Genre: Horror | Drama
Creators: Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk
Network: FX
Air Date/Time: October 9, 2013, 10/9c
Written by: Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk
Directed by: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Synopsis:
American Horror Story: Coven tells the secret history of witches and witchcraft in America. Over 300 years have passed since the turbulent days of the Salem witch trials and those who managed to escape are now facing extinction. Mysterious attacks have been escalating against their kind and young girls are being sent away to a special school in New Orleans to learn how to protect themselves. Wrapped up in the turmoil is new arrival, Zoe (Taissa Farmiga), who is harboring a terrifying secret of her own. Alarmed by the recent aggression, Fiona (Jessica Lange), the long-absent Supreme, sweeps back into town, determined to protect the Coven and hell-bent on decimating anyone who gets in her way. American Coven features an extraordinary cast including Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Taissa Farmiga, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe, Frances Conroy, Lily Rabe, Denis O’Hare, Patti LuPone, and Danny Huston. Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Dante Di Loreto, Tim Minear, James Wong, Jennifer Salt, and Brad Buecker are Executive Producers of American Horror Story: Coven. It is produced by Twentieth Century Fox Television.
Featurette: American Horror Story Coven: First Look
[youtube]http://youtu.be/D33sHOrDZw8[/youtube]
At the top of SciFiMafia.com reviews, you’ll see a listing for “Genre”. We generally take our cues from IMDb for that, though we’ll make adjustments if we have a different view. In this case, I would like American Horror Story‘s genres to be listed as “Horror | Drama | Treat” because that’s what it is, unfailingly; an absolute treat.
American Horror Story: Coven‘s premiere episode feels like it reaches out to all those who just couldn’t watch the first two seasons because they were frankly too scary. I agree, the first two seasons were outrageously scary. But they were outrageous in other ways, and it’s for those reasons that I loved it so much, though the scare factor didn’t hurt. It was the adrenaline rush that I liked about the horror, primarily in the first Story.
American Horror Story: Coven, at least the premiere episode, isn’t scary. It just isn’t. So welcome, welcome, all ye who formerly feared. But it has the other elements I love about the first two seasons, in varying degrees, that nearly make up for the lack of frights. I’m not completely ruling out the possibility that those frights are on their way, but I tend to doubt it.
Admittedly, one of the things I love about this episode from nearly the start is the return of some of my favorite actors to my TV screen. It’s like going to a school reunion, one where everyone has changed but the sight of them brings back terrific memories, and you know that you’ll be great or even better friends again now. Taissa Farmiga! Jessica Lange! Sarah Paulson! Frances Conroy! Denis O’Hare! Evan Peters! It’s a joy to see them, and sometimes a complete hoot. You’ll see.
Taissa Farmiga‘s part seems the least dissimilar from her previous role, but that isn’t a problem at this point. She’s a teen in a new situation, and she is nervous, but she has some strength. It’s a great part. And although Jessica Lange‘s part could be considered somewhat similar to Season 1’s Constance, she of course plays it in an entirely different way. It’s a different kind of maturity, and a different kind of sass.
But the return I think I cherish more than any other is the return of the crazy shooting style. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon is the director who used the wild lenses and shooting angles and made everything look so bizarre in the first two seasons, and he has an even bigger role this season. He has and will continue to be setting the tone for the look of the entire season, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. It’s complete eye candy for me, and I am given plenty of helpings in this first episode.
Ryan Murphy has said that this Story will feature strong women and have a youth element. He wasn’t kidding. There are four teen girls living at the “exceptional” girls school run by the headmistress played by Sarah Paulson, whose character is quite a bit different from her previous two parts in the other Stories. The teen girls’ parts are very different from each other, extraordinarily well written and well acted. Everyone is on top of their game in this show, just as I had hoped.
The flashback portion of the episode is less familiar, with all new-to-the-series actors, though it’s familiarly unpleasant. I’m looking forward to seeing how these two times, and apparently a third that is to come, will work together. I don’t doubt, though, that it will be wonderful. It just needs to develop a bit, maybe breathe a bit, so that the timelines, the stories, the flavors blend. This setup episode is a just-opened bottle of wine, one that I have been waiting so very long to have opened, that needs to develop in the glass to reach its full potential.
American Horror Story has a look and a feel that is of the highest quality, that gives the viewer the understanding that all involved in the production are the best, and doing their best. It is the kind of horror story that you can (mostly) watch alone and at night if necessary, and it won’t give you bad dreams, but it will stay with you, and you will savor it. I cannot wait to see what happens.
I give American Horror Story: Coven, Episode 1 “Bitchcraft” Four Out of Five Stars.
