‘Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’ Does Daryl Hannah Dirty

FX‘s Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette treats the iconic couple as real people struggling to maintain a relationship under the scathing scrutiny of the press. The famous people surrounding them — like Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis (Naomi Watts) and Calvin Klein (Alessandro Nivola) — are portrayed as nuanced human beings beyond their iconic imagery. Everyone who touches JFK Jr. (Paul Anthony Kelly) and Carolyn‘s (Sarah Pidgeon) story is given something of the benefit of the doubt — except Hollywood star Daryl Hannah (Dree Hemingway)?

**Spoilers for Love Story: John F. Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette Episodes 1-3, now streaming on Hulu**

When I described Dree Hemingway’s version of the Splash and Sense8 star as a “loopy stage five clinger” in my series review, I was being kind. Love Story: John F. Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette casts the actress as the show’s arch villainess. Besides being the one keeping John and Carolyn apart after their dreamy first date, Daryl is always high, hysterical, and/or painfully obvious with her desperate plot to marry her way into American royalty. Her voice is always quivering, her opinions are insipid, and she seems more obsessed with getting Jackie O to like her than loving John.

Now, it’s important to note that Love Story: John F. Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette is literally based on Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy by Elizabeth Beller. It is a recent biography of Carolyn Bessette that is designed to reclaim her image from the tabloid covers of the ’90s. So Love Story is in the bag for CBK. It’s going to uplift her as its heroine, using narrative devices to reveal a more nuanced portrait of a woman beaten by critics on a daily basis during her lifetime. In this narrative, Daryl is the major obstacle preventing Carolyn from being with John so it makes sense to villainize her. But did they have to go so hard?

The first we hear about John’s on-and-off relationship with Daryl comes from his mother. The elegant Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis sneers at every mention of the actress, mocking her vegan lifestyle and career choices. She makes it clear at every juncture that she does not approve of this liaison. When she learns that the two have reconnected at the end of Episode 1 — and that John is taking Daryl as his date to a big Kennedy wedding — she refuses to attend the same event. Considering that Jackie is considered the queen of taste, her disgust at Daryl can’t go unnoticed.

In Love Story: John F. Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette, we get a better look at what Daryl and John’s relationship is like. She pesters him at work, drawing paparazzi to them while also picking a fight. Later, he comes home from Kelly Klein’s (Leila George) book launch for Pools to discover she’s hosting an impromptu party for a bunch of wastrels. One of Daryl’s friends nearly sets the loft ablaze, while another snorts lines off of a priceless Kennedy family heirloom. By the time one of them subtly alludes to technically knowing his cousin “Bobby,” aka Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., John is done. Another fight takes place. And it’s not even the last of the episode. All these two is fight.

After one final fight and the unfortunate death of Daryl’s dog in John’s care, it seems the romance is officially over for good. John turns his focus to his dying mother and hopefully rekindling his connection with the dazzling Carolyn. However, when she does finally pass, Daryl decides to once again crash land into John’s life. In Love Story: John F. Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette‘s version of events, Daryl arrives uninvited to Jackie’s funeral. She sees John’s latest personal tragedy as a vulnerability she can exploit. The moment she joins him on a balcony to wave at grievers below like a queen is designed to give us, and John, the ultimate ick.

All of these negative attributes are compounded by Dree Hemingway’s campy performance. While other actors in this show balance the oversized iconography of their characters with real nuanced emotions — I’m looking at you, Naomi Watts, waltzing to Camelot with a painting of JFK — Hemingway robs Hannah of the sweet effervescent spirit that made her a movie star in the first place. She is a rough caricature stick figure standing next to masterpieces.

What’s wild is that Love Story: John F. Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette doesn’t do this to her male alter ego. Underwear model Michael Bergin (Noah Fearnley) is depicted as a real flesh and blood man who despises how his attraction to Carolyn turns him into her eager puppy dog. He also enjoys a more complex friendship with his on-and-off lover than JFK Jr. does with Daryl Hannah. Bergin provides Carolyn with someone to confide in and an ally to champion. Daryl simply whines at John.

Dree Hemingway’s Daryl Hannah is one of the lowlights in an otherwise incredibly measured and immaculate drama. It’s not that the performance isn’t entertaining — oh, I am entertained watching this version Daryl Hannah pop up in scenes — but that it feels exceptionally cruel. We know from Hannah’s extensive work as an actress and an activist that she’s capable of great charm and great compassion. The fact that the character of “Daryl Hannah” doesn’t seem to have either feels like a distinct choice and a direct hit.

Love Story: John F. Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette Episode 4 premieres on FX and Hulu tonight at 9 PM ET.