All’s Fair Series-Premiere Recap: C’mon, Gloves!

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Ryan Murphy’s latest Hulu series, All’s Fair, is a glamorous legal drama where Kim Kardashian actually has a more prominent role than Glenn Close. The show centers on a fiercely competitive, all-female law firm handling the complicated and expensive divorces of famous people. However, the real power players are the legal team working to keep Sarah Paulson committed to Murphy’s projects, even after she’s seen the scripts for this particular show.

The first episode begins with a flashback to ten years earlier, showing Allura Grant (played by Kardashian) and Liberty Ronson (Naomi Watts) leaving their old-fashioned, male-dominated law firm with help from their boss, Dina Standish (Close). They decide to start their own small firm and recruit Emerald Greene (Niecy Nash) as their chief investigator, but they turn down Carrington Lane (Paulson) when she asks to join them. Honestly, the character names feel very…creative, almost like they belong on RuPaul’s Drag Race!

Let’s be honest, this show is a classic soap opera, complete with over-the-top dialogue that would be perfect coming from soap opera legends like Susan Lucci or Joan Collins. Visually, it’s stunning and unique – a real strength of the producer’s. He consistently creates things that are exciting to watch, especially when showcasing wealth and, well, good-looking bodies. It’s clear that fashion and lavish sets were the main focus, with character development, plot, and even the dialogue taking a backseat. The result is a show that often feels like it was filmed with a special effects camera, set to a soundtrack from a vintage adult film.

Everything about this show is over-the-top and completely unrealistic, and only Paulson manages to pull it off. She adopts a voice reminiscent of Jodie Foster or even Elizabeth Holmes, lowering her tone to play the vengeful villain. As a twisted congratulations for the firm’s tenth anniversary, she sends them an Edible Arrangement with a disturbing note: “Here’s a fruit basket, organic and lightly seasoned with salmonella and fecal matter. Enjoy a melon ball, and maybe take a break from whatever weight-loss drugs you’re using, you deceitful, lazy people.” Essentially, her character is what would happen if the villainous side of Vivian from Legally Blonde had fully taken over.

Let’s talk about Grace Gummer’s character, Grace Lee. The show gave her a normal name while other characters got aliases – an odd choice. Grace is a wealthy woman trying to get divorced, even though her prenuptial agreement practically guarantees she’ll get nothing. Emerald’s advice to her – “C’mon, gloves!” – about toughening up her look feels like the show’s central idea. Grace’s modest settlement request raises suspicions, and it turns out she’s leaving her husband for the woman he involved in their relationship. Despite seeming perfect, Emerald investigates and discovers he secretly visits a dominatrix, played by Kate Berlant, even following him while dressed in a ridiculous disguise. When they reveal this information during negotiations, he immediately agrees to the settlement they were hoping for.

Liberty then receives a frantic call from a new client, Sheila Baskin (played by Judith Light), who has locked herself in her bedroom after being caught cheating. Liberty instructs her to stay put and immediately flies to New York on a private jet. She arrives to find Sheila still locked away, establishing that the show doesn’t always follow realistic timelines or distances. With another strong prenuptial agreement in place, Liberty informs Sheila that the $40 million worth of jewelry her husband gave her will be her financial security. They quickly gather the jewels and leave, a rather underwhelming resolution to a trip all the way to New York. The whole situation could easily have been handled with an email, but we wouldn’t have gotten to see Judith Light embrace such a delightfully absurd scenario.

Honestly, these other storylines aren’t very engaging, even with some bizarre details. That means it’s up to Allura’s story to capture our attention. Allura – and I still can’t believe I’ll be writing about her for ten episodes! – appears happily married to Chase, a younger football player who looks a bit like Smith Jerrod from Sex and the City. He gives her a ring that once belonged to Elizabeth Taylor for their five-year anniversary, but then shockingly asks for a divorce. He claims her success makes him feel inadequate and that he’s already seeing someone else – completely out of the blue.

Honestly, it’s hard to care about these characters. The show hasn’t given us any real reason to connect with them – they’re all just surface-level glamour. Why would we be invested in their success? The three lawyers are incredibly wealthy, beautiful, and their insensitive comments – like looking down on people who had humble beginnings – don’t help. (And it’s odd that almost every scene features a roaring fireplace, even though the show is set in Los Angeles!) The show could have been compelling if the cases they took on were more about helping others, but so far, their work feels shallow. They seem like they should be running a firm dedicated to helping those in need, like in First Wives Club, but the cases in the first episode feel pointless and mechanical.

By the end of the episode, Carrington is the only character I genuinely care about, thanks to Paulson’s incredibly committed performance. Despite being written as the villain, I find myself rooting for her more than the main characters. She’s easily the most engaging part of the show – maybe alongside Nash’s interesting hat choices – and, unlike everyone else, her reasons for acting are clear. She was unfairly rejected and undermined in the past, and now she’s driven by a desire for revenge, which I, for one, hope she achieves.

The show tries to shock us with a dramatic reveal – Chase is having an affair with Milan, Allura’s receptionist – but it doesn’t make him any more relatable. Without real character development, these plot twists feel meaningless. There’s still a chance to improve, but the first episode did a poor job of introducing us to the main characters, leaving me feeling even Kim Kardashian could deliver a stronger performance. Visually, the show is appealing and some actors seem to be enjoying themselves, but ultimately it lacks substance. Still, considering it feels like the episode was quickly written, it’s not terrible.

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2025-11-04 21:55