The People v. O.J. Simpson continued its run of brilliant episodes with “Conspiracy Theories,” in which the show managed to balance interpersonal romance, prosecutorial overconfidence, and institutional distrust without ever feeling overstuffed or meandering. (One of the most impressive aspects of this show to me is how it can take time to focus on Marcia and Chris’s relationship without ever making it feel like a distraction.) With “Conspiracy Theories,” The People entered endgame, and in doing so made the audience truly uneasy.
Let’s talk about the titular conspiracy theories. The O.J. trial provoked more tinfoil-hat ramblings than any national event since the JFK assassination, but they all boil down to one central tenet: Mark Fuhrman framed O.J. Chris’s friend Byron says as much, when Chris and Marcia drive up to Oakland for his birthday. Marcia lays out the holes in this theory, in another stunning monologue from Sarah Paulson. There are so many more questions than answers: how did Fuhrman know O.J. wouldn’t have an alibi? How did he get O.J.’s blood? How did he get into the Bronco? And did he do all this just to protect some unknown killer? In Byron’s words: “Maybe.”
And that’s the brilliance at the core of Johnnie Cochran’s defense strategy, exemplified in the cold open when he (working off of a fax from Alan Dershowitz) asks Det. Tom Lange if maybe Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman weren’t killed as part of some cartel revenge? Their wounds are awfully similar to a Colombian Necktie, after all.
The sad thing about all this theatricality and diversionary tactics is that it works. The seeds of doubt have been sewn, and only Robert Kardashian is beginning to think that maybe his friend killed a couple people. His main objection to the Fuhrman theory is that it doesn’t offer up any other killer, no one else who could have possibly done it. There’s no evidence, no theory of any other killer. He pointedly asks AC: “Who do you think did do it?” It’s a question that no conspiracy theorist, even today, has an answer for. It’s good to see more of David Schwimmer’s wounded, soulful performance; his dread upon opening O.J.’s garment bag is palpable, and through Kardashian we’re able to humanize O.J. – who, again, more than likely killed two people in cold blood.
So how, with the glut of evidence (both forensic and testimonial) did the prosecution screw this up? It’s a moment that the show has arguably been building to since its first episode: O.J. trying on the gloves. When the DA’s office finds proof that Nicole bought them at Bloomingdale’s, it looks like a slam dunk, but Chris wants to go one further and have O.J. try the gloves on in court, as a kind of visual confirmation that he did in fact do it. Marcia objects, and it’s here that the prosecution’s most damning evidence becomes the defense’s secret weapon.
The gloves are too small. I don’t know how it happened, and neither, I’d argue, does anyone else. It’s the smoking gun in any conspiracy theory about this case, and it was not only presented on a national stage, but it almost singlehandedly destroyed the prosecution’s case. You can pinpoint the exact moment the case falls apart, and O.J. is as good as free. It’s tough to watch, because there’s no explanation for it. “He’s making them not fit,” Chris insists, and while that helps a little bit, it’s too little too late. “We’ll come back from this,” Chris promises at the end of the episode. But they never do.
A Few Thoughts
- O.J. needs to cool it with the football analogies. We get it, man.
- Here‘s an interesting article about O.J.’s show Frogmen.
- I am absolutely in love with Nathan Lane’s ballsy, confrontational take on F. Lee Bailey. He swoops in for five minutes an episode, steals every one of them, and then leaves. Amazing work.
About Author
