In the previous episode of Feud Season 2, we were introduced to Truman Capote and his group of socialite friends, whom he used to call the swans. The previous episode shed light on how Truman became Babe Paley’s best friend and started gossiping around about others. While Truman struggled through fame and writer’s block, Babe’s husband cheated on her. Babe confided in Truman that in this whole world, she could trust only one man, and that was Truman Capote. However, Truman didn’t live up to her expectations and published an article on his group of swans’ scandalous personal lives, including Babe Paley being betrayed by her husband. Babe couldn’t tolerate the betrayal, and after teaming up with her close friend, Slim, she decided to cut all ties with Capote.
Spoilers Ahead
What Did C. Z. Do?
Episode 2 opened with a tragedy in Babe’s life. She had been diagnosed with lung cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy. The enchanting beauty had faded away from Babe’s face, but she still managed to go out and socialize with her friends. Deep down in her heart, she yearned to make things right with Capote, but her conscience stopped her from doing so. Moreover, Slim had already brainwashed Babe about homosexual men, who, according to her, would never support women because they were just jealous of them. Babe was easily persuaded, as she initially had no personal opinion of her own, but after Truman betrayed her trust, she believed it would be safe for her to just listen to Slim.
Meanwhile, the swans, including Babe, attended Ann’s funeral, where Ann’s son gave a eulogy and tore down the fiction written by Truman Capote to honor his mother. The swans had permanently cut Truman out of their lives, and to cover the place, there were some new members, like Lee Radziwill and Jacquelin Kennedy’s sister, who had joined the group. Jaquelin Kennedy’s sister looked up to Slim and followed in her footsteps, but C. Z. West, an already existing member of the group, decided to go against her friends. She started meeting with Truman covertly and even went out to lunch with him, which Slim happened to know about. C. Z. asked Truman to come to her Thanksgiving party, where the other swans would also come. However, despite C. Z being a little kind to Truman, she still believed that what Truman did was unforgivable, but as long as she wasn’t part of the scandal, she didn’t mind maintaining her friendship with Capote. Capote, on the other hand, was stubborn and proud of what he wrote and published about the swans and didn’t express any guilt for it. C.Z. should have changed her mind, but she invited him to the party anyway. Slim later talked to C.Z. about inviting Truman to her Thanksgiving party and asked her to cancel the invitation if she didn’t want to get kicked out of the swans.
Did Babe Come To Aid Truman?
At Thanksgiving, we saw two different dinners, one involving the swans, Babe Paley, Slim, C.Z., and the other newbies enjoying themselves together; the other was Truman Capote’s dinner, where he was seen with an arguing couple. However, despite the chaos surrounding him, Truman was actually enjoying Thanksgiving, but deep down he also missed his swan, especially Babe Paley, who was feeling the same. But no matter how much they wanted to mend their friendship, they couldn’t because of the baggage of hatred between them. Plus, Slim would specifically never let Babe allow the gossipmonger to rejoin their group.
Meanwhile, we saw Truman, already an alcoholic, begin to drink like a maniac and pass out. It was evident that he was heartbroken, as after getting the article published, he had not only lost his swans, but he was on a guilt trip because of what he did to them. Moreover, his boyfriend Jack had left him long ago, which had taken a toll on him as well. After passing out, Truman had a weird dream and saw his deceased mother in it. His feeling of guilt was so severe that he saw that his mother was seemingly instructing him to commit suicide in his dream. When Truman began to blame his mother for his alcoholism, his mother didn’t take it to heart and instructed her son to get her pill box and have all the pills inside. This frightened Truman, who didn’t have any desire to kill himself yet. Plus, he still had his novel half-written, so there was no way he could embrace his death this soon.
Meanwhile, another invitee to the Thanksgiving party, John Carson, who was stressed over seeing his ex-wife, began to behave erratically. He was also distressed because he couldn’t stay with his family during Thanksgiving, and instead, he had to spend this occasion with a bunch of unimportant people in his life. Angered by the situation, John couldn’t stand a drowsy Truman and punched him hard. Truman was severely injured, and being in a dizzy state, he couldn’t even fight back. It seemed like Truman Capote, who thought he had done something great by publishing a socialite dinner story, would soon become a hot topic of gossip in the next day’s newspaper. However, amid such a situation, Jack was informed of Truman’s critical condition and soon contacted Babe Paley to ask for help. He told her that if she didn’t come to his aid, Truman would probably die, but Babe, who was yearning to reach out to Truman, her only friend, whom she loved the most, took a sincere decision. She politely said no to Jack and decided not to give Truman a chance to waltz back into life. After what Truman did to her, Babe realized that she couldn’t just forgive him; otherwise, he would just become like her husband. Babe didn’t want to repeat her mistake, as she had learned not to trust these men all over again. She hung up on Jack, who also realized that Truman might have deserved this. In the concluding scenes of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans’, it remained uncertain whether Truman survived the attack by John or if he’d die. Probably in the next few episodes, we’ll learn what exactly happened to him.
