Of course we know how it turned out. But what I didn’t know is that the prosecution thought that they might have actually pulled it out in the end, despite the mistakes and the circus and the bullshit. So it’s gutting to watch them as the verdicts are read, and see them realize that the evidence never really mattered.
So many reactions to these episodes and The People vs O.J. Simpson as a whole. First, that Sarah Paulson damn well better be at least nominated for an Emmy for this performance. Sterling Brown and Courtney Vance too. The whole cast was outstanding, even Cartoon Johnny Travolta.
Secondly, it had a weird echo in this election year, on the pointlessness of argument in some situations. This was a case study in motivated reasoning, people convincing themselves that things were “true” because they wanted it to be so. Facts and evidence and reason don’t just fail to diminish that effect, they increase it. You probably could have polled the jury on the very first day and gotten the same result.
Then, Chris Darden, holy heck. In some ways I think that what was going on in that courtroom, as written here, was one of the few actual examples of “political correctness” I’ve ever seen. As in, pure cowardice. People just didn’t want to be seen saying things they felt uncomfortable about. So they left it to him. Brown shows so well the rage that has built up after months of this. If this was a Tarantino movie he would have Hulked out and smashed the whole place up then thrown OJ into the ocean.
What I appreciate about the script and the show is that they never make anything tidy. Cochran both descends into bullshit fantasia in that closing argument and is absolutely 100% correct about the larger picture with the LAPD. Clark is purely right to see this as a murder trial, full stop, and yet wrong too.
What I didn’t realize was that even in 1995, the idea of domestic violence hadn’t really sunk in: “Prosecutor Marcia Clark made a case that, at the time, was unique: Women who have been the victims of partner abuse are very likely to be killed by their spouses.” That seems obvious now (well, one hopes), and that this trial had much to do with making it obvious is at least some benefit. The show demonstrates how easily and lightly Nicole’s terror is waved off.
I would never have expected this show to be this good. Let’s hope they can avoid the sophomore curse in Season 2.