Not Guilty

American Crime Story is a tale of humanity. It manages to distinctly differentiate between what is and what could be. By the medium of television, it packs within itself a number of very delicate subjects- race, murder, crime, ego, love, doubt and so on to a point where one might think that handling these with the proper attention they require might be difficult . But the intriguing screenplay, the spectacular presentation, excellent performances and the surprising sense of tension throughout made for some of the best 10 hours of television I have ever seen.

Let’s start with the story. So the show sees renown football player O.J Simpson being tried for the murder of ex-wife Nicole as well as an associate of hers- Ron Goldman. From what follows, we see a trial that escalated really fast. California in sight of recent events and riots, was a mess. This made the stakes high both at the personal as well as public level as people were eager to see the police being effective while handling ‘Big’ cases. The show depicts the tendency of people to take matters into their own hands when they see justice fail and thus, the prosecution team had a lot riding on their shoulders. That more than shows. What follows is a case that delivers appropriately and sufficiently on both fronts as the story comes together.

What really fascinated and made the show ‘Excel’ for me is the fact that it surprised me. I was constantly biting my nails wondering which side the case bent every time I saw a punch incoming. Now I read about the O.J trial about 3 years ago and I knew what happened, the resultant damage as well as the verdict. But it was just that watching the show was such an immersive experience that for those 40 minutes or so, my mind was completely focused on what was going on on the 42 inches in front of me. I had no time to think for I feared missing out. That sort of nerve cracking tension is exactly what I expect from a courtroom drama and American Crime Story delivered.

The show, like most reality based ones, was not for a second was guilty of taking sides. It did not have an opinion of it’s own and presented an unbiased experience. It’s true that after watching the show, a person will certainly have an opinion about the case but that would be solely because of the way the case was, not how it was presented. This kind of fair treatment to such high profile cases is something I have never seen on video before.

The fantastic performances across the board help. Cuba Gooding’s O.J Simpson depicted an appropriate amount of bipolarity to an extent that as a viewer, I often found myself divided on whether he did it or not and given that this was one of the objectives, the show didn’t disappoint. O. J Simpson comes across as an ass sometimes and a really broken person who lost what he held dear at other moments. Vance’s Cochran is a charming depiction of a man determined to win as he sees victory not in the verdict but what that verdict would do for his people. Sterling K. Brown as Christopher Darden is also given moments to shine. He does justice to the character and sees to it that his character never comes off as anything other than a person.Special mention for David Schwimmer. As Robert Kardashian, he isn’t given a lot of screentime but in the time he has, he delivers a very effective performance which made the evolution as well as his change of character never seem plastic or fake.

Best for the last, even if you are not interested in the case, you owe it to Sarah Paulson to watch the show. She delivers the best performance I have seen on television in recent memory. Her problems, her confusion, her desire to win, her courage is put to screen so well that you won’t even realise this is a person pretending to be someone else. She doesn’t portray the Marcia Clarke, she becomes Marcia Clarke. The scenes where we see joy in her eyes, when we see her breakdown, when we see her lose hope and when we see her gain some again made for few of the best moments of the show. Her performance alone makes the show worth a watch.

People V. O.J Simpson is hands down terrific television. The setting is mesmerising, production values are top notch, intense scenes are gut wrenching and the story is brought to life by an ensemble cast who not once fail to perform. Even if you know what happened, how it went down and what the verdict was, the show will never let you be certain of anything. In that hour, believe me, you won’t know anything but what’s happening on screen and that more than anything, should justify you devoting your time to the 10 episodes. The first season sets a very high benchmark for the subsequent seasons as well as all other shows. It is just that good.