“'American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez' Review”

I pointed this out last week Aaron Hernandez began to shift its focus: While the first seven episodes were told almost entirely from Aaron Hernandez's perspective, “Odin” split time between the killer and the young man whose life he famously shortened. But in this penultimate part, the balance becomes even more unbalanced: Aaron himself only appears in a handful of key scenes, and even when he does, the camera lingers even more on the faces of the people whose lives he changed forever.

“What’s Left Behind” begins with Hernandez’s arrest on June 26, 2013, a moment captured by swarms of voracious paparazzi. From there, we're firmly in postgame mode, taking a look at some of the conversations that undoubtedly took place in real life. Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick take care of damage control: They release Aaron from the team, organize a jersey swap for fans and hold an emergency press conference. Belichick's mood is somber – more sombre and uncomfortable than angry, although he insists that Aaron will not be mentioned again. His talk about moving forward and being proud of his players sounds about right, a PR attempt aimed at covering up the past and making room for new Patriots without Hernandez.

Anyone with a close connection to Aaron is now under close scrutiny, to the point that both his mother and brother are forced to take a leave of absence from their jobs. But the real protagonist of the episode is Shayanna, who still denies that her fiancé could do such a thing. It would be easier to process her feelings if she at least had the reassurance that she and her daughter Avielle would be okay, but Aaron's terminated contract means cash flow could soon become an issue. Most important, however, is her inner conflict. Is it possible to be loyal to both your sister and the man who almost certainly murdered her life partner? The conversations between Shay and Shaneah in this episode are full of tension, especially when Nay makes it clear that she knows Shay was protecting Aaron.

From here, the episode boils down Shay's struggle to make an incredibly difficult decision: Will she cooperate with prosecutors and testify, or risk five years in prison for obstruction of justice? Security footage shows Shay disposing of a large box shortly after a call from Aaron, leading to the obvious conclusion that she intentionally or unintentionally helped him dispose of the murder weapon – and lied about the removal of anything from her House has not been reported. She's unable to turn down an offer from prosecutor William McCauley (the always good Kelly AuCoin), who suggests that Aaron get a life sentence no matter what.

She's obviously under a lot of pressure, and it's only going to get worse from here. Tanya was arrested after repeatedly failing to respond to a grand jury subpoena, and police found a hidden car in the garage – a car linked to the Boston double murder. Odin Lloyd is no longer the only murder Aaron is accused of.

“What's Left Behind” benefits from Aaron remaining out of frame for several long stretches; After the arrest, we don't see him again until about 20 minutes later, when Terri visits him. We are immersed in the perspectives of his family, all of whom are doing their best to be there for him in some way. This is especially difficult for Shay, who cannot stand the sight of this man who she knows is a murderer deep down. When she actually shows up, she clings to the hope that Aaron is innocent and desperately looks for a reason to believe him. But he's upset because she didn't bring Avielle with her and talk to the DA's office. Shay is pretty clear-headed when it comes to explaining their divided loyalties—she's torn between him and her family, for obvious reasons—but Aaron hits all the right pressure points when he replies, “I'm yours.” Family, Shay.” From that moment on, Shay knows where she will sit during the trial: next to Terri on the defendant's side of the courtroom, not next to the sister she so desperately needs right now.

McCauley's opening statement addresses the way fandom allows celebrities like Aaron to get away with all sorts of things; Money protects them from consequences and worship blinds people to the truth. It's a nice summary of one of the show's key themes. These scenes remind me a little of the excellent courtroom scenes from the first season of OJ Simpson American crime storya story that focused less on Simpson's psychology and more on the heated socio-political debates that the trial and media spectacle sparked. Aaron HernandezIn contrast, it's more reminiscent of Ryan Murphy's Dahmerwhich suffered from waiting until the later episodes after the arrest to address these ideas. (This show is better than Dahmeralthough.)

Odin's sister Shaquilla Thibou takes the stand to talk about the cryptic texts she received from Odin shortly before his death. Then Ortiz and Odin's mother testify and court is adjourned for a day. Nay makes one final, brutally serious request: When Shay testifies next week, will she please just tell the truth? “I can’t lose you either,” Nay says.

But that comment isn't enough to push back Shay's loyalty. On the witness stand, she disappoints both McCauley and her sister by claiming that she never looked inside the box Aaron asked her to throw away, nor did they discuss its contents – in fact, she supposedly can't even remember where the dumpster was in she threw it away. She even goes so far as to claim that she believed the box only contained marijuana.

With this decision, Shay sacrifices her relationship with her sister and officially loses her, possibly forever. You can see how much it hurts Nay, who storms out of the courtroom. But Shay makes some good points in her conversation with her mother in the bathroom. From her perspective, her fiancé was exploited and rejected by virtually everyone in his life, including the NFL. Even Shay's mother urged her daughter to ignore Aaron's problems because he could provide a life for her and Avielle. Shay's testimony may be in vain, but it protects herself from further legal consequences without completely bringing her vulnerable fiancé to his knees.

But again, deep down, Shay always knew that Aaron Odin killed Lloyd – there's a reason she doesn't directly ask Aaron about his guilt until he's charged with double murder, an incident she knew nothing about. If Shay's mother was happy to look away from his magnificent bouquet of red flags, so was Shay himself. Now she's building a meaningful relationship with a blood relative to stand by a man who's probably doomed either way. In fact, McCauley's warning proved correct: Aaron is found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center.

After an episode about all the family strife that left Aaron in his wake, the ending of “What's Left Behind” offers a surprisingly calm, peaceful scene of familial bonding, a stark contrast to Shay's interactions with Aaron earlier in the episode. I don't have much sympathy for the antihero at the center of this story, but it's hard not to feel it. Today is Avielle's birthday and it's obvious how much Aaron misses her.

There's no telling whether the real Aaron Hernandez said “I'm sorry” to his daughter in a rare private moment, but it's pretty effective here, especially because the meaning of his words remains somewhat unclear. From what I've read there is little There is evidence that Hernandez expressed remorse for the murders themselves, but it's not implausible that in a quiet moment like this he could let a spark of regret slip through – if not for killing three innocent men, then at least , because he has put himself in such a situation where he can no longer support his family.

So many of this man's actions were driven by a bone-deep insecurity that stemmed from his father's idea of ​​masculinity. The irony, of course, is that Aaron's crimes go far beyond the kinds of crimes that once prevented Dennis from reaching his full potential. Did Aaron take this path out of a desire to emulate his father and live up to his expectations, or was he willing to do so? avoid become like him? Of course, nothing here can be attributed solely to daddy issues; A man like Aaron Hernandez is shaped by a whole range of influences, not just one. It is a credit to this penultimate episode that it never leaves everything so clear.

• I don't really have any particular complaints about this episode, so maybe five stars would be more appropriate. But I still feel like the show didn't do anything that deserved unqualified praise, so I'm sticking with my standard “pretty good episode of television” rating.

• While all this is happening, the NFL is settling a $765 million concussion lawsuit after knowingly concealing the dangers of head injuries. Relevant!

• “What do you wear to your son’s murder trial – a splash of color?”

• “The court date is adjourned for the weekend. The Super Bowl is on Sunday and the Patriots are playing. If they start talking about this case, mute it.”

• There's an interesting scene where Tanya approves of Shay's “ride or die” mentality and tells her how she witnessed Dennis' anger when elementary-aged Aaron joined a group of his cheerleading cousins ​​during a neighborhood game instead playing football with his brother and the other boys. I appreciate that the moment isn't presented as an obvious reference to Aaron's sexuality, although I wondered if Shay even made that connection in that moment.

• Hernandez actually read this Harry Potter Books in prison, although it seems like that probably happened in real life after his conviction.

• Josh Rivera does his usual good job here, although his close-ups definitely show a level of emotion that I can't see in the actual footage of the trial and verdict. At least in the clips from the Netflix documentary, he seems more distant and almost indifferent.