The Secret Inner Lives of Swans
Episode 5 of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans titled “The Secret Inner Lives of Swans” begins with the immediate aftermath of Truman’s expose excerpt being released. Babe lashes out at Bill who then lashes out at Truman and tells him to die.
Truman takes a ton of pills and then confesses to his friend, James Baldwin, a Black gay writer from Paris that he tried to kill himself. James decides to spend his trip with Truman, hyping him up and telling him his work is important.
They go to La Côte Basque, the Swans’ hangout as they talk about the excerpt. Truman reveals that he wanted to go after the men. The women have affairs but they are untouchable, they are never caught so it doesn’t matter. He then calls Babe as he misses her and leaves a message that he never meant to hurt her.
He goes back to talking about his book with James. There is racism, classism and homophobia amongst the Swans but it’s subtle. What he wants to do is call them out for being privileged white women. He then criticises how they collect and are eager to own things. They have no empathy like Lee, are horrible mothers like C.Z. and know they’re not cut out to be mothers like Babe.
James tells Truman to stop apologising and accept that he meant to hurt the Swans. And to accept what he wants to do and do it unapologetically. Truman is unsure as he still wants to be accepted by the Swans.
It is revealed that Truman and James have criticised each other in the past but Truman appreciates that he’s there for him. The Swans would never do such a thing as they are disloyal. Even before Truman exposed Ann, the Swans would be outright rude to her and refuse to sit with her. He also comments on how they don’t eat, are too focused on looking young and call Truman fat while pretending to be concerned.
Back home, James stops Truman from drinking and gets serious with him. He tells him to change his world as it is his obligation. It’s never too late and he needs to keep going which has Truman tearing up. Before James leaves, he has one fun fact – the Queen of England owns all swans and is the only one who can still legally eat them.
It cuts to Truman telling Jack that he has been writing for 3 days straight. He thinks it is his best writing as it is about who the Swans are. At the end of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans Episode 5, Truman gets a wannabe chef to sneakily kill a swan and cook it. He eats the swan and smiles.
The Episode Review
Feud: Capote vs. The Swans Episode 5 is one of the best but also the most confusing episodes as where does it figure in the show’s timeline? Is it before Babe and Truman have their temporary truce from the previous episode or after? If it is after, it paints Truman in a cruel light as he continues to hurt Babe by exposing her.
However, this chapter is very much needed. It shows us that no one is the victim. The Swans are all as cruel as Truman and have done bad deeds which is why he has enough content to make it an expose. It also gives us some more insight into Truman’s thought process as he is no friend who is betraying the Swans. He is giving them as good as he gets which makes the creation of ‘Answered Prayers’ that much more exciting.
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Read our season 2 review of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans here! |
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Episode Rating
(4.5)