Genre: Sci-Fi | Horror | Thriller

Air Date/Time: November 30 at 10/9c

Network: FX Network

Creators: Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk

Director: John Scott

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.

WOW. Or as another critic friend said, D-ang. So much happened in this episode that I’m having trouble remembering it all. I admit that I was ready for a not-my-favorite episode this week when I saw who wrote it, as she also wrote my least favorite episode, number 3. I forgive her now. YES there is a lot of information, as there was in episode 3,  but it didn’t feel like exposition this time. There were a lot of shorter scenes with a lot of information, instead of long scenes with lots of exposition.

There is so much I’d love to tell you, but spoiling it would be a crime. Not a ton of Scary, but some really compelling scenes. Some of our less-used actors get a little more time this week, but don’t worry, we get a lot of Constance. I love that the Southern really comes out when she is trying to be sweet. There was one moment of personal triumph for me, an I KNEW IT!!! moment that had me saying I KNEW IT!!! out loud, over and over again, much to the annoyance of my husband. Sorry, I couldn’t resist telling you that it happened, but I won’t tell you what it is. I wonder if you will have known it, too…

We learn a bit more about what the houseghosts can do. They really are kind of like a dysfunctional family, and it’s fun to watch them interact. One little bit near the end relates to one thing that houseghosts aren’t usually supposed to be able to do, and is pretty, well, over the top. It feels like it has literally and figuratively taken the show out of its comfort zone, but now that we’ve seen so many homages to classic and future-classic horror movies, it’s easy to recognize it as that and move on.

Last week Connie Britton was given all the meaty work (sorry, I should probably use a different term when talking about this show), but this week it’s Dylan McDermott who gets to stretch his acting chops a bit. Not as much as Connie did, but still it was good to see him doing more than counseling and yelling.

I would like to put in my order right now for more Violet and Tate next week, and a little bit more Scary, but these requests should in no way be seen as a detraction from this week’s truly excellent and compelling wild ride of an episode.

I give American Horror Story: Episode 9 “Spooky Little Girl” Five Out of Five Stars.

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