American Crime Story
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Naturally, her mom assumes shes kidding.
Could she have prevented Monicas painful next chapter if she had recognized her daughters moony eyes and chapped lips?
This panicked, neurotic, forgotten season was what she would end up losing so much to protect?
Its worth asking what they have in common besides diet culture and civil service.
At 47 years old and seven years divorced, Linda feels like another bad match.
Her eagerness about Monicas love life is voyeuristic but genuine.
For example, we never see her write down what Monica says in a notebook for some future tell-all.
Hair done, nails done, everything did.
Here, the casting of Beanie Feldstein and Clive Owen crackles for me.
After watching Owens gaze meet Feldsteins, I was tactless enough towatch the original.
This time, I could see the smoldering, real or imagined.
But a brush at the rope line is all it is.
Monica, dejected and fragile, cant be bothered talking to Linda, either.
Monica needs almost no prodding to tell Linda the rest.
At least on her side, the relationship started as a wordless flirtation at POTUSs public events.
The building anticipation was fucking hot, which, fine, okay.
They kept meeting for five months until one of Bills chaperones shipped her to the Pentagon.
But the stretches between their trysts have been growing longer.
Now, Monicas sure its over.
Its a bizarre moment.
Shes kind to Monica but not good to Monica.
Shouldnt she want it to end between her young friend and her married boss?
Is this really all in service of a book?
As Linda drifts from the center of the show, her motives grow fuzzy.
Linda is now getting real-time goss, though, of course, in flashback.
Susan hooks Paula up with a Nordstrom shopping spree and a straightening iron; she even throws in orthodontia.
This feels like dress-up, Paula aptly points out.
Its all dress-up, Susan tells her cynically.
She thinks Paulas a good cause, sweet but dumb, and Paula blossoms under Susans tutelage.
Against her lawyers advice, Paula delivers a flawless TV interview.
Of course, a makeover isnt enough to make Paula central to her own case.
Its early days, but the acid-tongued Ann has an impeccable vision.
Time moves briskly inside the Beltway.
It turns out Bill has a habit of calling Monica within two weeks of running into her somewhere.
Meanwhile, Linda watches Bill spin his wife around to Unforgettable from her La-Z-Boy.
Monica is soon invited to the White House for Bills weekly radio address.
He thinks about dear, sweet Monica a lot.
Mike approaches Linda to talk about her sworn enemy Kathleen Willey.
Hes the first character to suggest how these various story lines might eventually crash together.
Her favorite thing to know is just a little bit more than the person shes talking to.
Youre barking up the wrong tree.
