Well. If you’d come to me in 1994 and told me that I would have a conversation in 2016 that involved my saying the phrase, “Chris Darden is SO HOT. I think I’m in love with him,” I would have been very confused. HOWEVER. Here we are! It’s just that Sterling K Brown’s Chris Darden is the best. He is smart, and sensitive, and kind. He is supportive! He can dance! He will serenade you when you arrive at work! He loves Marcia’s terrible hair! He is sexy when shirtlessly brushing his teeth! If it’s wrong to be telling Marcia Clark and Chris Darden to MAKE OUT, then I guess I am a terrible person, because I totally did that.

In other topics for discussion: POOR MARCIA. Sarah Paulson has been exceptionally great on this show, but tonight was her Emmy reel and rightly so. She is tremendously good, to the point where her stress about (a) her custody battle with shitty ex-husband #2, (b) her shitty ex-husband #1 selling topless photos of her to the tabloids (c) everyone having an opinion about her hair, and her clothes, including her boss, and (d) oh, I don’t know, her job prosecuting the trial of the century, actually created a visceral rush of sympathy stress in my own body. Also interesting: if last week’s look at Johnnie Cochran made him into a bit of a hero (an amazing lawyer, an impressive gamesman, an…intriguing mentor, a kind parent), this week, the portrayal is not so positive, as we learn that the LA Times is writing a story about his own alleged history of domestic abuse, and he reacts to that by essentially bribing his ex-wife not to speak to them; he’s also glib and unpleasant to Marcia at several points. Essentially, we’re getting a very complete portrait of a complicated man here, I think.

Finally, another shout-out to the music supervisors this week. The music choices on this show are stellar — I especially thought the use of Portishead’s “Sour Times” was really smart; that song takes me back to 1994 just as much as “Sabotage” did. To have it playing as Marcia Clark has to endure a kid making a joke about her buying tampons was inspired.

I ALSO want to note that I am really annoyed that I forgot to mention one of my favorite moments last week, when Johnnie tells OJ that they had to redecorate his house before the jury came over, and OJ’s response, in part, is, “BUT MY HOUSE WAS IN SUNSET MAGAZINE!” That’s….such a Southern California thing to say. (That said: Sunset is really good. I subscribe. It’s got great recipes and really good travel and gardening tips for people in the Western US. It’s kind of like the California Garden and Gun? It’s also the source of my favorite lemon bar recipe.)

Elsewhere, Vulture talked to Marcia Clark about this episode, and you should definitely read the interview. You may also want to read Vanity Fair’s piece about Dominick Dunne; the kicker is unmissable. As usual, I’m not really going to recap this as much as…free flow discuss whatever pops into head as being noteworthy. Let’s do this!