American Horror Stories gets lost in the woods
While “Feral” teases at Bigfoot, it ends up revealing itself as something more absurd without bothering to play with said absurdity.
TV Reviews American Horror Stories
The latest American Horror Stories has gorgeous shots of trees. Gorgeous pines. Beautiful oaks. I don’t actually know any of the trees featured in the show’s national park, but I really enjoyed some of the vibes that Manny Coto was going for with these sweeping shots of nature. There’s just a natural menace that exists within this vast realm that is so frequently explored by campers and rangers, but that we actually know so little about.
But, this is American Horror Stories. This is a show that will always manage to sort of waste the potential greatness it kicks off with. It’s always caught between wanting to be prestige television and wanting to be a goofy little B-movie. Murphy and Falchuk have occasionally managed to find a sweet spot in between those things and Coto, as the primary writer throughout this season of episodic nonsense, has had his share of ups and downs. “Feral” doesn’t know which of these two tones it’s going for, which is a shame for an episode chock full of moments that could be further exploited if it leaned into messiness.
“Feral” is a lot of things in one (which, really, is something that can be said about most Murphy/Falchuk shows): it’s got a missing child, references to Bigfoot, drug cartels, an Australian park ranger in an American national forest, and, uh, feral mutants that live in the woods. The episode’s cold open—a simple enough instance of a child disappearing in the woods—prepares the audience for one thing, but the rest of the episode delivers something else. Its found-footage styled opening credits promise something intriguing, but more than that, it offers a tiny showcase of what AHS could do if the people behind it actually chose to engage with form.
Imagine, if you will, an episode that was entirely shot like a found-footage film. That the episode introduces the concept of Bigfoot and then fakes out the viewer by pivoting to feral human beings, some of which are mutated beyond recognition, isn’t the problem. The problem is that the episode doesn’t commit to the nonsensicality of its story. I know I’ve complained about this in the past, but the series is truly at its best when it leans into a certain camp sensibility (and how comedy and horror intersect). A few moments in this episode attain that, particularly those with Cody Fern of all people.
Fern is, quite possibly, the only person who is totally aware of the kind of performance he should be giving. Where Aaron Tveit and Tiffany Dupont try hard to sell the drama that Coto has lazily written (made worse by the fact that neither actor looks like they’ve aged the ten years the episode spans), Fern is keyed into the humor that lies within. When Fern’s park ranger walks in with an Australian accent, it’s immediately offbeat and humorous when compared to the self-seriousness of the journey to find a missing child. When he starts going on and on about conspiracy theories—not Bigfoot, but the concept that wild people live in the forest, that the government has suppressed this information, that thousands of missing people are eaten by feral beings that have mutated due to inbreeding or something, that they might just be hundreds of years old, that they exist within every single national park, and that the government continues to allow it “because capitalism”—you can’t help but be drawn into the episode. It’s idiotic, but it’s exactly the kind of idiotic I expect from the series at this point.
Where most of the episode falls into rather boring territory, the thing that deserves highlighting beyond Fern is the feral beings themselves. At first it’s the same basic “something in the woods” shots you get in any horror teasing, but once they’re revealed, it’s delightful to watch the performers move around. Their designs are all unique and they inhabit space in a way that reminds me of performers at Halloween Horror Nights or any given haunted house where oddities chase you around. They also have one of the most entertaining kills of the season so far, which comes in the form of tearing Cody Fern’s park ranger apart and eating his intestines. It’s not especially unique, but god is it entertaining to watch a bunch of mutant cannibals eating someone’s guts.
Between this and last week’s final shot of Ba’al being forced to bone Billie Lourd, I can’t help but find myself disappointed that these two haven’t been as consistently self-aware as previous episodes in the season. “Feral” has the missing child expectedly turn up as part of the feral party, but what’s so charming about an introduction that could have sucked is how flat-out absurd it is. A throne of bones appears out of nowhere, the child is sitting on it and somehow the leader of this pack of cannibals, and he’s still wearing the compass his father gave him before deciding to eat them all. That the entire episode wasn’t on the same wavelength of that is just a shame. But, hey, maybe next week will be better.
Stray observations
- It is a damn shame that Cody Fern didn’t make a “dingo ate my baby” joke because that was absolutely the first thing I thought when he showed up
- For a short moment, I was convinced this episode was going to turn into a random zombie thing, but I’m glad it ended up not being that.
- One thing I wish this episode did was shut the fuck up a little more. If it wanted to lean into the horror/drama of it all, it would have been better off letting the characters and audience stew in the sounds of the forest. But, sadly, as I have stated in the past, this show is not good at horror.
- The dude who guides them through the forest truly had some of the worst dialogue so far of the series. “His Wheaties have been in the milk too long” and “this ain’t no marriage retreat and I sure as hell ain’t no Dr. Phil” are both just terrible lines and he cannot sell the betrayal of the family whatsoever.
- One of my favorite genres of cinema is “parents losing a child and dealing with that” and god does this episode truly suck at exploring that. This probably says too much about me and I should have kept it for my therapist.
- And, last but not least, can we talk about the fact that this man claims there are pot farms in the national parks, but those pot farms are home to dangerous cartels who kidnap people and sell them into human trafficking. It’s just… a very dated concept about weed of all things. Like, this is some Weeds era nonsense.
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But, sadly, as I have stated in the past, this show is not good at horror.
Because it’s leaned hard in to the notion that you can replace the uneasiness caused by genuine horror/suspense with nausea and jump scares.I’m glad I tuned out after the first few episodes. First one was interesting, second went south, and it sounds like the rest have followed that trajectory.
‘And, last but not least, can we talk about the fact that this man claims there are pot farms in the national parks, but those pot farms are home to dangerous cartels who kidnap people and sell them into human trafficking. It’s just… a very dated concept about weed of all things. Like, this is some Weeds era nonsense.’uhhhh…
https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2021/04/40-acre-pot-farm-discovered-death-valley-national-park
I think “but those pot farms are home to dangerous cartels who kidnap people and sell them into human trafficking. It’s just… a very dated concept about weed of all things” is the part that the writer finds to be quite dated. Not the fact that there are pot farms in national parks.
Sometimes I wonder if we’re watching the same series. Certainly not a perfect episode of television, but I’d say it’s above the series’ batting average. So many reviews of AHS stuff gets bogged down in “why isn’t the show doing exactly what I want it to do?” when it’s really more about getting whisked along to whatever goofy-ass wavelength it’s on.
I hated the first three episodes, but actually liked the silliness of Billie Lourd’s episode. I’ll give this one a go too.
Exactly. He never explains what exactly he wants either.
Thank you. I’ve been busy and just watched this and the Ba’al episode and I cannot understand the disconnect people are having from what the show actually is: spoopy for adults. Bite sized AHS nonsense. Something fun and ridiculous. I feel like a lot of people watching this and AHS proper just… don’t get it at all.
This episode felt like a video game turned spec script… Everyone, we’ve hit rock bottom.
It needed like at least one more action piece to make it interesting.
I’m let down that the Aussie park ranger didn’t have a big-ass knife. I’d also tack on another 15 minutes to show that parents trying to get away by starting a forest fire that wipes out the local mutants plus 500,000 acres. Too soon?
It is a damn shame that Cody Fern didn’t make a “dingo ate my baby” joke because that was absolutely the first thing I thought when he showed upHow is that funny? A woman lost her child, was nearly imprisoned for life, and when Aboriginal Australians went to investigators and told them that dingoes do steal children, they were just dismissed.
come on man
Yeah, I’m glad we stopped with those jokes, the real case was so horrible. They kept focusing on the fact they found a trail of clothes but that was just from the dingo dragging him away before taking him somewhere to eat him
yeah, a dingo really did eat her baby
“A few moments in this episode attain that, particularly those with Cody Fern of all people.”
I have to remind myself that you said you haven’t watched most of American Horror Story—including, I assume, Apocalypse where Fern played, err, the Devil? The Devil’s son? Something. Anyway—I really really liked him on Versace (a Murphy/Falchuk joint where they stayed completely out of the writers’ room, leaving every script to London Spy writer Tom Rob Smith) so was curious about him coming to AHS. His role was 110% full on camp, and all over the place (a lot of fans just complained that he must be a bad actor, but I thought he did everything he could with the material). So his camp take here was not remotely, whatsoever, surprising—I knew what to expect as soon as I saw his name in the credits. All I’ll say was it was a smart take, to make the character even more OTT, to use Fern’s natural Aussie accent.
Yeah, I have to agree with pretty much everything here. By the time the parents were being eaten, it just all added up to a big shrug. A lot of ideas shoved in here but none of it really worked. The forest guide’s sudden turn around was particularly horribly handled. I liked the cold opening for what it was—even the kid was pretty good I thought. Cool credits which, as you say, added up to nothing. And… yeah.
I guess back to murder house next week?
“Ba’al” was my fave episode this season. I love Billie Lourd, and my heart broke watching her struggle after finally having the baby she’d always dreamed of. The end was a little out there, but I liked it. That being said, “Feral” didn’t really do it for me. It wasn’t terrible, but it just sort of felt…there, if that makes sense. Cody Fern is always enjoyable to watch, though. I’m looking forward to the next one.
The concept amused me, since I had to wonder if they got the idea for the episode when they were sitting around high and/or drunk and were like “Heeey, what if…we made an episode that’s like that Bigfoot documentary on Hulu, only Bigfoot killed the drug dealers, and then it’s not Bigfoot at all!”
It is a damn shame that Cody Fern didn’t make a “dingo ate my baby” jokeI don’t even know what to say to this…I guess I’m glad you’re not the one writing jokes. It’s not funny that a baby was mauled to death. Grow up.
This was a complete wet fart of an episode that started off promising and went absolutely nowhere. My favorite part was the park ranger laying out the conspiracy – in which hordes of bloodthirsty mutants are covered up because the National Park Service just rakes in SO MUCH MONEY.
Yeah, the random cannibal conspiracy theory was definitely a highlight. I would watch a show that was just “there’s a bunch of weird spooky stuff in the national park system”. But the idea that it was *solely* these weirdo cannibal creatures made it a bit less interesting.
“this ain’t no marriage retreat and I sure as hell ain’t no Dr. Phil” got a huge not-from-me laugh from my couch and really made me rethink my whole relationship