A lot of people will remember the police slow-chasing a white Bronco throughout the highways surrounding Los Angeles in the 1990s. This week’s episode of the stellar THE PEOPLE VS. OJ SIMPSON uses this iconic drive as the focal point and it’s an incredibly tense episode from start to finish.
Whatever anyone thinks of the real O.J. Simpson, Cuba Gooding Jr. brings an incredible amount of vulnerability to his performance this week. In the premiere, O.J. was clearly overwhelmed with Robert Shapiro beginning his defense the moment he agreed to hand his client over to the cops to avoid a “perp walk” under the scrutiny of the news cameras. This week, he’s got a gun to his own head as he orders his friend to drive him to visit his mother. While the police and the prosecutors scramble to track him down — and the media scrambles to broadcast this fascinating turn of events — you find yourself feeling sympathetic for O.J. When he finally returns home he’s clutching photos of his children to his chest and apologizing to the police for causing a fuss and forcing them to work after hours. Robert Kardashian, meanwhile, remains a strong supporter of his friend, helping to bring O.J. in safety and being genuinely concerned about the possibility that O.J. may actually commit suicide.
Even knowing how this whole chase ends, you can’t help but feel riveted as the situation unfolds, with so many people vying for a piece of a man who is clearly confused about what to do next.
Watch previews below for this week’s episode and the weeks ahead and don’t miss THE PEOPLE VS. OJ SIMPSON on February 9 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on FX.
