American Horror Stories is as frustrating as it is entertaining
The two-part premiere, "Rubber(wo)Man," tries to do too much in too little time, but isn't without its fair share of cheap thrills.
TV Reviews American Horror Stories
Sometimes when I watch American Horror Story, I’m convinced no one behind the camera has any understanding of what makes for good horror. The series has been prone to more laughs than scares, with a penchant for increasing absurdity and a complete disinterest in maintaining a coherent narrative or any semblance of worthwhile character introspection as each season progresses. Its kills aren’t particularly inventive either and no amount of stunt casting or connected universes have managed to make it feel fresh. And yet, there’s comfort in something as trashy and mindless as American Horror Story, a show that is only as competent as it needs to be, which isn’t very competent at all.
Now, I know that sounds like an insult—and maybe it very well is—but while watching the first two episodes of Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s spin-off, American Horror Stories, I couldn’t help but find myself surprisingly entertained. It is deeply stupid from the get-go, but there’s a playfulness to the way it approaches the story it’s chosen to tell first.
In spite of being a show that is built on the notion of being “contained” episodic horror (rather than a season-long arc), the series kicks off with a pair of episodes titled “Rubber(wo)Man” that us right back to where it all started: the Murder House. To some extent it repurposes the gimmick of the show’s first season—folks move into a haunted house and anyone murdered in it becomes a part of its collection of ghosts who cannot leave—while also playing on its history. Michael, Troy, and their daughter Scarlett (Matt Bomer, Gavin Creel, and Sierra McCormick, respectively) find themselves taking over the Murder House to renovate it into a haunted B&B, planning on spending all their money and hoping to roll in the dough once all the work is done. Needless to say, this is a terrible idea and things go wrong pretty much immediately.
To the show’s credit, it handles the exposition of what’s going on within the house and its silly rules about ghosts pretty decently for those who never watched (or simply don’t remember) Murder House. But, the thing is, it’s hard not to be a little disappointed that the set of episodes don’t do more to stand out as their own work rather than an extension of an existing universe. Eerie music and canted angles of a house don’t do much unless you’re aware of the baggage that comes with the house, but once the show starts indulging in its senselessness, it’s not quite so boring. The first half of this two-parter has, well, a lot.
Within 10 minutes, someone is already putting on a rubber outfit that they found randomly in a closet and appreciating herself in a mirror while Bernard Herrmann’s “Twisted Nerve” plays. After that? Unrequited flirtation between girls at school with every red flag possible. And then? A masturbation fantasy that culminates in an orgasm while Scarlett is imagining choking her crush Maya (Paris Jackson). “Twisted Nerve” plays again. Does it end there? Of course not. Then we’ve got the dumbest discussion of “extreme porn” ever shown on television, which includes two gay dads asking their daughter if she “fantasizes about being the masochist or the sadist” and pretty much kink-shaming their daughter because they think she’ll become a psychopath from watching this “level of pain and humiliation.”
Scarlett accidentally cuts her father while wearing her rubber suit! She talks to a therapist, who gets killed the second her scene is over! Mean teen girls livestream an intimate conversation between Maya and Scarlett (which Maya was obviously evil enough to plan with her friends) and laugh about it! Scarlett invites the four girls over and kills them all! Oh, also, her dead therapist is a ghost in the house and wants them to have a session. Despite this much story shoved into under 50 minutes, the episode itself actually ends on a satisfying note. It’s a clean enough episode that has plenty of killing (however lackluster the deaths themselves are), a rather playful little haunted house feel to it, and ends up being a story of vengeance in the face of humiliation for a character who clearly establishes herself as someone who wants to be the sadist in her life.
As much as it throws a lot of buzzy topics around and makes some inane claims about the relationship between sex and violence, American Horror Stories isn’t the kind of show interested in psychoanalyzing the characters. It’s more preoccupied with making jokes at the expense of the caricatures it features, from comically evil teen girls to the kind of white gays that Ryan Murphy has been criticized thoroughly for always featuring. Falchuk and Murphy’s script acts like it’s in on the joke, but their self-awareness only stretches so far. For all the winking jokes there are that actively make fun of the rather stereotypical way that Murphy has depicted queer people for over a decade, the show still manages to fall (or maybe flat out throw itself) headfirst into those tropes. The good news is that it’s a little easier to stomach the same inanity they’ve always been prone to as a creative team when it’s contained to one episode (or, in this case, two).
Where “Rubber(wo)Man” could have easily been contained to one episode, Falchuk decides to offer more, more, more. The overall ongoings of the episode are all so frivolous, but the introduction of Ruby (Kaia Gerber), one of many ghosts within Murder House, and the relationship that sparks between her and Scarlett is actually somewhat intriguing. Whatever nonsensical proclamations about taking pleasure in hurting people the show makes feel almost irrelevant when it comes right down to it, as the creative team almost seems to be trying to pivot to something more sincere when it comes to their dating. It’s nothing unique, this idea of wanting to live together forever as they are now (or even the notion of one person being free while the other is “trapped”), but on some level the episode actually succeeds at making one understand what brings and keeps them together. It’s not in the way the show haphazardly approaches abuse and recovery, but more in the way that this couple manages to find some ounce of growth in characterization in spite of being in a wildly unrealistic situation that keeps getting messier.
And, boy, does it get messy. The budding relationship doesn’t quite get the intimacy it deserves, in part because the episode as a whole only seems half-interested in exploring it and in part because there’s simply too much going on. That “too much going on” is part of the reason why the episode is, ultimately, rather entertaining in a brain-numbing way though. Aaron Tveit’s bit role as the contractor Adam may be the most insane and yet the most entertaining of them all, wedging himself deviously in between Michael and Troy’s marriage. He doesn’t just get to start an affair, he also happens to murder a houseworker, find the dead bodies of the girls Scarlett killed, and try to sort of help, sort of blackmail the couple into keeping quiet and letting him in on their whole B&B plan. The absurdity extends beyond him to literally everyone in the house, becoming something of a Scooby-Doo episode where folks are running around and plotting against each other, except, y’know, literally everyone in the house (except Scarlett) is dead and not loving it.
At some points it sincerely feels like the cast is as in on the joke as the creators are, especially when it features something as flat-out ridiculous as two dead gay ghost dads trying to tell their murderer daughter that she can’t date a ghost girl who is permanently stuck in the house they all inhabit. But it never quite manages to decide whether it wants to be taken seriously (whether that’s as a love story or a drama or a horror show or whatever) or not. By the time the episode, and the story as a whole, ends up becoming something of a dramedy while wrapping up, it’s hard to feel any satisfaction from how the plot continues to advance. There’s less pleasure in a neat ending than there is in indulging in the cheap thrills that the show offers but sometimes sidelines. It’s hard to feel like American Horror Stories did much within this premiere, but I can’t help but find myself curious at what’s to come when the series stops relying on its past and actually offers the contained horror stories it claims to bring to the table.
Stray observations
- I’m sorry that you’ve all chosen to join me for this journey and I’d like to warn you all in advance that, as much as I have committed my lifetime to watching most of Ryan Murphy’s shows, I have a very mixed relationship with his work. I love some and loathe others, but I am a weak person who remains eternally curious about what he brings to the table, even when it’s a mess.
- I also have to make a slight confession: I gave up watching American Horror Story after season three because I simply couldn’t stand full seasons of the show anymore (but I did, in fact, catch random episodes of random seasons every so often). And, yet, watching this made me want to give those seasons a shot. Maybe my brain is broken. Maybe I need therapy with a ghost therapist.
- Speaking of ghost therapists, obviously “there’s another therapist here” is a reference to Dylan McDermott’s therapist from Murder House. I was actually pleasantly surprised at how little the episode relied on making references. Yes, they were present, from the piggy man, to the infantata, to the twin boys, and so on and so forth. I won’t claim to be an expert at catching all of these, so I’m happy to see what folks note in the comments!
- What the hell does Ryan Murphy have against good wigs? I swear it’s like he gets hard just putting people in bad wigs. Gavin Creel, what the hell was going on with your hair in these episodes of television? I simply do not understand it.
- Oh, one more thing: while I don’t think anything was particularly well-shot or presented, I will admit I was pretty fond of the way they introduce Scarlett putting on the rubber suit. There’s a good balance of eeriness and eroticism and I wish the show had actually bothered to exploit that balance more in something like this. Like, come on guys, explore the relationship between a living woman and a ghost woman some more. It honestly could have been an episode of its own instead of lumping it together with as much nonsense as was packed in here.
68 Comments
Wait, Paris Jackson is in this?! How is she at acting?
Better than Kaia Gerber. She doesn’t have a ton of meat to the part but she wasn’t distracting like Kaia was.
I actually thought she was pretty solid! Most of the cast oscillates between kind of bland and kind of interesting, but I think she’s one of the few people actually attuned to how silly the role she’s playing is.
She did waaay better than Kaia Guber(who was pretty bad). I think she did a great job of pretending to be good but have a layer of mystery(aka, she was really awful) and then did good being awful too. So yeah, two thumbs up to Paris Jackson
Sigh, I’ll probably try this because I do love horror stuff and tacky stuff. AHS is so frequently a disappointment and I’ve given up midway through many seasons. Ryan Murphy stuff has that thing where the casting looks great, the concept sounds good, couple shots from it look rad and totally up my alley, but it so often isn’t. Just so often hollow and dull if not stupid. For instance Zach Snyder’s Sucker Punch, I’ve shown people the music video parts, really cool, then insisted you don’t really want to watch the movie though it’s just awful. There’s another movie that comes to mind too starring Kate Winslet and James Gandolfini a campy trashy indie with musical numbers Romance and Cigarettes. I like to show people this musical number (2:30) because it’s fun and no one has seen it. Then tell them nope it’s awful, sounds like it couldn’t possibly be bad, but nope.
The cast singing a Nirvana song in season 4 in a story about a guy fucking the town’s wives with giant lobster fingers was it for me. Noped right the fuck out and haven’t looked back since.
I’m just waiting for an episode about Constance’s eyeless daughter. I was leery when I heard Paris Jackson and Kaia Gerber were in it. Was it stunt casting of pretty children of celebrities? Of course, but they’re not bad. Paris Jackson was actually better than not bad. It was also a bit of a relief to know that they wouldn’t be dragging the story out for 10 episodes.
The genius part about casting them as antagonists is that Cindy Crawford’s daughter is a dead ringer (no pun intended) for her mother, while Michael Jackson’s bears zero resemblance to her alleged father.
My issue with Ryan Murphy is not so much how he only writes stereotypical, mostly white gays (although that is obviously a problem.) It’s that he seems to have deep disdain for any gay man in his shows. Other than Pose (even in that the most annoying character is the twink dancer) his work features gay men at their worst. It’s evident most of all in AHS where you cannot be a gay dude without either being morally destitute or dying a horrific death, usually both. And that’s not even getting into the lack of POCs in early seasons of AHS. It’s insane that all the main actors were white with one exception for *five* seasons. Ryan Murphy is the false god of progressive television.
Hell yeah! “Ryan Murphy is the false god of progressive television” is exactly it. It’s really hard to get into just how awful he can be at certain things. I still haven’t gotten over Hollywood lmao
And who in TV production do you consider “progressive”?
No one really. I actually think the concept of trying to be progressive usually ends up creating characters that are more stereotypes for “progress” than anything else. I personally find queer television that’s more interesting doesn’t usually have to try so hard to do things that are groundbreaking. Sense8 and The OA come to mind as recent ones that just felt very naturally queer, like it was a part of the series’ overall thesis and sensibility.
Hollywood being, among other things, one of the most blatant of his issues with depicting gay men. All the happy, buff, attractive gay men apparently have a blast prostituting themselves out for someone they basically call their saviour—but then there are those vile, ugly, user gay men like George Cukor (!) who are just beyond reproach because… Well I guess because they’re not Murphy’s view of the ideal young buff gay man? Cuz one type of whoring yourself out is great but anything to do with the casting couch is awful (I’m not saying the casting couch is good, but Murphy and Falchuk never really seem to realize what they’re implying).
Then there was the interview where he said he felt Rock Hudson (portrayed as dub as a rock in the show, which he wasn’t) would thank him for showing his character as being brave enough to come out and make a difference. Cuz, ya, Rock was simply not brave enough to come out.
My issue with Ryan Murphy is not so much how he only writes stereotypical, mostly white gays (although that is obviously a problem.) Is there also a problem for you if someone writes only stereotypical mostly black gays? Because Tyler Perry does it and you may not know because you’ve never seen The Oval or The Haves and the Have Nots after which you may change your last sentence about the “false god” – Perry is the one with the lifetime achievement awards…
To me it’s not that stereotypical but just a bit exaggerated. I don’t see the pattern of death or disdain either. Murphy at least tries to be artistic and the visuals are always decent. I think it’s indeed progressive to start a new series with a lesbian and her gay parents in the lead roles. You missed POC in AHS’s leading roles and I watched Scandal, Empire and How to Get Away with Murder (all seasons!) instead of missing something somewhere else. There are other series that feature non-stereotypical gays in Genera+ion, The Good Doctor, The Rookie, Special, Dear White People, This Close and Everything’s Gonna Be Okay or the cancelled Grand Army. I would criticize Murphy for his portrayal of gays if these shows and others didn’t exist but the truth is he did more for the visibility of LGBT in his productions than any other as far as I recall as a TV viewer.
Tyler Perry should not be your benchmark for well-written characters who don’t fit a certain mold.Shit, I think I’ve seen Tyler Perry attack people for converting to fucking Buddhism in his work.
Tyler Perry should not be your benchmark for well-written characters who don’t fit a certain mold.
Tyler Perry isn’t! He has the power (his own studio) and money to hire talent for writing and directing instead of doing it all himself. There were at times six gay characters on The Haves and the Have Nots, two in main storylines. But it was awkward to watch as if it was written by a very repressed and closeted gay. And everything looks like daytime TV in the 1990s.
My benchmark for gay characters (not stories) are the writers Peter Nowalk (HTGAWM), Shoshannah Stern and Josh Feldman (This Close), Michael Lannan (Looking) or Russel T. Davies (from QAF UK to It’s a Sin). I don’t expect the writing of Murphy’s American Crime Story in his American Horror Story. It’s 50s/60s horror schlock but with intentional camp moments. I’m one of the happy viewers who enabled Ratched a top spot on Netflix’s international list. I thought Hollywood was an optimistic and very warm life embracing story that really moved me – it’s my Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I can’t defend the terrible Prom and was underwhelmed by Halston but I had some fun with American Horror Stories.
Who mentioned Tyler Perry besides you?
It would be really funny if you’re a white guy and threw the Tyler Perry thing there.
Tyler Perry has never tried to be or ever claimed to be progressive. He’s very conservative and draws heavily from his conservative southern upbringing. Tyler Perry (for all the speculation into his sexual preferences) has never claimed to be an advocate for the LGBT community and rarely if ever has brought up gay men or women in any regard, Ryan Murphy on the other hand….
Curious in the review what the negative gay tropes Ryan Murphy features. I haven’t watched a huge amount of his work but I thought the two leads here came off fairly well, no? (Okay, one was cheating. I get that. But I also get you gotta create drama somewhere…)
I mean, I think he’s always very condescending towards gay men and sort of positions them as semi-puritanical while also being extra horny and awful — not to say I don’t find that dichotomy amusing at times, especially when the script actively jokes about his hypocrisy. But, like I said above, I never know where the self-awareness actually starts and ends. Or if he just kind of hates gay people (it’s more prevalent in other works imo).
From interviews I think he is very unaware of that aspect—and thinks he IS progressive (I swear he’s used that word). I’m also not sure he knows how cliche and awful it has become how he likes to have his cake and eat it too—not just in how he shows gay men, but how so many of his shows will have an older female (sometimes played by a gay icon) who says horribly racist, homophobic stuff but it’s meant to be funny cuz we know it’s awful—I can think of at least 6 of his shows with someone like that (and other odd choices like Glee had that offensive gaystereotype side character but I guess it was OK because they had positive jew stereotypes too…?)
Maybe Brad Falchuk is to blame. I mean he did mary Gwenyth Paltrow… Nah.
Ugh maddening stuff, but like you, I’ve at least checked out every Ryan Murphy show since Popular for whatever reason.
As for progressive—I’d call Russell T Davies progressive though he’d hate that term. From Queer as Folk on he wanted to portray gays (men mostly) but wasn’t afraid to make them somewhat unlikeable, etc, etc, yet it always feels organic to the material (even if I know gays who disagree with me—especially with shows like Cucumber where they felt the characters were too awful to watch. Meh ok)
Its literally this, like I genuinely love seeing gay guys in genre fiction (its so rare to see us in horror or scifi or fantasy), but I swear Murphy geniunely f*cking hates gay/bi men the way they’re written in pretty much every one of his shows.
How can a review of the second episode skip Kaia Gerber’s terrible “acting”? You obviously have no problem to describe what Murphy and Falchuk have done wrong but no single mention about the flat monotonous voice of Gerber who has for a model surprising stiff moves? And Paris Jackson was almost as bad but compared to Gerber she had a thankless role and could at least speak with a normal voice. If there’s one thing I have a problem with in Murphy’s productions it’s the casting of rather untalented celebrity children. There is really no need to discover another Billie Lourd.
I had no idea who she was or who her mom is (duh looks so much like her) but I thought her hilarious bad line readings were in on the joke? I mean, seemed like the only explanation haha. I actually thought her casting really worked, but then again a big reason I watch AHS is for the sloppiness of it all.
Stunt casting has and always will be a part of Murphy’s brand of television and very much derived from the soap operas that his shows are clearly influenced by. Yes Gerber is bad, but I also made note above that it’s hard to tell whether or not the cast is actually in on the joke (sometimes I think they are, sometimes I think they absolutely aren’t). Hard disagree on Jackson though. I think she did exactly what she came to do.
I kept watching Ruby and thinking “Man they really nailed the late 80s early 90s riot girl vibe and hair… now why does she look so familiar?” also “Damn she is really bad at this”. I had no idea who her mom was and now everything makes sense!I also remember Paris Jackson was in it and looked up which character she was plating. I was pleasantly surprised.
I don’t know much about prime time soaps but I know way too much about daytime soaps (even wrote an MA paper on All My Children) and I don’t see Murphy’s style or his use of celeb stunt casting really inherent in the soap genre. Though of course he does use actors who started on soaps (Finn Whitrock being an example–but he’s also a good actor, as is, to a lesser degree, Matt Bomer).
Maybe they meant prime time soaps? Because yeah, outside of a few exceptions notable mostly for how very rare they are, daytime soap operas don’t do much stunt casting.
Yeah, I think that must be what was meant–and I can see some of that over the top Dynasty style as an influence on a lot of the Ryan Murphy aesthetic.
I think the difference is that Billie’s acting style is just that way, whereas Kaia simply can’t act. Billie has a certain charm to her.
I’ve only watched a little bit of AHS here and there. Is this series using the existing storylines as inspiration (like the Rubber Man), so it helps to have seen the original show? Or is it going to stray from established AHS lore and do it’s own thing?
This one had some references to season 1 but you definitely don’t need to have seen any of the original Murder House to get what’s going on. Basically all you need to know is that lots of people, some evil, have died in the house and their ghosts are stuck there. Also one of those ghosts sometimes wears a rubber gimp suit. They explain that in the episodes though.
Yeah, it’s fairly stand-alone. It explains all of its own internal logic within the episode so you should be fine without background — even I’ll have a lot of blind spots.
I had only a passing knowledge of the actual show and was able to follow what’s going on.If anything, though, the stuff that clearly referenced the main show felt really out of place. Like, the rubber man was completely unnecessary to get the point across about that suit and they didn’t need the random horror monsters scaring the girls at the end of the first ep.
As someone who has seen every single episode of AHS multiple times… You gave up on it after season 3 so I don’t know why you are even writing about AHS. You are obviously not a fan of the series already so I don’t know why anyone would really care about your opinion on it. Stick to something you are actually interested in.
To be fair, season 3 was a steaming pile of dogshit.
I disagree. Stories is a pile of shit, but the first couple of seasons of Story weren’t.
but then wouldn’t that make their reviews biased? If you just want someone to tell you every episode is amazing I don’t think that’s called a review.
That’s not how reviews work, contrary to what some angry fan would believe.
Get a grip dude. Not everyone likes what you do or is a fan and they are allowed to write articles and have opinions.
You are obviously not a fan of the series already so I don’t know why anyone would really care about your opinion on it.Because only TRUE fans watch the entire show no matter what they think.As someone who hasn’t watched *any* of the show prior to this I was curious because it’d give me a chance to try it out in small chunks. Which, I assume, is the purpose of this show.
I shouldn’t be as surprised as I am given that first episode revolved entirely around a sex prop from the first season, but I was amazed by how utterly fetishistic that story was.
If you are, like me, predisposed towards noticing these things, the way the camera lingered on gloves sliding over hands and sleeves and zippers tightening a hood around a face was the kind of focus you’d see in actual latex fetish videos.In this regard, it was a neat exploration of both the classic and more vernacular uses of the term ‘fetish’, an object imbued with power and a psycho-sexual object fixation. Fairly clever and also enjoyable if you are, to repeat, predisposed towards this sort of thing.The episode otherwise was average, I’d say.
I would actually agree! My favorite instances were the donning of the outfit. There was so much attention and care put into the aesthetic of those moments and the way the camera’s gaze moves all over her body. It’s not just erotic, it’s also empowering and interesting. I’m really glad someone else is appreciative of that kind of attention to detail for mimicking fetish videos. I was actually arguing with a friend that its sensibilities when it comes to linking fetish with psychopathy are so tied into the way that films of yesteryear played armchair psychologist with pretty much any kink they desired. This idea that engaging in pain play is going to lead you to become a serial killer is so dated, but that’s part of the charm of American Horror Story for me. Even when I find its logic to be completely problematic and baffling, it never really tries to present any of this as concrete fact. It’s all heightened nonsense.
I would assume it was done to communicate the power the suit had over her. And considering the stuff we are to assume she watched, it made sense.The only thing that…kinda…irked me about it was she puts the gimp mask on. But that doesn’t fit with what we see her fantasizing about and what she tells her parents at the end.Clearly she’s a sadist, not a masochist, so you’d think she’d not enjoy the gag portion.
If you are, like me, predisposed towards noticing these things, the way
the camera lingered on gloves sliding over hands and sleeves and zippers
tightening a hood around a face was the kind of focus you’d see in
actual latex fetish videos.
Given the story they were telling about her, it fit. When she finds it, you can see her curiosity about it…and then when she gets it back to her room she runs her hands along it…and then you can see how she feels putting it on in how the camera presents it.
Roanoke is the last time I actually enjoyed this series, but it hasn’t been good since season 4.
Personally, I thought that this should have ended after the first part. We knew what would happen after she killed those girls. It always ends the same. And their version of a “psychopath” was the most boring fanfic version. Actual psychopaths can’t have real loving relationships, they live in constant shallow competition even with others like them. And the relationship with the dads felt like a retread of Zachary Quinto’s character and his husband. The “therapist who comes to your house” was also just a bizarre conceit for middle class characters. Like maybe she should have been a family friend who just happened to be a therapist?
Nothing is an vintage AHS Murder House as the AVC Reviewer slowly losing their mind in the reviews over the baffling choices made in the production and internal logic of Murder House.
You are just one weeping/masturbating Dylan McDermott away from fullly taking up the EVDW (and occasional Erik Adams) mantle. You need a few more GIF reactions. Are the other Emily and Molly trapped back there in the attic with you, or did Kinja bury them in the garden under a gazebo.
I truly feel right at home in this hellscape.
The best part of S1 was how idiot therapist Dylan McDermott kept harassing his ghost patients for their insurance info.
Oh wait was THAT who the other therapist was in reference to? I assumed they were making mention of other ghosts in the house, but I guess it did work as a standalone gag.
“Where “Rubber(wo)Man” could have easily been contained to one episode, Falchuk decides to offer more, more, more.”This sums up my issue with the series as a whole. Rather than pick one or two interesting storylines and really flesh them out, Murphy tends to pile them on and spreads them thin. There have been episodes I’ve really liked, and I’ve been impressed with the talents of actors like Francis Conroy, Sarah Paulsen, Denis O’Hare, etc., but the bad episodes really stick out like a sore thumb. I have to admit, I’ve always loved the intro scenes and music. It always starts off the episode with chills up my spine. Season four had my favorite opening.
This really could have been two entirely different stories. The first not needing the house and the second not needing the rubber woman.I had zero investment in the romance because the daughter was a terrible person and her girlfriend was worse.
Very solid start to that first episode, but couldn’t help but laugh at how bad the rest of it was. My highlight was Gay Dad #1 getting slashed with a fucking knife by his daughter and saying “You go to your room missy!” as if she’d stayed out late or something. Dude, she just cut you with a blade ffs.Sorry to dunk on a young actor, but Kaia Gerber put in possibly the worst performance I’ve seen this year in that second episode. I’m shivering thinking about it.
Episode One was an interesting concept poorly executed and Episode Two was just stupid.I had zero sympathy with any of the characters and the randomness of stuff that I assume was related to stuff I haven’t watched was frustrating.I could have gotten behind a psychological story where a girl puts on this rubber suit and feels comfortable being herself (murderous intent included) but it should have ended there.Everyone being just peachy keen with death and purgatory was painfully stupid. Especially the four girls she murdered. Though her dads happily hanging out together with the woman who murdered them and joking about getting used to eternity by banging the dead contractor…ugh.Also, what was the point of Scarlett’s kidnapping backstory? I thought it maybe would have paid off but nope.
…but on some level the episode actually succeeds at making one understand what brings and keeps them together. It’s not in the way the show haphazardly approaches abuse and recovery, but more in the way that this couple manages to find some ounce of growth in characterization in spite of being in a wildly unrealistic situation that keeps getting messier.You want to talk about messy?Less is more, my friend. Your sentences hurt my eyes.
Your review was way harsh Tai (Clueless reference), but Ryan and Brad deserved a spanking especially after making 1984. I have watched all seasons (favorite being Coven, Freakshow, and Hotel). I too will always be interested in the next season or new material. I didn’t know how much I missed AHS until I heard the slightly ever-changing (however delightfully consistent) theme song. We waited 2 yrs for something…hell, anything! I can definitely appreciate the latest two episodes, my jaw was open for the social media scene. Yes, there was a lot, but it was messy in a good way and the foundation was laid to care about the characters – more time/two episodes was necessary. One episode per yr of waiting!Also, Paris was good, I can imagine that it may be easy being the mean girl and maybe even a lesbian, mean girl, but I totally forgot she was going to be in it. I kept thinking she has to be related to Hailey Bieber somehow, smh.Good article, but please bingewatch the other seasons mentioned above. You will appreciate any watered-down product on the market from AHS to try to find the same “high” as those three seasons…except for 1984, anything but 1984, it was terrible.
i thought it was disappointing how disinterested Murphy was in fleshing out any character. I get it’s an anthology series and he cut himself down to episode long stories but Ruby was so edgy and shallow that I was utterly bored by her. the dads were just rehashed versions of the gay couple from Murder House. to be honest, the entire story seemed to be a rehashed version of Murder House, down to the messy teenage romance and the toxic ghost lover begging the teenage human to stay with them. if I wanted to watch Murder House, I would have.
Kaia Gerber’s mother is stunning in photographs and her father is rich, but the girl cannot act. I really genuinely deeply loved season one of this show. I hate-watched other seasons until I couldn’t take it anymore. I thought this anthology at the episode level idea was very good, so came back to give it a chance. It was not good, for all the reasons you pointed out. Haunted house stories should be creepy. This was loud and brash. Still, even through it all, Matt Bomer’s charm is just irrepressible. He couldn’t pull off all the idiotic stuff the script made him say that no one in the actual world would ever say, but he gave a few smiles here and there, like his earnest “do you have time for a one-on-one?”
I actually enjoyed him in this as well! I think the bits he has with the therapist are especially good (in part because she’s great as well). I could have used more of their back-and-forth and actually think he’d do well in something more screwball.
Every time I see the photo for this story, I think it’s another article on Black Widow.
Surprised no one is mentioning the obvious reference of Kaia Gerber in the bathtub drawing on her mother’s Freedom 90 famous bathtub scene. They even did her make up in a similar manner.
I watched the first two episodes, and while they were entertaining, it was basically the same show Murphy has been doing since season one of AHS and nearly every season ever since. Oh wow, if you die in the house/hotel/campground you’re trapped there forever, how original!With that said, I was in the same boat as far as not really watching consistently after season four, but I ran out of things to watch during the pandemic and reconsidered- after the first two episodes of Hotel I gave up and refuse to go back, but Roanoke and 1984 were solid, and I LOVED Apocalypse (you gotta give it a solid three episodes, though).
American Horror Stories? So, is this like an Alien/Aliens sort of thing?
American horror story is easily one of the worst shows on tv in the last decade. This new series also looks like shit.I will still watch the episodes that feature Sierra McCormick putting on a latex body suit. Fuck
All the shit you say is dumb actually happens to some extent so how does that work against the show?
I love how generous and lenient you were with this, constantly trying to find a silver lining. It’s endearing.I’m not sure it’s self-aware enough to be camp, and I’m not sure “the joke” you keep talking about is funny, either.P.S. If you wanna see a truly horrible wig, look at Tate’s hair in Season 8 (Apocalypse)