ACS: ...Gianni Versace: "A House by the Lake"

by Jorge Molina

The greatest strength of the second season of American Crime Story has become the amount of care, attention, and empathy devoted to Andrew’s other victims. For the second week in a row, the show steps away from the titular Versace case to tell a self-contained story about the humanity of one of them. This week we focus on David Madson, a boy that Andrew was infatuated with...

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ACS: Gianni Versace - "A Random Killing"

by Jorge Molina

The third episode of American Crime Story opens with Judith Light selling perfume in a home shopping commercial.

And what initially seems like a campy an even playful image, slowly devolves into one of the most chilling and disturbing episodes of television (and the best one in this season so far), anchored by outstanding guest performances, strong thematic elements, and as yet another reminder that Darren Criss is miles away from the gelled Warbler of Glee...

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RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars: S3E1 - Queens with Variety

by Chris Feil

RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars is back! Wheels are apparently in this season (thank you, Trixie Mattel and Aja), so I’m rolling into the workroom on my Rascal scooter to once again go deeper into Drag Race than Sasha Velour goes into a gay history lesson.

This season some of our All Stars have had mega success after their season, like Milk’s ad campaigns and Shangela and Trixie’s growing television careers. There’s also favorites who were denied a top 3 spot like Kennedy Davenport, Chi Chi DeVayne, and BenDeLaCreme. Throw in Brooklyn goofballs Thorgy Thor and Aja and respected S2 pro Morgan McMichaels. Oh yeah, and one more significant addition.

Since we got the queens’ first workroom looks out of the way, we’ll skip right onto the big news of the mysterious 10th queen in the competition...

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"ACS: The Assassination of Gianni Versace", Episode 2

by Jorge Molina

Last week’s premiere episode planted the seeds for the plot and the thematic elements we will follow all season: Andrew Cunanan’s simultaneous magnetic charm and deep sense of isolation, Gianni Versace’s obsession with living fully and beautifully, and Donatella’s practical approach to both fashion and her brother.

In the second episode we dive deeper into each of these, stepping back to the months before Cunanan assassinated Versace to get a sense of the mental and emotional state that each of the players found themselves in before the tragedy...

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"ACS: The Assassination of Gianni Versace", Episode 1

by Jorge Molina.

The first installment of American Crime Story made such a deep dent in culture by taking the O.J. Simpson murder trial, a case that was heavily imprinted in popular consciousness, and used it to analyze issues of race, sexism, and tabloid culture that still resonate today.

The second season focuses on, as the title establishes, the assassination of famed designer Gianni Versace in 1997 (shortly after the O.J. case) by serial killer Andrew Cunanan. And if the first episode is any indication of what the season as a whole will attempt, it will both broaden and narrow the cultural conversations that the first season tackled.

On the premiere episode, we get a first look into the mind of a murderer, the house of an icon, and the jet of a queen...

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