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[Thisstorycontainsspoilersfrom[Thisstorycontainsspoilersfromlove story, Episode 5, “Battery Park.”]
while Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Caroline Bissette It is, at its core, a love story, and it does not shy away from the couple’s most painful moments.
Thursday night’s episode, “Battery Park,” revisits one of the most famous: the heated 1996 fight after they left their Tribeca apartment at 20 N. Moore St. and walked to Battery Park. Although the time period was before smartphones and widespread TikTok videos, photographers captured the fight on camera, and the footage appeared on the front pages of tabloids.
in love storythe episode imagines what might lead to this public collapse. Over the Fourth of July weekend in 1995, John (Paul Anthony Kelly) proposes to Caroline (Sarah Pidgeon) during a fishing trip on Martha’s Vineyard. She doesn’t accept right away. Unsure if she is ready to become Mrs. JFK Jr., Caroline asks for some time.
Her hesitation, exacerbated by constant tabloid scrutiny and the pressures of sudden public attention, and her belief that John is letting people walk all over him, begins to strain their relationship. When John issues a statement denying his proposal, things get worse. The episode sees the mistrust eventually erupt in the now-famous Battery Park fight, as the pair are shown screaming at each other and John appears to remove Caroline’s engagement ring before she lunges at him – all captured on video.
However, Pidgeon acknowledges that viewers should take the rehashed dialogue with a grain of salt.
“You know, who knows what they really said in those moments,” Pidgeon says Hollywood Reporter. “That was certainly a special moment that was unfortunately captured on film.”
Regardless of the accuracy of the scene, Pidgeon describes filming it as a useful challenge.
“It was very exciting as an actor, especially when I approached Caroline, as there’s a lot of mystery in her voice and how she walks when she knows she’s not being photographed in pictures taken by a friend versus the paparazzi,” she says. “We have a few moments where we actually get video footage — whether it’s Battery Park or their first public photo as a couple when they step out of North Moor [Street] – It was really exciting for her to come into the scene with her physicality.
After moving from a park to a bench and eventually to a nearby street sidewalk, the episode shows the couple talking through the fractures in their relationship. John emotionally pleads, “Why don’t we love each other? Why does it have to be so hard?”
They ultimately face what each of them needs to make a relationship work. Caroline struggles to adjust to life in the public eye, while John insists he doesn’t want to change her.
He told her, “I don’t want to bring you into my world. I want you to take me out of it. I want you to be my family.”
When Carolyn receives reassurances that John has no desire to follow in his father’s footsteps and seek the presidency, she experiences a breakthrough. Although she never imagined herself as someone’s wife, she realized that she wanted this future – because he was with him. The episode ends with Caroline accepting his proposal and crying in his arms, reflecting another iconic image of the couple.
Talk to THR Ahead of the series premiere, Pidgeon considered portraying both the emotional lows — such as the Battery Park argument — and the exhilarating highs, including the wedding depicted in next week’s episode.
“I think loud, energetic, joyful scenes can be as difficult as emotionally exhausting crying — which is the lowest point,” she says. “Extreme emotions can be difficult. It’s very vulnerable to be completely happy. Because when you’re happy, you’re not really watching yourself when you’re smiling. It’s different than when you’re smiling.”
Executive producer Brad Simpson also noted an unexpected similarity between the actors’ experience and the real-life scrutiny that Caroline and John faced. Even during filming, photographers surrounded the production.
“It was really hard for our actors, because they were in a situation where we were being hounded by photographers, just like Caroline was. We had 17 photographers in front of us,” he says. “When you see the scene of their first date in the first episode, you should know that seven feet away, there are photographers outside our barrier, taking pictures like crazy. It’s been difficult for her, and strangely enough, it mirrors Caroline Bisset’s journey — from being unknown to suddenly being criticized for her every move.”
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The first five episodes of love story It’s now streaming on Hulu and Disney+, with new episodes of the nine-episode series premiering Thursdays at 6pm PT/9pm ET on FX/Hulu. He reads THRInterviews with stars and creators hereSarah Pidgeon’s Next Big Thing feature, Paul Anthony Kelly’s third posthumous episode and more coverage here.
