No Bad Or Real Women in 'Feud: Capote vs. The Swans' Spoilers

After devouring Feud: Bette and Joan, I am totally pumped for the second season. But, after a few episodes of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, I gotta say... I am kinda bored by it. It is a continuation of feuds from the previous season. It's all about Truman Capote (Tom Hollander), a famous writer, and his on-and-off relationships with super glamorous New York socialites whom he calls "the Swans." The cast brims with big names like Naomi Watts, Diane Lane, Chloë Sevigny, Calista Flockhart, Demi Moore, and Molly Ringwald, all decked out in elegant outfits. The Swans are like a walking exhibition of glitz and glam and almost constantly exude captivating and sophisticated charm. But man, after all the incessant acrimony, bickering and juicy drama in Feud Season 1 that provide me with much entertainment, I am taken aback that Season 2, despite having Gus Van Sant and Ryan Murphy working together for the first time, is so beautifully crafted but... kind of a yawn.

Amid my disappointment, I am scratching my head and wondering why the second season falls flat. What makes it so snooze-worthy and even a little gratuitous? Then, I came across this Saturday Night Live sketch on YouTube, and it was like a light bulb moment. The sketch pokes fun at this made-up show called Supportive Women. The whole point is to break the typical ‘bad women' stereotype in soap operas so there is no mean, cunning female antagonist. All the female characters are compassionate, super understanding, and kind to one another. There's a scene where a woman calmly rejects her bestie's husband who confesses his love for her. Then, her bestie shows up, hears about her friend rejecting his kiss, and completely believes her with no questions asked. The two ladies even thank each other. Sure, it's a made-up series, but it's painfully clear that the way these women are portrayed is totally off-base. Compared to the usual villainous dames we see in soaps, this sketch might've made some strides in rejecting misogynism with its dearth of evil female characters. But when it comes to creating genuine characters, it's seriously lacking.

This is why this sketch, which is less than five minutes long, hits me. Feud Season 2 is wearisome due to its absence of real, layered female characters. Take Babe Paley as an example, one of the main female leads in season two. She's hitched to CBS founder William S. Paley and played by Watts, who has both incomparable looks and acting flair which makes her the most befitting person to play beautiful and graceful Babe. Babe always looks flawless, even during her chemo sessions. Sure, she has her emotional moments such as after learning of her husband’s infidelity and Capote’s betrayal, but she always keeps her grace. I have no doubts about Watts' acting chops, but apart from her beauty and brief portrayal of sadness, I’m unable to feel Babe’s inner world. Her character feels shallow. She seems more like a mannequin than a real person, with remarkable features but no soul or emotions. Honestly, if we're talking about key characters in season two of Feud, Babe's character lacks depth and personality. And sadly, this is the common issue with almost all the female roles in the show.

Okay, let's dive in further. If the characters are kinda shallow, but their lives are thrilling enough, I wouldn't be yawning my way through the show — after all, most soap plots lack depth. I mean, come on, we're not exactly expecting Shakespearean character development in a soap opera, right? But here's the thing, the lives of the female protagonists in Feud Season 2, the Swans, are extremely superficial. Their days are all about getting all dolled up, hitting swanky parties and dishing dirt on the rest of the high-society crowd over dinner. We barely get a peek into their family lives. Even at these fancy shindigs, they're still gossiping and planning the next big bash. Their lives are all sparkle and shine, but there's not much beyond that, and that's exactly what these high-society dames are dealing with. But, it seems like Feud Season 2 doesn't really care to explore deeper into their empty lives and what's going on with them psychologically. It's like the grandiose Black and White Ball organized by Capote in the show. It satisfies the audience’s imagination of the lives of high society and is all glitz and glam but kinda superficial. Maybe it was all the rage back in the 60s and 70s, but now, it's lost its zing.

Now, here's where it gets interesting. On one hand, Feud Season 2 paints these women as shallow and their empty lives as a spectacle. But on the flip side, it's trying to convince us there are no "bad apples" among the Swans. In the show, Slim Keith, played by Lane, comes closest to being a villainess. She's the ultimate one pulling the strings in the group. When Capote spills the Swans' secrets in La Côte Basque 1965, it's Slim who's all for getting back at him. But then, it’s also Slim who promises to end her affair with Babe’s husband on the spot when socialite Lee Radziwill (played by Flockhart) outs it! Then there's Babe, the woman battling cancer, who's even more forgiving. When she finds out about her hubby's affair with her bestie, she not only takes it in stride but also tells her serial cheater husband, "I don’t want you to be alone after I am gone. Slim is good." It's like the no-bad-women soap opera plot that the SNL sketch is poking fun at. When these women don't feel real, their kindness and friendliness towards one another feel insincere and are hard to swallow. If these women, who got their VIP tickets to high society because they married some rich dudes, don't even squabble over men, I struggle to comprehend the real purpose of the Swans’ existence.

Although Feud Season 2 technically revolves around the drama between Capote and the Swans, it doesn't really dive deep into their relationships or the development of ties between the socialites. They are just being accounted for as quickly as a flash. Honestly, it feels like the real story here is all about Capote. The showrunners seem to want us to think that Capote has a plan from the get-go to use these high-society ladies in his stories. He even uses a half-true, half-made-up tale of a socialite's husband getting murdered as his ticket into their social circle. From his entrance into high society to his epic downfall when he spills the beans on the Swans' secrets, which is a socially suicidal move, Capote comes across as a bit of a tragic, pitiful but deplorable figure amid his pursuit of vanity, fame, and inspiration. In fact, out of everyone in the show, his character feels the most rounded and fleshed out. So yeah, the team behind Feud Season 2, including Ryan Murphy, definitely knows how to create convincing characters. But they kinda dropped the ball when it comes to the ladies in the show.

I mean, I still remember how Feud Season 1 had me hooked. It got me emotional and mournful witnessing how two strong women, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, fight their way through Hollywood ruled by men on their own, and face whatever life throws at them head-on with their unique personalities. That’s some powerful stuff. But the ladies in Feud Season 2? Apart from their distinguishably outstanding looks, I can't really recall much about their personalities. And that's a shame. Because being pretty but lacking depth is one of the most entrenched stereotypes about women in this male-dominated world of ours. And unfortunately, Feud Season 2 just reinforces it.