‘American Crime Story’ turns impeachment into must-see TV
Impeachment as entertainment might seem impossible after years of slogging through the real thing. But the FX drama “Impeachment: American Crime Story” manages to turn the state of our democracy into a must-see limited series, pulling the narrative back to the 1990s, when President Bill Clinton’s (Clive Owen) relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky (Beanie Feldstein) was presented as a national crisis.
Executive producer
Ryan Murphy’s 10-episode anthology series, which airs Tuesdays on FX, is propelled by the brand of brisk, addictive storytelling, stellar casting and high-end soap appeal that have defined the “American Crime Story” franchise since its first entry, “The People v. O.J. Simpson.” It delves into the stories behind the political theater, following the women who were actively involved in — or involuntarily pulled into — the mammoth Republican effort to eject Clinton from the Oval Office.
Sarah Paulson does a phenomenal job portraying Linda Tripp, the former White House secretary who exposed the affair between Clinton and Lewinsky. The leak led to his impeachment, fueled the careers of far-right crusaders such as Ann Coulter (Cobie Smulders), and exposed the beginning of a divided
Washington bent on revenge rather than governance. Additional players include Paula Jones (Annaleigh Ashford), whose sexual harassment lawsuit against Clinton played a key role in the scandal, and, of course, Hillary Clinton (Edie Falco).
Owen and Falco nail it, from his laid-back mannerisms, Arkansas drawl and wandering hands to her awkward dance as an accomplished, ambitious woman struggling to fit the role of demure first lady and scorned wife. Feldstein is equally convincing as the beret-clad Lewinsky. She’s naive but not stupid. She knows Bill has her on booty-call speed dial, but she’s hopelessly infatuated with him. Her fatal mistake is taking Tripp into her confidence.
“Impeachment” chronicles the start of their “friendship,” after both women were transferred from the White House to work at the Pentagon. When Lewinsky disclosed details about her relationship with Clinton, Tripp saw an opportunity for revenge with a tell-all book. She was angry about being passed over for a promotion in the West Wing after her former boss Vince Foster took his own life, so she coaxed and manipulated Lewinsky to spill the beans, taping their phone conversations. Her 20 hours of secret recordings would later become central to Clinton’s 1998 impeachment.
Head writer Sarah Burgess and her team adapt Jeffrey Toobin’s 1999 book, “A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President,” into a drama that tracks the anatomy of a scandal and the ways in which the changing mediascape — the rise of 24-hour cable news and the internet at the top of the list — capitalized on all the salaciousness. You’ll need a flow chart to keep up with the cast of characters and the roles they play: literary agent Lucianne Goldberg (Margo Martindale), commentator Matt Drudge (Billy Eichner), Lewinsky’s mother, Marcia Lewis (Mira Sorvino),
U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright (Kathleen Turner) and Clinton adviser Vernon Jordan (Blair Underwood), to name just a few.
“Impeachment” makes a point of showing how almost all of the women wrapped up in the Clinton scandal were used as pawns to either prop up or destroy one of the most beloved and hated U.S. presidents up to that point in modern history. They are the story.