The ‘ACS: Versace’ Finale Sidelined Its Women For A Very Good Reason

Since its premiere The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story has been decidedly different from other shows. It’s a Ryan Murphy series that remains constantly somber and dark, veering away from the campy tone that so often defines the creator. It’s a show that portrayed a serial killer who targeted the gay community not as a sideshow attraction or a punchline but as a psychologically compelling horror story. It’s a show that proudly and directly discussed LGBT discrimination in broad strokes that applied to both Gianni Versace‘s murder by Andrew Cunanan and modern day conversations about discrimination. In many, many ways the Versace season of American Crime Story was revolutionary — but this revolution left very little room for the women of this story. That changed last night with the season’s finale, “Alone.”

It’s worth taking a minute to praise the skill that went into structuring Versace. The first 10 minutes of this crime drama started with the crime that made Cunanan a household name — his murder of legendary designer Gianni Versace. It was the dramatic and celebrity-laden hook that made this story instantly engaging, but after starting with that bang, Versace switched to a controlled burn as it slowly and painstakingly unravelled the lives of the five men Cunanan murdered, as well as Cunanan himself. After this winding narrative back through history, “Alone” snapped back to the moment right after Cunanan committed his most famous murder. This figure who was always defined by who he was, compared to the people around him, is now alone on a houseboat, waiting for his inevitable death. It’s a haunting transition from the confident and dangerous man the show has established Cunanan to be, and it’s also a shift that allows Versace to embrace its chorus of grief-stricken women.

Because of who he was and what he did, Cunanan is again the central focus of this episode, but he shares the spotlight with several personifications of grief; the most notable of which is Judith Light‘s Marilyn Miglin. Caught between relief that her husband’s murderer will finally be captured, and unbridled anger that it’s taken authorities this long, Marilyn’s grief is shown hiding under a deceptively strong-willed and steely exterior. In between her fiery glares and lip quivers, Light shows just how much this loss has wounded her character. Penelope Cruz‘s Donatella Versace has a similar but much more extravagant breakdown. Surrounded by gorgeous fabrics, this once seemingly fearless woman laments the last time she ignored her brother’s call. All season this character has been portrayed as the height of sophistication and wealth, but in this one moment as she sobs, she’s no longer beautiful. She’s in pain because of the man she lost, and no amount of beautiful dresses can bring him back.

Though Light and Cruz undeniably steal the show, there are other flickers of grief from Versace‘s female secondary characters. At one point, Cunanan (Darren Criss) is shown watching a reconstructed interview that actually happened with his longtime best friend, Lizzie (Annaleigh Ashford). It’s a small moment, but Lizzie’s reminder that this serial killer was a godfather carries weight. Cunanan had a life and people who genuinely loved him before he became the monster he died as. Though its a far more subtle moment, the wide-eyed Mary Ann Cunanan (Joanna Adler) also gets her moment to mourn the son she used to adore. Shown transfixed to the crime report unfolding in Miami, Mary Ann follows without question when the police ask her to come with them. Regardless of what happens next, she knows her little boy is dead. As horrible as Cunanan’s many crimes were, that revelation hurts.

Ricky Martin‘s Antonio D’Amico also gets a heartfelt moment of mourning in Versace‘s final episode, choosing to take a handful of pills rather than face life without his lover. However, there’s a sort of intentional dullness to Martin’s portrayal of sorrow. He seems so hurt, he’s unable to fully express his pain in any form other than action. Though those actions communicate Antonio’s own personal grief, it’s the tears of the women around him that make “Alone” a distinctly sad episode of television.

In a way, it’s a bit odd that a show as revolutionary as Versace would end on such a typical portrayal of gender. In our society, women are the ones who are allowed to cry and express grief while men are expected to bottle up these particular emotions. Aside from a couple of pointed outbursts from Antonio throughout the season, that’s essentially what happens in Versace. But seeing as how this episode was directed by Daniel Minahan, the director who was responsible for some of this season’s most spectacular episodes including “House by the Lake”, it feels like there’s a very good reason why this show’s emotional climax hinges on breaking down its strong women.

As the show establishes, strong, confident women were always Gianni Versace’s muse. The designer had little patience for fashion empire institutions that took themselves too seriously, instead choosing to embrace models and designs that embraced life. Because of this, ending this powerful story with two of the show’s most powerful women shamelessly expressing grief over the lives they have lost feels like a tribute to Gianni Versace himself. Yes, the final moments of Versace are appropriately tinged with sorrow, but there’s an unexpected ray of happiness lurking beneath them. Though he was cruelly taken away before his time by a mass murderer, the world was lucky to have Gianni Versace while it did. That’s what Versace‘s mourning women partially represent — pain that such wonderful people were taken before their times.

Stream The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story on FXNOW and FX+

Stream "Alone" on FXNOW and FX+