Ryan Murphy's latest season of AMERICAN CRIME STORY takes on the infamous Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky affair that ended with him being the first President to be impeached and tried in the Senate since Andrew Johnson in 1868. It's a saga filled with many an infamous character, but Murphy and his screen writer, Sarah Burgess, choose to tell it from the points of view of four women central to the scandal: Monica Lewinsky (who was a co-producer on the show), Linda Tripp, Paula Jones, and Hillary Clinton, and between the four of them, it covers all the bases from the Clinton White House to the offices of Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr, to the "vast right wing conspiracy" and the people caught in the middle between them all, who were play things and pawns for so many users. Lewinsky is the way too naive twenty something from a family of means who, as a White House intern, goes from flirting with the President of the United States to a furtive sexual relationship conducted right in the Oval Office, seemingly totally unaware of the precarious position she was putting herself in as Clinton's Republican enemies constantly circled, looking for any means to bring down the first Democratic President after Reagan. Linda Tripp was the cast off White House staffer, exiled to the Pentagon, who befriended the despondent and vulnerable Monica when she ended up being exiled as well from the White House, working beside Tripp, who was more than happy to provide a shoulder for her new friend to cry on, and then take what she learned to people very happy to traffic in dirt on Bill Clinton. Hillary is the steely First Lady, every bit as ambitious as her reckless husband, and the only one who could save him when it all hit the fan. Paula Jones is the gal from Arkansas with an indiscreet story of an encounter with then Governor Clinton, who is seized upon by Republican operatives, and whose lawsuit for sexual harassment became the means by which Starr and his eager beavers could build a case for impeachment on. Starting in 1994, the story begins behind closed doors and in lawyer's offices before it all goes public in the most embarrassing way for just about all concerned. One thing AMERICAN CRIME STORY: IMPEACHMENT does well to convey the utter mortification that we all would feel if our most private, and most intimate, of moments were suddenly broadcast to the entire world.
For me, the undisputed star of the season was Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp, who came off to the world as a true Blue Meanie. Paulson, wearing a fat suit for which she should not have to apologize for, plays her as that know it all co-worker who knows their job and yours as well, and constantly tells you what you're doing wrong, and why you're going to be fired. Much was made at the time of Tripp's appearance, she was what once was known as a "frump," and Paulson digs deep bring to back to life a character who was often her own worst enemy; pushy, opinionated, always ready to make trouble, but Paulson also suggests the seething resentment of a woman who knows that men like Bill Clinton would never look at her once, while lavishing attention on the likes of Monica and Kathleen Willy. The way she lures the younger Monica into confessing all her secrets to then be used against the President is despicable, but I had no trouble understanding why this woman did what she did. Tripp did give Saturday Night Live one of its most hilarious moments when John Goodman in drag played her, a moment recreated as Paulson watches from home as many she was getting what she deserved. Paulson is matched all the way by Beanie Feldstein as Monica, the starry eyed girl from California who should have known better, but didn't. Edie Falco's Hillary doesn't so much as resemble the First Lady as suggest her, and doesn't really register until the second half when the President's affair is made public, when she had to eat the words of Tammy Wynette, and stand by her man, but not before letting him know how she felt about his little tryst. An enraged Falco, throwing a vase at her husband's head is quite a sight to see. Analeigh Ashford makes Paula Jones into an object of sympathy, something she didn't get much of back in the day, and makes clear how badly she was used by people with nothing but animus for Bill Clinton. And as for the man at the center of this mess, Clive Owen really channels the 42nd President, letting us see the canny politician who knew how to charm, and the selfishly needy man. As usual Murphy was spot on in casting the smaller parts: Margo Martindale as Lucianne Goldberg, and Judith Light as Susan Carpenter McMillan, two anti-Clinton opportunists and users; Billy Eichner and Cobie Smulders as smarmy and hateful Matt Drudge and Anne Coulter, creatures of a new age of politics; Fred Melamad as William Ginsburg, the lawyer you want when the FBI has you in hotel room, and threatening to put you jail for most of your adult life. Mira Sorvino, Blair Underwood, Rae Dawn Chong, Taran Killam, Christopher McDonald, and Colin Hanks also register strongly in their parts. And special praise to Dan Bakkedahl for capturing Kenneth Starr for the prig he really was.
Dramatically, I think this season peaked by the middle, which was no fault of the writer, it was just that the episodes dealing with all the sneaking around, along with the secret betrayals, was just more compelling than the aftermath. Episodes like "Do You Hear What I Hear" and "Man Handled" which dealt with Linda Tripp getting the goods by taping Monica, and then the FBI's brutal treatment of the latter by holding her in a hotel room for 12 hours straight really crackled with tension. By contrast, the finale, "The Wilderness," felt anti-climatic after all that had come before it. But that is how the whole Lewinsky affair ended, the country feasted on the salacious details of the Starr Report, the Republicans in the House of Representatives rammed through Articles of Impeachment charging Clinton with obstruction of justice after lying about his affair with Lewinsky in a deposition during the Jones sexual harassment case, and there was never any doubt that the Senate trial would end in acquittal, which it did, and then everyone went their separate ways utterly humiliated. Meanwhile, Bin Ladin was in Afghanistan plotting. The final episode does have some pertinent things to say about fame, class, and how certain women are perceived by the public: Hillary gets to run for the Senate, and has a flattering photo spread in Vogue, while Paula, now deserted and disdained by the right wingers who have no more use for her, poses nude in Penthouse because she needs the money; Monica is the center of attention at a book signing event, while Linda faces the fact that she can't outrun her reputation even after a face lift. The show does include Juanita Broderick and her story of sexual assault, but makes no judgment as to the truth of it, leaving it one more lurid accusation in Starr's report.
What struck me most while watching this season, was how there really were no heroes in this sordid story. Even the Clintons' most ardent supporters would have to admit they often acted as if the rules didn't apply to them, bending them to the breaking point when necessary - or not, and that Bill Clinton's relationship with the truth was often less than casual. Still, it is hard not to admire Owens's Clinton when he manages to outmaneuver Ken Starr's inquisitors, who think they are finally going to nail the President with the truth of his affair with Lewinsky. The "vast right wing conspiracy" is made up of ideologues, zealots, and haters, out to achieve their goal of personal destruction at all costs. Sexism, classism, political absolutism, and big heaping of Baby Boomer entitlement, all figure into the story, which serves to make the participants look even worse. One cannot help but contrast a young lawyer on Starr's team named Brett Kavanaugh relishing the opportunity to humiliate the President with questions about his sexual infidelity with the man who, many years later, cried, shouted, and played to the cameras when he got a dose of his own medicine when questioned about his own sexual misconduct during hearings on his appointment to the Supreme Court.
If anything, AMERICAN CRIME STORY: IMPEACHMENT made me look back at all these events, and shake my head thinking did all this really happen. There was just something fundamentally unserious about this sordid and common tale of adultery and lies, except that it happened in the White House, and the whole world got to wallow in every embarrassing detail. So much has come and gone since, and the '90s now feel like a very long time ago. We have moved on from Bill and Hillary, and Monica and Linda, and Paula, as well.
For me, the undisputed star of the season was Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp, who came off to the world as a true Blue Meanie. Paulson, wearing a fat suit for which she should not have to apologize for, plays her as that know it all co-worker who knows their job and yours as well, and constantly tells you what you're doing wrong, and why you're going to be fired. Much was made at the time of Tripp's appearance, she was what once was known as a "frump," and Paulson digs deep bring to back to life a character who was often her own worst enemy; pushy, opinionated, always ready to make trouble, but Paulson also suggests the seething resentment of a woman who knows that men like Bill Clinton would never look at her once, while lavishing attention on the likes of Monica and Kathleen Willy. The way she lures the younger Monica into confessing all her secrets to then be used against the President is despicable, but I had no trouble understanding why this woman did what she did. Tripp did give Saturday Night Live one of its most hilarious moments when John Goodman in drag played her, a moment recreated as Paulson watches from home as many she was getting what she deserved. Paulson is matched all the way by Beanie Feldstein as Monica, the starry eyed girl from California who should have known better, but didn't. Edie Falco's Hillary doesn't so much as resemble the First Lady as suggest her, and doesn't really register until the second half when the President's affair is made public, when she had to eat the words of Tammy Wynette, and stand by her man, but not before letting him know how she felt about his little tryst. An enraged Falco, throwing a vase at her husband's head is quite a sight to see. Analeigh Ashford makes Paula Jones into an object of sympathy, something she didn't get much of back in the day, and makes clear how badly she was used by people with nothing but animus for Bill Clinton. And as for the man at the center of this mess, Clive Owen really channels the 42nd President, letting us see the canny politician who knew how to charm, and the selfishly needy man. As usual Murphy was spot on in casting the smaller parts: Margo Martindale as Lucianne Goldberg, and Judith Light as Susan Carpenter McMillan, two anti-Clinton opportunists and users; Billy Eichner and Cobie Smulders as smarmy and hateful Matt Drudge and Anne Coulter, creatures of a new age of politics; Fred Melamad as William Ginsburg, the lawyer you want when the FBI has you in hotel room, and threatening to put you jail for most of your adult life. Mira Sorvino, Blair Underwood, Rae Dawn Chong, Taran Killam, Christopher McDonald, and Colin Hanks also register strongly in their parts. And special praise to Dan Bakkedahl for capturing Kenneth Starr for the prig he really was.
Dramatically, I think this season peaked by the middle, which was no fault of the writer, it was just that the episodes dealing with all the sneaking around, along with the secret betrayals, was just more compelling than the aftermath. Episodes like "Do You Hear What I Hear" and "Man Handled" which dealt with Linda Tripp getting the goods by taping Monica, and then the FBI's brutal treatment of the latter by holding her in a hotel room for 12 hours straight really crackled with tension. By contrast, the finale, "The Wilderness," felt anti-climatic after all that had come before it. But that is how the whole Lewinsky affair ended, the country feasted on the salacious details of the Starr Report, the Republicans in the House of Representatives rammed through Articles of Impeachment charging Clinton with obstruction of justice after lying about his affair with Lewinsky in a deposition during the Jones sexual harassment case, and there was never any doubt that the Senate trial would end in acquittal, which it did, and then everyone went their separate ways utterly humiliated. Meanwhile, Bin Ladin was in Afghanistan plotting. The final episode does have some pertinent things to say about fame, class, and how certain women are perceived by the public: Hillary gets to run for the Senate, and has a flattering photo spread in Vogue, while Paula, now deserted and disdained by the right wingers who have no more use for her, poses nude in Penthouse because she needs the money; Monica is the center of attention at a book signing event, while Linda faces the fact that she can't outrun her reputation even after a face lift. The show does include Juanita Broderick and her story of sexual assault, but makes no judgment as to the truth of it, leaving it one more lurid accusation in Starr's report.
What struck me most while watching this season, was how there really were no heroes in this sordid story. Even the Clintons' most ardent supporters would have to admit they often acted as if the rules didn't apply to them, bending them to the breaking point when necessary - or not, and that Bill Clinton's relationship with the truth was often less than casual. Still, it is hard not to admire Owens's Clinton when he manages to outmaneuver Ken Starr's inquisitors, who think they are finally going to nail the President with the truth of his affair with Lewinsky. The "vast right wing conspiracy" is made up of ideologues, zealots, and haters, out to achieve their goal of personal destruction at all costs. Sexism, classism, political absolutism, and big heaping of Baby Boomer entitlement, all figure into the story, which serves to make the participants look even worse. One cannot help but contrast a young lawyer on Starr's team named Brett Kavanaugh relishing the opportunity to humiliate the President with questions about his sexual infidelity with the man who, many years later, cried, shouted, and played to the cameras when he got a dose of his own medicine when questioned about his own sexual misconduct during hearings on his appointment to the Supreme Court.
If anything, AMERICAN CRIME STORY: IMPEACHMENT made me look back at all these events, and shake my head thinking did all this really happen. There was just something fundamentally unserious about this sordid and common tale of adultery and lies, except that it happened in the White House, and the whole world got to wallow in every embarrassing detail. So much has come and gone since, and the '90s now feel like a very long time ago. We have moved on from Bill and Hillary, and Monica and Linda, and Paula, as well.
