In its best episode so far, Impeachment: American Crime Story shows the limits of being a good girl
The season returns to its opening scene and unleashes a battle of wills.
TV Reviews Impeachment: American Crime Story
“My life is over,” Monica Lewinsky declares in a Ritz Carlton hotel room full of FBI agents. She has just been betrayed by her work wife Linda Tripp. The thought of her father finding out about her affair mortifies her. Kenneth Starr altar boy Mike Emmik (played by the not-problematic Hanks son, Colin Hanks) has just told her she is facing 28 years in prison unless she cooperates.
Emmik gives her a pat response. “Not at all,” he says, promising her they’ll get through it together. As long as she does what she’s asked to do.
This is, of course, bullshit and one of the many instances in the episode where Lewinsky—despite her youth and her addict-like response to Bill Clinton—is keenly aware of what is about to unfold. We are witnessing a death of sorts. When she emerges from this 12-hour interrogation limbo, she will be thrust into hell. That promise of a second chance in New York, gone. As for redemption, it will take her another lifetime to get even a little taste of it.
Impeachment: American Crime Story has been leading up to this moment. We are back where the season began, with the FBI sting operation at the Pentagon City Mall. Though we spend the first minutes in Tripp’s footsteps, the rest of the hour is focused almost completely on Monica being interrogated. It is a tense, claustrophobic episode, where every return to that dreadful hotel room raises the stakes. It is also the best one of the season, in large part thanks to Beanie Feldstein’s excellent performance. She carries the weight of it in stride, showcasing the entire range of Lewinsky’s emotions during that awful day. Get me a gif of her yelling, “LINDA, WHAT DID YOU DO?”, stat!
Another reason this episode works so well is because it probes deeper into the topic of power dynamics. Monica’s actions are basically a case study of the tools women have developed to counteract their lack of agency.
Obviously, most individuals confronting a government agency are vulnerable, regardless of gender. But in a time and place where so many positions of power were created and then populated by men, the dysfunctional elements of gender dynamics come into play. To drive the point home, we get shot after shot of a woman opening a door to a pack of suited men. They circle them in hotel rooms, they crowd hallways, they prowl after them. It is almost impossible to escape them.
Emmik might be considered the “good cop” in the ordeal, but he resorts to threats, gaslighting, lies of omission, and the condescending “appeal to reason” as if Lewinsky’s crying was an unmerited hysterical response. When Jackie Bennet is called in to help persuade Lewinsky to spill, it’s like calling in a bulldozer to wreck a doll house. He yells, insults, intimidates, and throws around the weight of his supposed power to a terrified 24-year-old.
Not to mention that they might be after Bill Clinton, but it is Lewinsky who is accused of a long list of potential crimes: perjury, obstruction of justice, subornation of perjury, witness tampering, and conspiracy. But Starr’s altar boys and the FBI agents also have one major weakness: a time crunch. They need Lewinsky’s information before Clinton’s testimony the following day.
First unknowingly and then more consciously, Lewinsky chips away at their plan by stalling. The ways she wastes their time is, in part, by leaning into her status as a woman. She repeatedly asks to go to the bathroom, one of the few spaces where she is granted privacy. When they manipulate away her requests to talk to her lawyer, she changes gears and demands the presence of her mom, refusing to cooperate until she arrives. She feigns innocence when asking Emmik why she can’t call her lawyer, which promptly flusters him into admitting that of course she can. And she is a good girl. She comes back to that hotel room every single time. Like she was asked.
Complaints about the room temperature grants her a stroll through the mall, where she can finally steal herself away from the agents to reach her mother by payphone. The mall, this feminized space in the cultural imagination, emerges as Lewinsky’s best shot at freedom. Compare that to a hotel room full of men, which might not evoke luxury as much as a nightmare for far too many women.
It’s a kind of street smarts that feels inherited and usually is. It’s no surprise then that when Marcia Lewinsky arrives (Mira Sorvino, an actor who knows too well about the dangers of powerful men), she turns on the “may I speak to the manager?” soft power afforded to white, wealthy women. She is both conciliatory but firm, promising cooperation if they get the FBI’s promise of immunity in writing.
In other words, she wants receipts. ’Cause she knows in a case of he said, she said, there is no way “she said” will stand. This is not something Emmick or Jackie have the authority to do. Bluff, called.
Despite their ability to delay, delay, delay, it is important to note that what eventually releases Lewinsky from their grip is, welp, another man yelling. When her father’s lawyer finally contacts the hotel room, he hurls every curse under the sun at Emmick before telling Lewinsky that she is free to go. They can’t arrest her.
Lewinsky and her mom gather their things and head for the door. Monica, however, doesn’t forget her manners. She thanks Emmick and the rest of the agents for everything they’ve done. Because that is what well-behaved women are taught to do, as both a sign of deference and a mechanism for survival.
Stray observations
- Part of this episode also played like a fictionalized version of Intervention, where Monica is the addict, Clinton is the drug, and Marcia is the concerned parent reminding them of their self-destructive behavior. The final scene where Marcia opens the bathroom door to make sure Monica isn’t harming herself is based on Lewinsky’s own account about that time.
- Tripp does appear in several scenes, including one where she tries to justify her actions by mentioning that Reagan never got a blow job in the office. Maybe not, but he sure did manage to screw generations of Americans! All jokes aside, what is most memorable is how anti-climactic this feels for Tripp. She goes largely ignored by the feds after her bit part in the sting operation is done and is dismissed with barely any recognition.
- The fact that Tripp insists she treats Monica with the concern of a mother is rich considering how much her own home is in disarray. Her relationship with her daughter throughout the series is strained.
- Oooh, Cobie Smulders as Ann Coulter is back! I have thoroughly enjoyed her pursed lips, chewing-inside-of-her-cheeks, peroxide-blonde-fumed take on Coulter. My one quibble is that she is incapable of truly embodying her because we can still see traces of a soul behind those eyes.
- Operation Prom Night will never beat the wit of Operation Varsity Blues because, though clever, it’s kind of slimy! It does reveal though how much the FBI underestimated Lewinsky’s own determination. She never caved.
- There was a whole telepathic conversation between the Crate & Barrel sales associate and Lewinsky.
55 Comments
Crate & Barrell!!! Decanter!!!
Monica’s dreary, over-this-shit description of a decanter was a highlight for me.
Great recap/critique! This is the only episode of the series I was truly interested in watching and I thought Beanie Feldstein knocked it out of the park. We all owe Monica Lewinsky a huge apology.
And look, while I’m not here to defend Bill Clinton considering how little this ruined his life compared to Monica’s, when the actor playing George Conway brought up that the tapes didn’t prove high crimes or treason, all I could think was how ridiculous it was that they went after Clinton for having sex with Lewinsky, yet Trump incited an insurrection on Twitter, in plain view of everyone, and he still walks around as a free man. I know this was part of a bigger plan to bring down Clinton by using his affair with Monica but still…
Conway went on to say they needed a job-for-lying quid pro quo, which they got.It wasn’t the BJs, it was the coverup. Same way Nixon got himself in trouble.
True. You’re right. I suppose I’m focusing more on the severity of Clinton’s crimes when compared to DJT and none of them (IMHO) come close to Former Guy’s and the lack of consequences and it’s mind-boggling.
They did not get a job-for-lying quid pro quo.
I’m more concerned with how much going after Clinton ruined our lives than Clinton’s. I mean without the scandal Gore would have surely had enough votes to win 2000.
Don’t forget the Supreme Court’s role in ruining Al Gore’s chance to be president. I think about the “what if” a LOT! We could have a president who actually cared about the environment and a 20-year head start on fighting climate change. He also wouldn’t have ignored the warnings about 9/11.
Exactly. This is what infuriates me about Clinton to this day.
Exactly. This is what infuriates me about Clinton to this day. Yeah, it’s crazy how many people blame the people that told on/caught Clinton, than blame Clinton himself, like he was some innocent victim.
I’m going to wonder forever if – right or not – Clinton resigning might have done something for Gore.
I believe those who have accused Clinton of assault, and believe he’s a piece of garbage, but also hate all these people involved in manipulating women to just get a dem they don’t like beaten down.
I’m not sure Gore winning the election was some amazing magic bullet either (I voted for Gore in 2000. I would have preferred Nader) but it wouldn’t have been GWB, so… 🙁
I mean without the scandal Gore would have surely had enough votes to win 2000. Gore wasn’t hurt by the scandal — if anything, he was hurt more by his attempts to distance himself from Clinton, who by that point had rebounded in popularity and was getting huge (60%+) approval numbers by the time he left office.
Yes 2000 was when the country really went off the rails, the cancer really set in. The great decline kicks in double time, finishing off what Reagan started in the 1980s.
yeah, Gore was sure the answer to what ailed the 2000’s…..
Gore did that to himself, and, by extension, us, by not having Clinton campaign for him in 2000. Gore, whose claim to fame, after the fact he was VP, was that he was married to Puritan/Professional Pearl-Clutcher “Tipper” (in high school, she let all the boys put “just the tip in”) didn’t feel he’d had much choice I suppose, made that political calculation, caving to what he perceived to be public anger at bill Clinton, while most people who vote for competence, as opposed to just voting for someone cuz he has the letter you prefer next to his name, probably would have voted for gore, as most thinking people knew – KNEW – that Bush Jr was gonna be a disaster. And he was.
I was about to pounce until your last sentence. The hypocrisy that lawyers/government agents/political c**ksuckers (such as the person who has obviously swallowed a basketball, and who eschews all skin care, so he can look like a “real ‘Murricn”, Steve Bannon) get away with due to Americans’/‘Murricns’ hypocrisy in treating cultural issues/politics like they’re rooting for the Home Football Team, makes me want to projectile-vomit, and I wish scumm like Brett Kavanaugh were required to pay a REAL price for behaving (I acknowledge the danger of of repeating myself…but…) hypocritically, in the name of partisan politics…the guy’s a rapist, you’d think in the age of me-too… but, alas, no, this weasel sits on the scotus, which makes THAT body a joke now…because he made his bones by trying to take down the clittin’s, specifically Bill, for sexual indiscretions, when Brett himself was a sex-offender of the highest-order. Yeah, I love The USA, but I can’t stand most Americans, and I HATE ALL ‘Murricns (I hate all people who can’t get the f out of their own way, which is what “people” do…they FAIL, they even fail themselves, so you can be sure they’ll fail YOU if you stupidly trust them), because 95% of ALL PEOPLE (98% of Americans/‘Murricns) are hypocrites and scumbags, who will smile to your face, then metaphorically kick you in the balls as soon as they aren’t looking in your eyes. That’s the point that Acs/Impeachment is hammering home for me. Oh, and the guy playing Jackie what’s-his-name is great, because I want to beat the s out of his real-life counterpart. And if you doubt my pessimistic-but-honest summation of people’s true “worth”, see:Jan 6.
Is this a good show? I’m intrigued by Lewinsky’s involvement, but I don’t want to get stuck watching a middling drama series.
This episode was money. An outlier for a season I’d honestly say has otherwise just been okay. Sure, it’s “good” I guess, in that it treats the subject matter seriously, and tracks the events in pretty good detail. But as a watch, it’s been kind of a slow burn, and I think mileage may vary depending on how much the subject matter itself is interesting to you.
It’s worth it and I’d grade it above middling. It’s solidly crafted and isn’t melodramatic or too cheesy, though their portrayal of Clinton is so totally off it almost ruins the show— the man is renowned for oozing charm and Owen is playing him like a stock humorless evil executive with no charisma at all, it’s really baffling.
And all those prosthetics make it even worse — on the other side, thankfully, we have Beanie Feldstein (who really only resembles Lewinsky if you squint) with blissfully no prosthetics and selling it with an empathetic and believable performance. Meanwhile Clinton is in a Commedia mask saying nothing but bland or overtly sleazy things. To me it’s really the biggest problem with the series.
Most of the series so far has Linda Tripp as the main focus, and like those lawyers admitted last episode, everyone hates that woman.As I’m watching it I’m wondering why SO MUCH attention is given to this awful person and not more to literally any other character. But then I remembered it’s Sarah Paulson and Ryan probably wrote this whole thing around her because he loves her so much. Which. Ugh.
Clinton did a lot of oozing in his career ,but it wasn’t “charm”
I was ready to give up until this episode. Could have compressed the episodes before this down by two at least. I’m surprised how Clinton has hardly been in it, and the real villain seems to be Linda Tripp. Not as fun as OJ. Didn’t watch Versace.
The mall, this feminized space in the cultural imagination, emerges as Lewinsky’s best shot at freedom. Compare that to a hotel room full of men, which might not evoke luxury as much as a nightmare for far too many women.Must be fun inventing woke BS on a daily basis. First, try watching the movie Mallrats (1995) and then count the number of males in the mall in those days versus the number of females. Furthermore, as someone old enough to remember malls in the 80s and 90s, I’ve never once in my entire life heard of the mall referred to as a “woman’s place.” Second, I have no idea why hotel rooms would be bad for “far too many women” as very few rapes occur there (most common place is in someone’s bedroom). On the other hand, hotel rooms are where a disturbingly large number of men commit suicide. But whatever floats your boat, amirite?
kill yourself
I’ve never once in my entire life heard of the mall referred to as a “woman’s place.”Did you…ever go to a mall, or experience the way malls were portrayed in pop culture (pick your vehicle)? Are we actually treating Mallrats as like…a straightforward, documentary-caliber depiction of the truth of late 20th century masculinity?Is this performance art? I will freely admit that your particular blend of trolling and postmodernism has pretty much blown up my personal BS meter.
I will never forget Colbie Smoulders “Let’s go to….The Mall!” song from HIMYM. There were more robots than boys/men.
No need to be so dismissive of someone’s opinion. Argue rationally, don’t stoop to passive-aggressive insults, be better than that.
Please, go ahead and provide your counter evidence for why the mall is a womens space. We’ll wait.
misclicked where to post/reply, see my reply to OP, ugh why can’t this terrible platform delete things
Subliminal messages to commit suicide don’t really work in print.
I don’t recall if its something specific to this user or for multiple but I have been seeing several comments on this website where a few words that are clearly meant to go at the end of a sentence inexplicably show up in the beginning of a paragraph.
Historically, they were. It was one of the places it was OK for unaccompanied women to congregate.
The mall isn’t geared towards any gender in reality, probably, but *shopping* is seen as a thing for girls and in a lot of girl-focused media the mall is used as a shopping shorthand. Barbie had ‘let’s go to the mall!’ stuff all the time. Clueless and going to the mall as a girl bonding thing comes to mind. Claire’s is a 90s-iconic store for plastic tween girl bullshit. Mall concerts for stuff like boy bands used to be a thing, IIRC?Also hotel rooms absolutely invoke any rape or assault involving a workplace thing, aka *someone the woman knows*. Weinstein, Cosby, the fucking scene in Borat. Either actually think for two seconds or troll better.
I’ve been reading some of these reviews even though I haven’t watched the show yet, probably because like a lot of people I remain fascinated at how something so mundane metastasized into the defining events of Clinton’s presidency. But as for the treatment of Tripp, I’d say that’s squarely in line with my recollection of actual events. She was viewed as a self-serving snake by most people. Once her utility to the feds was spent there really wasn’t anyone who wanted anything to do with a “friend” who would record personal conversations to punch up her chances for a book deal.
Just goes to show how something so mundane as humiliating a random woman by waving your dick in her face and asking her to kiss it can snowball into something serious.People forget it all started with what he did to Paula Jones.
Without her, there’s no perjury, no witness tampering, and no obstruction.
This review’s gendered point of view is one I confess didn’t even cross my mind, while watching, but it’s all there, making for an interesting study in perspective. I also thought this was the best episode of the season, but mainly because of the pure suspense of it all. This would be intense and desperate for anyone, and I think director Ryan Murphy does a fantasitc job getting that across. Credit to Lewinsky’s storytelling instincts as a producer, too. Even if I wasn’t conscious of it, I did feel like I was in Monica’s shoes. And maybe it’s just me, but it seemed like a lot of the tension was relieved with bits that could be seen as funny. Like in the midst of the chaos, Monica runs into Linda in the mall, her treacherous friend, and it looked like she’d gone shopping!
“No amount of Dewberry body wash is going to wash this stench off of you, Linda!”
At the Body Shop, no less!
Linda shopping reminded me of when Hilary Swank’s family gets back from Disneyworld in million Dollar Baby. Clearly not taking the situation very seriously if you’re buying fancy soaps.
This was a good, well acted episode of television, but it also emphasized just how little Beanie Feldstein looks like Monica Lewinsky.
I like the way ACS handles this, though. They don’t need actors that look exactly like the people they’re portraying, so long as they can give a good performance. Cuba Gooding, David Schwimmer, Clive Owen; none of them look like the person. A little makeup to evoke them is enough if they can give a decent performance (which I’d say they do).
I haven’t watched this show due to middling reviews, but can one just pop in and enjoy the good episode? I mean, I’m very familiar with the real-life details…
Yes.
I lived in DC at the time this was starting up – the general consensus was nobody wanted a friend like Linda Tripp.
Are we not going to talk about Bill Ginsburg screaming obscenities to the FBI over the phone?“She can leave anytime she wants”“BULL FUCKING SHIT YOU FUCKING COCKSUCKER!!”After so much tension build up, this cathartic release was supremely earned.
I was surprised when he said nobody’s ever gone to jail for perjury in a civil suit.If that’s true, it’s no wonder Trump never seems to worry about it.Also, it’s weird that step one of the lawyer’s strategy is to get drunk.
You seem to have very strong feelings about perjury. Can’t say I share them in a perjury trap situation where a person is asked about an affair. Yeah they shouldn’t lie, but it’s easy to see why ppl do on that subject, and thus why it makes for an ideal perjury trap.To be clear, I think Bill Clinton is a slimy POS, just also have distaste for Starr and his cronies.
I just know Martha Stewart did a year for lying to the Feds, even though she immediately fessed up to it, and Scooter Libby got like 10 years for lying about the Plame leak.I guess perjury in civil court is different, and maybe the punishment is something less than federal prison, but I’m still surprised nobody goes to prison for it. If you’re a con man to begin with, why wouldn’t you lie in civil court?
Yes, THIS is the correct reaction, not to “choose sides”, but to THINK your way through the “political morass”, people suck all around when power is at stake.
What he said was more nuanced than that. He said no one had gone to prison for lying about having a sexual affair.
I’m surprised it wasn’t in the review because it was the most glaring Men vs Woman conversation in the episode. If Monica, or even her mom, had just acted like a man (or a non good girl) they could have left 12 hours ago. She just needed to swear confidently like the lawyer did and everyone panicked.
I don’t think she even needed to swear. She could have just left without swearing. Because when she asks to go downstairs and make a phone call, Mike Emmick says to Jackie that she’s not coming back. She could have just left the mall and never returned–they had no power to hold her at any time. They just intimidated her into thinking they did.
You can see how much lawyers use “yelling” and threats to get their way, but mostly by raising their voice, which should be clue #1 that they weren’t faultless in this entire thing. Personally, I believe the first voice raised In anger/intimidation in ANY situation should be met with a fist to the face of the first “yeller”, but that’s just me. I doubt that Monica felt that was an option for her, and so the bully mentality took over.
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