It’s all downhill from right here. That’s the impression one will get watching episode 5 of “American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez,” which aired Tuesday evening on FX.
The newest chapter of the Ryan Murphy-produced present dramatizes Hernandez’s arrival in Foxborough, the place he rapidly learns that coach Bill Belichick has little interest in holding tabs on his staff’s new offensive weapon, and no capability to maintain Hernandez on the straight and slim as soon as it’s clear he’s coming undone.
“This is a man’s team, be a man,” Belichick tells the participant at one level.
It doesn’t take lengthy for Hernandez’s lackadaisical strategy in observe to trouble his coach. In one scene, Belichick seems to punish Hernandez for lining up incorrectly, ordering up a sequence of performs that places the tight finish within the running-back place. As a end result, Hernandez takes a sequence of big hits that go away him dazed, underscoring the impact repeated blows to the top might have had on his habits.
“I’m getting my head beat in. I’m not a running back,” Hernandez pleads.
“I’ll tell you what you are,” Belichick barks.
The episode ends with Hernandez on the wheel of an idling automotive at evening, observing a site visitors mild as if in a trance.
Belichick is portrayed within the present, which relies on The Boston Globe’s Spotlight series and accompanying podcast, produced by The Boston Globe and Wondery, as a social misfit whose solely pursuits are soccer and … Bon Jovi. There’s an amusing scene by which the coach (performed by Tony-winning stage actor Norbert Leo Butz) will get hyped for observe by listening to “It’s My Life” with the amount turned up.
In episode 5, we’re additionally launched to 2 characters who might play probably the most pivotal roles in Hernandez’s previous few years. One is Shayanna Jenkins, a former highschool flame with whom Hernandez reconnects after he’s drafted by the Patriots. (The pair finally get engaged and have a daughter.)
The different is Alexander Bradley. While Jenkins is portrayed as a stabilizing pressure in Hernandez’s life, Bradley is the other. A drug supplier who’s hung out behind bars, Bradley tells Hernandez that the NFL and jail are extra comparable than it might sound.
“Ain’t no difference between the warden and the owner of that team,” Bradley says. “White dudes overseeing a whole bunch of Black folk. … They snap their finger and take everything away. You only think you free.”
(*5*)
Mark Shanahan might be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @MarkAShanahan.
