As a wise man named Bane once said, theatricality and deception are powerful agents to the uninitiated.
asserted
theatricality → name → uninitiated
But Nance O’Neill, star of the stage, is initiated, and she has come to make Lizzie Borden an initiate in time to save her neck from the gallows.
asserted
Borden → initiate → gallows
This episode tells the relatively straightforward story of Lizzie’s imprisonment and trial, such as it is.
asserted
it → tell → imprisonment
Jail is a genteel affair for the well-resourced heiress, who makes the most of her tiny little window’s view until such time as the prison staff takes pity on her and orchestrates her return to house arrest.
asserted
staff → resource → arrest
By then her vengeful sister Emma has chopped down all of Lizzie’s cherry trees, but she places cuttings in vases all over the house.
asserted
she → chop → house
She’s intent on seeing them blossom again.
asserted
them → ’ → ?
Her own prospects look somewhat more grim, because her account of the events of that fateful day changes from one telling to the next.
asserted
account → look → next
Nance receives an account of Lizzie’s disastrous inquest directly from the bailiff, whom she enthusiastically fucks to acquire the information.
asserted
she → receive → information
(She’s a hoot, our Nance.)
asserted
She → ’ → ?
With her story a shambles, it’ll all come down to how she comes across during the trial.
asserted
she → come → trial
Nance coaches Lizzie on how to enter, how to sit, how to show a little ankle, how to faint on cue when her parents’ skulls are brought in as evidence, how to cry on cue when her sister Emma takes the stand.
asserted
sister → coach → stand
Emma actually winds up saving her bacon as much as Nance does, swearing her sister couldn’t have done it and casting suspicion on an illusory “pale man” allegedly seen skulking around the house.
uncertain
sister → wind → house
She’s making good on a vow she made to her dying mother to protect her baby sister…and, perhaps, making good on her guilt over how Lizzie was treated by the family over the years while Emma was free and clear.
asserted
Emma → make → years
In the end, simple sexism saves Lizzie as much as a convincing courtroom performance or powerful sisterly testimony.
asserted
sexism → save → performance
The jury just does not believe a woman could have committed such a crime.
uncertain
woman → believe → crime
(As always, the Portuguese are blamed.)
asserted
Portuguese → blame → ?
The jurors reach a not guilty verdict so fast they decide to sit around and play cards for an hour before announcing it, just for appearances’ sake.
asserted
they → reach → sake
Lizzie enjoys her acquittal, of course.
asserted
Lizzie → enjoy → course
She thanks the jurors individually per Nance’s advice, then stands before the unfamiliar flashbulbs of the press and announces her intention to create an animal sanctuary.
asserted
She → thank → sanctuary
(Oh god, Lizzie Borden is going Carole Baskin.)
asserted
Borden → go → ?
She marches out of the courtroom and travels in her carriage to the triumphant strains of the Andrew Oldham Orchestra’s version of the Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time,” familiar as the basis for the Verve’s hit “Bitter Sweet Symphony.”
asserted
She → march → hit
She’s just vibing joyfully…but she’s doing it without Bridget, who disappears for the entire trial and is only glimpsed in hallucinations and wishful thinking.
asserted
who → vibe → hallucinations
But then I think about the literal acting lessons Lizzie received to win a not guilty verdict.
asserted
Lizzie → think → verdict
I think about the old-school cinematic irises that have transitioned us in and out of different scenes.
asserted
that → think → scenes
I think of that curtain opening at the start of the show, revealing a toy piano played by unseen hands.
asserted
I → think → hands
Sean T. Collins (@seantcollins.com on Bluesky and theseantcollins on Patreon) has written about television for The New York Times, Vulture, Rolling Stone, and elsewhere.
asserted
Collins → write → Times
He is the author of Pain Don’t Hurt: Meditations on Road House.
asserted
Pain → hurt → House
He lives with his family on Long Island.
asserted
He → live → Island
The Aporia
