'American Crime Story: Versace' finale recap: 'Alone'

Pre-ordering the Blu-ray now (yes, I still buy Blu-rays)

We've reached the end, friends. American Crime Story: Versace has finished its run. And what an episode to go out on.

We all knew how this was going to end from the very beginning. The opening scene in the first episode of Versace showed us how Andrew Cunanan killed Gianni Versace. Here, in the final episode, we’re shown the whole event again — this time at a quicker pace, all cut with some catchy music.

This time we actually get to see what happens next: the houseboat, the police stand-off and the unfortunate end that we know can’t be avoided.

After murdering Versace, Cunanan breaks into a Miami houseboat in which he plans to hide out in for the foreseeable future. It doesn’t look like he has an exact plan per-say, but he instead decides just to celebrate by popping some champagne and turning on the local news. He’s a celebrity now, after all, which is just what he’s always wanted. Everyone finally knows his name.

Then, in the smartest move Ryan Murphy could have possibly pulled off, we finally return to Marilyn — Lee Miglan’s wife, portrayed by the Emmy deserving Judith Light (I will never stop raving about how good she is in this show). The FBI show up at her door, telling her that her husband’s murderer has killed again. “When will this end?” she says. “How many more are going to die?”

It’s not the last time Marilyn comes back, thank God, but next, we return to Andrew's former housemate Ronnie. Suddenly, in this final episode, it makes sense why every episode was so segmented — all the characters that we met are coming back in some way for this finale and the way Versace pulls that off is really kind of brilliant. It just makes us miss Jeff and David.

The FBI question Ronnie about Andrew’s whereabouts, and he gives retorts with an inspired speech about how the police didn’t care about a bunch of murdered gay people until one of them was a celebrity and they were forced to get involved. So good Max Greenfield, so good.

Andrew’s excitement, though, is quickly coming to an end. He realizes that there’s no way he can escape Miami, as there are now police barricades everywhere and he’s made it on to the FBI’s top ten most wanted list. All he can do is sit on this houseboat, eventually having to resort to eating canned dog food, watching all his friends and family appear on television to be questioned.

It’s when his mother is questioned that Andrew hits a breaking point. Scared and confused, he decides to call his father — who’s still hiding out in the Philippines, as we learned in the previous episode — to come bail him out. His dad promises he’ll be there in the next 24 hours, and that he’ll take him away from there.

My favorite moment of the episode comes shortly after this. We cut back to Marilyn, who refused to follow the FBI’s request to come into hiding, as Andrew could come for her next for all they know. Marilyn has never missed a broadcast, and she’s not going to start now.

So, with Andrew watching from home, Marilyn Miglin tells the world about a new perfume she’s designed — one in memory of her deceased mother. “Here is something I made for you,” she says. “The kind of perfume my father would give you for your birthday as a way of saying how special you are.” Andrew watches the whole thing, in awe. Marilyn, who’s just as capable of creating her own reality as Andrew is, has the fortune and fame that he’s always desired. What could have been if only he tried to create instead of destroy.

24 hours later and Modesto isn’t on the houseboat. Instead, he’s on television, making his own name for himself off of Andrew’s fame. Modesto talks about how someday Andrew’s life will be turned into a movie (meaning everything has come full circle now, as American Crime Story has finally capitalized on that), right before Andrew takes out his gun and shoots the screen. Andrew has no one left.

So, he does the only thing left to do — takes a projector into the living room and throws a screening party for one of Versace’s funeral.

This was the moment that got me. Leading up to this, we saw Antonio and Donatella argue about what comes next for the two of them, Donatella telling her brother’s lover that he can’t stay in the house because it’s now owned by the company. But it’s the funeral itself — the difference in the way the two were treated by the priest — that really hit me with those emotions I’ve been waiting for all season.

To make it even better, there’s some real footage of Versace’s funeral thrown into the mix at this point, as we see the real Princess Diana and Elton John in attendance. Andrew watches the whole thing in amazement, then decides it's about time to shave his head. He knows his days are numbered at this point.

The police learn where he’s staying shortly after the funeral, and the rest is pretty much history. They surround the houseboat, telling Andrew to come out at once, with no luck. They enter, only to find Andrew, lying in the bedroom, gun in his mouth. He’s killed himself.

Right before this, we see one final flashback to him and Versace. They’re on a stage, with Versace politely rejecting Andrew’s request — first for a job as a fashion designer, then as a lover. “It’s not about persuading people you’re going to do something great. It’s about doing it,” Versace tells him.

Andrew, who faced nothing but rejection and heart-ache all his life, now believes he’s done something great. Of course, the things Andrew did were terrible, but the point that American Crime Story: Versace has tried to make this entire season is that everything leading up to the murders was just as terrible. The way homosexuals get treated is terrible. The world, in general, is just a terrible place.

After showing Antonio also deciding to commit suicide, we end by contrasting the difference in cemeteries between Versace and Andrew. Versace has a lavish gravestone, surrounded by candles and decorations, while Andrew is just one of many inside a never-ending mausoleum. The fame he thought he achieved never really did live up to the fame he sought after in the end.

And that’s a wrap for this season of American Crime Story. While it didn’t dig quite as deep into the life of Versace as I may have liked — which I’m assuming is because Versace’s family is still alive and didn’t want Gianni’s life to be portrayed in a show like this — I found myself loving each and every episode. Yes, the whole narrative was a bit confusing, but when looking at the whole thing in retrospect it’s genius what they decided to do here.

Check out some of our other Versace recaps by clicking here, and be sure to join us next season (which ya boi will definitely be covering) whenever Ryan Murphy and FX decide to release it.

Did you enjoy this season of American Crime Story? What did you think about the ending to Versace? What do you want to see ACS do next? Let us know in the comments below!