25 of TV’s messiest meltdowns

Joan Won’t be Ignored — Feud

The central conflict in FX’s story about Joan Crawford and Bette Davis depended on their insecurities about their age, and the competitive nature of the sexist movie industry. All of the best moments of the series surround these two facing off in one confrontation or another.

Most of the exchanges between the two women are calculated and cool, loaded with insulting subtext and innuendo. However, Joan can no longer pretend she’s unbothered by Bette’s slights, and she erupts one evening while they are on location. After a particularly embarrassing moment when Joan realizes she’s been left out, she storms over to Bette’s room to confront her.

Joan bangs on Bette’s door, and begins to scream at her the moment she opens the door. Joan is visibly out of control, while Bette remains as cool as ever. Always known to be the more volatile of the two, Joan insults Bette at first, but her tantrum turns into something else entirely, as the two women drop their pretenses and begin to examine their own truths.

Both women are consumed with envy over what the other possesses, and Joan’s meltdown is just a vehicle to a more honest dynamic between the two of them. As the heated argument cools, the women leave with a tentative respect for the other, acknowledging that while they are at definitely very different, they have so much more in common than they imagined.