“I need a vacation — like, now.”
Full spoilers for The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story continue below.
If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit — right?
The People v. O.J. Simpson delved into the conspiracy theories surrounding the O.J. Simpson trial in its seventh episode, appropriately titled “Conspiracy Theories.” The episode started with the Colombian necktie and culminated in the prosecution having O.J. try on the pivotal gloves, only for them not to fit his hands. “If there’s going to be a media circus, you better well be the ringmaster,” a Harvard professor says at the beginning of the episode to his students while watching the trial, and even as things spiral out of control for the lawyers on both sides of courtroom, it is the better showmen who command the nation’s attention.
Once again Johnnie Cochran (Courtney B. Vance) leans into the idea of putting on a show, and once again Marcia Clark (Sarah Paulson) resists it — except, at this point, The People v. O.J. Simpson suggests to us that Christopher Darden (Sterling K. Brown) wants to use some plays in the other team’s playbook. That ultimately backfires with the presentation of the gloves, a key loss for the prosecution that was a huge hit against their case against Simpson.
The best part of this episode is that it plays not only with the conspiracy theories that the people at the time of the case were considering, but also the ones the viewers and the writers have been toying with since. The show makes us wonder: was there really coldness between Marcia and Darden because he didn’t make a move in Oakland that bled into this key moment of the trial, thus causing the prosecution to lose its edge? Was the defense really trying to play Darden against himself to call for O.J. to try on the glove?
Sterling K. Brown and Cuba Gooding, Jr. on The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
As proven with Marcia and Darden’s friends in the bar, often the plausibility of an unlikely theory can carry more weight than the less salacious facts placed in front of you. The problem with “Conspiracy Theories” is that as it tries to play with this dichotomy, the storytelling feels scattered. That’s underlined in the opening scene: The People v. O.J. has been direct and effective with its pre-credits sequences up until now, but this week’s episode was a bit all over the place.
Still, it’s a credit to the show that it did try to present the conspiracy elements of the case in a fairly nontraditional way. Tying it back to the opening scene, a Harvard professor tells his students to “present alternative theories that do not include your client” as a way to win the case. Even when Robert Shapiro (John Travolta) does some old-fashioned lawyering to realize the gloves wouldn’t fit Simpson, he was doing it to craft the stronger story for his client. (But was O.J. just acting like they didn’t fit when he made all those grunting noises? And who said the gloves fit the murderer perfectly to begin with? Theories!)
It is interesting that “Conspiracy Theories” also cut to the core of why there are continued theories surrounding the trial: this story never got a satisfying resolution. While Vance once again stole the show as Johnnie Cochran — particularly during the brief moments when he dealt with the personal fallout of his own domestic abuse history coming to the public’s attention — this was a great episode for David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian, who remains the moral center of the show.
We want to hear it.
Robert is desperate to get a resolution to the murder case that is more than just “guilty” or “not guilty,” and he’s pretty much the only major character left who feels that way. When he’s cautioned that “the truth will find us” — something that still is not definitively the case — Kardashian is even willing to lean into Shapiro’s potential theory that the murder weapon is in the garment bag that O.J. left with his friend. When it’s not in there, his disappointment is palpable; even if it meant his friend is a murderer, at least it would have been some sort of resolution for him and the families involved. And his frustration is still understandable — how was there never any other plausible storyline that was more than just a conspiracy theory, and the case still ultimately got a “not guilty” verdict? from the jury
The People v. O.J. Simpson explored the vast array of conspiracy theories surrounding the O.J. Simpson trial. Ultimately it was one of the more scattered episodes of the series — though still a great hour of television — as it navigated through the various storylines and issues the characters were dealing with.
