Genre: Sci-Fi | Horror | Thriller
Air Date/Time: October 19th at 10/9c
Network: FX Network
Creators: Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk
Director: Brad Buecker
Writer: Jennifer Salt
American Horror Story revolves around The Harmons, a family of three who moved from Boston to Los Angeles as a means to reconcile past anguish. The all-star cast features Dylan McDermott (Dark Blue, The Practice) as Ben Harmon, a psychiatrist; Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights) as Vivien Harmon, Ben’s wife; newcomer Taissa Farmiga as Violet, the Harmons’ teenage daughter; Jessica Lange (Grey Gardens, Big Fish) in her first-ever regular series TV role as Constance, the Harmons’ neighbor; Evan Peters (Kick-Ass, Invasion) plays Tate Langdon, one of Ben’s patients; and Denis O’Hare (J. Edgar, True Blood) as Larry Harvey. Guest stars for the series include Frances Conroy (Six Feet Under, Happy Town) as the Harmons’ housekeeper; Alexandra Breckenridge (True Blood, Ticket Out) as the Harmons’ housekeeper; and newcomer Jamie Brewer as Constance’s daughter.
Not scary. Not creepy. Not weird.
What I loved about the first episode was that it was a wild ride. It was kinky, and weird, and creepy, and brilliant. Last week I was missing some of the “weird.” Some may argue with me, but this week’s episode is not only not scary, it is not weird, and it is not creepy. It was, during my first watch, almost pure disappointment, because I kept hoping for those things.
I’ve said in previous reviews that this show is a study of fear. “What are you afraid of?” was uttered more than once in the opening episode. The series now seems to be revealing itself as more particularly a study of a different kind of fear each week. Unfortunately, this week’s “scary” isn’t scary to me. Not one bit of it. At all. I’m sure that some people will find it scary, but I’m happy to report that I have no fear of [the things that happen that I won’t spoil for you].
On the plus side, this is a backstory episode. You want answers? You’ll get answers. But in the best traditions of such shows, it also brings a whole new set of questions. Some people find this annoying, but I LOVE it. It allows the show to grow and evolve. That the episode is less of a wild ride also translates into it being more cohesive, which is plus for many viewers.
Though I was disappointed with the lack of scary, weird, and creepy, I would have come out of my first watch feeling better about this episode IF ONLY they hadn’t ruined the last sequence for me with THAT MUSIC. THAT HORRIBLE HORRIBLE WHINER MUSIC. Sorry, but that is my most-hated-thing-about-tv-today, that thing that will make me turn off the sound if not change the channel, and they had the nerve to inflict it upon my favorite new show. I call it “whiner music” but it’s emo music, sad lonely music that some shows insist on turning up REALLY LOUD SO YOU CAN’T HEAR ANY DIALOG, and it’s always right before the end of the show. Sometimes I feel like it’s lazy writing. I imagine them thinking “Someone has already written words, they’re in this song, let’s just use that instead.”
In this instance I think it is supposed to evoke a mood. The mood it evokes for me is “murderous,” but ironically for this show, I don’t think that’s the intention. To add insult to injury, I had to turn it up even louder to hear what may or may not be a crucial line; I’ll never know, because it is DROWNED OUT BY THE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE WHINER MUSIC. Having this already somewhat flat episode end up with something like that, I felt like the show was breaking up with me. How else is one meant to feel, with that – you know – music blaring away? Depressed. Devastated.
In their defense, I have been watching a rough cut screener, and sound is one of the things that may be changed by the time the show airs. PLEASE CHANGE THAT MUSIC AND THE VOLUME, I’M BEGGING YOU, POWERS THAT BE.
And I have a suggestion: remember how perfect the music was in the first episode? How completely creepy it was to hear that happy childlike music juxtaposed with the horror on the screen? All of the creepy scary weirdness that was missing in this episode could be reclaimed by playing something like that over the last sequence. Even if it’s re-using “Tonight You Belong To Me,” the song from the pilot. Just a thought.
A second watch of the episode helped take away the sting of rejection I felt during my first watch. I was emotionally prepared, and therefore able to note the following bright spots: The backstory elements are interesting. The new questions are intriguing. The storyline choices are bold. The acting is impeccable as always. And as I noted earlier, there is a cohesiveness to this episode, since it isn’t a jump-out-at-you kind of scary.
With all of the issues I had with the episode, it is still one of the classiest-looking, best cast, and overall intense series currently on the air, and this episode is no exception to that. It remains my favorite new show of the season, in fact somewhat of an obsession, and I will not set it free.
So:
If they change the music for the final sequence, the weird-scary-creepiness of the episode may yet be saved. Whew!
If you love what I call whiner music, and its use near the end of shows, then this music may make the episode perfection for you. Excellent!
If you thought the first two episodes were just too much, over the top, too hard to follow, posed too many questions and gave not enough answers, and were too scary to watch alone at night (if this is, to you, a bad thing), then this may be the episode for you. Hooray!
If you are like me and adored the wild kinky terrifying ride of the first two episodes (written, by the way, by the co-creators), you have now been warned not to expect that, and are free to enjoy the episode without those expectations. You’re welcome!
I, for one, cannot wait to see what’s coming next.
I give American Horror Story: Episode 3 “Murder House” Three out of Five Stars.
