[For The People v. OJ Simpson “The Race Card” or any other recaps on Fetchland, assume the presence of possible spoilers.]
FX Summary:
The Race Card. As the trial begins Christopher Darden and Johnnie Cochran go head to head in court.
The episode summary for “The Race Card” says Cochran and Darden go head to head in court but really they ram at each other in AND out of the courtroom. It’s like the characters are two sides of an embattled, self-loathing coin. This sense of war between them arises throughout the episode with the use of the n-word. It comes up right at the start when Cochran’s daughter asks him if a police officer said the n-word to him and again later in the courtroom when the two lawyers debate the word’s presence and relevance in the trial. What we realize from this episode is that much like OJ’s trial, their fight both is and isn’t about race. On one hand it’s a fight between former friends who maybe know each other a bit too well to keep the fight clean but on the other hand race actually is an issue they both care about deeply. The passions are high and nothing raises heart rates higher quite like the n-word.
Johnnie Cochran gets pulled over by a police officer and ends up cuffed for no real reason. After calling the station about him, the cop wishes Johnnie a nice evening and lets him go. Then Cochran’s at church where the minister says a special communal prayer for his work on the OJ Simpson trial. The DA’s office watches the news showing the church’s support of Cochran. Johnnie then comments that isn’t it interesting that now with eight black people put on the jury, the prosecution suddenly adds a black man to their team? Darden see this and looks deer-in-headlights tasered.
Next Marcia leads prosecution strategy meeting while at the same time we see a parallel defense meeting led by Johnny. For every point Clark raises “The Dream Team” notes a counterpoint. She brings up OJ’s history of domestic violence, sixty two instances on record. She says this shows he was a serial abuser and proves motive. Then Dershowitz implies that they will keep all that evidence out of court. Bill then says the the prosecution has a solid timeline and on the defense side Barry Scheck counters saying the fact that the DA’s timeline does them a huge favor because it’s such a small window and thus can easily be attacked. Kardashian also mentions that “their bombshell witness is a dog,” which the prosecution neglects to see as a potential issue. In fact, they romanticize it saying, “Everything begins with the plaintive wail of the Akita”. Marcia then talks about all the blood evidence and Dershowtiz says there’s no way they’ll put Fuhrman on the stand given his racist history. The DA talks about the evidence as “devastating proof” while the defense speaks of the “haphazard” collection of it. So, both sides have their arguments ready, now they just have to distribute the work to back it all up. Clark hands out assignments and gives Darden the detectives Vannatter and Fuhrman to prepare as witnesses.
Next we see Darden interviewing Fuhrman and though he has all the right answers, Darden senses that something’s off with him. He tells Marcia they really don’t need Furhman because someone else entered the gloves into evidence anyway. She’s stubborn about it and says they need Fuhrman. It’s unclear why Marcia doesn’t trust Darden’s instinct on this but what’s abundantly clear is that Darden’s gut is getting tied into knots with all this BS and being ignored.
So, the prosecution is wrapped up in laying out the evidence but back on “The Dream Team” Johnnie explains that evidence doesn’t win the day. Juries go with the narrative that makes the most sense to them. It’s essentially a storytelling contest, whomever has the more convincing story wins.
Next we see Judge Ito and Dominick Dunne discuss how he’s going to sit in on the trial while writing about it for Vanity Fair. Ito gives him a permanent seat in the front row next to the Goldmans. They talk about how Dunne can empathize with the Goldmans because of his own daughter’s murder. What Judge Ito doesn’t seem to realize is that Dunne essentially writes gossip. He’s just a dapper little buzzing bee with thick circular glasses and a burning desire to divulge secrets. Yes, he did lose a daughter but then he used her tragic murder to spark a career for himself writing stories about Hollywood killers. Empathy is not exactly Dunne’s mantra, motto, or strong suit. Hyperbole might be, though. Again this is a case of the strongest story “winning” no matter how much of it actually rings true. We see this later in the episode when Dunne gossips galore at a luxurious dinner among his peers, dishing out dirt on the case like a dump truck in the desert… but only when the “help” is out of earshot.
At the courthouse Johnnie shakes Darden’s hand straight away. Then the emboldened Darden says he hopes they can put their shared past behind them and be respectful. Johnnie pulls Darden closer to say he’s not looking to be respectful, he’s just trying to win. So, it’s ON. Then in the courtroom Shapiro right off the bat asks to exclude the 62 allegations of abuse e as irrelevant because it’s a murder case, not a domestic violence case. Bill then speaks for the DA and says the context and nature of their relationship is crucial to understanding what’s behind this case.
Then Darden brings up Furhman to the Judge and says there’s no reason to forage fifteen years into his past for his use of a reprehensible word. He says this word will hinder the jury’s ability to see the facts of the case. Then Cochran gets up and preaches that it’s insulting to the African American community to say they can’t handle hearing offensive words. They can still tell right from wrong and have to face hearing that word and making important decisions that all the time. The next day the front page of the newspaper is all about this face off on race between Cochran and Darden. At the office Darden asks Gil if he can do some follow up interviews with the black press but Gil says no way. Then Darden approaches Marcia and says they really should take Fuhrman out of the case. He warns her many times over he course of the episode but she neglects to listen.
Johnnie gets a late night call from the office letting them know that Shapiro’s staff screwed up and forgot to submit twelve witness names from their discovery roster, a big boo boo that makes them look bad. The next morning Marcia Clark gives the prosecution’s opening statement. She talks about OJ’s public persona versus the private person. Marcia brings up the blood evidence and how it ties OJ to the murders. Then Cochran gives the defense’s opening statement and quotes Martin Luther King. Then he starts listing witnesses but as he says names that aren’t on the prosecution’s list Bill gets very upset and interrupts to say they don’t have these witnesses on their list. The day in court is cut short when subsequently Bill has a heart attack and exits on a stretcher. Turns out Bill’s down for the count and now off the case, so Marcia recommends they elevate Darden to co-prosecuter and suddenly these two are the dynamic duo – odd couple Wonder Twins against “The Dream Team” and it’s clear that this isn’t a fair fight right from the start.
In the next scene Cochran removes OJ’s whitewashed home decorating and replaces it with items that are a bit more black-friendly. There’s an upcoming jurors tour of the house and of Nicole’s as well. Marcia gets upset during Nicole’s house tour because the defense had all the furniture and personal items cleared out of Nicole’s condo so there are no indications that she was a mother with a family and the human element of the scene is gone. The opposite happens at OJ’s house where Johnnie has completely staged the place to perfection. Marcia complains to Judge Ito in OJ’s backyard and while she does Darden sits on a bench. Then OJ starts yelling at Darden to get off HIS bench. Darden tells Cochran to get his client under control. Then Cochran says OJ just “gets emotional”. Yeah, so we heard on the 911 tapes, dude.
In a dramatic and swift shift, Johnnie then pulls him close and tells Darden not to question Fuhrman, “make the white people do him,” he says. Next Darden practices questioning Fuhrman at the DA’s office and gets frustrated yet again. It’s pretty clear the Fuhrman has something to hide and is lying about using the n-word. During Darden’s questioning Fuhrman mentions that he collects WWII memorabilia along with some sports. Afterward Darden stands firm with Marcia for the zillionth time saying that he can’t put Fuhrman on the stand until finally Marcia agrees to just do it herself. Then in the last scene we see a shot of Fuhrman polishing his WWII memorabilia and turns out, surprise, surprise – it’s Nazi medals. Looks like Darden’s gut is worth listening to after all.
–Katherine Recap
