her, and her husband, with Andrew and his actions.

Meanwhile, in Milan, Donatella Versace is trying to put things in order following the murder of her brother. She’s still wrought with grief – in an emotional scene, delivered with a real sense of sorrow by Penélope Cruz – Donatella reveals that on the day Versace was murdered, he tried to call her, and she deliberately ignored the call.

Donatella also has to contend with Antonio, who is also grieving. But Antonio’s grief is treated as something secondary, and Donatella isn’t interested in helping him out. Versace’s will left Antonio with a pension of 50 million lira a month for life, and the right to live in any of Versace’s homes. But the properties Versace left actually belonged to the company, not Versace himself. As a result, he’s cut out. He has no home now. In one of the most cringe-worthy scenes in the episode, the priest at Versace’s funeral goes down a line, offering comfort to everyone in Versace’s family, but deliberately skips Antonio. By the time the episode has ended, Antonio has tried to kill himself – but failed.

All of these surviving individuals – Marilyn Miglin, Donatella, Antonio – are searching for some sort of closure. They want to subscribe to the French proverb “What you lose in the fire, you will find amongst the ashes.” But there’s no real closure here. No sense of completion.

Yes, Antonio survives his suicide attempt. But he’s still cut-out of all things Versace. Yes, Donatella inherits her brother’s empire, but her grief is overwhelming. Yes, Marilyn takes comfort in the fact that the man who murdered her husband is now dead, but she’ll still forever be tied to Andrew and his actions. After the dust has settled, we see Marilyn pouring over letters sent in offering condolences. Letters from young men Lee clearly had affairs with. She can take comfort in these condolences, but she also has to contend with the fact that Lee lied to her throughout his entire life.

And what of Andrew Cunanan? Did he have a moment of clarity in those moments before he pulled the trigger and blew his brains all over the wall of a houseboat bedroom? A realization of where he went wrong? A sense of remorse for his actions? According to American Crime Story, the answer is no.

At the moment Andrew kills himself, we flashback to the (possibly fictional) evening Andrew spent with Versace. There, standing on the stage at the opera with Versace, Andrew says he’s been waiting his whole life for someone to tell him he’s special, and that all he’s ever wanted to do is persuade other people that he’s capable of doing something great.

“But it’s not about persuading people that you’re going to do something great,” Versace says. “It’s about doing it.”

Andrew is puzzled by this response – he doesn’t get it. All he wants is for someone to just tell him he’s special without having actually done anything to merit it. He begs to be made Versace’s assistant, but Versace politely turns him down. Versace tells Andrew that one day, he’ll understand. But Andrew never will. He’ll spend the rest of his short, violent life continually trying to prove to everyone that he’s special. And while he will certainly make headlines, he’ll also leave nothing behind worth celebrating.

In the end, “Alone” juxtaposes the locations of the earthly remains of Gianni Versace and Andrew Cunanan. Versace’s ashes are housed in a veritable temple; a shrine to his greatness, located in a picturesque location. Andrew body, meanwhile, is tucked away in some mausoleum somewhere, among rows and rows of other people, forgotten. Just one nearly anonymous body in a sea of thousands.

Alone

After a few wishy-washy episodes, “Alone” ends The Assassination of Gianni Versace on a high note (although high note perhaps isn’t the right term for such a depressing episode). Director Gwyneth Horder-Payton captures the sinking feeling washing over Andrew perfectly. In one haunting scene, Andrew is visited by the younger version of himself. The young Andrew watches the TV coverage of the adult Andrew’s deeds, a slight, eerie smile on his face. In another scene, Andrew watches Marilyn Miglin’s infomercial as Horder-Payton has the camera push-in on his blank face, effectively pushing the audience into his headspace.

This season of American Crime Story wasn’t entirely successful. The backwards-moving narrative never quite worked, and resulted in a somewhat uneven season, where the bulk of the action happened very early and left a few episodes spinning their wheels. Yet for all its flaws, The Assassination of Gianni Versace still made for some intriguing, captivating television.

While the backwards narrative didn’t quite gel, it did enable Versace to pull a clever bait-and-switch on the audience. At first, we go in thinking this will be just another true crime saga. But what it really turns into is a compelling character study and also a story of how society treats queer people.

Darren Criss’ portrayal of Andrew Cunanan is exemplary. The actor brought the character to life, and while some of the writing could’ve easily turned Andrew into something close to parody, Criss’ performance walked a tightrope and balanced it all.

Other MVPs of the season: Ricky Martin turned in a surprisingly soulful performance as Versace’s lover Antonio D’Amico, particularly in this final episode. The moments where Antonio realizes he’s being cut loose from all things Versace are handled with appropriate panic and confusion by Martin. Penélope Cruz also shines this season, and in this final episode in particular. While there were times when the writing felt as if it was bending over backwards to find ways to insert Donatella into the story, Cruz always managed to play the part with grace and just the appropriate amount of over-dramatic flourishes.

Next up for American Crime Story: a season that tackles the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina, featuring Dennis Quaid as George W. Bush. While that may not stand out as your typical “true crime” narrative, it’s going to be fascinating to see how the series tells this story. Just as the first season of American Crime Story used its true crime angle to tell a story about racism in America, and this second season was primarily about the way society treats queer individuals, I’m sure the Katrina season will have its own social message buried within the narrative. We’ll have to wait to see how that plays out.

‘American Crime Story’ Review: ‘Alone’ Brings the Story to an End

1957

The opening of the penultimate episode of The Assassination of Gianni Versace takes us further back in time than we’ve ever been in the series. It’s 1957, and a very young Gianni Versace is trying to learn his place in the world. He’s an outsider at school; picked on by teachers, ignored by fellow students. He sits in his mother’s dress-making shop and watches her work, a sense of awe and wonder on his face the entire time.

He wants to do what his mother does. And so he does.

While school discourages this desire in Versace, his mother embraces it. If her son wants to be a dress-maker, so be it. She wants to nurture this in the child, and give him the chance to grow.

Yet when she places a pencil in Versace’s hand and asks him to design something for her, he instantly gives up.

“I can’t,” he says. “It’s too hard.”

It’s supposed to be hard, his mother counters. “Success only comes with hard work,” she says. “And it takes many years. But that’s alright. That’s why it’s special.”

It’s clear why this scene is here: to sharply contrast Versace against his murderer Andrew Cunanan even more. Here is the message that no one bothered to instill in Andrew – that success takes time, and that you have to work for it.

1980

It would be inaccurate to say that one event, one specific thing, turned Andrew Cunanan into the sociopathic serial killer he became. That’s not how these things work. But while there was no specific trigger, it’s clear from “Creator/Destroyer” that Andrew’s upbringing certainly didn’t help matters. This week, we’re provided with more insight into Andrew’s life, and it’s not pleasant.

As a child, Andrew adores his father, Modesto “Pete” Cunanan (Jon Jon Briones, giving a phenomenal, disturbing performance). Modesto is an immigrant, and he seems obsessed with the concept of making the so-called “American dream” a reality. He moves his family across the country, and sweet-talks his way into a cushy job at Merrill Lynch.

It becomes very clear very quickly that Modesto is a cruel, even violent man. His wife lives in terror of him, and his other children steer clear. Andrew is the only child who receives any sort of warmth from the man, and as a result, he would do seemingly anything to make his father proud.

We watch as the young Andrew interviews to join a fancy school. When asked by the board why he wants to attend the school, Andrew replies, “Because it’s the best school in America.” When asked who told him that, Andrew says: “My father.”

The school board then asks Andrew a seemingly simple question: if he could have one wish, what would it be? Never one for simple answers, he rattles off a list of material things – a house overlooking the ocean, multiple Mercedes’. Here, the school board cuts him off, reminding him that these are multiple things, and what they want to know is what would be his one ultimate wish. Andrew thinks about it for a moment, then replies: “To be special.”

Here again is the sharp contrast between Andrew and Versace. Andrew doesn’t want to be good at anything; he doesn’t want to have talent. He just wants the adulation.

And for a while, he gets it, courtesy of his father. Like when Modesto buys a brand-new car for Andrew, even though Andrew isn’t even old enough to drive yet. Thanks to his father, Andrew comes to believe he truly is special. But this feeling won’t last forever.

1987

A lot can change in 7 years. After setting up Andrew’s “special” childhood, “Creator/Destroyer” jumps ahead 7 years, just as the bottom is about to fall out. Modesto is no longer working at Merrill Lynch. Instead, he’s set-up shop in a rinky-dink firm that operates out of a strip mall; the type of establishment that might have popped-up in The Wolf of Wall Street.

Andrew has grown into a cocky, fun-loving 18 year old. He has an older, married lover who buys him gifts and keeps him comfy – but Andrew wants more. He wants to show his lover off to his friends – something the older man wants no part of. “This is strictly on the side,” he tells Andrew. It’s not that Andrew genuinely cares about this older man; he just wants to show-off. That’s the nature of Andrew Cunanan. To brag; to cause a scene. To get attention.

The happiness that Andrew is feeling is about to crumble apart like a sand castle as the tide is coming in. Modesto is busted for fraud – he’s been selling non-existent stocks to clueless, elderly people. When the feds come calling, Modesto flees the country – leaving his family behind, and in serious financial trouble. Andrew’s mother is understandably worried, telling Andrew that the family has no money, and that Modesto secretly sold their house months ago. But Andrew doesn’t want to hear it. He shrugs his mother off, and insists that his father wouldn’t leave them in such trouble. He must have a plan. He must have money stashed somewhere. He must.

So Andrew charts a trip to Manila to find his fugitive father. Modesto is living with a relative, bunked out in a shadowy, sweaty shack in the middle of nowhere. He welcomes Andrew with open arms, but the reunion turns sour very quickly. Andrew asks Modesto about any hidden money the family might be able to use. Modesto insists there is money. A lot of it. “Millions,” he says.

“Where?” Andrew asks.

“Out of reach,” is Modesto’s lame answer.

Later that night, however, Andrew gets the truth: there is no money. Andrew is furious and disgusted with Modesto, but Modesto is, in turn, just as disgusted with Andrew.

“You can’t go to America and start from nothing,” Modesto says bitterly. “That’s the lie, so I stole.”

“If you’re a lie, than I’m a lie,” Andrew cries.

“You’re not upset that I stole, you’re upset that I stopped,” his father shoots back. “Now you have to work, for yourself.”

In a fit of rage, Andrew brandishes a knife at his father, but backs off, whimpering.

“You don’t have it in you,” Modesto says, his voice thick with disgust. If only he could see into the future…

That bleak, blood-soaked future is calling. But first, Andrew returns home, defeated, and takes a job at a pharmacy. When quizzed about his family by the pharmacy owner, Andrew does what will soon come very naturally to him: he lies. His father is a success story, he says. And if Andrew’s father is a success story, then so is Andrew.

Creator/Destroyer

After spinning its wheels in previous episodes, American Crime Story finally finds its footing again with “Creator/Destroyer.” Part of that is due to the direction of actor Matt Bomer. Bomer doesn’t just juggle multiple narratives with ease, he also sets up three distinct time periods and locations – the Italy of Versace’s youth, the California of Andrew’s, and shadowy, humid Manila where Modesto is hiding out. The result is a clear, concise three-act structure that other episodes of this season have been drastically missing.

The other key element of this week’s episode is the performance of Jon Jon Briones as Andrew’s father Modesto. Briones is incredible here, crafting a truly memorable, truly unsettling character. Because of Modesto’s sleazy, cruel nature, we find ourselves empathizing with Andrew ever-so-slightly. It’s hard to have any sympathy for Andrew, since we know what a destructive monster he eventually becomes. But seeing his childhood, and watching his interactions with Modesto, we can at least begin to understand some of Andrew’s behavior.

Now that we’ve gone as far back into Andrew’s life as we can possibly go, there’s only one place American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace can go: back to the future. Back to the aftermath of Versace’s murder. The event that launched us on this violent, unsettling journey through the life of Andrew Cunanan. The end is near.

‘American Crime Story’ Review: ‘Creator/Destroyer’ Shows Us Andrew’s Origin Story

1992

The two intertwined plotlines on this week’s American Crime Story involve future serial killer Andrew Cunanan and future fashion designer Donatella Versace both coming into their own, in very different ways.

Andrew has yet to fully blossom into the master con-man we know he is. Instead, he’s working a dead-end job at a pharmacy. He’s miserable with his life, and while he likes to tell lies – he brags that he’s finishing up his PhD, which isn’t even close to true – he hasn’t quite caught on to the fact that he can talk his way into a comfortable life. Instead, he pines for it. And he returns home to his fragile, emotionally unstable mother and grows furious when he sees she’s purchased non-brand ice cream instead of Häagen-Dazs.

“Why do you have to get so upset?” his mother asks.

“Because I want the best!” Andrew yells.

Donatella, meanwhile, is trying to come with the terms that Versace could die from his ear cancer. She’s not ready for the company to be left in her hands; not ready to lose her brother so soon. It seems her instinct is to ignore things and hope it will all work out, but Versace clearly doesn’t agree. He’s all but accepted that he’s going to die, and he wants Donatella to prepare for his death, and to prepare for her future in the spotlight. The tragedy is, of course, that later Versace will beat the cancer, but die anyway.

For now, though, he’s alive, and he’s not in the best of moods. Dealing with his illness is affecting him emotionally, which leads him to fly off the handle and berate Donatella for having others sketch her dress designs instead of doing it herself.

“What do you want from me?” Donatella asks.

“I want everything,” Versace yells.

If They Could See Me Now

From these two setups springs the events of the episode. Donatella learns to find confidence in her dress designs, going so far as to model the dress herself at a gala. Andrew, in turn, learns to use his own unique brand of confidence to “sell himself.”

At one point, Andrew ends up at an escort service, but the cold woman who runs it doesn’t seem very impressed. When he says he’s Asian American, the escort service owner quickly replies: “Gay men don’t want Asians.” No matter what Andrew says, the escort service owner remains nonplussed. Undeterred, Andrew goes out on the hunt.

His journey takes him to a play, where he meets three older gay men: Norman, Lincoln and Gallow. We know from last week’s episode that Andrew will eventually end up with Norman, but first he strikes up a (paid) relationship with Lincoln. Andrew will basically be on-call to Lincoln for a weekly allowance.

This is, in theory, what Andrew wanted – disposable income for no real work. Yet Andrew doesn’t have the mindset to be a kept-man, and before long, he’s discovered David at a fancy restaurant. Andrew is clearly taken with this young, shy man, but we know from previous episodes that it’s merely an infatuation rather than actual romantic feelings, and we also know it will end tragically, with David shot dead in the tall grass by the side of a river.

For now, though, David is alive, and appears to be taken with Andrew. He opens up, and tells Andrew a story about unpopular girl he was friends with in high school. David told this girl that one day, he would be a successful architect and build a house they could live in together. Later, when he finally told her he was gay, she was so upset she never spoke to him again.

Andrew’s wooing of David backfires: when Lincoln learns Andrew is spending his weekly allowance on other men, he cuts Andrew off. Looking for new companionship, Lincoln cruises a gay bar and picks up a strange, twitchy young man named Kevin. Kevin insists that he’s not gay, that he merely goes to the gay bar so that men will buy him drinks. Yet he agrees to come home with Lincoln, which leads to a shocking act of violence. Seemingly unprovoked in any real way, Kevin brutally bludgeons Lincoln to death – just as Andrew is coming through the door.

After witnessing the murder, Andrew is shaken, yet he also tells Kevin, “You should run.” Perhaps here, the seed has been planted in Andrew’s mind. Here is the impetus of Andrew’s future murder-spree; the germ of the idea. It’s like an infestation suddenly in his brain, festering until the day he finally decided to murder Jeff Trail.

The other thing Andrew learns from this event: the murder of gay men isn’t a top priority for law enforcement. Later, talking with Norman, the two discuss how blase the cops are about investigating Lincoln’s murder. Here, too, perhaps is the realization that colors Andrew’s future actions. He can kill other gay men if need be, and possibly get away with it, simply because the police won’t really care.

His meal ticket dead, Andrew decides to charm Norman into the same deal he had with Lincoln. And here, we see the first signs of the Andrew we’ve come to know from the future. He turns on the charm, and repurposes David’s childhood story about the unpopular girl to win over Norman.

It works.

Soon, Andrew is leaving his frantic mother behind – after “accidentally” fracturing her shoulder blade in a tussle – and moving into a huge, seaside home with Norman.

At the big, new house Andrew and Norman are moving into, Andrew stands on the terrace overlooking the ocean and says, “If they could see me now.”

“Who?” Norman asks.

“Everyone.”

Donatella, meanwhile, has learned to embrace the spotlight. Wearing the dress she designed has increased attention in the Versace brand, and she gathers her staff around to tell them about Versace’s illness, and how she’ll be taking over the company in his absence. We can almost hear her think, “If they could see me now…”

Ascent

I hate to say this, especially since I’ve enjoyed so much of the season, but American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace is spinning its wheels at this point. I continue to think the backwards-moving narrative was a mistake, and it’s cost the show some serious momentum.

Yes, it’s interesting to learn more about Andrew in reverse. And yes, the way the show has flipped the narrative from being about a murder to rather being about how the murder (or rather, murders) happened is clever. But the side-effect of this approach is a show slowly running out of steam.

This week’s episode gave Penélope Cruz a chance to step back into the spotlight, and Cruz does good work here, but Donatella, and even Versace himself, both seem almost out-of-place at this point. We’ve spent so much time with Andrew that when the Versace storyline pops up, it unbalances things a bit.

Darren Criss remains the show’s MVP, and the actor has a lot of fun this week discovering who Andrew is, or rather, who Andrew is turning into. I also really enjoy Michael Nouri‘s performance as the sophisticated, calm Norman, who clearly knows Andrew is trouble but is willing to take a chance on getting involved with him anyway.

Next week, we’ll go even further back in time and learn about Andrew’s destructive, emotionally manipulative father. These events won’t exonerate Andrew, but they will go a long way towards explaining who he is.

‘American Crime Story’ Review: ‘Ascent’ Marks the Beginning of the End

This week’s American Crime Story review takes a look at the latest episode of The Assassination of Gianni Versace, “Descent.” Spoilers follow.

1996, La Jolla

It’s a full year before Andrew Cunanan’s killing spree, and now we’re going to start to learn what makes him tick. The Assassination of Gianni Versace’s backwards narrative has kept Andrew mostly a mystery to us, but this week’s episode, “Descent”, reveals one of the tipping points that would lead him to murder.

Andrew is living at a gorgeous mansion in La Jolla, California. The first moments of the episode show him pulling up to the estate and later diving into a pool. How can Andrew afford all this? The answer is, he can’t. This is actually the home of a wealthy man named Norman. Later, the house will be swarming with people – it’s Andrew’s birthday, and Norman is throwing him a party.

To Andrew, the party is an opportunity to win over David – a man he will eventually murder. His relationship with Norman isn’t sexual, he insists; he merely lives with Norman out of necessity. What he really wants is to be with David. Maybe. “David is a future,” he says. “And up until now I’ve only dated the past.”

The fact of the matter is, Andrew doesn’t know what he wants. But he thinks being in a relationship with David will somehow magically solve his problems. Yet when David arrives at the party, things don’t go according to plan. Jeff, another of Andrew’s future victims, is at the party as well, and Andrew attempts to stage a scene – he gives Jeff an expensive gift – new shoes – and then asks Jeff to give them back to Andrew as a birthday gift, in front of everyone. When Jeff questions the reasoning behind this, Andrew’s answer is blunt and to the point: “I want to seem loved.”

Perhaps this is the curse of Andrew Cunanan: not so much to want love, but rather to have the appearance of being loved. And when Andrew doesn’t get what he wants, he proceeds to spend the rest of the episode burning every single bridge he has. The party doesn’t go as planned – Andrew can barely get any time with David alone, and David and Jeff proceed to hit it off immediately, much to Andrew’s annoyance. Lee Miglin, yet another future victim, shows up as well, and tries to get Andrew alone, also to Andrew’s annoyance. As far as Andrew sees it, his perfect day has been ruined, and his only way to deal with this is by lashing out.

“This World Has Wasted Me’

Long after the party ends, Andrew unveils a “list of requirements” he wants from Norman, including more money, a new car, and being written in Norman’s will as his sole heir. This attempt at emotional extortion backfires, and Norman calmly reveals he knows everything about Andrew, and that Andrew has be lying to him – and everyone else – about his background for years. After refusing to Andrew’s demands, Andrew storms out, assuming Norman will demand he comes back.

It doesn’t happen.

And things only get worse for Andrew from here. He torches his friendship with Jeff by trying to out Jeff to his parents. Then he torches any chance he has with David with an elaborate, expensive, foolhardy getaway: Andrew calls David and tells him he’s paid for an expensive trip for the both of them. David seems hesitant, but agrees to come along.

During the getaway, Andrew takes David clothes shopping; “I want you to dress like the man you’re going to be.” Here, he’s literally trying to make David into his ideal partner, regardless of what David thinks.

Later, during a romantic dinner that’s anything but romantic, David says, “Andrew, I’m not the one.” Desperate, Andrew insists, “You are the one.” David, trying to be kind, says he came on the trip because he wanted to see if he and Andrew could take the next step, but feels like it won’t work because he doesn’t really “know” Andrew. He wants Andrew to be honest with him. Andrew agrees to “tell the truth”, but when he starts talking about his parents, David can tell Andrew is still lying. Weary of it all, David gives up and says he’s tired, effectively closing the door on any real relationship with Andrew.

From here, Andrew spirals deeper and deeper into a pit of despair. His drug use increases, and after shooting up crystal meth, he proceeds to have a red-tinted fantasy/hallucination where Gianni Versace is measuring him for a suit. “This world has wasted me,” Andrew tells Versace with a flat, dead voice. “While it has turned you…into a star.” When Andrew asks what the difference is between himself and Versace, the Versace hallucination replies, “I’m loved.”

The lowest moment for Andrew comes when he attempts, and fails, to break back into Norman’s house. With nowhere left to go, Andrew pays a visit to his mother, in a truly unnerving scene that provides our first real clue as to why Andrew is the way he is.

His mother, Mary Ann, is clearly emotionally and mentally unwell, and she proceeds to babble on almost incoherently the entire time Andrew is there. When Andrew lets his guard down and confesses to his mother that he’s unhappy, she doesn’t seem to hear him at all. He is truly, entirely cut off now – no one seems to be listening to him anymore. No one is buying the bullshit he’s sold so convincingly all his life. Before long, he’ll head to Minneapolis, and his killing spree will begin.

Descent

After the previous American Crime Story episode “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”, “Descent” is a bit of a disappointment. This was probably inevitable – “Don’t Ask…” was the best episode of the entire season so far, and now that we’re going back even further in time – to a full year before Andrew’s murders begin – the show has run dry of big, shocking moments. Instead, The Assassination of Gianni Versace is settling into a sad, somber groove in which he begins to slowly reveal Andrew’s history.

There’s a problem with this: we’ve spent so much time watching Andrew do terrible, destructive things that it’s nearly impossible to muster up any sympathy for him at this point. Yes, getting a glimpse of Andrew’s nerve-wracking mother provides some insight into Andrew as a person, but it might be too little too late.

Director Gwyneth Horder-Payton keeps the episode moving along briskly, and some stylistic flourishes – a fast camera push-in on Andrew’s face at the party, signifying him realizing he’s losing control; the red-tinted drug hallucination with Versace – stand-out.

Darren Criss continues to impress with his layered, frantic performance. Some of the best moments of this episode revolve around Criss showing Andrew’s often pathetic desperation – during the party, when he senses David not paying enough attention to him, he attempts to stage a big, flashy scene that doesn’t go according to plan. Watching Criss portray Andrew’s panicked desperation at that moment is remarkable.

Actress Joanna Adler lays it on a bit too thick as Andrew’s mother Mary Ann. I understand that this is a tough balancing act – the character shows up seemingly out of nowhere with only a few minutes left in the episode, and Adler has to get across how damaged this individual is in short period of time. Still, Adler goes way too big in these scenes, portraying Mary Ann as someone so unstable that it’s hard to believe she’s able to survive on her own without being hospitalized.

Adler fairs a bit better in next week’s episode. Next week, American Crime Story travels even further back into Andrew’s history, and shows us his humble, tragic origins.

‘American Crime Story’ Review: ‘Descent’ Begins The Downward Spiral