'The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story' Recap: Peers Pressure

Almost nothing provokes such a vast spectrum of emotion as receiving a jury summons. Anger, annoyance, confusion, excitement, solemnity, resignation. Tons of feelings emanate from that beige envelope like rays from a particularly d–kish sun. All but the most naive or bored know that jury duty is something to get out of, but it’s our proud American duty to serve! So report we must. 

As much of a pain as jury duty can be, I think we’ve all sat in those immense, drably-carpeted waiting rooms fantasizing about being selected for a jury in some kind of huge, high-profile case. That would make the whole process worth it, right? To be part of an important trial? Well, no trial has ever been as important as the O.J. Simpson trial, and if “A Jury in Jail” is to be trusted, perhaps no jury has had a worse experience. From actual verbal abuse by the courthouse guards to denial of everyday pleasantries like television or swimming pool access, the jurors eventually turned on each other and the system itself. But where most of us knew of all the dysfunction surrounding the prosecution and defense, all this jury drama had been shielded from public eye. Until now! What a truly fascinating episode. Let’s talk about it.

We began in a tacky hotel conference room where a borderline RACE RIOT was about to break out.

Meet the men and women of the O.J. Simpson trial jury. We were eight months into their daily ordeal and it was safe to say that they were no longer stoked or excited to be apart of the Trial of the Century. But things weren’t always this way.

We flashed back to their original arrival at the hotel in which they’d be sequestered, and a few were feeling pretty jazzed about getting a high-profile vacation for their efforts. But within minutes they were all being yelled at very harshly by uniformed officers, and also they weren’t allowed to read magazines, watch TV, or even take a sweet dip in the jacuzz’! 

So right away things were not fun, and this was before outright arguments broke out between the jurors that reflected tons of racial tension. For example, all the white people wanted to watch Seinfeld on the communal television, but they were outnumbered by those who wanted to watch Martin.

If we are being honest, this was the only correct decision this jury ever made. Martin was the best.

The Dream Team, however, was having a GREAT time. This was mostly due to the whole “glove not fitting” incident, a victory which caused them to break out champagne and do cartwheels around the office. Even O.J. was feeling pretty good, as evidenced by this very fun-seeming poker game he played with the boys using Skittles for money. (I honestly would’ve Hungry Hungry Hippo’d that whole table.) In contrast, Marcia Clark was feeling very angry and bummed about the glove thing (which made her kinda hate Chris Darden even more than the time he failed to sex her up on vacation). But in her opinion they still had very convincing DNA evidence on their side.