My Review of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans - Phantasm Forgiveness

 

Written by Jon Robin Baitz 

Directed by Gus Van Sant 

Babe: "I never thought society would simply evaporate. What happened?"

Slim: "Everything ends. Shall we go have lunch?"

And there it was. A finale that like the previous season touched a little on the fantastical side of things. We saw the death of Truman Capote in the previous episode. This was the moments that led to his end.

Capote was determined to use Answered Prayers as a means to apologise to his beloved Swans with his own mother providing her own literary notes along the way.

For CZ, it was about sexual liberation.  Going to Mexico to trade her nude portrait for two whiskeys after Truman lied about parts of what he wrote about her. CZ was always the most likely to forgive Truman the easiest and she did.

As for Slim, it turned out that letting her get the venom out of her system and a black and white ball in her honour would be the perfect way to forgive Truman. That and meeting her last great love on the very night that honoured her certainly helped.

Lee on the other hand, giving her a book that was her own voice, something her much more famous sister couldn't take away from her would be the perfect method of forgiveness.  Oh and killing her closeted husband would be the cherry on top.

Only none of those things actually happened because between ghostly visits from Ann Woodward and Truman's own mother, Truman never got to actually write the book. He did however relive his mother's suicide while both Demi Moore and Jessica Lange finally got something to really do, material wise in this finale.

Then we went back to Joanne telling Jack about Truman's death before the final scene in the future with Capote's ashes being sold at auction. The fantastical bit being four of the Swans bemoaning the death of culture as they sashayed away into the afterlife. That's it folks.

- Jack's toyboy lover was called Nick and he was a fan of Capote's writing and big on forgiveness.

- Truman changed everyone's names in his fiction except for Lee and Ann. He called himself PB Jones.

- Of course the black Swan from the opening scene recreated was his mother. There was emphasis on two bidders that went nowhere at the end.

- Chronology: 1984 for the majority of the episode, 2016 for the last scene. We also got a flashback to Truman as a kid having to be quiet while his mother snared a man.

Phantasm Forgiveness made for a good finale. Yes, the show didn't quite hit the same heights as the previous season but it was a good second act and hopefully we won't be waiting seven years for the next season.

Rating: 7 out of 10