FX debuted its latest anthology drama American Crime Story on Tuesday with The People v. O.J. Simpson. Executive produced by Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story), the series will focus on a different historical event each season, with this first season delving into the O.J. Simpson trial, based on Jeffrey Toobin's book The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson.
As someone who was only a year old during the trial, O.J. Simpson has only ever been a pop culture reference or a punchline on Family Guy to me. For many viewers, though, the series likely brings back memories of the highly covered trial. There are a variety of opinions about this case and how it proceeded, but I don't have enough information to pass judgment on the events that occurred. Therefore I can only take this show as a piece of drama, and as such the premiere was highly effective. Although we all know how this story ends, the premiere does a good job of providing enough suspense and drama to keep the viewer engaged thanks to some excellent performances.
Cuba Gooding, Jr. stars as Simpson, and given that I don't really have a reference point, I thought he did a fine job. His body language and expressions suggested there is a lot going on inside his mind that we are not privy to. John Travolta stole every scene he was in as Robert Shapiro, imbuing him with a confidence that seemed to fill the room. Sarah Paulson and David Schwimmer also stepped into their roles with ease, delivering strong performances as Marcia Clark and Robert Kardashian. The scene where Simpson threatens suicide and Kardashian must talk him down is a stand out, effectively depicting the emotional toll that the events had on everyone involved.
As far as pilots go, this was one of the more effective ones this season. Some parts of the episode were somewhat slow, particularly those involving the police investigation when the bigger personalities were not on screen, but those were few and far between. For the most part the episode held my attention, drawing me in from the beginning and ending with a "cliffhanger" (or as much of a cliffhanger as there can be in a well-known story) that left me wanting to watch the next episode. Many shows take a couple of episodes to find their footing and completely pull me in, but this one already has me hooked and anticipating the next nine episodes.
One final thing I found interesting was how the theme of race pervades this story. Given recent events, this show could not be more relevant. The episode begins with archive footage of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, and questions of race and how the police are treating Simpson are brought up throughout the episode. Meanwhile, the show highlights how lax the police were in their questioning of Simpson and the favors they granted him given his celebrity status. Based on the scenes for next week's episode, it seems the show will be tackling the subject of race head on, so as sad as it is that we are still dealing with these issues twenty years later, it will be interesting to see what the show has to say about the state of things then and how they relate to now.
As always, feel free to leave your thoughts on the episode below.
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