'American Crime Story' Season 2, Episode 7 'Ascent' Recap: Fact or Fiction? [SPOILERS]

We Made This ‘Together’

In the hopes of trying to make their empire work, the Versace siblings start on creating the dress that will rule the world. Although Gianni used Donatella’s body to mold the dress after, he also became the sculptor. Together, they were like carving a masterpiece on a canvass. The creation was a success. The dress turned out to be a black, leather and textile mix. It looked like a Madonna outfit from the 80s, but better. Donatella insists that the dress would look good on Naomi Campbell. But Gianni tells otherwise.

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Gianni forced Donatella to wear the dress. They attended a red carpet event with Donatella wearing it. In a snap, the dress became everyone’s attention. The paparazzi started to flock to Donatella with their cameras. Gianni became an outcast in the scene, and the dress was the sole focus of the red carpet. Gianni lets go of Donatella’s hand and leaves her for the photographers to feast.

Andrew Cunanan showed up to watch an 18th-century play and looked dazzling. But in a bar, he buys a drink for himself. Norman Blachford (Michael Nouri) gets a glance at him. As Andrew leaves the bar, Norman follows him. They meet up the upper floors of the building. Andrew introduces himself as Andrew Da Silva, a Portuguese.
Although the two were talking for a while, a group of other older men flocks to their area. One identifies himself as Lincoln Ashton (Todd Warring). Andrew clings to the group and hangs out with them in a private room. They had dinner and talked about Andrew. When everyone started to leave, Andrew decided to stay with Lincoln. Lincoln offers Andrew $100 to be his escort. But instead, Andrew counter-offers. He wants the pay and more. Lincoln agrees and says he “likes” variety.
While Donatella and Gianni discuss the overnight success of the dress they concocted together, they start to argue again. As they return to the Versace studio, they review all the articles written about the black dress. Donatella and her team begin discussing how every piece is different for every media outfit. Although the dress was a success, it’s deemed to be too much.
With the swift success of the Versace empire, comes their downfall as well. No one would buy the dress. People thought that it was too much for them. Not to mention the fact that the world is under recession at that time. No one would spend much money for a dress by Versace. But Donatella suggests that the first dress is only for show. It is the dress that would make the headlines for Versace, to which Gianni overreacts and gets a pair of scissors. He starts snipping the dress to simplify it. Gianni then asks Donatella if the fashionable dress that he’s cut would sell. To his stress, he sits beside Donatella and starts asking why everyone is whispering, only to find out that he can’t hear anything.
Although they were arguing about the misunderstanding about the dress, Donatella moves closer to Gianni and hugs him for comfort.

Andrew lives in a lavish set-up

Andrew’s deal with Lincoln automatically put him on top of the food chain. He now earns more than he did in the tiny shop he worked. As Andrew celebrates the success with his friends at a restaurant, he spots a guy alone in the bar. He asked a waitress to send him a drink and tell him he’s interested. Although the guy was cute, the guy acted surprised and didn’t know what to do. He jokes with the waitress saying he might blush. But still, he looked and went over the table Andrew sat. He opts for small talk. He introduces himself as David Manson (Cody Fern). Andrew invites him to sit with them and have dinner. David agrees.
Andrew then brings home David to his place. It is in a hotel room where the window overlooks the city lights from afar. It seems like David is not used to these kinds of setups. He asks Andrew while he sits on the bed asking if the slippers are given. Andrew answers yes and David stands up to look through the window. Andrew follows and blocks the beautiful view from the window and leans on David for a kiss.
They continued kissing until they dragged each other’s body to the bathroom. They took a bath together while still enjoying the soft kisses. After which, they’re on their robes and starts to talk about life. They sat near the foot of the table and was close to each other. David opens up to Andrew about becoming a successful architect someday, something David promised to an old lover. Now on the bed, both naked, Andrew starts hugging David.
The next day, Lincoln calls Andrew to make him confess to his one-night stand. Andrew insists that he was into more delicate things. But Lincoln was smart. He had an itemized billing system. He knew precisely was Andrew was spending. Lincoln hangs up on Andrew over the phone. To a twist of fate, Andrew saw Lincoln after a while. A man killed Lincoln in a hotel room. Andrew saw it all happen. To the man’s defense, Lincoln tried to kiss him, which he didn’t like.
“American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace” continues next Wednesday, March 14th with “Creator/Destroyer” at 10/9c on FX.