Will 'Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans' Live Up To My Expectations?

I'm intrigued...and concerned

Living the life of a “Nostalginista,” requires very little of one’s self. The only real requirements to being part of the lifestyle are just to revel in all things pop culture from years past—and keep an eye out for any new media about it. 

Feud, created by Ryan Murphy, Jaffe Cohen, and Michael Zam, is an anthology series that can be described as American Horror Story’s Upper East Side cousin once removed. Each season chronicles famous feuds, mainly revolving around rich and/or famous women, through the twentieth century (as of now).  As a nostalginista (yes it is now a word) I was fascinated because of the subject matter but worried if it would be executed as well as I wanted it to be.

Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon in Feud: Bette and Joan

The first season, Feud: Bette and Joan, centered around legendary movie queens Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, and their feud that stemmed from the making of 1962’s What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? That season wanted to prove how Hollywood pitted women against each other and then discarded them once they felt they were too old to bring in big numbers at the box office.  

However, the execution was, to be very blunt, bad.  While trying to show Hollywood’s mistreatment of older actresses, Feud: Bette and Joan just made both Crawford and Davis look like emotionally immature fading screen queens who were not sharp enough to see what was going on around them. It also got level facts wrong, including the timeline of the feud they built the season around. After revisiting the first season, and hearing it was returning for a second after such a hiatus—the first premiered in 2017—I was immediately intrigued and again, slightly concerned. 

Tom Hollander as Truman Capote