10 Best New TV Characters Of 2018 (So Far)
2. Andrew Cunanan - The Assassination Of Gianni Versace
The Assassination of Gianni Versace was arguably this year's biggest surprise. It was always going to be tough to top the first season of American Crime Story, but in many ways, the second season ended up being superior.
It was certainly more visually pleasing, that's for sure, but it was the series' protagonist that kept us watching throughout, and - despite the show being titled after Versace - the leading character here was serial killer Andrew Cunanan. Humanising a real-life serial killer is a tough thing to do, but Tom Rob Smith's exceptional scripts somehow managed to do just that.
The story is told in reverse, and during the first instalment, Cunanan is as ruthless as we'd expected him to be. But as the show takes us back through the character's life, we see first-hand that he wasn't always the fame hungry serial killer he turned out to be.
Cunanan doesn't deserve our sympathy, but the strong characterisation made it hard not to feel pity for him in his younger years. Glee's Darren Criss delivers the performance of his career - and arguably the TV performance of the year - as the conflicted Cunanan, and the young actor is nominated for an Emmy for his performance.