‘Feud’ Finale Ends In Heartbreak For Joan Crawford, Bette Davis

Feud: Bette and Joan aired its finale on Sunday night, and the sad, depressing end of the two Hollywood icons’ lives were revealed. Not only did Bette Davis and Joan Crawford’s feud die down, so did their careers, families, and eventually their lives.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the final episode of Ryan Murphy’s latest anthology series, Feud, was heartbreaking. The episode began with Joan Crawford adjusting to her new life after she was replaced on the set of Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte. Crawford had moved out of her huge California mansion and was living in a small apartment in New York. With her loyal maid, Mamacita, long gone from her life, Joan was forced to cook and clean for herself, which proved to be a struggle in its own right. Crawford also struggled to gain film roles. The once-great actress’ fame and appeal had diminished, and she had resorted to taking roles in low-budget films such as Trog.

After reconnecting with Mamacita and having her picture in the papers again, Feud fans watched as Joan Crawford vowed to leave Hollywood behind for good, not wanting the press to see her fading beauty. Despite trying to become a lifestyle guru with a book about cooking, keeping house, and throwing dinner parties, Joan was reduced to living the life of seclusion, as it seemed she had finally made peace with the fact that her acting career was over.

Now that’s not the way to make friends. #FeudFX pic.twitter.com/q65byg7SJE

— FEUD: Bette and Joan (@FeudFX) April 19, 2017

Meanwhile, Bette Davis’s life was no easier. The legendary actress tried her hand at television, with no luck. Sadly, Bette’s relationship with her daughter was also on the rocks. After allowing her daughter to get married to a much older man at the age of 16, Bette found herself living alone, and eventually losing contact with her daughter and her grandchildren. Although she knew Joan Crawford was likely the only other person in the world who truly understood how she felt, Bette Davis could never bring herself to pick up the phone and call her former Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? co-star.

Sadly, as Feud fans now know, Bette never got the chance to make things right with Joan. After falling ill to cancer, Crawford’s mind also started to go. In a beautiful dream-like sequence, Joan and Bette finally made peace and decided to become friends. Crawford failing health got the best of her, and she died a week after the hallucination of repairing her relationship with Davis. Later that year at the Academy Awards, Bette Davis and some other Hollywood friends of Joan Crawford toasted the actress as they watched her photograph quickly flash by during the memorial montage. It was later revealed that Bette Davis died years later after succumbing to breast cancer. Her tombstone reads, “She did it the hard way.”

Bette exudes confidence and class. It’s no wonder we want her attention. #FeudFX pic.twitter.com/Vc5ZE0Hka9

— FEUD: Bette and Joan (@FeudFX) April 21, 2017

In the months following Joan Crawford’s death, her oldest daughter, Cristina, released a book about growing up with the Oscar winner. The memoir, titled Mommie Dearest, eventually became a movie, in which Faye Dunaway starred as the actress, portraying years of abuse and mentally unstable breakdowns. Many fans now associate Joan Crawford with the film although her other daughters, friends, and former colleagues have disputed the events portrayed in the book.

After watching Feud: Bette and Joan, fans of the FX drama are more curious than ever about the events that really happened between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Although internet searches and quotes from those who were there will seemingly never tell the full story of the two Hollywood actresses who seemingly hated and admired one another simultaneously.

What did you think about the Feud: Bette and Joan finale?

[Featured Image by FX Television Network]