Category: Television

A lot of people with very important opinions did not much care for this past season of American Horror Story.

I, on the other hand—in spite of some glaring plot holes you could drive a truck into—found it completely enjoyable and of the three seasons,  definitely the most entertaining. It was always on my "must watch" list and something I always looked forward to seeing.

Whatever shall I do now that this particular story is finished?

Granted, there wasn't much horror (per se) this year, but I loved the scenery chewing, the set design, and the performances of all involved. Maybe I just have low standards.

Or perhaps not.

From tv.com:

Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk's American Horror Story is a national treasure. When you watch as much supposed "prestige" television as I do, you realize just how special and audacious something like this is. AHS doesn't care about coherent storytelling or logic or reasonable pay-offs. (Most shows ONLY care about those things.) This one operates firmly in dream logic territory because guess what? That's where horror lives too. And guess who horror's next-door neighbor is? Comedy. Both genres thrive in that weird subconscious level below rational thought. Explain a joke and it's no longer funny. Explain a villain's motivations and he's no longer scary. Anybody complaining about AHS's lack of coherence is not only judging it by an incorrect rubric, they're really just admitting being uncomfortable without the safety net of traditional storytelling and they're mistaking that admission with criticism. This is the rare show where both plaudits and disdain are accurate responses, but the fact that that effect is intentional is what pushes it into genius territory. Nothing is less cool than using someone's self-deprecation against them, and that's what the worst critics have been doing: "It's stupid, it makes no sense, it's silly." THAT'S THE POINT.

The most difficult part of any week was staying away from the spoiler-laden reviews on Thursday morning since we rarely stayed up to watch the show when it was actually broadcast (11 pm is rather late for a school night when one has to be up at 5 am the next morning). I confess, I strayed into one of reviews today without having seen the season finale, and wasn't especially surprised when I read who became the next Supreme. (It was an idea I'd been tossing around in my head for weeks.)

I was sad to see two of my favorite characters meet their ends in this final episode, but was also delighted to see karma doled out to two other characters who so richly deserved it.

Again, from tv.com:

Well, that's that. This season is dunzo. I loved it with all of my heart. What a true celebration of actresses and comedy. Don't listen to bozos who complain about it being "a mess" or "it didn't add up" or "it was not as good as previous seasons." Those are FALSE COMPLAINTS. Television doesn't have to conform to some kind of formula. It doesn't have to set things up nor pay them off. It merely has to set off dazzling fireworks in our brains. I don't know if I've seen a drama as brave and hilarious as this one, nor something that trafficked so heavily in dream logic and, uh, nightmare imagery. I am always suspicious of people who think "it made no sense" or "it was unsatisfying" is a legit criticism. What they are really doing is stating a plain fact of a certain kind of storytelling: Few things are as unsettling as surprises, and that's what this show is about.

It will be interesting to see what Messers Murphy and Falchuk come up with for next year.

I cannot wait.

Thank you, Erik.

I had to change themes, but at least it's displaying the way I want it to now. More or less.