True crime stories, whether produced in the form of a television series, film, or novel, have an inescapable hook for audiences that crave realism. Dramatization aside, audiences are attracted to this form of storytelling because the events are situated in a reality that closely resembles the world they live in. When Netflix’s used actual footage of bombings and assassinations associated with Pablo Escobar’s Medellín Cartel, it bound the TV drama closer to a shocking, but true, reality. , Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski’s new anthology series on FX, is the most recent example of a prestige television production tackling a true crime story. The ten-part series covers the O.J. Simpson murder trial, a trial that is largely considered to be the most famous trial in history of the United States. The American public was drawn to the case because Simpson, a football and movie star at the time, was accused of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. Its popularity was compounded when Judge Lance Ito decided to televise the trial for the public.
Alexander and Karaszewski took an artistic risk when they chose to tackle such a monumental event. Critics and commentators were concerned that the series would disregard the facts, veer towards campy storytelling, and fail to capture the larger-than-life people that played a central role in the trial’s events. These factors, and the phenomenal nature of the trial itself, make ’s success all the more impressive. The series simultaneously combines a (mostly) factually accurate retelling of the case with a smart use of social satire to address the absurdity that surrounded the trial. The showrunners were also able to make the issues that surrounded the case relevant today, tapping into the zeitgeist of contemporary society. Whether it is police misconduct, racial difference, or a growing infatuation with mass media coverage, the events depicted in are surprisingly relatable to significant issues that continue to exist in contemporary public discourse.
The show’s ability to convey these issues owes a great deal to the showrunners’ script, the directorial vision of Ryan Murphy, and the performances of the cast. There’s an infectious pace to the show that manages to make seemingly boring moments exciting. These moments are upheld by the cast’s collective commitment to realising the personalities of the real people they are playing. The standout performances are Sarah Paulson as prosecutor Marcia Clark, and Courtney B. Vance as lead defence attorney Johnnie Cochran. Both actors convey the complex persona of these lawyers, in performances that will surely garner them recognition during awards season. In regards to the show’s structure, there is a clear effort to follow the timeline of the case from the night of the murder to the verdict. The show does not hold back in its retelling of the events that occurred prior to and during the trial, covering everything from the famous Bronco chase, to the media’s treatment of Marcia Clark. While many facts were inevitably left out due to time constraints (the series only runs for ten episodes), the show still remains dedicated to accurately including the most important details of the case and trial.
is essential viewing for any television fan, especially for those interested in true crime dramas. The fact that the outcome of the trial is widely known by the majority of the public demonstrates the showrunners’ impressive ability to entertain and surprise an informed audience. Alexander and Karaszewski provide a novel way to represent history, and choose a particularly spectacular history to tell. For what it sets out to do, and considering the scope of event it is tackling, is hugely successful in taking a circus of a trial and turning it into a carefully crafted short series that exists among the best that TV has to offer in 2016.
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