It’s back to the future in episode 7 of “American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez,” the Ryan Murphy-produced FX show about the life and death of the former Patriots pass catcher.
You’ll recall that episode 1 of the series opened with Hernandez (Josh Rivera) inexplicably shooting his friend Alexander Bradley (Roland Buck III) — called “Sherrod,” a nickname, in the show — at point-blank range. That moment is finally explained in episode 7: Hernandez had become so paranoid that he believed Bradley had snitched to the cops, and told them the Patriots star was the one who pulled the trigger in the 2012 drive-by shooting that killed two men outside a Boston nightclub.
Bradley, miraculously, survives being shot in the face by Hernandez, but refuses to tell police who shot him.
“I ain’t tellin’ you [expletive],” he tells an officer who questions him in the hospital. “I’ll take care of this on my own.”
The intensity of Bradley’s vengeance — he sends several threatening texts — terrifies Hernandez, prompting him to install an elaborate security system in his North Attleborough home. He then sits, gun in hand, monitoring the video screens for any sign of trespassers.
Hernandez eventually flies to Indianapolis, where Bill Belichick (Norbert Leo Butz) is scouting college players, and pleads with the Patriots coach to trade him. He tells Belichick he needs to get out of New England because he and his family are being threatened. Belichick says no.
“You want me to trade you because you’ve got neighborhood troubles?” the coach says. “Didn’t we tell you to stay away from those people?”
Along with their daughter, Hernandez and his fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, temporarily relocate to California, where Hernandez has surgery on his injured shoulder. Afterward, he begins abusing the pain medication he’s prescribed and threatens suicide.
When he finally returns to New England, Hernandez, with help from the Patriots, secures an apartment in Franklin, where he does drugs and also stores drugs and ammunition.
The 10-episode FX series,“ American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez,” is based on The Boston Globe’s Spotlight series and the accompanying podcast produced by the Globe and Wondery.
Mark Shanahan can be reached at mark.shanahan@globe.com. Follow him @MarkAShanahan.
