REVIEW: American Crime Story: Impeachment – Episode 3, “Not To Be Believed”

Television Reviews

*SPOILERS*

“Not to Be Believed” opens in 1995 with Matt Drudge (Billy Eichner), the disgruntled, haughty manager of the CBS Studios gift shop. After a shift full of petty arguments and boasting, Drudge goes dumpster diving. He finds his big scoop, documents regarding Jerry Seinfeld’s salary negotiation. Then, the story shifts back to the “present” of 1997 with Paula Jones and her husband, Stephen. He still tortures himself with thoughts about what really happened between Paula and Bill Clinton. Their fight ends when Susan calls, encouraging them to turn on the TV. The Supreme Court upholds Paula’s right to sue the President because the crime in question isn’t associated with his executive duties. The decision is unanimous at 9-0, which shocks and angers Clinton. He tells his lawyers that Hilary won’t let him settle outside of court.

Meanwhile, Linda is still trying to avoid reporter Michael Isikoff as Monica strives to get her old job back. Linda calls Kathleen Willey and asks her why she’s going after the President. Linda reminds Kathleen that she was happy at the time and the “harassment” seemed mutual. Spurred on by Linda, Monica makes the bold decision to send a threatening email to Clinton. He calls her in to talk about it and manipulates her to re-establish the status quo. He tells Monica he will help with her job situation. Susan talks Paula out of accepting the settlement reluctantly offered by the Clinton team. Paula’s lawyers warn her that she will lose in court, but with the support of Susan and Stephen, she pushes ahead. Linda goes to Kathleen’s house and confronts her directly. Kathleen says she asked Isikoff to stop bothering Linda, but Linda nonetheless goes on a tirade about how Kathleen isn’t a victim. Linda tells Michael Isikoff that the real story involves a love affair between Clinton and a White House aide but refuses to divulge any details.

The Matt Drudge storyline in “Not to Be Believed” caught me totally off guard, but it was one of my favorite parts of the episode. While I have heard of The Drudge Report, I didn’t know anything about Matt Drudge or much about the website. I’ve enjoyed Billy Eichner in American Horror Story, and he was one of few tolerable aspects of the Lion King remake, so I was thrilled to see him pop up here, and he owns this role. Impeachment approaches Drudge from a critical stance, examining his unethical means of sourcing stories and misuse of information. The way he steals Isikof’’s story is just despicable, particularly when the latter worked so hard and was so fastidious with his sourcing. However, Drudge is a lot of fun to watch, much like Sarah Paulson’s Linda Tripp. I love the scene where Drudge explains his inspiration to a customer who clearly isn’t interested and just needs to buy a poster. We all know someone like this. The scene where Ann Coulter goes to Laura Ingraham’s house for a gathering of reporters was really something, as well. The fact that even the two conservative pundits seem to hate one another isn’t surprising, but it illustrates the level of division at play. Even people with similar worldviews, who should agree, can’t get along.

Paulson’s Linda is up to more foul play this week as well. She keeps whining about Michael Isikoff bothering her and wasting her time but strings him along anyway. There’s truth to Linda’s belief that Kathleen Willey was a willing participant in President Clinton’s misbehavior. At least as it was presented in Impeachment, Kathleen came out of the room elated and didn’t seem upset in the slightest. However, it’s obvious Linda can see other people’s hypocrisy but not her own. She wants Isikoff to follow her around and prod her for information because it makes her feel important. She talks down to Kathleen about integrity, but she wants power and importance without doing the work. She keeps teasing Isikoff with comments about a bigger story in the White House but won’t go into the dirty details. Linda wants to have her cake and eat it too, to be showered with undeserved attention and praise without having to get her hands dirty. And I’m not suggesting she should tell Monica’s secret (regardless of what ultimately happens) but that she shouldn’t say anything at all. She lost her chance to break a big story in “Exiles” and should focus on her work. That wouldn’t make for an interesting history lesson or TV show, but I just find her choices baffling in a vacuum. She’s willing to sacrifice friendships, her job, and even her morals to regain relevance she never really had.

Paula’s husband is still a steaming pile of cow manure, and Susan isn’t any better. I really feel for Paula here because nobody has her best interests at heart. It doesn’t seem like Stephen cares about her at all, only seeing the accusations around her as an embarrassment to himself. He wants money and a role on a TV show more than he wants his wife to be happy and safe. He seems like the type who still wouldn’t be happy even if he got the money and fame he’s after. Susan is almost worse than Stephen because at least he treats Paula like dirt to her face. She chooses to put up with someone who clearly isn’t worth the time. But Susan pretends to be a friend and advocate for Paula when she’s around, only to talk about her behind her back. She sees Paula as an expendable pawn, too, just for political purposes instead of financial. Likewise, Monica was used for sex by the President and promptly tossed aside once he no longer needed her. And Linda is using her for personal gain too. Impeachment’s point seems to be that these women were treated like objects for the benefit of others. Rather than defending them, the media and regular people crucified them.

I think it’s about time I admit I was wrong about Bill Clinton’s impeachment being enough of a story for this show to tackle. This is an absolutely explosive story full of interesting people and despicable behavior. I can’t wait to see what happens next, and I hope they keep this show going, even if it means more breaks between seasons.