The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story - 100% Not Guilty - Review

American Crime Story fans rejoice! Robert Shapiro was finally knocked of his high horse in this week’s episode! I don’t want to get too ahead of myself, so let’s start right at the very beginning.

A flashback is shown of O.J. and Kardashian getting the V.I.P. experience in some hip club. The flashback is interpreted by O.J. throwing a tantrum in his jail cell. He hates the food and it’s getting to be too much for him. He misses his lavish lifestyle. The unrevealing of O.J. this week starts to begin and at this point he’s solely relying on his “dream team” for support. O.J. has no clue that there is also a battle going on outside the courts and within his own team.

Throughout the episode it is very clear to see that Shapiro’s ego lead to his own demise. He treated his counterparts like they worked for him, not with him. Not only that, but Shapiro’s specialty is settling cases. It was very clear to see that he was not equipped for to be lead lawyer for this type of case and that Johnnie was. Even Shapiro could see that he was the better fit for lead lawyer, but his own ego couldn’t withstand the thought of being taken down a few pegs. Shapiro’s first mistake was telling Lee that he was not getting paid to be apart of the dream team. Did Shapiro not realize that he was talking to another lawyer? I’ve done my research and Lee was just as good of a lawyer as Shapiro. He had high profile clients as well, so I don’t see what Shapiro’s logic there was. If this were Lee talking to him, he would have been furious. He would have demanded to be paid and probably gotten Lee thrown off the team. Like I said Lee is a smart man and he was not going to let Shapiro get away with his antics. He approached Johnnie and let him know that he supported him and that he should be lead lawyer on the case. Lee also appeared on Larry King and bashed Shapiro.

Johnnie knowing the lack of support that Shapiro had been showing towards O.J. used this to his advantage. He slipped right in and stroked O.J.’s ego. He encouraged O.J. not give up and told him how O.J. inspired him back in the day. It seems as though the pep talk worked, because O.J. pled not guilty to both the murders. This meant the next step in the trial was to select the jury.

Marcia’s boss suggested they bring a jury specialist in to help narrow down who they should allow to be on the jury. Marcia at first was reluctant, but she ultimately had no choice. The jury specialist put together a focus group and asked the group questions about O.J. and both law teams. Marcia knew that African American men would respond well to O.J. but she also saw that African American women did too.
This was surprising to her because she thought they wouldn’t support O.J. because he beat Nicole. The group also responded well to Johnnie, but not as well to Marcia one woman even called her a “bitch.” It was a tough scene to watch and Paulson really delivered on showing the pain that Marcia was probably feeling at the time. All Marcia was trying to do was her job. To make matters worse the misogynistic jury specialist told Marcia to change up her look so she would look more feminine. This show isn’t only about race issues. It’s also about the sexism that took place during the time. I look forward to seeing this play out and I’m happy to say that Marcia did not take that man’s advice and stuck with her look. However I’m disappointed that she did not listen to the other research he presented her with.

We finally had our first real appearance by Faye Resnick in this episode. Her last appearance was way too short. Do you guys know that the Kardashian’s aren’t the only reality stars that are apart of this show? That’s right Faye is apart of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and this episode showed why, boy can the girl can sell a story. She decided to write about Nicole and she details explicitly all the promiscuous things that Nicole used to do. It’s sad to think that Resnick made fortunes off of this book, while in the process tarnishing her good friend.

I think the hardest and most heartbreaking scene to watch for me was when Marica sat down with Ron Goldman’s parents. It’s so disgusting to think that Goldman’s name was and is still hardly ever mentioned when people talk about the murders. Everyone just cares about Nicole and her relationship with O.J. I can only imagine how hard it must be for Ron’s family to relive this all over again.

The jury selections went underway and it seems that Johnnie took the lead of selecting. Even Marica handed him the perfect jury on a silver platter. Chris was also brought onto the prosecution team and would be sitting as third chair throughout the trial. Chris again expressed his admiration for Johnnie to Marcia and I know for sure that scene was foreshadowing the glove scene.

Now back to Shapiro’s downfall. The dream team went to go meet with O.J. inside the prison. Shapiro showed up late, but that wasn’t the main issue. The issue was that he told O.J. that he thinks he can get O.J. a deal if he admits to killing both Brown and Simpson. Everyone just ignores Shapiro’s comment and goes back to discussing strategy. The funny thing it wasn’t even O.J. who got upset at this statement (which if you think about it is kind of more proof that he did it), it was actually Kardashian. He couldn’t believe that Shapiro would even bring up such stupid idea and returned to the jail to convince O.J. to make Johnnie lead attorney. O.J. seemed very hesitant, because you know he doesn’t like confrontation (yeah right) but he agrees.

When Shapiro returns from his New Year’s vacation he comes to his office and sees that all his files on the trial have disappeared. Am I the only one who found it werid that he was still wearing a Hawaiian shirt when he came back? Surely he went home to unpack, so this seems a little unrealistic if you ask me. His assistant then lets him know that Johnnie took them and that there is a meeting being held at Johnnie’s offices. Also a story has leaked that Shapiro is no longer the lead attorney. Shapiro storms into Johnnie’s offices and demands to know what’s going on. Kardahsian lets Shapiro know that O.J. is on the phone and that the other lawyers think that Johnnie should be lead attorney. Just because the team agrees doesn’t mean it’s final and Shapiro knows that. O.J. needs to be the one to tell him not Kardashian. This scene really shows O.J.’s character, that he’s a coward. He couldn’t even tell Shapiro that he wasn’t lead attorney until Kardashian pulled out of him. To be honest I’m surprised that Shapiro even stayed apart of the team knowing how he likes to be in charage, but I guess he knew if they won the trial it would be a huge payday for him and plus he couldn’t resist keeping his name out of the spotlight. I’m surprised he hasn’t tried to get a reality show.

The episode ends with another brilliant scene from Marcia. She sees that Shapiro has been replaced by Johnnie and gives a taunting smirk. I love her sass and honestly she is great role model to young girls out there, showing to stand your ground and that women should be treated as equals. Another brilliant episode and I know that it’s only going to get better from here!

What did you think of Faye Resnick? How awesome is Marcia? Are you glad to finally see that Shapiro’s ego got the best of him? What were your overall thoughts on the episode? Comment below!