Free the Juice! Episode 10 of The People v. O.J. Simpson

Source: FX

It’s the episode that fans of this miniseries have been dreading because they want the show to go on. We know how the case turns out, but we don’t exactly know how the story ends. Honestly, this story will never end. It’s been 20 years and people are still upset about the verdict. Some of those with ties to the case continue to process it all. And people will always see these names: Darden, Clark, Cochran, Shapiro, Kardashian, Fuhrman, Goldman, etc. and think O.J. Simpson Trial.  But enough of why this case still lives on. Let’s get to the final episode.  

--I thought O.J. Simpson was silent during the entire trial. But Judge Ito did allow him to make a statement toward the end. According to my dad, the jury was not present and Simpson did it in front of cameras for the public. The statement Cuba Gooding performed on the show was similar if not exact, to what O.J. said.

--I’m still shocked that, according to TV Marcia Clark’s closing statement, O.J. never asked how Nicole Brown died. If that’s true, that says a LOT.

--TV dad Sterling K. Brown did his thing again, portraying real Dad tonight! He performed my father’s closing statement so well. He had his movements and voice down. The scene where my dad cried during the press conference was on point too. That was the first and only time I ever saw my father breakdown. And it made me tear up when I watched it as a teen. People really got to see that he did his job from the heart.

--Johnnie Cochran didn't come up with "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit." According to Dream Team attorney Carl Douglas, the legendary line came from the dean of the Santa Clara University Law School during a brainstorm meeting.  

--I’m going to miss John Travolta playing Shapiro. It cracks me up how the other lawyers make Shapiro seem like the oddball in the group.

--I remember that Oprah show where the audience watched the reading of the verdict.

Source: FX Network

 --Yes the jury deliberated for only four hours. Eight months of testimony all boiled down to a four-hour discussion. Those people were isolated, not treated the best and were probably ready to go home. I’m not surprised they reached a decision so quickly.

-- The juror throwing up the Black Power fist in the air on his way out of the courtroom did happen. I still don’t understand why black people saw so much cultural solidarity with O.J. when he didn’t affiliate with the black community much at all. And I wonder if another famous black man were in O.J.’s position back then, would he be supporting a brotha.

--I love how they reenacted the woman stumbling while reading the verdict. That got to people back then.

--During the press conference scene, a reporter asked if the DA was going to look for the real killer now that O.J. was acquitted. That happened and Gil Garcetti gave the reporter serious side-eye.

--The scene with TV dad where Cochran tells him he’s going to bring him back into the community was not 100% accurate. My father was honored at a ceremony by African Americans in LA following the trial. Cochran praised my father at the event and mentioned something about welcoming my father back to the community. When my father got up to spoke, he said that he never left the black community. And he didn’t leave.  Johnnie Cochran was a brilliant attorney and helped many people when he was here. Still he could’ve won this case without insinuating to the black community that my father was a race traitor. Especially since he mentored my father. But what’s done is done. I have no ill feelings toward Cochran, and I know he and my father butt heads during the trial. I just wish he took a different approach when going against my father. It would’ve made things easier.

On the bright side, I’m glad the series has opened the public’s eyes to what my father went through.  I think more people, including those who side with the defense, have more compassion for him. At least that’s the impression I got through my interactions with people on social media.

--I had no idea Robert Kardashian stopped talking to O.J. Simpson. Someone on Twitter told me Khloe Kardashian speculated her father’s death of throat cancer, symbolized stress he carried from secrets he held about O.J. You can read that here. Mr. Kardashian didn’t smoke or drink.

--People keep saying most of the defense team died from the case. No, just Kardashian and Cochran.

--And yes O.J. is in jail for another crime and up for parole next year.

You see what I mean? This story never ends.