One thing that A Random Killing made very clear to me is that the reverse chronology is doing more to hurt the show than benefit it. I’ve had my troubles with all the jumping around and the confusion it leads to but it wasn’t until this episode that I just threw in the towel and admitted that yes, this just does not work. It unnecessarily complicates the narrative in places and actually diminishes the impact of some of the scenes. For example, that scene with the older gentleman in Manhunt could have been elevated so much if we’ve had Lee Miglin’s murder beforehand to frame Cunanan’s actions. On its own it was a bloody excellent, if chilling, scene but it could have been so much more powerful if we’ve had the background of Cunanan’s using the duct tape in Miglin’s murder. We’d have felt more for the john that Cunanan terrorized too, beyond basic empathy, if we’ve associated what Cunanan has done to him with the heartbreaking Miglin who we got to know as a person that evoked a deep sense of empathy and sympathy. The commentary about the dangers of the closet and how vulnerable it made both men to Cunanan is also much less effective without Miglin’s murder to frame it. Granted A Random Killing now reframes that scene in Manhunt and infuses it with clearer themes but that’s an unnecessary convolution.

Another thing that this structure muddies up is some of the commentary about how the authorities fucked up Cunanan’s chase. In Manhunt, Agent whatshiface tells Det. Lori that Cunanan targets
older

closeted wealthy homosexuals and it’s really a point to notice that the only
person that description fits is Lee Miglin. The other two non-random
killings thus far, Jeff Trail, David Madson, do not fit the victim
pool that the FBI gave the Miami police. But it’s harder to notice that on the show because the
same episode that gave this description witnessed Cunanan actually
targeting a closeted older wealthy gay man and the next episode was the
murder of one. Versace is also close enough to that, except the closeted
part, that the discrepancy slides by unnoticed. It’s only with Trail
and Madson that you’d go “wait a minute, they don’t fit that” and realize that it makes no sense for the police to be focusing only on closeted older gay men when three out of four victims do not fit that description. Except that would
come a full month after we’ve been told of who Cunanan’s targets. That’s a long
time for your audience to notice much less remember that part

Finally, the relatively linear timeline in ep 3 made me realize just how much energy I was putting into trying to keep up with the jumping around in the first two to try and figure when something is happening (which, according to a lot of the post-episode reviews, is apparently a widespread problem. I’ve seen people confuse the timing of the conversation between Versace and Antonio outside of the nightclub as one that took place years before Versace was killed. And while that’s too extreme to fully blame on the show (since Cunanan was right there the very next scene), it’s still a testament of the unnecessary confusion alternating between several time periods per episode on top of the reverse chronology causes). That confusion and the constant need to be thinking of the details of the previous episode to link to the current one detracts from the coherency and the impact of the narrative which ultimately hurts the show. I also don’t see what that structure adds to the story to make up for that confusion or to justify their need to tell the story backwards. I guess I don’t understand their purpose in doing so other than it being theoretically cool, which frustrates me because the story is great, the acting is superb and I’m really enjoying the episodes but the structure keeps interrupting the flow of the story and keeps the show from reaching its full potential.