People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story - The Verdict - Review

What a strong finish to an overall strong series. I’m sad to say that this is the last episode in the O.J. saga, I wish we could continue it, but it’s a miniseries so onto the next crime story.

The final episode of the O.J. story begins with O.J. waving his right to testify. O.J. once again says, “I did not commit this crime”. The defense rests and it’s time to move onto closing statements. Lee thinks that 10 jurors are on their side. I really hate him, the way he treated Shapiro, even the way he treated the witnesses I’m glad I got to find out he got disbarred.

Gil puts the pressure on Marcia to deliver on her closing statement. She does deliver, but compared to Johnnie it isn’t enough. She attempts to appeal to the jurors on a personal level. She doesn’t shy away from discussing Mark Fuhrman, she admits to him being a racist and that he shouldn’t be an officer. She also makes the point that just because there was a racist attitude does not mean that the defendant can’t be guilty. She emphasizes once again that the DNA evidence does not lie and that it still very strange that O.J. didn’t ask how Nicole died. If I were on that jury right then I would think he did it. Marcia finishes off her statement by looking at O.J. in disgust. I think that the most powerful scenes this season have just been watching the characters reactions, but more on that later.

It’s now Darden’s turn to speak and his part is about the domestic abuse. He says “It was a ticking time bomb before O.J. would go off on Nicole”. He retells the jury about how O.J. would abuse Nicole repeatedly. Nicole knew the bomb (O.J.) would go off and it did. He also shows how little O.J. cared about his kids, because they were in the house when the murder happened. They were powerful closing remarks from the prosecutors, but compared to Johnnie they seem lackluster.

Johnnie goes for the jugular when appealing to the jury. He paints the story that in 1985 Mark Fuhrman got a call about dispute between O.J. and Nicole. In the tapes he said that he would do anything to frame an African American. Johnnie makes it seem like this was his chance. He represents the entire corrupted LAPD and the jury has an opportunity to make a major implication inside and outside of the courtroom. It really sucks that defense got to go last, because it meant that Johnnie’s words would really stick with them. Especially his famous last words “If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit”.

All of the lawyers from both sides think that the decision will take days, so they are all preparing to go out of town. However the jury decides within four hours if O.J. is guilty or not. It was sad to watch as the other jurors convinced the two jurors who thought O.J. was guilty to change their vote. It’s mind blowing to me that the jury based their opinions around the fact that they don’t think the prosecution proved he did it, not that he didn’t do it, they just think Marcia and Darden didn’t prove it well enough.

The lawyer’s head back to court and Johnnie got more security then the president. O.J. primps himself in his cell before the verdict, it seems he made friends with the guards or paid them off. The prison guard let’s O.J. know that he doesn’t need to be nervous.

Darden and Marcia think that since it didn’t take too long to decide that they have a good chance of winning. Don’t get too excited you two, within a few minutes your worlds are about to come crashing down.

A lot of buildup is made before the verdict is read. The envelope gets passed back and forth between the jury and Ito, before it is finally handed back to Mrs. Robertson. As she read the verdict she stuttered over O.J.’s real name, which actually happened in real life. The verdict was that defendant is NOT GUILTY. Great move by the show here, they did a split screen to show the two sides reactions. Obviously the from the Goldman’s to Marcia and Darden are crushed, but it was very interesting to see Kardashian’s reaction. He was kind of like oh man what did we just do? The world legitimately went crazy when the verdict was read. Kardashian runs to the washroom to puke and when he comes out, he and Marcia share a moment where they just look at each other and I think this was Kardashian letting Marcia know how disappointed he was.

Marcia does her same old coping habit, smoking. Darden can’t go out there to give a statement and Marcia is too ashamed. I think that she suffered the most pain throughout this whole trial. She was ridiculed for just trying to do her job. Finally Gil shows his appreciation towards Marcia. Now I don’t if he said it to get her to make a statement or he was sincere, but either way it worked. Gil lets the public know that he thinks jury’s opinion was based on emotion and not reason. Preach it Gil! You were a jerk this whole season, but for once I’m in agreement with you. Marcia thanks the families for their support and says that this was a domestic abuse case and hopes that more change will come towards domestic abuse cases in the future. Unfortunately not much has change looked at Kesha, the court still does not treat half these cases seriously. Darden breaks down during his statement and hugs the Goldman family.

After the press conference the Goldman family heads back to their car and I’m assuming the show wanted us to believe that this was the moment where they decided to pursue a civil case. Good for them, but I don’t think any amount of money could justify the fact that they lost their son.

We have our last interaction between Johnnie and Darden. Johnnie let’s Darden know that after this dies down, he will help Darden get back into the community. Darden says he never left. He also tells Johnnie that just because he got O.J. off does not mean that anything will change, for the African American community, they will still be targeted. It’s twenty years later now and I can say that not much has changed, so Darden was right. Racism still happens, just look at Black Lives Matter. They are trying to put an end to it, we still have to make enormous strides to make.
Marcia opens up Darden and lets him know that she was a victim of domestic abuse. She thought the jury would make their decision based off the victims, but they didn’t. The two leave the office together arm in arm and my heart melted. I mean I would have rather they kissed, but I’ll take this too. Please writers for next season make sure that Paulson and Brown have a lot of scenes together, because their chemistry is off the charts.

O.J. is released from prison with Kardashian waiting for him. There is so much tension and Kardashian really doesn’t want to be there. They go back to Rockingham where O.J.’s family greets him and he decides to go take a shower. After he gets out of the shower, he looks himself in the mirror and breaks down crying. Is the moment where O.J. is finally admitting to himself that he did it? I think so, but I guess this was left up to interruption. O.J. decides to throw himself a celebratory party and realizes that none of his friends are there. Kardashian leaves early because he is done with O.J. The chapter of the O.J. story closes with O.J. going out to look at the statue of himself. It seems like this is a parallel, between his former self and the man that he is today.

I’m going to miss this series so much. The writing and acting were just too good to be without. Now I’ve heard that next season, they are going to focus on Hurricane Katrina and the crime committed there. It will be interesting to see the show not based within a courtroom. Please bring the entire original cast back, except for John Travolta. Which I know won’t happen, because he’s a producer. I wouldn’t mind seeing Sarah Paulson playing Kathleen Blanco.

This is not the last we are going to be hearing of this season. Mark my words you will see Paulson, Brown, and Vance get numerous nominations for their roles. The writing also deserves every award on the planet. I’m pretty sure it will be landslide for the show in every category. I really have enjoyed writing these reviews each week and getting to interact with all of you! I hope to see you all next season!

What did you think of the final verdict? Any predictions for next season? What did you think of the overall series? Comment below!