Review: FX's 'American Horror Story' is very different and exactly the same in season 2
New 'Asylum' set-up brings back Jessica Lange and friends in new roles
Jessica Lange as a nun on "American Horror Story: Asylum."
Credit: FX
"American Horror Story" was not a show I enjoyed at all in its first season, but I couldn't help admiring the decision its creators, Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, made at the end of it. Having spent 13 episodes telling a story with a beginning, middle and end about a family who moves into a haunted house, dies, and becomes closer in death than they were in life, Murphy and Falchuk elected not to continue that story in the FX drama's new season. Instead, "American Horror Story" (it returns tonight at 10) will be that rarest of 21st century TV creatures: an anthology drama. Each season will tell a complete story, then start over from scratch, perhaps bringing along some actors (Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Zachary Quinto, Lily Rabe and Sarah Paulson all return from last year, among others) but in entirely new roles.
Too many TV shows keep going and going only because that's the way the business model is set up, and not because there's enough in the story to merit continuing. Murphy, Falchuk and FX figured out a way to use the "American Horror Story" name — which has value after the show was a big hit in its first season — without getting tied to any one story or set of characters. If you were a fan of the Harmon family or the murder house, you don't have to fear that the show will make you sick of them. And if you didn't enjoy the first season, perhaps the new one — with the official title "American Horror Story: Asylum," set in a Catholic-run New England mental hospital in 1964 — will be more to your liking.
Then again, this is a Ryan Murphy show, which means a clean break from the old characters and setting, but not from how the stories are told.
Just as Murphy and Falchuk packed a bunch of diverse horror tropes into a single haunted house last year, the new season makes its insane asylum home to every malady, both natural and supernatural, that the writers can think of. It's not just that the place houses an accused serial killer (Peters), that the head doctor (James Cromwell) is performing macabre experiments on the patients without their consent, nor that the head nun (Lange) rules the place with an iron fist — and a closet full of whipping implements. No, there are also characters talking about alien abduction and demonic possession. No stone can be left unturned, no cliché unexplored.
The setting provides a bit more narrative coherence than the haunted house did last year, but the problem with Murphy's everything plus the kitchen sink storytelling approach is that it has the opposite effect from what's intended. Rather than dazzling and shocking me with one disturbing twist after another, it desensitizes me. When you're constantly being assaulted by explicit images, they collectively lose all meaning in a hurry — or, worse, become unintentionally funny. When the local monsignor (Joseph Fiennes) suggests a patient needs an exorcism, all you can do is throw up your hands and say, "Sure. Why not?"
As with Murphy's new NBC sitcom "The New Normal" (and "Glee," for that matter), there are ideas that are interesting in the abstract, like the combative relationship between Lange's self-righteous Sister and Paulson's lesbian reporter. And it's easy to understand why so many good actors (Chloe Sevigny is another notable addition as a sexually adventurous woman labeled deviant) would want to be part of a show that gives them such intense material that welcomes scenery-chewing, even if it's frequently half a step removed from torture porn. As a bitter nun with a working-class New England accent, Lange's doing a 180 from her demented Southern belle season 1 role, and she's excellent. But none of it means anything, because Murphy and Falchuk are too busy moving on to their next brainstorm.
Given the short attention span they've demonstrated on this show, on "Glee," "Nip/Tuck," etc., turning "American Horror Story" into a series of miniseries makes better use of Murphy and Falchuk's skills and interests — but ultimately, it's the exact same tedious show they've been making, under one name or another, for years now.
Alan Sepinwall may be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com
Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupMonty Jack
October 17, 2012 at 10:13AM EST Reply to CommentCan it possibly be worse than the first season? I stopped watching after four or five episodes...it was SPECTACULARLY unpleasant and not scary in the least.
Jimmbo
October 17, 2012 at 10:41AM EST Reply to CommentAgain, a brand new review receives an A+ reader rating which will eventually settle back to reality.
What's clearly happening is that people are quickly uprating before the sample size gets too big to influence the vote. Likely in order to generate interest in the program among the significant # of users who read your reviews right as they publish (I used to run one of the internet's most popular reader review sites, and I can tell you that biz interests pay services that go around and do stuff like this).
I'd suggest you change your voting algorithm so that it doesn't display reader ratings until X number has been received.
GarySF
October 17, 2012 at 10:45AM EST Reply to CommentWish you'd have given this show more of a chance, Alan. I really enjoyed Ryan and Falchuk's envelope pushing in season 1, thought it was scary when it wanted to be, and just plain demented for television, even basic cable, much of the time. Partially through a re-watch on Blu-ray, I'm enjoying it even more when watching episodes back to back. My review of the Blu-ray can be found here: http://www.discdish.com/index.php/2012/09/27/blu-ray-review-american-horror-story-season-one/
Col Bat Guano
October 17, 2012 at 10:51AM EST Reply to CommentI watched last season strictly for its train wreck appeal. It was easily the nuttiest thing on. I'm sure I'll watch this season for the same reason. Glad to see Connie Britton escaped without too much career damage.
Ivan
October 17, 2012 at 12:23PM EST Reply to CommentOne thing about 'American Horror Story', there is nothing else like it on tv. Maybe that's why some people have a problem with it - to what does it compare? It fits perfectly into the new tv/dvd dynamic and the format will likely be copied by others. Like all 'new' things, I have a feeling this show that won't be appreciated until much later.
dan Ian - It compares fairly directly to the three generations of horror films Murphy and Falchuck are borrowing liberally from each and every week... It's unusual for TV, but the frights are dime-a-dozen if you sometimes watch horror movies. Just my opinion, of course...
October 17, 2012 at 12:28PM EST-Daniel
sedeyus Read the review. Alan makes it very clear that he doesn't like it because it's too similar to other Ryan Murphy shows with their kitchen sink storytelling which completely destroys coherent plotting or character development. He says he likes the idea of an anthology drama and praises them for realizing that season one's plot wasn't enough for a series.
October 17, 2012 at 3:06PM ESTSoapy Johnson
October 17, 2012 at 2:21PM EST Reply to CommentDermot Mulroney is great on American Horror Story -- or is it Dylan McDermott? Now it no longer matters ... http://placeitonluckydan.com/2011/02/dylan-mcdermott-dermot-mulroney-agree-to-be-same-person/
jennstarr24 It was posted that he will be returning to season 2. :)
October 20, 2012 at 8:55PM ESTMiles
October 17, 2012 at 2:53PM EST Reply to CommentThe most important question is: do we get any Alexandra Breckenridge? If not as a maid, maybe a nurse? Please say yes.
Also, I'm surprised you were allowed to screen an advance episode. If I recall correctly, you have a personal strained relationship with Murphy which often showed through in your reviews of the show. I enjoy your writing and respect your opinions, but I think last season you were overly harsh and quick to criticize small things.
AHS was excellent at what it set out to do... My understanding was that I was watching a show that understood its own campy nature and had fun with it. I don't know anything about Glee, so I can't comment on Murphy/Falchuk's other works, but AHS stood on its own really well. They were smart to ditch the cast (and Connie Britton can do better) for a new season. I was surprised Lange agreed to stick with it, not because it was a bad show, but because cable seems beneath her.
As I watched S2 of the Walking Dead last year, I remember wishing like hell they would do it in "anthology drama" form (thanks for the phrase, Alan, hadn't heard it before). It would be cool to start every season with the zombie apocalypse breaking out somewhere new, to a new group of people, and knowing that truly any one of them could go at any minute because none will be back next season anyway.
Just a bunch of rambling thoughts.
sepinwall I have absolutely no personal relationship with Ryan Murphy, strained or otherwise. I don't believe I've ever even had a conversation with the man. Any objections I have to this show, Glee, New Normal, etc., stem from my dislike of the same storytelling approach he's been using on his shows for a decade now.
October 17, 2012 at 4:36PM ESTMiles My apologies, Alan. I think I mixed you up with another TV writer.
October 17, 2012 at 4:48PM ESTKatie Vance
October 17, 2012 at 3:08PM EST Reply to CommentI have a feeling a lot of people that didn't like the first season simply did not understand it or it was just too complex for them and different. It kept getting better and better as the season went on. I see some saying it wasn't scary at all...I literally could not turn the lights off after watching it. It was scarier than most horror movies that come out now.
sepinwall Katie, I'm glad you enjoyed the show more than I did. But saying that people who disagree with you didn't understand it is one of the most reductive, laziest strawman arguments there is, and it's one of the reasons I encourage people around here to talk about the shows, and not each other. If you want to defend American Horror Story, by all means do so. Just don't do it by attacking the people who don't like it.
October 17, 2012 at 4:37PM ESTKatie Vance Sepinwall- I wasn't "attacking" people, at all. I also didn't say everyone that didn't like it, I just said I had feeling a lot of people...I only say that too because I've heard and seen so many people comment saying that they stopped watching the show or didn't like it because they didn't understand it. Or that there was just too much going on for them. That's why I said that and I didn't say anything rude like some others do.
October 17, 2012 at 6:48PM ESTsepinwall Katie, suggesting that people who don't like something that you do only because they don't understand it may not be as aggressive in its phrasing as some other internet comments, but it's just as dismissive. It comes across as "I am smart and you are stupid," whether or not that was your intention.
October 17, 2012 at 6:55PM ESTKatie Vance Well sorry then but again I only said what I did because many have actually stated they didn't get it so I'm going by what others have said.
October 17, 2012 at 7:27PM ESTCol Bat Guano S1 of this show was a complete mess, but still entertaining in a "can't look away" kind of way. They threw everything and the kitchen sink in without any thought to continuity or plotting. There was enough scenery chewing acting for three seasons.
October 18, 2012 at 12:21AM ESTAlex Alan, if your tone in this thread doesn't change, I'm going to have to start deleting comments. Talk about the show, not each other.
October 18, 2012 at 2:41PM ESTRemy Thank you Alex. I think the reviewer doth protest too much. Harsh responses. I thought these were supposed to be civil forums.
October 18, 2012 at 3:10PM ESTgrock Who is Alex, does Alan have a boss who is this stupid?
October 18, 2012 at 6:45PM ESTKP Alan is 100% right. Saying that people who don't like something just didn't understand it is a lazy, disrespectful argument. I didn't like Inception, I understood it perfectly, I just didn't connect with it.
October 19, 2012 at 1:19AM ESTI actually really enjoyed season 1 of AHS. I liked that they upped the ante almost every week. And it helped that Connie Britton was amazing.
Her absence is deeply felt here in season 2. I could barely get through the episode. And the direction was ridiculously ADD. Evan Peters remains appealing, and Jessica Lange was very solid, as was Joseph Fiennes (he was terrible in FlashForward and Merlin).
But none of the storylines hooked me. Last season having the family at the core connected all the characters really tightly--I didn't feel anything like that here. Will give it another episode or two, but this was a C- for me.
Ireneinidaho
October 17, 2012 at 6:16PM EST Reply to CommentTorture porn -- just what the world needs more of.
JanieJones
October 17, 2012 at 9:43PM EST Reply to CommentI've got an issue with the way Murphy creates a story, simple as that. I watched (until the lousy end) of Nip/Tuck, bitterly disappointed. I will say that I've seen perhaps 2 episodes of Glee and one of AHS.
I like the bulk of the cast for S2 but not enough to drag me into the labyrinth.
I have it set on my dvr and if I feel like it, I'll watch.
This is not a post blasting the writer or commentators. I'm biased from my last (long) experience with a Murphy show.
Jerry
October 18, 2012 at 3:53AM EST Reply to CommentI really loved tonight's premiere, but if RM just kills off all the people we are hoping to survive again I won't watch season 3. To be fair to season 1, Many critics thought it started out horribly but noted that it got much, much better as it went on, and I agree with that. Alan and Dan do not and I respect their opinions, but this is no Beauty and the Beast or Two and a Half Men when it comes to general critical consensus.
J
October 18, 2012 at 5:53AM EST Reply to CommentI find it odd when people ply expectations of coherency at work that should be sensationalistic. I never watched 'Nip/Tuck' and don't care for 'Glee,' but as far as shows that regurgitate horror tropes go, I found season one of this one a million times more enjoyable and meaningful than anything on 'The Walking Dead.'
"Torture porn" is something very completely different than what's going on here. Most of JJ Abrams' shows have come closer to that than 'American Horror Story.' This is more based around quick shock imagery and pile-it-on subject matter than wallowing in victimization. Strapping someone in a chair with 'Clockwork Orange'-style headgear is not the same as letting a camera leer over the systematic brutalization of someone.
I'm happy to have the show (and it's awesomely awesome theme song) back, even if the first episode wasn't very satisfying to me. If the first season was a playful consideration of the malevolent potential in the dissolution of the family unit, this one seems more plainly to be focusing from the start on systematic repression. Which is unexciting, especially in a historic "we're so much better than that now" sense. But I look forward to it settling in and freaking out.
And hey, who hasn't wanted to rip an appendage off that Maroon 5 guy?
Silvia
October 18, 2012 at 5:11PM EST Reply to Commentin the first season they threw in alot of twists and then left them in limbo, didnt tie them to the story or explain them.. Example, the whole pope deal.. i think at the end they had a bunch of loose strings that did not tie together. I am still watching season 2 though.
MG
October 18, 2012 at 5:27PM EST Reply to CommentI just have one thing to say. I'm glad they kept the cool FONT.
dan TYPEFACE! [You're welcome.]
October 18, 2012 at 5:31PM EST-Daniel
bitchstolemyremote
October 19, 2012 at 12:33AM EST Reply to CommentFound this to be exponentially better than S1. Know that some people liked the first season, but as others have said, it was just gory and over-the-top. This, while still not scary, is at least interesting.
Could do without the aliens and wood people, but we'll see how it all plays out. For now, most improved award.
Our take: http://wp.me/p1VQBq-1zs
Scudman
October 19, 2012 at 2:26AM EST Reply to CommentAgree with Alan re: Season 1, but have to say, it all went down smoothly with me simply for the aim-high lunacy, campness, and blood and gore on a TV show. I don't want to watch AHS all year long, but I'm happy to watch it for a few months. It's a fun diversion from intelligent TV (Mad Men, Homeland).
Scudman Something I forgot to say - why can't TV execs finally do away with the 23/24 episode format and make all shows 12/13 eps long. ALL the best drama of the last decade has been in this format. I might have watched Person of Interest if I wasn't certain that half the series would be filler...
October 19, 2012 at 2:29AM ESTSolidPonce
October 20, 2012 at 11:46AM EST Reply to CommentOne thing that annoys the HECK out of me is the editing. Its so fast and hurky-jerky they dont keep the camera on one thing for more than two seconds... i swear there were times where it looked they made some editing mistakes and just left it in... extremely fastedits in the middle of a conversation that just did not make sense... Apart from that constantly distracting me, the overall pacing of the show seems very hurried... like you said,Alan, tbe whole "kitchen sink" approach... we got bombarded with so much information in the first episode, and theres 12 more... ugh
dont get me wrong... i want to like this show, im just very aware that im watching a television show when i watch it.... whereas when i watch Breaking Bad or The Walking Dead its a whole different experience, pacing-wise, editing-wise, character and story development wise...
thats my two cents :)
jennstarr24
October 20, 2012 at 8:47PM EST Reply to CommentFirst of all any proper writet knows,it is frowned upon to start a sentence with the word word "but". Anyways, in this writer's opionion, Alan, you are dead wrong about this show. It is fresh and new. It also had one of the best premiers, and as a viewer it really brought the audience in wanting to see more.
dan "First of all any proper writet knows,it is frowned upon to start a sentence with the word word "but"."
October 20, 2012 at 8:54PM ESTBunk.
But anyway, though, I'm glad you enjoy "American Horror Story." Truly. People should enjoy the TV shows they enjoy.
But lectures on what constitutes "proper" writing? Come on...
But that's just my opinion.
-Daniel
jennstarr24 Oh sorry, Dan! Writer.... My point was he jumped on that girl Katie for giving her valid opinion, and dude can not even use proper grammar. To make a point, YES I am in college, and I would get points knocked off and a lecture if I turned in a hurried piece of work like his article. This is the internet we are allowed to comment and voice our opinions. Point taken?
October 20, 2012 at 9:05PM ESTWeebeysPlasticFish There are plenty of instances when starting a sentence with "but" is more appropriate than not, depending on the voice, meaning or whatever the author is trying to convey, especially considering it's a fairly common practice in spoken English. Also, before you start talking about "proper grammar," you might want to look into the difference between prescriptive and descriptive grammar.
October 21, 2012 at 12:27AM ESTPolo
October 27, 2012 at 7:45AM EST Reply to CommentExcellent review. This show is tedious and predictable in that you know there is always some cliched gory scene coming up one after another. The scenes were made for shock value and nothing else. Jessica Lange should have bailed out after the first episode. She is becoming a caricature.
Felipe
October 27, 2012 at 7:49AM EST Reply to CommentExcellent review. This is a terrible TV series. The cliched scenes were created solely for the shock value. It is predictable in that you know gory scenes will come flooding one after another and that you have seen each of them in an old horror film. Jessica Lange should have bailed out after the first season. She is becoming a caricature.
rustti
November 15, 2012 at 12:33AM EST Reply to CommentI think these Characters are living their past lives...reincarnation.The first episode Lang was a housewife now she's a nun.
dave
November 26, 2012 at 2:27AM EST Reply to Commentthe first season was good. watchable. the second season started out a little too much X-Files for my taste. The nazi thing completely lost me. the tired old nazi theme is a cheat.
Karen
November 29, 2012 at 2:25AM EST Reply to CommentAgreed. I enjoyed Season 1, even if it was pretty convoluted. I'm disappointed to see that Season 2 has already "jumped the shark" - I have no interest and there are too many damn sub-plots - and I don't give a shit about any of the characters - at least in Season 1, I cared about the mom, daughter, etc. Sigh... :(
Karen
November 29, 2012 at 2:27AM EST Reply to CommentAgree with the commentator - unfortunately, for me, the show has already "jumped the shark" - I did enjoy Season 1 but in Season 2, not only is the whole "plot" convoluted as hell, I don't care at all about ANY of the characters - at least, in Season 1, I cared about the mother, daughter, etc. Oh well... :(
Walter Karen, I really liked that you wrote two different comments. Both were close to each other, but still different enough to make me enjoy both of them ... oh well ... sigh ... etc.
November 29, 2012 at 10:07AM EST