Disclaimer - this entire rant has to do with the show "American Horror Story." If that is not a series you watch or if you are completely uninterested in my frivolous ravings in general...or both...feel free to skip this post and devout your time to more important pursuits. 😊
Congratulations, American Horror Story...you made the apocalypse boring.
How do you even do that?! It's the APOCALYPSE, for heaven sakes?!
For those unfamiliar with American Horror Story (AHS), it's an anthology series that (mostly) has a new theme every season (Murder House, Asylum, Coven, Freak Show, Hotel, Roanoke, Cult and most recently, Apocalypse), while using many of the same actors, including Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Kathy Bates, Emma Roberts, Jessica Lange, Denis O'Hare, Cheyenne Jackson and Frances Conroy.
My two favorite seasons are Murder House and Roanoke. Murder House is a haunted house with a twist - anyone who dies in it is stuck there, forced to haunt it forever (or almost forever, given events in Apocalypse). The story follows the Harmon family - Ben (Dylan McDermott), his wife Vivien (Connie Britton), and their teenage daughter, Violet (Taissa Farmiga) - the new residents of the mansion. They are plagued by the living and the dead, putting into motion the events that take place in Apocalypse (more on that later).
Roanoke's style was quite different from other seasons, (SPOILER) in that the second half was rather "found footage-y." Set in modern day North Carolina, the season revolves around a farmhouse that was built on the land where the Roanoke Colony moved after the infamous disappearance in the late 1500s. A documentary called My Roanoke Nightmare was filmed about the harrowing experiences of a family living on the property. Due to the success of the documentary, the homeowners and the actors playing them return to the house for the sequel - Return to Roanoke: Three Days In Hell. The "found footage" is a result of the entire house being littered with cameras, placed to shoot the documentary sequel. As you can imagine, things didn't unfold as planned. The strangest part about this season was Lady Gaga playing a river demon goddess...thing. I don't remember them explaining it very well or it being particularly interesting...
Even so, I was surprised Roanoke didn't review better, with Vulture rating it 7/8 (Freak Show being the only season they thought was worse). Clearly they have no taste, since they ranked Cult #2 (which was awful and 7/8 on my list) and Apocalypse #5. Vox gauged seasons a little better, ranking Hotel #7, followed by Cult, then Coven. Roanoke ranked #4...then they go off the rails and rank Murder House #3, Freak Show #2 and Asylum #1.
My personal ranking, from worst to best, would be #8 Freak Show, #7 Cult, #6 Apocalypse, #5 Hotel, #4 Coven, #3 Asylum, #2 Roanoke and #1 Murder House.
I like the concept of AHS. I like the horror, suspense and conceptually most of the storylines. And I really like some of the actors. However, there are things that really bug me about the series as a whole...and some seasons specifically.
The main issue I have with AHS is they tend to take the easy route. They get lazy. In Asylum, there were fairly random aliens and deviant/abusive clergy. In Coven, it turned into a b*tchy witch fest and they horribly under-utilized Evan Peters, who has been in more episodes of AHS than any other actor. Freak Show was just...weird...and not in the good way. They wasted both Michael Chiklis and John Carroll Lynch (Twisty the clown). And Neil Patrick Harris' story line was cliche and frankly rather boring, which is tragic since it was NPH. There were so many wasted opportunities in that season, which is one of the reasons I dislike it so much. Hotel just had too much sex. It was like they couldn't figure out what to do with Lady Gaga, so they made her a oversexed vampire (literally). And while I loved that Matt Bomer was in Hotel, he couldn't save the season...which I partially blame on Wes Bentley. He is the dude version of Kristen Stewart - no emotional range (his gauge got stuck on "stoic" with an occasional side of brooding), which makes it difficult to care about Hotel when he's one of the main characters. He does appear in other seasons, but has smaller roles...thank God. Again, Asylum had some interesting themes, but once they decided to add the alien abduction aspect, it got far less interesting. It was too easy a fallback for all the weirdness going on.
Another theme that has been beaten to death is "women are better than men." In reality it plays out more "raging misogynists vs radical feminists," with the de facto conclusion being women are better than men. More subtle in some seasons than others, it's really the premise of Cult. Kai, played by Evan Peters, is thrilled by Trump's presidential win and creates a male dominant alt-right cult, which (SPOILER) is actually the result of manipulations by female cultists, followers of Valerie Solanas (portrayed by Lena Dunham). Valerie was a radical feminist who (in the show, not real life) attempted to assassinate Andy Warhol (also played by Evan Peters). Valerie's cult (called SCUM - Society for Cutting Up Men) was hellbent on overthrowing male oppression, which in and of itself isn't a terrible mission statement...until it is executed (pun intended) by way of murdering men and "compliant females" (ones who don't think men are the devil). The worst part - it was kind of portrayed as a necessary evil. Sarah Paulson's character, Ally Mayfair-Richards, basically turns into a female Kai by the end (not good, people...super not good!). In Apocalypse, there was literally a conversation about how women are stronger when it comes to magic, since testosterone inhibits magical powers (witches > warlocks). Much of the season is men vs women, since witches are trying to defeat the anti-Christ, Michael Langdon (more on him when I get to actually ranting about Apocalypse)...with a few gay warlocks helping the witches out periodically. Actually, I just noticed that...I don't think any straight men were "good guys" this season. Not all the gay male characters were protagonists...but none of the straight men were for sure.
On to Apocalypse itself. Originally billed as a crossover between Murder House and Coven, it pulled in characters from Hotel as well. Several actors played multiple rolls (from the different seasons), such as Sarah Paulson playing Wilhemina Venable (Apocalypse), Cordelia Goode (Coven) and Billie Dean Howard (Murder House); Evan Peters as Mr. Gallant (Apocalypse), James Patrick March (Hotel), Tate Langdon (Murder House), and Jeff Pfister (also Apocalypse); Frances Conroy plays Myrtle Snow (Coven) and Moira O'Hara (Murder House); Taissa Farmiga plays Zoe Benson (Coven) and Violet Harmon (Murder House).While an interesting idea, it can get confusing sometimes...as can the timeline. There were flashbacks within flashbacks, leaving the viewer unsure where they are in the story. The worst was a time jump in the finale, (SPOILER) where Mallory (Billie Lourd) goes back in time to when the anti-Christ, Michael Langdon (Cody Fern), was vulnerable and LITERALLY RUNS HIM OVER WITH AN SUV! Three times! The entire season was basically negated by one quick trip to the past! And why hadn't they done this earlier?! They had already time traveled to 1918 Russia in an attempt to save Anastasia from being assassinated...so clearly they knew they could go back THAT far!
Like I said, just lazy writing. It's like they got to shooting the last episode and thought "uh oh, how are we going to wrap this up in 45 minutes?........I know!"
Uuuuugh.
Overall, the story line is rather boring. We find out that Michael is the anti-Christ (more on him below) and that a group of satanists are eager to bring about the apocalypse to "purify the earth", with the help of hundreds of nuclear bombs. Only those worth are allowed to live, safely tucked away in bunkers...and by worthy, I mean are rich enough to buy their way in or are genetically superior, which is a theme they open the show with (when two characters are kidnapped and forced into a bunker in the first episode) and then completely ignores. The pacing of the episodes is also odd. Most of them build tension throughout, leaving you anticipating the next installment...only for the next episode to start low investment (not picking up where the last one left off) to slowly build up again. The momentum is off-putting, leaving the audience without a sense of closure on a particular facet of the story.
There was also astonishingly little character development in this season. I'm sure that's partly due to most of the characters being from other seasons (so the viewers already know them), but that's not true for some of the new main characters, like Mallory (Billie Lourd). (SPOILER) It turns out that she is the next leader of the coven, which means she will be the most powerful witch upon the death of Cordelia Goode (Sarah Paulson). Vox pointed out that other than showcasing her powers (which become substantial), we don't really learn anything about Mallory. She's quiet...a little mousy...apparently a terrible personal assistant...but other than that? Sarah Paulson's character Wilhemina Venable was another one we know little about. Why in heaven's name is she working for Jeff Pfister (Evan Peters) and Mutt Nutter (Billy Eichner)? Where did she come from? We know she suffers from severe scoliosis...is that why she's so angry and bitter? And why is sex punishable by death at Outpost 3? Jeff and Mutt make her the leader of Outpost 3, at which point she goes rouge on the rules and kills off some of the few unaffected survivors of the apocalypse. That seems counterproductive at best.
Speaking of the outposts, if you were planning ahead for the annihilation of most of the human race and were building bunkers in which to survive, wouldn't you make them...I dunno...substantial? Outpost 3 was built under a cylindrical, twirly, metal maze we find out was just a piece of art from the old warlock school. That's the entrance into the bunker, which isn't hard to break into, (SPOILER) as Brock (another character played by Billy Eichner) demonstrates. If you wanted to keep your art installation, why wouldn't you build a fortress around it? And then there's the food situation. They are running dangerously low on food after about 18 months. Wouldn't you amass more than enough supplies? 10 years worth doesn't seem like overkill to me. You might not know how long the earth will be uninhabitable due to the massive nuclear fallout...but it's a heck of a lot longer than 18 months. Overall their preparations were woefully insufficient.
FYI - this whole section contains spoilers...so consider yourself warned.
And then there's Michael Langdon (Cody Fern), the most schizophrenic anti-Christ I've ever seen. Technically his character is in the first season (Murder House), since he's one of Vivien's (Connie Britton) babies. He is raised (kidnapped) by his pseudo-grandmother, Constance Langdon (Jessica Lange), hence the last name. In Apocalypse, by the time he is a toddler, he is already mutilating and killing animals...and eventually upgrades to his babysitter. His "poor" grandmother is stuck disposing of the evidence, which become a more overwhelming task when he grows from a toddler into a teenager overnight.
Yup. You heard me correctly. Michael magically (demonically?) sprouts from about 4 to 15, literally overnight. Constance walks into his bedroom to find a teenager, instead of a toddler. I assume they did this to make the timeline fit better and so Cody Fern could start playing Michael, but it's seriously stupid.
His mood swings are also unbearable. One minute he is crazy powerful, wandering into Hell and snaps people/ghosts out of existence, and the next he's a whiny baby, sniveling and bemoaning whatever situation he's in. Behind his ear is a birthmark of sorts...a raised 666 that looks perpetually red & irritated...and that's his ticket to the satanists blindly believing he's the anti-Christ (because....sure?). He also has an inordinate love for Miriam Mead (Kathy Bates), to the point that he has a cyborg version of her created once she is killed. There are also innumerable times when he could have defeated the witches, but has so many "this isn't over/I'll be back" moments instead, it's ludicrous. 👿
To keep from only criticizing the season, here are a couple things I thought they did well.
The portrayal of hell was one of the only interesting parts of the season. Two characters are retried from hell - Madison Montgomery (Emma Roberts) and Misty Day (Lily Rabe). Both are saved from their own personal torments - Madison working endless retail and Misty in a high school science class where she has to dissect a frog (she has a heart for animals and hates killing things) for all eternity. It was funny and terrifying at the same time, making you contemplate what your personal hell would look like. Mine would definitely include spiders (shudder).
The bad guys are really bad (with the exception of Michael, who could be a bit wishy-washy). The satanists revel in evil and understand they are selling their souls to the devil. There are multiple human sacrifices and there's an understanding the better the person they kill, the better the sacrifice (partially because they're making the world a worse place without said person). I think they kill a teacher and a social worker in one scene. Some who have sold their souls did it for power and money, such as Jeff and Mutt. They run a robotics company, made possible by the loss of their souls. They decided it wasn't worth working for someone else 60-80 hours a week and that they wanted their own company (and capitol). When they're not working on their robotics programs, they're snorting cocaine and...entertaining prostitutes.
Almost every season has included the actress Jamie Brewer, who has downs syndrome. Casting a person with disabilities is rare and admirable. Jamie is quite an impressive young woman, even outside the series. She was the youngest person ever elected President of the ARC of Fort Bend Chapter and was appointed to the State of Texas ARC Board. She was then elected to the Executive Board as Treasurer and was later asked to serve on the ARC Governmental Affairs Committee for the State of Texas. She is involved with many disability related organizations, including DSALA (Down Syndrome Assn. of Los Angeles), BTAP, National Down Syndrome Congress, the American Association of People with Disabilities of the United States, and Shane's Inspiration.
After watching Cult* last year, I had pretty much decided to stop watching AHS. Like I said, I enjoy the concept of most of the storylines, but have been at least somewhat disappointed at their execution. Apocalypse intrigued me, since there are so many interesting avenues you could take...but once again it was a letdown.
As much as I like some of the actors, I doubt I'll give AHS another chance. They would have to come up with one hell of a theme to convince me to watch another season.
End rant.
~ Katie Q.
*My favorite scene in Cult was in the first episode (I think). Everyone is following the election results, including Winter Anderson (Billie Lourd). She's heavily invested in the outcome, having taken off a semester from college to work on Hillary's campaign. She decided not to attend the victory party and was streaming it live on CNN while talking to a friend at the rally over the phone. When the announcement was made that Trump had won, she was (obviously) upset and demanded to know why CNN didn't post a "trigger warning" before making the announcement. A trigger warning...in advance of live news coverage of the election results. I literally burst out laughing. Talk about the quintessential example of a millennial snowflake! 😂
 |
| Wes Bentley as John Lowe |
The main issue I have with AHS is they tend to take the easy route. They get lazy. In Asylum, there were fairly random aliens and deviant/abusive clergy. In Coven, it turned into a b*tchy witch fest and they horribly under-utilized Evan Peters, who has been in more episodes of AHS than any other actor. Freak Show was just...weird...and not in the good way. They wasted both Michael Chiklis and John Carroll Lynch (Twisty the clown). And Neil Patrick Harris' story line was cliche and frankly rather boring, which is tragic since it was NPH. There were so many wasted opportunities in that season, which is one of the reasons I dislike it so much. Hotel just had too much sex. It was like they couldn't figure out what to do with Lady Gaga, so they made her a oversexed vampire (literally). And while I loved that Matt Bomer was in Hotel, he couldn't save the season...which I partially blame on Wes Bentley. He is the dude version of Kristen Stewart - no emotional range (his gauge got stuck on "stoic" with an occasional side of brooding), which makes it difficult to care about Hotel when he's one of the main characters. He does appear in other seasons, but has smaller roles...thank God. Again, Asylum had some interesting themes, but once they decided to add the alien abduction aspect, it got far less interesting. It was too easy a fallback for all the weirdness going on.
Another theme that has been beaten to death is "women are better than men." In reality it plays out more "raging misogynists vs radical feminists," with the de facto conclusion being women are better than men. More subtle in some seasons than others, it's really the premise of Cult. Kai, played by Evan Peters, is thrilled by Trump's presidential win and creates a male dominant alt-right cult, which (SPOILER) is actually the result of manipulations by female cultists, followers of Valerie Solanas (portrayed by Lena Dunham). Valerie was a radical feminist who (in the show, not real life) attempted to assassinate Andy Warhol (also played by Evan Peters). Valerie's cult (called SCUM - Society for Cutting Up Men) was hellbent on overthrowing male oppression, which in and of itself isn't a terrible mission statement...until it is executed (pun intended) by way of murdering men and "compliant females" (ones who don't think men are the devil). The worst part - it was kind of portrayed as a necessary evil. Sarah Paulson's character, Ally Mayfair-Richards, basically turns into a female Kai by the end (not good, people...super not good!). In Apocalypse, there was literally a conversation about how women are stronger when it comes to magic, since testosterone inhibits magical powers (witches > warlocks). Much of the season is men vs women, since witches are trying to defeat the anti-Christ, Michael Langdon (more on him when I get to actually ranting about Apocalypse)...with a few gay warlocks helping the witches out periodically. Actually, I just noticed that...I don't think any straight men were "good guys" this season. Not all the gay male characters were protagonists...but none of the straight men were for sure.
On to Apocalypse itself. Originally billed as a crossover between Murder House and Coven, it pulled in characters from Hotel as well. Several actors played multiple rolls (from the different seasons), such as Sarah Paulson playing Wilhemina Venable (Apocalypse), Cordelia Goode (Coven) and Billie Dean Howard (Murder House); Evan Peters as Mr. Gallant (Apocalypse), James Patrick March (Hotel), Tate Langdon (Murder House), and Jeff Pfister (also Apocalypse); Frances Conroy plays Myrtle Snow (Coven) and Moira O'Hara (Murder House); Taissa Farmiga plays Zoe Benson (Coven) and Violet Harmon (Murder House).While an interesting idea, it can get confusing sometimes...as can the timeline. There were flashbacks within flashbacks, leaving the viewer unsure where they are in the story. The worst was a time jump in the finale, (SPOILER) where Mallory (Billie Lourd) goes back in time to when the anti-Christ, Michael Langdon (Cody Fern), was vulnerable and LITERALLY RUNS HIM OVER WITH AN SUV! Three times! The entire season was basically negated by one quick trip to the past! And why hadn't they done this earlier?! They had already time traveled to 1918 Russia in an attempt to save Anastasia from being assassinated...so clearly they knew they could go back THAT far!
Like I said, just lazy writing. It's like they got to shooting the last episode and thought "uh oh, how are we going to wrap this up in 45 minutes?........I know!"
Uuuuugh.
Overall, the story line is rather boring. We find out that Michael is the anti-Christ (more on him below) and that a group of satanists are eager to bring about the apocalypse to "purify the earth", with the help of hundreds of nuclear bombs. Only those worth are allowed to live, safely tucked away in bunkers...and by worthy, I mean are rich enough to buy their way in or are genetically superior, which is a theme they open the show with (when two characters are kidnapped and forced into a bunker in the first episode) and then completely ignores. The pacing of the episodes is also odd. Most of them build tension throughout, leaving you anticipating the next installment...only for the next episode to start low investment (not picking up where the last one left off) to slowly build up again. The momentum is off-putting, leaving the audience without a sense of closure on a particular facet of the story.
 |
| Sarah Paulson as Wilhemina Venable |
There was also astonishingly little character development in this season. I'm sure that's partly due to most of the characters being from other seasons (so the viewers already know them), but that's not true for some of the new main characters, like Mallory (Billie Lourd). (SPOILER) It turns out that she is the next leader of the coven, which means she will be the most powerful witch upon the death of Cordelia Goode (Sarah Paulson). Vox pointed out that other than showcasing her powers (which become substantial), we don't really learn anything about Mallory. She's quiet...a little mousy...apparently a terrible personal assistant...but other than that? Sarah Paulson's character Wilhemina Venable was another one we know little about. Why in heaven's name is she working for Jeff Pfister (Evan Peters) and Mutt Nutter (Billy Eichner)? Where did she come from? We know she suffers from severe scoliosis...is that why she's so angry and bitter? And why is sex punishable by death at Outpost 3? Jeff and Mutt make her the leader of Outpost 3, at which point she goes rouge on the rules and kills off some of the few unaffected survivors of the apocalypse. That seems counterproductive at best.
Speaking of the outposts, if you were planning ahead for the annihilation of most of the human race and were building bunkers in which to survive, wouldn't you make them...I dunno...substantial? Outpost 3 was built under a cylindrical, twirly, metal maze we find out was just a piece of art from the old warlock school. That's the entrance into the bunker, which isn't hard to break into, (SPOILER) as Brock (another character played by Billy Eichner) demonstrates. If you wanted to keep your art installation, why wouldn't you build a fortress around it? And then there's the food situation. They are running dangerously low on food after about 18 months. Wouldn't you amass more than enough supplies? 10 years worth doesn't seem like overkill to me. You might not know how long the earth will be uninhabitable due to the massive nuclear fallout...but it's a heck of a lot longer than 18 months. Overall their preparations were woefully insufficient.
FYI - this whole section contains spoilers...so consider yourself warned.
And then there's Michael Langdon (Cody Fern), the most schizophrenic anti-Christ I've ever seen. Technically his character is in the first season (Murder House), since he's one of Vivien's (Connie Britton) babies. He is raised (kidnapped) by his pseudo-grandmother, Constance Langdon (Jessica Lange), hence the last name. In Apocalypse, by the time he is a toddler, he is already mutilating and killing animals...and eventually upgrades to his babysitter. His "poor" grandmother is stuck disposing of the evidence, which become a more overwhelming task when he grows from a toddler into a teenager overnight.
Yup. You heard me correctly. Michael magically (demonically?) sprouts from about 4 to 15, literally overnight. Constance walks into his bedroom to find a teenager, instead of a toddler. I assume they did this to make the timeline fit better and so Cody Fern could start playing Michael, but it's seriously stupid.
His mood swings are also unbearable. One minute he is crazy powerful, wandering into Hell and snaps people/ghosts out of existence, and the next he's a whiny baby, sniveling and bemoaning whatever situation he's in. Behind his ear is a birthmark of sorts...a raised 666 that looks perpetually red & irritated...and that's his ticket to the satanists blindly believing he's the anti-Christ (because....sure?). He also has an inordinate love for Miriam Mead (Kathy Bates), to the point that he has a cyborg version of her created once she is killed. There are also innumerable times when he could have defeated the witches, but has so many "this isn't over/I'll be back" moments instead, it's ludicrous. 👿
To keep from only criticizing the season, here are a couple things I thought they did well.
The portrayal of hell was one of the only interesting parts of the season. Two characters are retried from hell - Madison Montgomery (Emma Roberts) and Misty Day (Lily Rabe). Both are saved from their own personal torments - Madison working endless retail and Misty in a high school science class where she has to dissect a frog (she has a heart for animals and hates killing things) for all eternity. It was funny and terrifying at the same time, making you contemplate what your personal hell would look like. Mine would definitely include spiders (shudder).
The bad guys are really bad (with the exception of Michael, who could be a bit wishy-washy). The satanists revel in evil and understand they are selling their souls to the devil. There are multiple human sacrifices and there's an understanding the better the person they kill, the better the sacrifice (partially because they're making the world a worse place without said person). I think they kill a teacher and a social worker in one scene. Some who have sold their souls did it for power and money, such as Jeff and Mutt. They run a robotics company, made possible by the loss of their souls. They decided it wasn't worth working for someone else 60-80 hours a week and that they wanted their own company (and capitol). When they're not working on their robotics programs, they're snorting cocaine and...entertaining prostitutes.
Almost every season has included the actress Jamie Brewer, who has downs syndrome. Casting a person with disabilities is rare and admirable. Jamie is quite an impressive young woman, even outside the series. She was the youngest person ever elected President of the ARC of Fort Bend Chapter and was appointed to the State of Texas ARC Board. She was then elected to the Executive Board as Treasurer and was later asked to serve on the ARC Governmental Affairs Committee for the State of Texas. She is involved with many disability related organizations, including DSALA (Down Syndrome Assn. of Los Angeles), BTAP, National Down Syndrome Congress, the American Association of People with Disabilities of the United States, and Shane's Inspiration.After watching Cult* last year, I had pretty much decided to stop watching AHS. Like I said, I enjoy the concept of most of the storylines, but have been at least somewhat disappointed at their execution. Apocalypse intrigued me, since there are so many interesting avenues you could take...but once again it was a letdown.
As much as I like some of the actors, I doubt I'll give AHS another chance. They would have to come up with one hell of a theme to convince me to watch another season.
End rant.
~ Katie Q.
*My favorite scene in Cult was in the first episode (I think). Everyone is following the election results, including Winter Anderson (Billie Lourd). She's heavily invested in the outcome, having taken off a semester from college to work on Hillary's campaign. She decided not to attend the victory party and was streaming it live on CNN while talking to a friend at the rally over the phone. When the announcement was made that Trump had won, she was (obviously) upset and demanded to know why CNN didn't post a "trigger warning" before making the announcement. A trigger warning...in advance of live news coverage of the election results. I literally burst out laughing. Talk about the quintessential example of a millennial snowflake! 😂
I’ll say it again- you should write reviews as a side job! You pick up on things that others viewersnmight miss but would be glad to know about. AHS would never be on my ‘watch list’ (no need to tell you that!) but you made the reviews so interesting that I kept reading to the end! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat? You'd never watch AHS? I'm shocked, I tell you...shocked! 😁
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