The second season of American Crime Story arrived with the near-impossible burden of topping 2016s immaculate O.J. Simpson retelling. Simpsons scandal was familiar to almost anyone who watched the show, but the saga of Gianni Versace, the designer murdered at the gates of his Miami mansion in July 1997, had faded from our cultural discourse, perhaps because the fashion scene doesnt attract the significance granted to something as macho as football.

So when Crime Story graduated from Simpson to Versace, it felt like the perfect fodder for Ryan Murphy , master of sophisticated schlock. Murphy could again explore a nuanced tragedy, but this time he had less preconceived mythology to address.

Does The Assassination of Gianni Versace indeed top The People v. O.J. Simpson? Not quite, but that doesnt matter. In both seasons, Murphy and his company of writers, namely Tom Rob Smith, who is credited on every episode, pushed past exploitable headlines to tackle race, sexuality, class and the media.

Versace came to an end on Wednesday, and we count ourselves reporters Matthew Jacobs and Cole Delbyck as massive fans. Instead of revolving around the titular couturier, this was really the story of Andrew Cunanan (played by Darren Criss), the spree killer who executed at least five men four of whom were gay, including Versace before committing suicide. The cross-stitched narrative turned out to be a smart tactic, even for those of us who expected a show with Versace in the title to fixate more on the Versace empire. Gianni and his sister, Donatella, were background players in a seedy pageant that resulted in an FBI manhunt and a stirring case of internalized homophobia writ large.

Time to discuss!

Matthew Jacobs: All right, Cole, lets delve into the nine episodes of The Assassination of Gianni Versace, a show that not enough people watched , probably because it was very dark and very gay. But those should be selling points, and now that the season is over, I think its among Ryan Murphys best, most complicated works. Even in its disjointed moments, Versace felt haunted by demons literal (Andrew Cunanan) and figurative (class envy, crippling homophobia). Every bit built toward the finales unapologetic bleakness nothing left but a mausoleum and its entombed tragedy. Whatd you make of the whole thing?

Cole Delbyck: Having watched Ryan Murphy productions in good times (early seasons of American Horror Story, anything Mary Cherry, Feud, that Rumor Has It/Someone Like You mashup on Glee) and bad (AHS: Cult, the Glee puppet episode, Julia Roberts not fitting into her Eat Pray Love jeans), I feel confident saying that The Assassination of Gianni Versace is the crown jewel of his career.

The show featured classic elements of his storytelling, e.g. truly batshit moments like that duct-tape asphyxiation sex scene. But it also managed to comment on all too relevant issues facing the gay community today, filtered through the lens of the very troubled and often shirtless Andrew Cunanan. Experiencing the killers mental breakdown in reverse was a true exercise in empathy that left us with a portrait of a man who just wanted to be remembered. Now, of course, Murphy has granted his greatest wish, which also feels somewhat troubling.