The New Impeachment: American Crime Story Trailer Is An Absolute Nail-Biter

The official trailer for FX's "Impeachment: American Crime Story" has arrived, and it's just as dramatic as the actual scandal that inspired it. The trailer arrives just a few weeks ahead of the season premiere and two years after the project was first announced. The "Impeachment" installment of "American Crime Story" was first revealed back in August 2019. At that time, we learned Beanie Feldstein would lead Season 3 of the anthology series, stepping into the shoes of Monica Lewinsky. Even better, "Impeachment" counts the actual Lewinsky as an executive producer, which is a major plus when it comes to fairly depicting Lewinsky's side of this particular story. Since August 2019, additional key players have been added to the "Impeachment" cast. In November 2019, Clive Owen was added to the cast to play former President Bill Clinton (via Variety) and in March 2021, Edie Falco was added as former First Lady Hilary Clinton (also via Variety). Sarah Paulson, who will play Linda Tripp, has been attached to "Impeachment" since Murphy first spoke about the plot of "American Crime Story" Season 3 (via E! News).

Ahead of the trailer's release, intriguing first looks at the upcoming season of the Ryan Murphy-created "American Crime Story" series have been hitting the internet. Back in November 2020, Paulson gave fans a sneak peek at her Tripp transformation on Twitter just as filming on the season kicked off. Teasers for the season began hitting the internet earlier this month, with the most recent teaser focusing on the friction between the fictional Linda and Monica.  

One of the most intriguing aspects of the "Impeachment" trailer is that it appears the show will place a greater emphasis on the fall-out from Linda Tripp's (Paulson) role in exposing the affair between Monica Lewinsky (Feldstein) and President Clinton (Owen). The trailer gives as much, if not more, screen time to Linda gathering evidence to prove the affair — primarily in the form of taped private calls between her and Monica — as it does to showing Monica getting caught up with the president and subsequently dealing with the media frenzy around the affair. Paulson appears to be playing Linda as a Machiavellian villain in this season of "American Crime Story," which should add some interesting contrast to Feldstein, who is playing Monica as the (rightfully) innocent, naïve young woman caught in the crosshairs. The Clinton-Lewinsky affair may be the reason you tune in to "Impeachment," but this cold war between Monica and Linda will undoubtedly be the reason you keep watching.

Of course, we also get a few great shots of Owen's Clinton, with the English actor attempting a the real Clinton's famous Arkansas drawl and wearing the heck out of a fake nose and graying wig. The trailer also serves as a reminder of how many key figures were part of this scandal. Billy Eichner pops up as journalist Matt Drudge, Cobie Smulders makes a memorable trailer cameo as Ann Coulter, and Edie Falco is absolutely striking as former First Lady Hilary Clinton. 

We may know how the "Impeachment" story ends, but thanks to this nail-biting trailer, that doesn't mean we're not already clearing our schedules to check it out when it arrives on FX on September 7.