Amph American Horror Story: Hotel

It's back and crazier than ever.

Spoiler

Aliums!

 

I was blown away by this. What is being set up, where it's going to go, who's going to end up where, how and why? I don't care. While you could get so sucked into trying to work out what the hell is going on, I'm taking a lesson from the first season and I'm just strapping in for the ride. Don't care where it's going or how, I'll wait until all the pieces have been laid on the table before trying to look at the whole picture and just enjoy the twists and turns in getting there.

 

Oh yes. We haven't an inkling what those monster things in the woods even are.

 

Does season 2 have any relation to the story in season 1?

 

Not at all. Just recurring actors playing different roles.

 

So, they're going totally new story. That's cool and smart. I need to get season one on DVD anyway.

 

I searched for American Horror Story and found this thread. I don't think we need a new thread just for Coven, maybe a mod can just change the thread name to "American Horror Story" with a "now discussing Coven". With that said, here's my review of the newest season.

American Horror Story: Coven Review

Overall, I'm sad to say that I really did not enjoy this season. Some of the episodes were hard to get through or even get amped up enough to even play/watch them on my DVR. It was VERY difficult to care about ANY of the characters because none of them had any redeeming value. The overall themes of witchcraft and Voodoo are not really themes that interest me, but I was hoping the show would have changed that; it did not. The convoluted plot and multiple storylines added little enjoyment to the ultimate direction of the show which, in my opinion, was finding a new Supreme and ensuring the future of the school.

--- Spoiler Warning ---


Specifically, in the finale, it felt like Cordelia (Sarah Paulson) was Professor X, recruiting witches instead of X-men to her academy. Also, the witches testing their abilities of all Seven Wonders at one time in the same episode felt forced and rushed. I would have thought that maybe the writers would have put the witches in positions where they needed to use one of the Seven Wonders to save herself or a loved one from trouble throughout the season, but that didn't seem the case and the witches pretty much did whatever they wanted. Why even have a school then? Why save and ensure a future for something we don't care about? The school was just a centralized location that brought together a bunch of witches that repeated the same mistakes of the past but somehow came out smelling like roses in the end. The final twist was this was supposedly Fiona's (Jessica Lange) plan the whole time to get her daughter to realize her power? Sorry, but that’s bull, very farfetched, and very out of character for her. I expected Fiona to have a second knife hidden to kill her daughter and regain her power during the final hug. When she just died so did her entire character that had been presented this whole time. Disappointing.

Other thoughts: I don't think the Kathy Bates character or even Stevie Nicks was needed. All the past events added nothing to the present. It would have been better if the school was actually in Kathy Bates character’s old house, but they were two separate locations and I felt it wasn’t really needed. Also, the Axeman character and his story felt out of place. Papa Legba also felt shoe-horned into this season. If the writers had introduced him earlier on, it could have made the show more enjoyable. Lastly, it's hard to care when a character dies when death isn't treated as a final destination and a character could come back at any time.

I hate being negative about a show and even though I didn't like this season of American Horror Story, I’ve enjoyed Ryan Murphy’s work up until this point and I hope he has something better in store for Season 4, something that really pushes the boundaries of television and entertainment.

 

I loved the season but felt pretty disappointed by the finale. I agree that Fiona's end completely contradicted her character and I was waiting and waiting and waiting to see her grab for the knife again or something.

As for Madame LaLaurie, she was one of my favorite characters (maybe I'm just biased because KATHY BATES but whatever) and she/her storyline never felt out of place. And she helped give a little background and fill-out the whole Voodoo witch storyline.

 

This season blew. Season 4 is now on notice.

Also can I get a title change for a change to Coven and Season 4 coming soon, or something.

 

I just finished watching Asylum and what a wild ride that was. I refrained from watching Coven, but I wish Netflix would pick up new seasons a little faster.

 

Asylum was almost as good as Murder House. It was a bit too much in certain areas, but it wasn't nearly as unfocused as Coven became.

 

They have announced that season 4 will be titled "Freak Show", most of the Coven cast are back (including both Bassett and Bates, along with Sidibe, and Roberts is in talks right now), and the newest cast member is one that Ryan Murphy said he's been after from the start of the show - Michael Chiklis.

Chiklis will come in as the father to Evan Peters' character, and the ex-husband of Kathy Bates'. Jessica Lange will play the manager of one of the last freak shows in the country during the 1950's in Florida.

This season will also mark the last for Jessica Lange, which will be odd if they get a 5th season given that she has been the lynchpin for the show so far. It does look like Sarah Paulson would be the natural fit to step into the central character role, but I would like if they keep moving that around. If Bassett, Bates and Conroy remain with the show for further season I'd like to see them take a turn at the lead. Lily Rabe has also started to come to the fore, and while it wasn't explicitly stated, it does look like she will be back again also. This means it will be Lange, Peters, Paulson, Conroy and Rabe that have appeared in all seasons to date.

 

Just finished re-watching American Horror Story: Asylum, and it was even better the second time around. Grotesque, disturbing, and quite entertaining - I liked the way the show went back & forth between modern times & the 1960's, especially towards the end of the series. Brilliant, and IMHO the best season of the series so far. I admit the alien abduction elements were never fully explained, but that didn't bother me.

So far, I would have to rate the seasons as follows:

Asylum.
M. House
Coven

Note that I did like S3: Coven, and felt it was extremely well-done; I just didn't think it was as good as the previous two seasons. That being said, I'm a big Fleetwood Mac & Stevie Nicks fan, so it was nice to see these elemtents make their way into the show.

Really looking forward to S4: FS. I've seen some of the trailers, and it looks great - I suspect it may be almost as good as S1 & 2, but time will tell.

 

Chiklis looks impressive as the circus strongman, and looks completely immersed in the role. Obviously, given the nature of the show, Lange is going to go out with a bang. I wonder how intense her final season will be?

Interesting ranking. I would put Murder House above Asylum precisely because of the alien abduction elements. I guess I would give the nod to M. House for overall consistency, as opposed to Asylum, which had better moments, but was slightly less....focused..?

 

I found Asylum much more disturbing/disquieting than M. House...even though the alien abduction elements weren't explanied, these elements weren't the focus of the season, but somewhat on the sidelines. The mad scientist/doctor working in the asylum & performing grotesque experiments, the N. who was possessed?! by the d., the extremely creepy angel of death (who may or may not have taken on the form of an actual inmate of the asylum), the reporter who goes into the asylum to get a story & then ends up unwillingly becoming an inmate herself, B. face, etc. all really worked well here. Also liked the period 1960's setting with the clothes/hairstyles/cars/music, etc. I'm a huge fan of horror films in general, and IMHO Asylum was definitely the most visceral season (so far) and, like all of the seasons, was a de-facto extended horror flick....I agree the season went in many different directions at once & some may have found this confusing; however, on my recent second viewing it gelled a lot better for me; sometimes it takes me watching something twice to fully appreciate this...

M. House was great as well; however, with that season, everything led up to the revelation about the T. Farmiga character & the story was pretty much focused on her.

Coven was well-done, though the element of the sax man/hatchet man didn't work as well as it could have (i.e., why didn't he age?! Was he a demon/ghost?!) That being said, I liked the storylines of the various characters here, and the Frankenstein element was especially poignant.

The forthcoming FS looks extremely promising. I don't know if anyone here has seen the underrated 200X HBO series Carnivale, but FS definitely has that kind of a vibe...Carnivale is about a travelling carnival during the 1920's-era (Great Depression), and there are some supernatural elements as well...

 

Carnivale was cancelled before it's time, unfortunately.

The (s)ax man was a trapped spirit, hence why he didn't age. That was my take, anyway.

 

I haven't been able to get past the first episode of season 1. I really can't handle horror movies/shows, is there something that makes them...not consistently disturbing? Like does it get...less scary than the first episode?

 

SLG-They actually get worse in the creepy/scary department.

Yeah, I think I can agree to all of this. Maybe because what would be known as murder house was the first in the series, I view it as a the first ground breaker. It certainly was risky for a network, even a basic cable one. But a risk which paid off. I like the- what would you call it?- Twisted "pay it forward" aspect of the Murder House. But yeah, Asylum could be characterized as a deconstructed Mad Men (obviously). I like it for all the reasons you outlined above as well. Lange was just so surprisingly good in Murder House (and who can look at brains again, although who would ever eat them anyway?) She was also excellent in Aslyum as Sister Judy, but she had already raised her own bar. I guess James Cromwell had that in Asylum, because watching him was like "man, the guy from Babe is really expanding his acting chops....

I didn't get to watch all the episodes of Coven when they were originally on and haven't yet gone back to watch them, so Coven is my least favorite. Only because it felt forced, and the ironic ending really wasn't all that ironic-not that it was supposed to be a big surprise-but because it felt like a "he thinks it's clever, but it's not really" M. Knight Shyamalan film. But again, I missed 3 episodes in the middle.

Overall though, it is a genre defining series.

 

It only gets worse from there . I am really a wimp about horror movies in general, I don't like going to Halloween haunted houses, but I love watching AHS. I don't know why but I guess it's the "small doses" format.

 

Good discussion. Though AHS: Coven is my least favorite season, I also think it's the most underrated. I.e., I still think it's well-done, and is far better than most other TV series (past or current). Liked the New Orleans setting, which I've always found somewhat exotic & other-worldly. Also liked how Stevie Nicks & Fleetwood Mac was idolized by the one witch character, who patterned her persona/look after SN....Also, the intro. theme/images in this season were extremely horrifying, as much (if not more) than previous seasons...

I'd recommend re-watching Coven, in order to possibly gain a greater appreciation of the season; I plan on doing this again at some point within the next several months....

To be honest, I'd stay away from AHS....as was said, it does get worse as time goes on. I watch & enjoy a lot of horror flicks so I've become somewhat jaded, but when I was younger some of them really scared/bothered me...

 

I have to
Interject. Despite the title, none have the seasons have been horror stories.

 

Have to respectfully disagree with this. Each season has been an archetypal horror story in every way:

First season: Haunted house; Ghosts

Second season: Mental instititution; Mad scientist; Angel of D.; Serial k.

Third season: A school for witches w/supernatural powers; a Frankenstein-type creature; undead ageless demon/ghost

 

Hmm. I dunno. They aren't horror to me. But, I may be comparing to horror films rather than horror stories.

 

Can I just skip season 1 then? If that's what season 2 is about, that stuff doesn't really scare me much. It's the haunted house crap that does.

 

Yes, you can. It's an anthology show, so each season is completely separate. The only link between the seasons is the title, creative team and some of the cast. But each story is entirey separate.

But I would say the haunted house crap is light in season one. It doesn't have the scares of a typical haunted house story. If that's makes sense.