'The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story' Episode 3: "A Random Killing"
by Conner TigheWarning: This review may contain spoilers for this episode and previous episodes of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.
American Crime Story’s most recent episode may be the darkest yet. Episode 3 focuses on Andrew Cunanan’s movements and motives. This episode also focuses mainly on the Miglin family. The Versace family is not featured in the episode nor are they mentioned. Andrew’s killing spree continues with two more victims, along with his evading the authorities.
Marilyn Miglin, the well-known perfume saleswoman, is seen selling her products on QVC Network. She later calls her husband Lee to tell him that she’s coming home. If you recall from the last episode, Lee was Andrew’s client while he was in Miami. It’s obvious Marilyn is on a trip of some sort. Marilyn arrives at the house and Lee is nowhere to be found. Her neighbors help search the house and eventually the search leads the neighbors to the garage. Lee’s body is found and a scream is heard in the distance. Marilyn quietly mutters, “I knew it.” The past few opening scenes for American Crime Story have been very moving and this one is no exception.
Image from Vulture
The Miglin family are well-known in Chicago and are obviously wealthy. A series of flashbacks shows that Andrew is in town and he calls up Lee to inform him. Lee agrees to Andrew coming over for a “visit”. Marilyn is leaving for her trip to promote her perfume products. She asks Lee to come with her, but he refuses. Andrew arrives a few hours later and Lee tries his best to impress him by telling him about a new project of construction he wants to start. Andrew implies that Lee is not impressive, and their visits are strictly business. Lee clearly doesn't like this answer and he asks to have sex with Andrew. Andrew leads Lee into the garage and gags him. Andrew then informs Lee that he’s about to kill him. He says he will stage the crime scene to “disgrace” him so that the world will know that Lee is living a lie. Andrew then repeatedly stabs Lee and leaves with his Lexus.
The setup of this scene and Andrew’s insanity was done very well. Andrew is shown to be even more violent than we anticipated. He’s ruthless and has little regard for human life. Andrew shows little remorse or emotion for killing Lee and continues his journey. We don’t know exactly where Andrew’s destination is, but he appears perfectly happy and calm. Lee’s phone in his Lexus is later used as a tracking device for the FBI. They almost identify his location, but Andrew realizes what’s happening and smashes the antennae on the car. Once again, the authorities are left with no clues on Andrew’s whereabouts.
Image from IMDb
The police attempt to question Marilyn on possible suspects for her husband’s killer, but she refuses to talk about it. She only cares about catching the killer herself. The police question the possibility that Andrew could be the killer and inform Marilyn of this. Marilyn doesn’t know or care who Andrew is. The police are left with no leads except for Andrew’s abandoned Jeep a few blocks away. This is the vehicle Andrew used to get to Chicago. It seems at this point in the show that Andrew is toying with the authorities. He knows he’s smart enough to evade them and he wants them to know that. Meanwhile, Andrew is in search of a new vehicle.
Andrew arrives at a park and searches the area for a possible vehicle. He spots a middle-aged man leaving in a red pickup truck. Andrew follows him to his house. He comes through the door demanding his car keys. The man agrees to his demand and asks Andrew not to hurt him. Andrew later takes the man down to the basement in the house and tells the man to get on his knees. The man claims that he has a son and a wife and wants to see them again. But before the man can continue, Andrew shoots him in the back of the head. Andrew leaves with the man’s truck.
