Tuesday night marked the series premiere of FX’s star-studded, 10-part miniseries The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.
It did not disappoint.
The tense episode was 90 minutes of murder, suspicion, intrigue and more big-name actors bringing it to life than you can even count.
To those who remember the 1994 saga, The People v. O.J. Simpson Season 1 Episode 1 will bring back the memories in chilling detail.
If you weren’t old enough to live through it or fully appreciate the scope of the trial, this retelling is enthralling, if somewhat dramatized.
Producer Ryan Murphy set the stage with real footage of the notorious beating of Rodney King by the LAPD, followed by the L.A. riots.
Two years later, retired NFL great O.J. Simpson (Cuba Gooding Jr.) emerged from a house, apologizing to a cab driver for being late.
Soon enough, we first see Nicole Brown Simpson’s slain body along with that of unidentified man, along with a hat, glove and envelope.
While we know how the story unfolds, Murphy’s reenactment was riveting, and some of the details left viewers particularly unsettled.
The scene in which O.J. kisses Nicole Brown Simpson in her casket at the funeral perhaps sparked the most debate on social media.
Did that happen? According to Vanity Fair, Nicole’s mom testified at O.J.’s civil trial that it did indeed, and he kissed his dead wife on the lips.
O.J. actually did contemplate suicide in Kim Kardashian’s bedroom, as well, according to the late Robert Kardashian (David Schwimmer).
He also failed a lie detector test about as bad as you can fail, yet at the same time, O.J. told Robert Shapiro (John Travolta) he didn’t do it.
Needless to say, others were skeptical. While O.J. was screaming about the inaccurate test, others were whispering behind his back.
Kris Jenner (Selma Blair) attended Nicole’s funeral and quietly asked Faye Resnick (Connie Britton) if she thought O.J. really did do it.
Elsewhere, Marcia Clark (Sarah Paulson) got confirmation that DNA evidence – then a relatively nascent concept – implicated Simpson.
He was charged with double murder, after which he flew off the handle, popped a bunch of pills, hastily wrote a will and put a gun to his head.
Friend Al Cowlings (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) went to see him followed by the cops, who came to arrest O.J. after he did not surrender.
By the time authorities arrived, O.J. had escaped out the back of his Brentwood estate, with A.C. driving the infamous white Ford Bronco.
To be continued …
