by Kevin Muller

Ryan Murphy has been a gift from God for FX.  Over the past eight years he has given us American Horror Story, Feud, Glee, and most recently 9-1-1. Four out of the five mentioned have won countless awards. In 2016, Murphy gave us a new series called American Crime Story, which was about the trial of OJ Simpson. As with Feud and American Horror Story, each season has its own story with its own characters and conflicts. The series won countless awards for acting and as a series overall.  Once again, it was a major win for FX. What would Murphy follow up with for season 2? There were ramblings about Katrina, which will now be season 3, but he ultimately decided to look at the death of Gianni Versace and the hunt for his murderer, Andrew Cunanan. Murphy, a proud and outed gay man, would definitely give one of the gay community’s greatest icons the proper treatment, right? Well, that is where the series becomes conflicted. It isn’t with the acting. All the actors, including Edgar Ramirez, as the title character; Penelope Cruz, as his sister Donatella, and even Ricky Martin, as Versace’s lover, Antonio D’Amico, are all fantastic. The production value is incredible to boot. Even Darren Criss, more on him later, is career defining as Cunanan. The problem lies that the title character isn’t really the main focus of the piece, and when he is, the story is incredibly fragile.

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