People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story - Manna from Heaven - Review

Our main players on this week’s episode were Judge Ito and the Fuhrman tapes.

The episode begins with Darden and Johnnie going at it, because Johnnie keeps accusing and insinuating Darden of being racist. A women in North Carolina has the Fuhrman tapes from when she wanted to be a screenwriter, he was helping her with her script on the LAPD.

The tension is building between Marcia and Darden. No I don’t mean the sexual tension that was brewing before. There is animosity between them and it seems to be hurting their side of the case.

Lee and Johnnie head down to North Carolina to get the judge down there to enforce a subpoena. The judge seems to be a bit racist himself and because of this he denies them the tapes. Team Jolee (Johnnie and Lee) file an emergency appeal and this time Lee advocates for them to get the tapes. It works and they get ahold of the tapes.

Darden and Marcia listen to the tapes. I cringed multiple times listening to the tapes, they really were quite disturbing to listen to. I cannot begin to imagine what the lawyers actually felt while listening, I imagine disgust and nausea. While listening to the tapes Marcia and Darden discover that Fuhrman hates Peggy who is Ito’s wife. This is a conflict of interest for the court, so this could lead to a mistrial. Marcia and Darden need to decide if they want to push for that. It could be a chance to redo their wrongs. Darden’s all game for this plan, but its Marcia’s his superior so it’s up to her.

The news is presented to Ito and he gives a heartfelt speech about his wife and that because she’s in a career where there are few powerful women it makes her a target. Oh so now Ito’s all about making sure women are treated as equals? How about few weeks when he took part in laughing at Marcia’s hair? Too little too late if you ask me. He comes to the decision that another judge will have to rule if the case should be a mistrial.

Marcia admits to Darden that it’s too risky for them to push a mistrial. Once again the two are at odds and Darden thinks they should. In a quick moment Shapiro finally goes off on Johnnie. This moment has been brewing for weeks and it kind of felt lackluster. Maybe because Travolta’s acting is so lackluster? Darden also goes off on Marcia, which has also been a long time coming. This scene was a lot more powerful. You could tell by the performance that Darden was really fed up with not being taken seriously. I really think if Marcia and Darden would have had better communication and worked together as a team, then Spoiler Alert they could have won.

Johnnie not being one to wait around and making sure things go his way, puts together a coalition to get the court to release the tapes. It was decided that Ito could still stay as a judge on the case and long as the tapes about Peggy were redacted.

In a very honest movement from Marcia she tells Ito that she doesn’t want to be in the position to defend Fuhrman, her position to defend Ron and Nicole. For her it’s all about the facts that the evidence shows and not about Fuhrman. She wants the jury to look at the evidence. She begs Ito not to let the jury hear the tapes.

Larry King makes another appearance this week. Wonder if he’ll get an Emmy nomination for a guest appearance? I kid, but it does seem like his appearances on the show are used to be a moral compass for character when they need to make important decisions. This time for it was for Ito. He decides that the tapes should be heard in court and from there he will decide which ones the jury should hear. Which is another loss for Marcia, but it seems to affect Darden more. He has another emotional outburst, but this time it’s directed at Johnnie. Ito threatens to hold Darden in contempt and Marcia represents him. I breathed a sigh relief, it was nice to see her finally have his back. Then Marcia is also threatened to be held in contempt, Darden apologizes and Ito forgives him. Many may find this scene pointless, but it shows the toll the trial is taking on the prosecution’s mental capacity.

Johnnie seems pretty pleased with himself to see that protestors are lined up all across the streets. Ron Goldman’s parents continue to break my heart and bring tears to my eyes. His father told the press “It’s now turned into the Fuhrman trial and not about O.J.”. I feel so bad for the Goldmans they did not deserve any of what the court put them through and I know it must be painful for them reliving this nightmare over and over again.

Marcia finally apologizes to Darden and he apologizes to her for the gloves. It seems in way they are admitting defeat. Ugh I just love these two together. Ryan Murphy you have one episode left, make it happen (I don’t care if its true or not, but the chemistry is bouncing off of the walls).

Ito is only going to allow the parts of Fuhrman committing perjury into evidence. Johnnie holds another press conference. Enough with the press conferences.

A riot almost breaks out as Fuhrman enters the courtroom. My stomach dropped when Fuhrman took the stand and not in a good way. Darden left the courtroom as Johnnie began his questioning, I don’t blame him. Fuhrman pled the fifth numerous times, no shock there. Marcia demands that the questioning be over since Fuhrman isn’t going to answer anything, but Johnnie has one last question. He asks, “Did you plant or manufacture any evidence in this case?” Fuhrman once again pleads the fifth, making it seem like he did. Another win for Johnnie and the defense team.

I literally laugh out loud, every time I see O.J.’s reactions in the courtroom. It seems more Cuba Gooding Jr. then O.J., but who knows. Another moment OMG moment was when O.J. tells Kardashian “Fuhrman really did frame me”. It’s scary he actually truly believes that Fuhrman framed him. I don’t know if O.J. has just blacked out the murder from his memory or he’s just so denial that he’s begun to believe his own lies.

Only one episode left people! We will finally find out the verdict and hopefully get to see a more in depth look at the reactions. Come back next week to read my review!