Assassination of Gianni Versace on FX

First episode has definitely caught my interest. The actor playing Versace is phenomenal and I was pooh-poohing Penelope Cruz as Donatella, but that sexy Spaniard has made me a believer. The show doesn't offer much meat so far, just gorgeous fluff, but the sense of Grand Opera in scene after scene makes me eager to see what else is coming.

Who else is watching?

I enjoyed it. Ricky Martin wasn't given much last night. But he definitely can't act.

How many parts to this series are there going to be?

Criss, who I liked as Hedwig on stage, is carrying this thing through the first two episodes, but I just don't find the story all that interesting. Cruz struggles too much with the accent. Martin is wooden.

This week's episode was nearly unwatchable due to the violence and expectation of more violence for the rest of the hour and a half, that pushed us way past something we'd willingly tune in to. I don't care how important it is to the story they're telling-- the sadism is simply beyond what any audience member should have to put up with. My husband has sworn off the rest of the series as a result, a reaction I think the creators can expect from a sizable margin of their viewers. A shame to squander our allegiance so blithely.

ChgoTheatreGuy said: "It was great seeing Bette Midler's daughter, Sophie on the show last night. She was very talented and restrained..."

Which character did she play?

Overall, I'm getting a little tired of this season. The first season (OJ Simpson) really gripped me. This season is just - ehhh so far. I find most of the violence as being inserted for shock value and little more.

Overall, I'm pretty disappointed with the show. I'm not a fan of not following chronological order when it comes to the dates. Jumping back just annoys me. I do think that Edgar Ramirez is fantastic as Versace. I wish the show was centred more around his character and not Cunanan. I'm not impressed with Darren Criss at all. To me it just seems that he's playing a darker gay version of himself (not saying he's a serial murderer) but I think RM just loves to play up on Criss' looks and charisma, and so I'm not getting a sense of what Cunanan might have really been like.

Also, there's some really bad continuity issues that I always seem to pick up on. One shot Andrew has his backpack, and the next shot he doesn't. One scene he brought it into the room with him, and then he left without it. And duct tape does not just come off in water - that stuff will stick to you until the end of time and will rip your hair out for sure. So, I'm a stickler for continuity and accuracy. This show has been really sloppy.

I wish it was better. Typical RM - as the seasons progress the quality goes down.

But Edgar Ramirez.... I hope he's featured more in the final episodes.

In the end, it was an interesting failure that worked occasionally despite the obvious problem that the Cunanan character is a void who becomes increasingly tiresome to spend time with. (I can't really blame Criss; he does what he can with the part.) The focus on his victims was welcome, but I was certainly ready to be done with it.

I'd started the first couple of episodes when they were airing and then fell off of this show for a bit (not because I wasn't interested but because I just didn't know if I could handle the gruesomeness of the murders). But I'm almost caught up now (just the finale to go), and I have to say, I cannot stop thinking about this show! I personally find it heartbreaking, terrifying, and completely engrossing. It's an incredibly hard watch, but worth it I think for the acting and the storytelling.

As someone who never went into it thinking it was going to be some kind of Versace biopic- something I wouldn't have much interest in anyway- I am completely good with the Versaces being in it as relatively little as they are. I for one was much more interested in learning about the other victims who weren't so famous anyway. They all seem like they were such genuinely good people (maybe especially David... gah, he was the sweetest, kindest person and it kills me seeing all the scenes of him being such a sweetheart and knowing how it all ends!), with families who loved them dearly, and they deserve to have their stories told too. And yes, especially having just come off watching the Creator/Destroyer episode, my heart does break for Andrew too in a way. Not that anything could ever, ever forgive the destruction and pain that he caused, but man, whatever mental instability was there to begin with, his father REALLY did just about everything he could have done to help push him over the edge. And tragically, it worked.

Anyway, yeah, I think this season is definitely going to stick with me much more than the OJ season. Sure, there were parts of some of the middle episodes that perhaps got a little repetitive, but by and large I've been completely invested, and I just really wish things had gone differently for every single character involved.

Also, I've been a big fan of Darren's for many years now, but yeah, I really do think he's giving a remarkable performance! Absolutely Emmy-worthy in my book. All of the actors are amazing though- Jon Jon Briones killed it, Judith Light, Cody Fern, Finn Wittrock... they're all so excellent!