Impeachment: American Crime Story Season 3, Episode 2 recap: The President Kissed Me

Impeachment: American Crime Story is a blast from the past, especially for those old enough in the late 90s to remember the Lewinsky/Clinton scandal. As the series heads into the second episode, a lot of history is beginning to unfold. Of course, a lot of it is dramatized for television. However, Monica Lewinsky is the executive producer on the show and was a part of it every step of the way.

Read our full recap of the previous episode right HERE.

She’s telling the story of what she went through, and as we saw in this episode, her memory is spot-on, down to the time and date. This week’s episode reveals the events of exactly how Lewinsky and Clinton’s affair started. From harmless flirting to secret hangouts to shared kisses, to well, you know.

Beanie Feldstein does a phenomenal job of portraying Lewinsky’s behavior, mainly shown as a woman vying for a man’s love and attention. In this case, it’s the leader of the free world, so his time is a bit difficult to come by. The pursuit of getting his attention drives Monica crazy, and that is basically what the episode shows as it goes on.

More on this below in our recap of this week’s episode of Impeachment: American Crime Story!

Impeachment: American Crime Story Episode 2 recap: A government shutdown

Circa the government shutdown of 1995-1996, Lewinsky and Clinton’s affair began. So many employees were furloughed at the time, so the work fell to the interns. There is a lot of flirting, eye contact and wanting looks exchanged between the two of them, as well as a quick thong flash to get the President’s attention.

It wasn’t long before the silent flirtation turned into a conversation that led to Lewinsky confessing she had a huge crush on Clinton. It’s a very jarring series of moments to watch, especially both Feldstein and Clive Owen, who plays Clinton, do such a good job. It’s so incredibly believable, and they pull it off effortlessly.

Anyway, an “innocent conversation” between the two eventually kickstarts the whole affair and leads to their very first kiss. Monica runs home to tell her mother all about it, but she’s not very eager to believe her (well, she was sleeping). The episode shows how this situation progressed while Lewinsky was still working at the White House. They would exchange gifts and find a corner to be alone in whenever there was a chance to.

A budding romance was soon to take a drastic turn, however…

Impeachment: American Crime Story Episode 2 recap: Out of sight, out of mind

Eventually, Lewinsky was moved from the White House and into the Pentagon. History and the show dictate that this move came on the heels of Lewinsky and Clinton spending a lot of time together. People noticed, and it also didn’t help that Lewinsky wasn’t great at the one job she actually had.

The move to the Pentagon meant Lewinsky would no longer be close to the President. She couldn’t get his attention every chance she got, and it meant she had to rely on him calling her. And because it was the 90s, there wasn’t a way to make a simple phone call. You had to be at home if you didn’t want to miss a call, and so that is exactly what Lewinsky did.

Not knowing if he would ever call, she would spend all her days at home, waiting. While her best friend told her to stop behaving this way, someone else told her to keep waiting–Linda Tripp (Sarah Paulson).

Linda and Lewinsky become friends while working at the Pentagon, and eventually, Linda learns of the scandalous affair. Monica would regret this later on when she learned that Linda recorded conversations between the two of them, but more on that later.

This episode also shows us the infamous meeting between Clinton and Lewinsky where she’s wearing the beret the day after he gets re-elected. She had to rely on moments like this to remind the President that she still existed. And as we saw, it worked like a charm.

Egging her on the whole time is Linda, whose ulterior motives are revealed by the end of the episode. She has some major intel, and with her wanting to write a book, she knows exactly how to make it happen.

Linda Tripp + Monica Lewinsky = Best Friends Not Forever

What did you think of this week’s episode of Impeachment: American Crime Story? Tell us in the comments below!