Overall I liked it very much. Episode 4 or 5 (I forget which) got very dark when the sailor was being beaten on the submarine, but I forged my way through it. I didn't really care for the way the events were told in reverse order. I would have preferred if they were in chronological order which would have helped build up to Versace's murder. I think its interesting that Versace's name is in the title when the series was really more about his killer, Andrew Cunanan, who is believed to have murdered at least 5 men, all documented in this series. Maybe they should have called it "American Crime Story: The Andrew Cunanan Story".
There's a disclaimer that says the series is based on facts and evidence but that details and conversations are imagined to be consistent with what may have happened. In reality there's no way to know for sure about the "conversation" between Cunanan and his victims because all parties are dead. But the dialog seemed realistic to me and the acting wasn't over the top. Darren Criss showed a great range of emotions.
Cunanan is portrayed as a young man groomed by his con-artist father to be "someone special". He graduates from a prestigious private school but doesn't want to "work". He is obssessed with the trappings of success, so he tries being an escort and then targets older, wealthy men as possible sugar daddies. Aside from all that, there was something terribly wrong with Cunanan who allegedly killed his boyfriend for breaking up with him after killing the boyfriend's new boyfriend in front of him. Most of the killings weren't as "nice" as Versace's being shot. One was blugeoned with a hammer, and another was stabbed multiple times before having bags of cement dropped on his chest. Cunanan was coo coo!
The series indicates that information about Cunanan and the killings was culled from police records, news reports, interviews with family and friends, and a book called "Vulgar Favors: The Hunt for Andrew Cunanan, the man who killed Gianni Versace". The series was intriguing enough that I ordered the book on Amazon and am eagerly awaiting its arrival.
The series shed light on another sad reality related to these events. Versace's partner of 13+ years (played by Ricky Martin) was not liked by Versace's family and just before the funeral he was told that all of Versace's homes were owned by the business, not by him personally, thus leaving the partner homeless. Obviously they weren't married so the partner had absolutely no rights. I believe I read that Versace left him money in his will but that was not shown in the series. The partner's grief was completely disregarded by the family and the public, and he was treated rudely by the priest at the funeral.
If you haven't watched it, you can find the 8 part series on demand. I recommend it.
