FX
We begin Feud: Capote vs. The Swans in 1984. Truman Capote (Tom Hollander) is wandering around a graveyard, and his eyes linger on a bevy of swans floating around a neighboring lake. Two key items of context here: First, a group of swans is indeed called a “bevy,” so get used to that word—you’re going to see a lot of it while reading about this show. And second, Capote died in 1984. Were these his final visions?
Capote vs. the Swans then flashes back to 1968, where a younger Truman consoles Babe Paley (Naomi Watts) on the verge of a mental breakdown. She’s had it with her husband, Bill (the late Treat Williams in his final role), who destroyed their bedsheets when he slept with the governor’s wife, Happy Rockefeller (Rebecca Creskoff), in their bed while she was menstruating. But Truman has an easy cure for Babe’s woes: Take a valium and think of the finest pieces of jewelry in the world. After all, Bill will agree to buy Babe anything to keep this scandal from leaking. Babe settles down with Truman as her big spoon, the only man she’ll ever need in life—and also the only man who could ever really hurt her. “And that would never happen,” Truman promises.
Want to make a bet, Truman?