American Crime Review: Season Two Episode One

There is no denying that John Ridley is unafraid to tackle stories that deal with race, class, gender, religion, and sexuality. Whether it be via the silver screen or the small screen, Ridley always delivers a complex story with compelling characters.

The new season of American Crime is no exception. If anything, it explores these issues in new ways. Classism, bullying, sexuality, and assault all collide during the first episode of the new season.

The new season revolves around an accusation of cyberbullying and sexual assault against a basketball player at an elite private school in Indiana. Felicity Huffman, Timothy Hutton, and Regina King — familiar faces from season one — play completely different roles. Huffman plays an atypical Iron Lady, right down to her brunette hair. Hutton is a basketball coach, and King is the wealthy and powerful mother of the accused basketball player. Rounding out the cast is Connor Jessup, the victim of a crime he cannot remember and his mother, played by Lili Taylor.

The season premiere wastes no time in showing who the privileged class characters are and who are not, every single movement a character makes is important to their story. From Jessup and Taylor doing laundry at a Laundromat to Huffman standing in front of a room of wealthy parents proclaiming that their school is worthy of accolades for their scholarship program. They all have things to gain and lose from the scandal.

Jessup, because of his lower class standing at the school, suffers from low self-esteem and conflicting emotions dealing with his assault. Huffman’s Leslie Graham is so calculating about protecting the school reputation that it’s hard not to shiver when she gazes into the camera during close-ups. But that simultaneously makes it difficult to feel anything for her or relate to her position of power. Both of these characters seem restricted by either their background or their current position. However, their restrictive nature may be an intentional product of how Ridley wrote and directed them.

One of the great things about American Crime is that anything you see may not be the whole story, made evident by how Headmaster Graham carefully words her questions towards Anne. 

Leslie: Tell me what you believe happened.

She places importance on her own attitude and not that of the concerned mother or even the son. In fact, there is very little interaction between the teenagers during the first episode. Perhaps that is because the series is so grim, or maybe they are simply setting up the actions and reactions of the teenagers involved for the next episode. With American Crime, you can never truly be sure. And in that uncertainty lies the genius that is the show and the bait that will keep me coming back for more.

Other thoughts:

• It will be interesting to see how they handle the issue of male rape.
• I hope they can improve upon the characters being walking representations of tropes.
• Please, oh please, don’t make Felicity Huffman the bad guy again. Not that I don’t enjoy it, but it’s so easy to make political women into bad guys.
• I really, really, really hope that the teenage characters actually have voices and are not just props to further the drama.
• Additionally, I’m starting to wonder if Ridley is incapable of showing Latino characters as anything but lower class.

What did you think of this episode of American Crime? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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American Crime airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on ABC.

Jessica Kreamer

Jessica has a degree in History, an MLA is Liberal Arts, and a great desire to consume as much quality television as she can. By day, she's an office worker and caregiver. By night, she's a tea drinking television fanatic. Her current favorite television shows include: Madam Secretary, How To Get Away With Murder, Jane the Virgin, and Veep. Her greatest wish is to make tea drinking into a payable skill. Follow Jessica on Twitter: @pythiaprophet