Greed, sloth and pride, I think, were Andrew Cunanan’s biggest vices. Greed most of all. Not only in terms of material wealth and possessions, but also in terms of people. He wanted a lot and it seems that he might have, in many ways, felt like it was owed to him. This episode demonstrated that.
I never watch the next episode previews for this show – for most shows I watch, actually – so going into this one I expected us to go forward in time and delve into the police’s search for Andrew following Versace’s murder now that we’d seen the lives and deaths of all of Andrew’s victims. The show is called The Assassination of Gianni Versace after all. But I think that at this point it’s safe to say that the show is never going to go back there and will continue telling the story in reverse chronology and that it is decidedly about Andrew and not Versace.
It was obvious when we saw Andrew in a grand, luxurious, home that one, it didn’t belong to him and two, he was a kept man. So it was no surprise when it was revealed in his conversation with Lizzie that that was the case. It was awfully naïve of her to think that he simply lived with his client and that that was all that was between Andrew and Norman. I didn’t buy it when he said he wasn’t sleeping with Norman (he was, but not for some months) and he dragged her into his deception of David by convincing her to repeat that lie to him.
I wasn’t even sure if it was true that he loved David (or that he was even capable of love for that matter), but he seemed to believe it well enough. That was the first instance of his greed in this episode for me; that he was living off of this wealthy man, expected to maintain that relationship (and the stream of income it provided) and still be with David. He wanted to have his cake and eat it too.
Judging by the timeline I knew that by this point he and Jeff were friends, but I was still a little taken aback that he was there at the party. Just seeing Jeff and David meeting each other for the first time and knowing how their stories end was sad. Especially when it was obvious that there was an immediate spark between Jeff and David. Then the realisation hit that Andrew had been holding that against Jeff for an entire year before he killed him.
The second moment that exemplified Andrew’s greed for me was when he went to Norman with his list of demands to continue their relationship. Norman was probably the best thing to ever happen to Andrew. He actively encouraged him to go back to school (which he was more than happy to pay for), better himself and work hard to become the man he wanted to be and live the life he wanted to live. But Andrew was just all about shortcuts and immediate gratification.
Norman was so accommodating of him. Andrew had it good with him. He could have and did have that life of wealth and comfort that he wanted so badly with Norman. But, as has been evident in the show so far, what Andrew wanted above all else was to love and be loved. So his relationship with Norman was not enough. I’m very surprised that Andrew didn’t kill Norman when he told him no.
Andrew blamed Norman for his missed shot at a relationship with David, but as their trip together quickly made clear it was really Andrew’s own fault. He clearly drove him away. David was visibly uncomfortable with how Andrew was showering him with expensive…well…everything and so blatantly stating his intention to be with him. David didn’t want to be with him and I think that Andrew knew that. Hence why he tried so hard to, as he told Lizzie, become someone that David could love. But he was doing the exact opposite of that.
David was willing to give them a shot but everything Andrew did convinced him all the more that they shouldn’t be together. He only made it worst for himself when he lied to David about his upbringing in the moment when David asked him to be real with him. Andrew is the reason that he was rejected by David.
Said rejection by David seems to have been what started his downward spiral into out of control drug use. That and the fact that Norman didn’t call him like he wanted to, that he felt Norman for David and didn’t get him and that he spent so much money trying to buy David and it didn’t work. So he was angry.
I don’t understand why it was Versace that he had his drug fueled fever dream about, but perhaps he was symbolic of the persons of status that his mother ingrained in him to envy and despise.
Andrew’s mother is clearly unstable herself. She didn’t even listen to Andrew when he told her that he’s unhappy. I don’t even think that she cared. She just wanted to brag about how she brought that woman down a peg. In her eyes at least.
Clearly, his pathological lying and everything else about him that makes him detestable came from her. The joy with which she recounted the story of the failure of the wealthy child that Andrew went to school with, the superiority she felt by saying that Andrew was better than him was clear. She instilled that into Andrew.
I think that part of his lying may well be that he just wants to be someone that his mother would be proud of and love. Andrew cried out for help and she paid him no mind. Perhaps if she had, Andrew’s killing spree would never have happened. That moment then, I think, was the moment when he could have gotten help and turned his life around.
Random thoughts:
- Finn Wittrock!
- He was always talking about Versace.
- He really likes scratching people’s faces out of photos.
- David doesn’t look like he believes Andrew.
- Knew the post card was retaliation for Jeff flirting with David!
- Wait, did Andrew leave hoping that Norman would chase after him?
- Where did Andrew get the money for this?
- I would still eat the food.
- You don’t need to scrub him so hard lady…
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story airs Wednesdays at 10 PM on FX.
