Review: Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, “The Secret Inner Lives of Swans” | Season 2, Episode 5
James Baldwin takes over for an episode that feels like a one-act play—and, finally, draws on its writer’s strengths
I confess that I was unfamiliar with Jon Robin Baitz’s work before he was announced as the writer/show-runner of this Feud season. I’ve neither read nor seen any of his plays; but given that he has either won or been nominated for Drama Desk Awards, Pulitzer Prizes and a Guggenheim Fellowship, I’m going to assume his work in the theater is exceptional. I also haven’t seen any of the TV episodes he wrote for The West Wing, Alias, Brothers & Sisters or The Slap, nor have I seen Stonewall or People I Know, two of the movies he wrote. The movies received middling reviews, but I’m guessing the TV episodes were pretty good (especially Brothers & Sisters, which he created and which ran for five seasons) or else he likely wouldn’t have been handed a whole Feud season to manage.
Still, it’s pretty clear that Baitz is most accomplished as a playwright, which may explain why this week’s Feud episode “The Secret Inner Lives of Swans”—practically a one-act play in its execution—feels more …