'The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story' Recap: Personal Lives Matter

Warning: This recap for the “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia” episode of The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story contains spoilers.

Few things are as therapeutic as a few hours at the salon. In these sacred spaces we entrust our outward appearances, our most fundamental method of interacting with the world, to a professional with our best interests at heart. But in the crazy, mixed-up world of mid-’90s Los Angeles, even this most time-honored tradition can be inverted and warped into a nightmare. In other words, nobody deserves a perm as crispy and ridiculous as the one Marcia Clark received in her ill-fated makeover this week. Nobody.

“Marcia, Marcia, Marcia” confirmed two truths: (1) That life is nothing more than an unceasing gauntlet of humiliation, and (2) that goes double if you were Marcia Clark circa 1995. In fact, if The People v. O.J. Simpson is any indication, Marcia Clark was sort of a Joan of Arc figure of her time, complete with a short hairdo, unfathomable persecution, and a possibly misguided faith in a higher power (which in Clark’s case would be the naive belief that “facts” were all she needed to win a conviction). And between Sarah Paulson’s subtly virtuosic performance and Ryan Murphy’s inspired direction, “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia” was possibly the best-yet episode of one of the most important series of 2016. Truly wonderful. (And painful!) Let’s talk about it.

We began with a severely frowning woman sitting in a courtroom not having a great time.

Despite her accidental attempts to object to opposing council’s statements, Marcia Clark was not actually a lawyer in this case! This was her child custody hearing and it was not going well. For one thing, the judge didn’t appreciate Clark’s inability to not object to things, and also the whole thing made her late for her other trial, something that earned her tons of glares from the Dream Team and Judge Ito as she sat down mortified. This was not going to be an easy day or year.

Quick shout-out to Jordana Brewster for crawling out from under her pile of Fast and Furious money to appear as Nicole Brown Simpson’s sister Denise. She was perfect! And though Denise’s tearful testimony underlined the idea that O.J. had been abusive toward Nicole, Johnnie Cochran (perhaps correctly) insisted that the jury wouldn’t trust her. Because why would anyone trust first-hand evidence of domestic violence? This was the ‘90s!

Just as an example of what it was like to be Marcia Clark… She arrived home from a long day of work and attempted to catch a quick smoke in the backyard only to realize that her children were inside watching tabloid TV shows that openly slagged her personality and appearance. And sure, her son seemed sweet when he offered her a hug, but what about that smoke? Could Marcia Clark do nothing pleasurable anymore? (Just kidding, smoking remains disgusting.)

Interpersonal drama amongst the Dream Teamers was sidelined this week, but we did hear a nice speech from Johnnie Cochran about how they intended to proceed with the case: Systematically expose the tiny lies and inconsistencies of the LAPD until the jury would come to believe even the most preposterous defense theories. Also I just really liked this moment when Johnnie Cochran placed his hands on Robert Shapiro’s shoulders for some reason. These guys.

One way Cochran’s strategy played out was when they got one of the detectives to admit he’d taken a pair of O.J. Simpson’s shoes from the crime scene for testing but then simply put them in the trunk of his car and went home for the night. Cochran also tricked the detective into revealing that he was from Simi Valley, which back then was a phrase very closely associated with the Rodney King beating. The jury was, of course, asked to do the math on that one.

Yeah, I don’t know. Hopefully we’ll get a better sense of what was going on in these jurors’ minds during the trial, because for now they just seem like easily manipulated, apathetic stooges in my opinion. But I guess the idea was that the Dream Team invented this sort of flamboyant, over-the-top defensive strategy so maybe the jury just simply didn’t know any better? Benefit of the doubt for now.

I loved when, during one of Marcia Clark’s classic late night office tequila seshes, Chris Darden threw on the radio and shimmied his way up to her in order to cheer her up. It culminated in a slow dance that was so steamy a sauna was like “I’m freezing.” Also, quick question, did we know that Chris Darden was this JACKED?

We already knew that Chris Darden was the conflicted, complicated, sensitive hunk at the center of this story, but now we also know that the trial’s long hours were NOT keeping him from the gym. Yet another reason why this show has been so valuable and insightful.

After another rough day at trial, Gil Garcetti took Marcia Clark aside and told her to stop paying attention to what the media had been saying about her. Except the parts about her hair and appearance, because she should definitely listen to that stuff and maybe get a makeover. Honestly the look on her face when he said this was so heartbreaking. Thanks a lot, Judas!

Earlier in a poignant courtroom moment, Judge Ito attempted to adjourn later than expected and Marcia Clark pleaded that she needed to be home to raise her kids. Cochran openly scoffed at this, but Ito relented anyway. But then Clark realized she actually needed to work late in order to prepare for Cochran’s surprise witness, so she asked her husband to hang with the kids instead.

But then he gave a press conference claiming that Marcia Clark was a neglectful mother! Ugh, hate this guy. Trying to gain full custody of the kids via the press? This would be yet another major milestone in the full and complete erosion of Marcia Clark’s privacy.

Here was Rosa Lopez, the Defense’s star witness, the woman who would testify that she witnessed O.J. near his home when the murders took place. Except Rosa Lopez was, as depicted here, a surly liar who outright refused to jog her memory in the slightest and also straight-up admitted she was just saying whatever Johnnie Cochran told her to. This was obviously a victory for the prosecution, because witnesses are generally supposed to tell the truth.

Credit where credit’s due, the media was poking around in the private lives of the other attorneys as well. Here we learned that there had been allegations of domestic abuse levied against Johnnie Cochran by his ex-wife, but that it had been swept under the rug after he called her up and offered to give her tons of money. Yikes! That was certainly not a flattering scene for Johnnie Cochran.

I liked when O.J. yelled at his lawyers because they never tell him anything. Like, we obviously know they’ll end up being successful in their schemes, so it’s charming to think that O.J. objected in any way to anything they did. I think he was probably just isolated and lonely and wanted to be kept in the loop. We’ve all been there. (Except for the double murder part.)

So, you guessed it… Marcia finally caved and went and got her hair did. And though the hairstylist promised her a chic look like one he’d once given Farrah Fawcett, this tight, crispy perm was what she ended up with. I loved when she first walked through the courthouse and everyone was doing double-takes — Chris Darden even sang “Who’s That Lady” at her — and her pride in her new appearance was very clear. But then she slowly noticed that literally everyone else thought that the new hair was very LOL.

Robert Shapiro’s sarcastic thumbs-up will always haunt me.

Also Chris Darden’s last-minute attempt to cheer Marcia up was so sweet. But it was too late. Marcia was having perm regrets.

I am not lying when I say to you that the sight of Marcia Clark trying not to cry in the courtroom is the most devastating TV moment of 2016. It’s not just that she suddenly hated her new hair, it’s just that this was the most recent in a string of indignities that she never imagined she’d have to face. (In the next scene she’d stand in a checkout line staring at tabloids slagging her new ‘do, only to then have the cashier tease her for buying Tampax.) If I only take away one thing from this series, it was that this woman was truly put through the ringer.

So then F. Lee Bailey began to bungle his cross-examination of Mark Furhman, and he recovered the best way he knew how: By saying the actual N-word over and over and over in the attempts to get Mark Fuhrman to admit he’s a racist.

The entire scene was a veritable N-word FIESTA and was absolutely as uncomfortable as it sounds. (Ryan Murphy really busted out the whip-pans for this one!) Though we know Mark Furhman is a Nazi memorabilia collector and probable piece of garbage, this scene weirdly made him look way more sympathetic than before. Who knew that was even possible?

The final indignity arrived when Marcia Clark was informed that a topless photo of herself on vacation from years prior had leaked to the Enquirer. She immediately knew that her ex-husband had been behind it, but the damage was done. A strong, well-meaning woman had now been thoroughly undermined by the media circus she’d unwillingly taken part in.

I truly loved this brief moment after she entered the courtroom looking shell-shocked, when the female member of the Defense team gave Marcia a look of empathy. Obviously Chris Darden was there for her too, but it was Judge Ito’s basic human decency that really moved me as well. (Without explaining why, he dismissed everyone for the day). So far this series hasn’t painted a flattering portrait of Ito, but this merciful gesture read like emotional release. Yes, Marcia Clark was now covering her face weeping, but it still felt like a tiny victory for a woman who just really needed a break.

At least the episode concluded with a little bit of levity. Chris Darden went to comfort his colleague and even cracked a flirtatious joke about how flattering that photo had been. And while it’s fun to think that these two had a passionate sexual tension behind the scenes, there was something moving about how, in her darkest hour, Marcia Clark still had a friend and companion she trusted. At least there was that.

“Marcia, Marcia, Marcia” was not only a tour de force for Sarah Paulson, it was one of the most surprisingly emotional hours of TV in ages. Though the sheer number of indignities Marcia faced rendered this into a borderline Lars Von Trier-esque exercise in sadism, this show’s greatest strength will always be that it infuses factual bullet points with pathos. We truly get a sense of how these people—and they are people—navigated such an insane series of events, and the impact this trial had on their emotional lives. Courtroom dramas have always been compelling, but The People v. O.J. Simpson acknowledges that even amid something labeled the Trial of the Century, it’s the interpersonal drama that will always matter most.

What did YOU think of “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia”?

The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on FX