American Crime Season 1 Episode 1 Review: Episode One

at .  Updated at .

Did you get sucked into American Crime?

American Crime has been touted as the show you can't miss. If tonight's any indication about how the season will go, we're certainly in for a wild ride filled with a ton of twists and turns.

American Crime Season 1 Episode 1 starts off eerily with a phone call no parent wants to receive. It's a scene which instantly grabs your attention and makes your heart race – this was the perfect way to prepare the audience for a crazy story.

Home Invasion - American Crime Season 1 Episode 1

Timothy Hutton's portrayal as Russ Skokie was absolutely brilliant. You couldn't help but feel his pain when he had to identify his son Matt's body. The sheer shock of knowing he talked to his son the night he was killed added to the heartbreaking scene – congrats go out to the writers for making it seem so real.

Who else wanted to scream when the clerk didn't ask for ID?

This is one of my biggest pet peeves in regard to TV shows – when someone makes a large purchase they rarely ask for ID. It was obvious once the credit card was being scanned it would turn out to be Matt's and it would have made things so much easier had the clerk asked for ID and we'd get a quick identification of the suspect.

It was so uncomfortable watching Barb and Russ. I understand Barb being frustrated about not having more information about the murder of her son, but this is not something you want to rush. It was petty of her to be jealous of the fact she wasn't called and Russ was – you're son was just murdered and you are concerned about them calling his father first and not you?

Barb was completely out of line trying to get Gwen's parents to talk about what happened to her. There's a time and a place to talk about Gwen being sexually violated and now was not the time especially considering Gwen wasn't there to talk for herself. Of course Barb doesn't want people to forget about what happened, but it was way too soon.

It didn't surprise me Tony would be taken down to the station. The police completely manipulated the situation and Tony should have been provided with a lawyer or at least been aware of some of his rights. It's clear Tony was being a stupid kid and made some stupid choices, but he didn't deserve to be arrested. When he was screaming his innocence, I couldn't help but feel terrible for him. 

Who else wanted to scream at Barb when she was going on and on with the reporter? It was clear she was trying to make Russ look bad and make herself seem like some kind of saint. I get the anger she feels about Russ leaving her broke with her three boys, but we need to focus on the bigger picture here. Felicity Huffman did a phenomenal job of playing a character who you want to feel bad for, but you can't help but dislike her, too. 

The whole Carter and Aubry storyline was confusing at first and I found myself trying to figure out where these two fit into the puzzle until Hector mentioned Matt being a drug dealer. It would make sense for Carter, being so strung out on drugs, for going to Matt and killing him for money. I'm interested to seeing how this all plays out in the coming weeks. 

In the end we are left with questions of what really happened the night Matt was killed and what exactly he was involved in. American Crime certainly grabs your attention and even though there are a lot of characters to keep track of, it makes sense to the story. It's refreshing to have a show not shy away from being uncomfortable at times and not using cheap tricks to shock their audience.

Next week on American Crime Season 1 Episode 2, Barb and Russ will get the chance to talk with both Carter and Aubry which will certainly will lead to even more questions. 

What did you think of tonight's premiere episode? Will you stick around for next week?

If you missed tonight's episode go watch American Crime online now via TV Fanatic. 

Episode One Review

Editor Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
  • 5.0 / 5.0
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
User Rating:

Rating: 4.7 / 5.0 (24 Votes)

Samantha McAllister was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in November 2018.

Show Comments
Tags: ,