The prosecution’s gross misjudgment of the defense is analyzed.
And thus begins the downward spiral as The People v. O.J. Simpson shows how the prosecutors could have so grossly underestimated the trial of O.J. Simpson.
Full spoilers for “The Dream Team” continue below.
Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Courtney B. Vance on The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
There’s a lot covered in the third episode of American Crime Story: Season 1. We see the infamous Time magazine cover where O.J.’s mugshot was darkened. We see Marcia Clark losing a key witness who went to the media for more fame. We see the public release of Nicole Brown’s 911 tapes. We see how “fame’s complicated” for Kato Kaelin. We see what is already the most infamous moment in American Crime Story’s first season in that opening scene with the Kardashians, which I discuss more in the video above. But the most important thing that “The Dream Team” does is set a solid groundwork for how the prosecution could have lost a case that at first seems like an easy “guilty.”
The creators of The People v. O.J. Simpson have been candid from the start that this season of television is not out to retry O.J. Simpson. Instead, these 10 episodes are going to explain how the “not guilty” verdict could have been read. The early episodes of this season showed how racial tensions coming off the Rodney King riots set the stage for O.J. being viewed in a sympathetic light by some in Los Angeles. What’s most interesting about “The Dream Team” is that the FX drama offers an inside look into how the cards were being stacked against the prosecutors even as more and more evidence was coming out coloring O.J. in a negative light (Time magazine pun not intended).
We want to hear it.
The hypothesis that American Crime Story seems to be putting forward is that the prosecution’s refusal to accept that the O.J. case was “going racial” led to them being blindsided by the defense’s strategy. By the end of the episode, Marcia Clark even says that the DA’s team needs to stop looking at the case as a “slam dunk,” and that’s just the beginning of how it slips out of their fingers. The race card is the most obvious card to play for a win, and the second Johnnie Cochran joined the defense’s team, the prosecution should have been ready to play ball.
But perception is all relative, and who’s to say how any of us would have reacted in the moment as some of the smartest lawyers in the Los Angeles area. Where The People v. O.J. Simpson really excels is being able to walk on that fine line between insight and frustration, and that’s where the whole idea of explaining the “not guilty” verdict comes into play. O.J. Simpson’s “Dream Team” of lawyers that were assembled in this episode were the beginning of his being ultimately acquitted. That feeling of dread as all the pieces fall into place isn’t going to go anywhere for the end of this season.
Marcia Clark’s concern about the “tail wagging the dog” proved to be true as “The Dream Team” showed a seemingly slam dunk case slipping out of the prosecution’s hands. The People v. O.J. Simpson continues explore the “how” of O.J.’s not guilty verdict, and this episode highlight just what a fine line it is to navigate that without frustrating the audience or showing them what they already know. The performances across the board continue to be stellar — specifically as we explore the relationship between Marcia and Christopher Darden and Johnnie Cochran and O.J.’s defense team. Seriously, this show just keeps getting better and better.
