Feud: Capote vs. The Swans | |
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Season 2 | |
Starring | |
No. of episodes | 8 |
Release | |
Original network | |
Original release | January 31 – March 13, 2024 |
Season chronology |
Feud: Capote vs. The Swans is the second season of the American anthology television series Feud created by Ryan Murphy, Jaffe Cohen, and Michael Zam for FX. Directed by Gus Van Sant, Max Winkler, and Jennifer Lynch, it is written by Jon Robin Baitz. The eight-episode season is based on the book Capote's Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era written by Laurence Leamer. [1] Its first two episodes premiered on January 31, 2024, with episodes available on Hulu the day after broadcast on FX. [2]
Acclaimed writer Truman Capote ruins his friendships with the Swans, a socialite group of New York City high society, by writing a thinly veiled fictionalized account of their scandalous and hedonistic lives in his (ultimately unfinished) novel, Answered Prayers . When Esquire publishes the chapter "La Côte Basque 1965", after the restaurant of the same name frequented by the Swans and Capote himself, [3] [4] several vow to ruin his life in revenge. [5] [6]
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by [7] [8] | Written by [9] | Original air date [10] | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) [11] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
9 | 1 | "Pilot" | Gus Van Sant | Jon Robin Baitz | January 31, 2024 | 3WBB01 | 0.461 |
In 1968, Babe Paley tells Truman Capote that her husband Bill is having an affair. In 1955, Truman accompanies the Paleys and film producer David O. Selznick on a trip to Montego Bay, during which he charms them with witticisms and an outrageous story that Ann Woodward murdered her husband. After dinner, Babe tells Truman about her husband's affairs, which he tells her to use to her advantage. In 1975, Truman meets banker John O'Shea in a bathhouse and takes him to lunch with Babe, Slim Keith, and C. Z. Guest at La Côte Basque. Ann confronts Truman, but he is unmoved. O'Shea suggests Truman use his friends' lives as inspiration for his next novel, Answered Prayers . Despite attempts by Jack Dunphy, Truman's erstwhile partner, an excerpt is published in Esquire , with many recognizing it as a thinly veiled attack. Babe tells Bill she has been diagnosed with cancer. While lunching with Babe, Slim reveals Ann committed suicide before the excerpt's publication and suggests exacting revenge on Truman. | |||||||
10 | 2 | "Ice Water in Their Veins" | Gus Van Sant | Jon Robin Baitz | January 31, 2024 | 3WBB02 | 0.263 |
A few months following the scandalous article being published, Truman's downward spiral begins. Following Ann's suicide, the Swans decide to present a unified front as they set in motion a plan of revenge against Truman. | |||||||
11 | 3 | "Masquerade 1966" | Gus Van Sant | Jon Robin Baitz | February 7, 2024 | 3WBB03 | 0.298 |
In a documentary of 1966, Capote has cameras filming as he sets up for a Masquerade. Despite various times asking to not have their private issues shown on camera, the camera crew continues filming. In the background, Capote claims to be inviting a special guest, causing the women to guess unsuccessfully the identity. At the party, Ann Woodward and her son party crash with her wanting him to stop his smear campaign. At the end of the evening, Capote hallucinates dancing with his deceased mother. | |||||||
12 | 4 | "It's Impossible" | Gus Van Sant | Jon Robin Baitz | February 14, 2024 | 3WBB04 | 0.259 |
Babe continues her radiation therapy at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, but receives unfortunate news about its progress. As she faces a harsh reality, Babe forgives her husband of his indiscretions and hints at forgiving Truman to the dismay of Slim. Slim tries to slander Truman in the press while the rest of the Swans discourage her efforts. Truman completes his stint at rehab, but quickly relapses and returns to John O'Shea and his old habits. | |||||||
13 | 5 | "The Secret Inner Lives of Swans" | Max Winkler | Jon Robin Baitz | February 21, 2024 | 3WBB05 | 0.342 |
In 1975, Babe reads the Esquire article and argues with Bill about his lack of discretion in choosing his lovers. Despondent from a conversation with Bill Paley, Truman tries to commit suicide. He receives a phone call from James Baldwin, with whom he is acquainted, and James invites him to lunch at La Côte Basque. James offers Truman emotional support and encourages him to get sober. As they discuss behaviors of wild swans and compare them to the negative and hurtful behaviors of Truman's Swans, Truman recalls salacious details he did not include in the article. Truman awakens the next day (from his suicide attempt) in the same clothes he wore before the day with Baldwin, implying that the meeting has been a dream, and continues writing his book. That evening after telling Jack this is his best writing ever, he eats a roasted swan by candlelight. | |||||||
14 | 6 | "Hats, Gloves and Effete Homosexuals" | Gus Van Sant | Jon Robin Baitz | February 28, 2024 | 3WBB06 | 0.281 |
Truman advises the professional styling of Kate Harrington, the daughter of John O'Shea who he has taken under his wing as a protégé, and pressures her to mimic the look of Babe for her upcoming photoshoot with Richard Avedon. Both Lee and Dick encourage Kate to not allow Truman to control her image. Kate loves and admires Truman, but grows disillusioned with his irresponsible lifestyle and resumed alcoholism. Meanwhile, both Truman and the Swans struggle with their advancing ages and fading relevance in the social scene as their favorite stores and fashions become outdated. Truman takes a boorish repairman as a brief lover, only to find the affair unfulfilling. Entrenched in the threat of a lawsuit from Gore Vidal, who he had defamed on television, Truman elects to undergo plastic surgery and later resumes writing, wistfully recalling happier times with the Swans. | |||||||
15 | 7 | "Beautiful Babe" | Jennifer Lynch | Jon Robin Baitz | March 6, 2024 | 3WBB07 | 0.297 |
An increasingly frail Babe learns that she has only six months to live and makes peace with her mortality. She dies in the summer, surrounded by her family, and has a dying vision of reuniting with Truman, whom she praises as being one of the greatest and most important relationships in her life. The Swans attend her funeral, from which Truman has been banned, and begin to go their separate ways. Truman, grieving Babe and regretting their failure to reconcile, slips further into alcoholism and drug abuse, culminating in a disastrous and incoherent appearance on Stanley Siegel's talk show. Jack cuts ties with him and leaves him with Joanne Carson, Truman's only remaining friend. Joanne tries to support Truman's writing efforts, but Truman instead continues to drink heavily as his health declines. He hallucinates Babe comforting him as he dies of organ failure, and Joanne informs Jack that Truman's final words were "Beautiful Babe". | |||||||
16 | 8 | "Phantasm Forgiveness" | Gus Van Sant | Jon Robin Baitz | March 13, 2024 | 3WBB08 | 0.307 |
In 1984, Truman visits Babe's grave and lies down on top of it, longing to be reunited. He later visits Jack's apartment while pursuing sobriety, and the two reconcile and part ways as Truman vows to finish Answered Prayers as an apology to his former friends. As he writes, he envisions himself reconciling with the Swans by selflessly granting their deepest wishes. Between chapters, he has a vision of his combative mother, which drives him back to drinking and using drugs. During one such episode, he recalls her suicide, and hallucinates Ann, who informs him that Answered Prayers will never restore his friendships, as he wrote it with the intent of destroying high society out of revenge for himself and his shunned mother. He destroys the completed manuscript in secret and departs for his final stay with Joanne. In 2016, Truman's ashes are sold at auction for $45,000 (with Kate Harrington in attendance) as the ghosts of the Swans critique the proceedings. |
FX renewed the Feud series for a second season in February 2017, with Ryan Murphy and Jon Robin Baitz attached as writers, with an initial focus on the relationship between Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales. [12]
By April 2022, the focus had shifted onto Truman Capote and his tempestuous relationship with New York high society with Gus Van Sant on board to direct and Naomi Watts attached to star. [7]
Baitz adapted the bestselling book Capote's Women by Laurence Leamer for the series. Executive producers on the series include Murphy, Alexis Martin Woodall, Baitz, Van Sant, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Watts, Eric Kovtun, and Scott Robertson. [13]
It was the last project of Treat Williams before his death in 2023. [14]
In August 2022, Tom Hollander was cast as Truman Capote with the cast also including Diane Lane and Calista Flockhart. [15] In September 2022, Demi Moore joined the cast. [16]
Filming began in New York in the autumn of 2022. [17]
The first two episodes of the season premiered on January 31, 2024, with episodes available on Hulu the following day. [18] Internationally, the series will be available on Disney+ through Star and on Star+ in Latin America. [19]
In February 2024, Ryan Murphy Productions announced Feud: Capote vs. The Swans was the number one television series on Hulu upon its release. [20] [21] According to the streaming aggregator Reelgood, it was the eighth most streamed television series in the United States during the week of February 4, [22] the third during the week of February 14, [23] and the ninth during the week of February 21, 2024. [24] According to the streaming aggregator JustWatch, it was the sixth most streamed television series in the United States during the week of February 5–11, 2024. [25]
On Rotten Tomatoes, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans holds an approval rating of 77% based on 64 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "While this Feud might lack the abundance of incident that made its predecessor such a nasty delight, Capote vs. the Swans' luxe milieu and dynamite ensemble will keep spectators entertained." [26] On Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [27]
David Bianculli of NPR praised the season and concluded that "Capote vs. the Swans deserves our attention. It's a good drama, a compelling story with a powerhouse cast — and in this new installment of Feud, they all do some very powerful work." [28] For IGN , Emma Fraser gave Feud: Capote vs. The Swans a grade of 8 out of 10, praised the performances of the actors, especially Hollander's, complimented the costumes and the production design, and called the show a "delicious cautionary tale of writing." [29] In commending the show's handling of the "complex, enduring, often co-dependent bond between straight women and gay men", Alison Herman describes in Variety that the "series is ultimately a sincere and moving study of a dynamic that’s rarely explored with such empathy and depth, a novelty that makes its flaws more forgivable as the price of ambition." [30]
Other critics were less effusive about the season, particularly for its inadequate depth in plot and character development. Jackson McHenry wrote in his review for Vulture that "Capote vs. the Swans gives us plenty of the surface of Capote, of the public bons mots, but it has trouble getting inside his creative self." He elaborated that the show "delivers on the cattiness and the glamor and the factoids, like that Capote served everyone spaghetti and chicken hash alongside the champagne" in lieu of "a deeper insight into why Capote’s guest list was so revolutionary or how ’60s society was shifting as it happened." [31] In Salon, Melanie McFarland noted that the female characters in Baitz's script lacked depth and observed that he "extensively invests in writing to one layer of these women’s interiority without convincing us that there's more to them than their vindictiveness, prejudice or selfishness." She also examined the comparisons drawn by FX and the show to The Real Housewives franchise, a perception she deems "a disservice" to the cast, and juxtaposed the show's portrayals of the women with those from the franchise: "Bravo 's housewives may be as shallow as Capote’s, but Cohen is a master at casting problematic people into addictive spectacles. Conversely, Baitz and that cast stuff so much effort into their characters as to make them stiff objects instead of granting them the flexibility to be wickedly real." [32]
Calista Kay Flockhart is an American actress. She is best known for portraying the title character on the Fox television series Ally McBeal (1997–2002), for which she received a Golden Globe Award in 1998 and was thrice nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. From 2006 to 2011, she starred as Kitty Walker on the ABC drama series Brothers & Sisters, and between 2015 and 2021, Flockhart appeared as Cat Grant on the superhero drama Supergirl. In film, she is known for roles in The Birdcage (1996), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999), and Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2000).
Truman Garcia Capote was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) and the true crime novel In Cold Blood (1966). His works have been adapted into more than 20 films and television productions.
Richard Treat Williams Jr. was an American stage, film and television actor with a career that spanned five decades.
Thomas Anthony Hollander is a British actor who has gained success for his roles on stage and screen, winning BAFTA and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Ryan Patrick Murphy is an American television writer, director, and producer. He has created and produced a number of television series including Nip/Tuck (2003–2010), Glee (2009–2015), American Horror Story (2011–present), American Crime Story (2016–present), Pose (2018–2021), 9-1-1 (2018–present), 9-1-1: Lone Star (2020–present), Ratched (2020), American Horror Stories (2021–present), and Monster (2022-).
Jon Robin Baitz is an American playwright, screenwriter and television producer. He is a two time Pulitzer Prize finalist, as well as a Guggenheim, American Academy of Arts and Letters, and National Endowment for the Arts Fellow.
Nancy "Slim" Keith, Lady Keith of Castleacre was an American socialite and fashion icon during the 1950s and 1960s, exemplifying the American jet set. Keith was married 3 times; firstly to American film director Howard Hawks, secondly to American producer Leland Hayward, and finally to British banker and aristocrat Kenneth Keith, Baron Keith of Castleacre.
The Black and White Ball was a masquerade ball held on November 28, 1966, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Hosted by author Truman Capote, the ball was in honor of The Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham.
La Côte Basque was a New York City restaurant. It opened in the late 1950s and operated until it closed on March 7, 2004. In business for 45 years, upon its closing The New York Times called it a "former high-society temple of French cuisine at 60 West 55th Street."
Russell George Tovey is an English actor. He is best known for playing the role of werewolf George Sands in the BBC's supernatural comedy-drama Being Human, Rudge in both the stage and film versions of The History Boys, Steve in the BBC Three sitcom Him & Her, Kevin Matheson in the HBO original series Looking and its subsequent series finale television film Looking: The Movie, and Patrick Read in American Horror Story: NYC.
Feud is an American anthology drama television series created by Ryan Murphy, Jaffe Cohen, and Michael Zam, which premiered on FX on March 5, 2017. Conceived as an anthology series, Feud's first season, Bette and Joan, chronicles the well-documented rivalry between Hollywood actresses Joan Crawford and Bette Davis during and after the production of their psychological horror thriller film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon star as Crawford and Davis, respectively. Judy Davis, Jackie Hoffman, Alfred Molina, Stanley Tucci, and Alison Wright feature in supporting roles. Academy Award–winning actresses Catherine Zeta-Jones and Kathy Bates also appear. Critically acclaimed, with major praise for Lange and Sarandon's performances, the first season garnered several accolades. It received 18 nominations at the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards and won two, including Outstanding Hairstyling and Makeup (Non-Prosthetic). Bette and Joan also received six Critics' Choice Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Television Critics Association Awards nominations.
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Ann Eden Woodward was an American socialite, showgirl, model, and radio actress. In 1940, while working as a radio actress, she was voted "The Most Beautiful Girl in Radio". Woodward became a prominent and controversial figure in New York high society after her marriage to banking heir William Woodward Jr.
American Horror Stories is an American horror anthology television series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for FX on Hulu. Originally premiering on July 15, 2021, the series serves as a direct spin-off/companion series to American Horror Story, and the third installment in the American Story media franchise. Contrasted by American Horror Story which tells a different story throughout each season, Stories tells a different story in each individual episode.
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