Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans Episode 7 Recap
Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Feud: Capote vs. The Swans episode 7.
Summary
- The penultimate episode of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans took a major shift with unexpected character deaths and a poignant exploration of relationships.
- Babe’s death was inevitable and tragic, leading to emotional farewells and introspection for the characters in episode 7.
- Truman and Babe’s friendship took center stage in the series, with a focus on regrets and forgiveness as they faced mortality.
Feud: Capote vs. The Swans episode 7 was the season’s penultimate episode, which made the shocking and emotional decision to tackle the deaths of two main characters. Feud: Capote vs. The Swans is inspired by a true story, so the death of Babe Paley was inevitable, and the series had spent episodes leading up to it. With Feud: Capote vs. The Swans episode 7 being titled “Beautiful Babe” and set in 1978, it was clear to viewers that the episode would focus on Babe’s last days, but in a surprising twist, another character died in the final moments.
Feud: Capote vs. The Swans has an ensemble cast, but the series has always given extra attention to Truman and Babe, his favorite of the swans, and episode 7 was no different. Feud: Capote vs. The Swans episode 6 had teased the end of their lives as they got older, and, Truman in particular, tried desperately to turn back the clock. With just one more episode left in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, episode 7 took a major swing consistent with its ever-moving timeline.
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10 Babe Was Given 6 Months To Live
Babe’s hair started falling out
At the start of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans episode 7, Babe noticed her hair falling out. She had been told that with her type of chemotherapy, she wouldn’t lose her hair, but her disease was progressing, and the treatment couldn’t keep up. When she spoke to her doctor, she asked if she would make it to Thanksgiving and he shook his head. Babe Paley died on July 6, 1978, the day after her 63rd birthday and over five months before Thanksgiving.
Babe thought she’d have more time in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans and wanted to ensure all her affairs were in order before she died. At lunch with the swans, she told them about a big summer party she wanted to host, only to reveal that it would be her own memorial. Though this upset the swans, who also thought they’d have more time with their friends, Babe wanted to celebrate the life she’d lived rather than spend her last days dreading the inevitable.
9 Babe Couldn’t Forgive Bill
Babe blamed Bill for her smoking & drinking
While Babe had accepted that she was dying and wouldn’t have much time left, Bill had not. He suggested using his power, influence, and connections to find her better, potentially life-saving treatment, but Babe didn’t want it. Despite seeming to have repaired their relationship in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, Babe was once again bitter with Bill in episode 7.
Bill told her to stop smoking, as it was just killing her faster, and she blamed him for her vices. Babe, as a heavy smoker, had been diagnosed with lung cancer, so in blaming Bill for her smoking, she was essentially saying he was killing her. After years of Bill wronging her, she could no longer pretend to forgive him in her final days.
8 Babe Blamed Appearances For Ruining Her Friendship With Truman
Babe might have forgiven Truman if not for other people’s judgment
At lunch with the swans in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, Babe brought up Truman, much to Slim’s annoyance. She asked C. Z. how he was doing, which was not well. As she was dying, Babe considered the idea that she had been too harsh on Truman when she could have instead laughed it off and continued their friendship as C. Z. had. She claimed that if it wasn’t for what other people would have thought, she would have publicly forgiven Truman. Yet, appearance proved more important in the end to Babe than friendship.
7 Babe Imagined Truman As She Was Dying
Babe forgave Truman
Feud: Capote vs. The Swans alternated between scenes of Babe dying in her bed and a dream world where she spent her final moments with Truman. In her scenes with Truman, Babe was happy to see him, as she’d forgiven him and wanted to share his company one more time. Babe seeing Truman of all people at the end of her life showed just how strong their friendship was, and that he was the only person who truly knew, understood, and loved her. Truman helped make her death and transition easier by providing her comfort and a friendly, familiar face.
6 Babe Wanted More Time To Fix Things
Babe had a lot of regrets
As Babe was dying in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans episode 7, she expressed her regrets. Earlier in the episode, she asked Bill to reach out to their daughter, Kate, who wanted nothing to do with her. Kate told Bill that she’d have to be on death’s door for her to see the “Sphinx,” her cruel nickname for her mother. Fortunately, Kate was at Babe’s deathbed, but Babe still regretted how she was as a mother and not having the time to right all her wrongs.
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5 Truman Wanted To Write Babe’s Eulogy
Bill didn’t allow Truman to come to Babe’s funeral
When C. Z. told Truman that Babe had died in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, he already knew. Rather than spiraling as C. Z. had predicted, Truman was determined to get to work on Babe’s eulogy, which he’d already begun writing. Unfortunately for Truman, Bill had banned him from Babe’s funeral, meaning the only person who ever heard his eulogy for Babe was C. Z. In the eulogy, Truman had written about how Babe was a reflection of the best parts of him, and that she would always be with him, as he saw her everywhere in everything.
4 Truman Planned On Finishing Answered Prayers
Babe’s death was going to be the final chapter
After Babe’s death, Truman was also determined to finally finish Answered Prayers. It had been three years since he’d published “La Côte Basque 1965” in Esquire, and he’d made very little progress since. Truman decided that Babe’s death was going to be the book’s final chapter, and it would become a love letter to her. With that final chapter, Truman claimed that people would finally know what he’d been trying to do with Answered Prayers. However, despite living six more years, Truman still wasn’t able to finish his novel.
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3 Truman Said He’d Accidentally Kill Himself
Truman’s substance abuse issues got worse after Babe’s death
Once again in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, Truman appeared on a television show blackout drunk, and this time, he ended up in the hospital. The appearance took place just two weeks after Babe’s death and his banishment from her funeral, which only worsened his substance abuse issues. On the talk show, the host asked Truman what would happen if he kept drinking the way he was, and Truman said that he’d kill himself accidentally, which is exactly what would happen at the end of the episode.
2 Jack Finally Left Truman
Jack fell in love with someone else
Jack had been the one to find Truman lying in his own vomit in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans episode 7 and took him to the hospital. He’d debated not helping Truman, but his new boyfriend told him he should. After years of Truman’s affairs and mistreatment of Jack, he finally made good on his promise to leave Truman. He could no longer watch Truman slowly kill himself, and he needed to start living the life he deserved. Truman begged Jack to stay, but for once, Jack found the courage to walk out the door.
1 Truman Imagined Babe As He Was Dying
Truman saw Babe as a mother figure
After Jack left him in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, Truman moved in with Joanne, who tried to take care of him but also enabled him. Truman was writing and drinking by her pool when he started having visions. First, he imagined Rick before him, telling him to jump into the pool, which Truman did. Then he saw Babe sitting on a pool float of a swan. Joanne was able to save Truman when he drowned, but he didn’t last much longer. When she dialed 911, Joanne hung up in tears, knowing that Truman couldn’t truly be saved.
Just as Truman had helped usher Babe to death, she returned the favor. In Truman’s final moments, he revealed that he saw Babe as a motherly figure, as his mom had died when he was young, and he’d been looking for her replacement ever since. Despite Babe not being a good mother to her own children, she was able to comfort Truman as one would. Feud: Capote vs. The Swans episode 7’s title shared Truman’s final words, “Beautiful Babe.”
