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American Horror Story: Freak Show |OT| Let your inhibitions go, it's a crazy night...

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kirblar

Member
Basically. Can you believe Ryan Murphy has essentially made someone as talented as Jessica Lange play variations of the same character for four straight seasons? At least with the pat three seasons the fun writing saved it from being extra redundant.

I almost wish Coven had gotten an extra season.
1,2,4 are all different. 3 was just bad writing for everyone.
 
this season is so weird for me, its not bad and its not good. the story is coherent and moving along, but im just sort of like meh. i think its just lacking a lot of the horror, it seems more focused on social and political commentary first and foremost and then putting some horror in here and there. i do dig the social commentary this season though, very interesting concepts that theyre playing around with.
 

Kain

Member
The David Bowie references bother me more than they should.

Either way, coven was already shit at this point so at least it won't be the worst season. Thou I'm beginning to think Asylum was a happy accident.
 
I hate how they pulled the bait and switch twice in one episode, but other than that everything else is alright.
I really thought that Twisty was going to be around for the whole season. How did the strong man find out who her doctor was?
 

Superflat

Member
Mini LTTP here, started watching the show out of "order":

Been hearing a lot about this series so I decided to watch it a few days ago. I started with Season 3 Coven since that's what seemed to be the "crowd favorite"; and I thought it was pretty interesting, if not hair-pullingly inconsistent at times. The number of backstabs and personality switches were headache inducing, leaving me to believe every single character there should have died ironically as result of their own undoing (and I might have liked the show better if it ended like that).

I enjoyed the chemistry between the four "students" and it was best when they were doing stuff together. Nan, Madison and Queenie were interesting in their own right, while the main lead Zoe was as interesting as a limp noodle. Kathy Bate's character and Queenie were also great together, proving to be the most fun relationship to follow throughout. Overall it was a fun premise with diverse characters that ended up being more of a show I was following because of sheer curiosity than something I was invested in.

It was bizarre because it's probably one of the best acted, mediocrely written shows I've seen in recent memory. It's like getting a emmy-nominated cast and giving them a Once Upon a Time-esque script (for the record I think OUaT is a decent distraction). I was also surprised by how little horror there actually was, which I was initially disappointed by.

So my final impression is that it was a decent season with some really great isolated character moments and scenes (mostly in the first half), but is overall too haphazardly written to recommend. There are flashes of brilliance though, and I enjoyed how ambitious Coven was in general. Hats off to Kathy Bates, Jessica Lange, Emma Roberts, and Gabourey Sidibe for being the driving force that kept me interested.

I decided to watch season 2 Asylum next because it sounds like it's the personal favorite of a lot of fans.

9 minutes into the first episode and there's two sex scenes already!
 
I hate how they pulled the bait and switch twice in one episode, but other than that everything else is alright.
I really thought that Twisty was going to be around for the whole season. How did the strong man find out who her doctor was?

I feel like Twisty was a bright spot this season and now they've gotten rid of him. I really was hoping they would have killed Jessica Lange's character a couple of episodes ago and then this episode the twins. Is it just me or did they switch the personalities of the heads on the twins? Also one is becoming dumber and dumber by the episode. I've come to the realization they won't kill the main characters that keep coming back every year after last season. Now I feel like I'm just watching a wet dream by Ryan Murphy with the musical numbers and all the gay characters and sex scenes.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Yep. Good looking people doing dramatic stuff with loads of sexual tension (actual or imaginary, lol) versus up close and personal business that leaves nothing to the imagination.

My inner Tumblr fangirl has needs, OK!

Watch, like, the Eating Out movies or DTLA or something.
 

Superflat

Member
Don't know how I did it, but I marathoned through all of Asylum in a day.

AHS doesn't fuck around. I thought season 3 was crazy for going at a breakneck pace, but Asylum felt just as fast-paced. I liked the writing here much more than Coven, and holy how Jessica Lange steals the show effortlessly. I thought the alien abduction subplot was ridiculous and unneeded, as nothing that came out of it was worth much to the story besides adding a little bit of eccentricity to the tone. The pacing was much better here too. I liked that they shifted from one arc to another with different characters being shuffled into the mix constantly.

Kit was the bland character of the season but it was at least a better written lead than Zoe from season 3. I liked the jumping between different time periods, and the very extensive timeline for the characters. By the end it was fun to line everything up and looking back at all the crazy shit that happened in the journey. The character arcs for the most part were much more satisfying and felt true to the story, though some inevitably were badly done or forgotten simply because the show needed to wrap up. That said I was far more invested and taken with Asylum than Coven, which pales in comparison.

Guess season 1 is next.
 

kirblar

Member
The Alien stuff is due to it being a big '50s thing. It's also in Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull for the same reasons.
 
I talked to my friend about the show last night, and he says he's addicted to it, as is his girlfriend. I don't get what's so addicting about it, because it's been so mediocre overall.
 
Watching
Dale break the doctor's fingers was hard to watch. I really hated that. The doctor was a good guy and I liked him. I really think he is grimey for doing this when he is seeing a man behind his wife's back and he really wants to be with him instead. I guess he just can't take her leaving him and that makes him feel less of a man somehow, so goes and do some shit like this. Ooh!
 

Fantastical

Death Prophet
Watching
Dale break the doctor's fingers was hard to watch. I really hated that. The doctor was a good guy and I liked him. I really think he is grimey for doing this when he is seeing a man behind his wife's back and he really wants to be with him instead. I guess he just can't take her leaving him and that makes him feel less of a man somehow, so goes and do some shit like this. Ooh!

Just so you know, you don't need to spoiler tag discussion of episodes that have already aired. ;)
 

mantidor

Member
Jesus that was bad.

That opening scene where he doesn't get credit for the 2 displays wouldn't play out that way if it was all in the head. That had to be a flash forward sequence, so Sealman is going to die. Whoever is the 2nd exhibit is the mystery.
It was a fantasy, he was even describing it to the girl.


The show's not asking us to empathize with Meep, they're asking us to empathize with Jimmy's guilt and shame over the events that led to Meep's death. Knowing Meep as a person isn't as important as Jimmy knowing Meep as a person.
The show wants us to also forget he killed a man and made all the rest of the freaks to chop him in pieces. If the writing was decent these two events would have significance and even be related, meep could be some sort of karma going back to him for being a murderer, but it isn't, everything is shock value and cute little "scenes" that just don't interconnect.

I mean, seriously, he killed a man, and he doesn't seem bothered by it, yet they try to make him this good little boy that had bad luck but still has morals and helps little girls! it's terribly written.

Things don't make a lick of sense, in this world a freak museum can pay very well for dead specimens, but freaks alive, which are rarer and more shocking, are in the way of the dodo because TV, how the hell does this even add up? Oh and the killer is bad just because, or inbreeding, or something. The conflict in this show is absurd and stupid.

If I sound angry is because I am kind of angry, the setting is amazing, the talent is there (except legless susy, that was terrible acting), but not even the gratuitous gay stuff is going to keep me watching, not even Michael Chiklis being gay. And seriously wouldn't it have been fascinating to see a bar with at least the smallest bit of resemblance to actual gay bars of the time? that bizarre wet dream of Murphy was ridiculous. Gogo boys/hustlers in the 50s, OK.



It was bizarre because it's probably one of the best acted, mediocrely written shows I've seen in recent memory. It's like getting a emmy-nominated cast and giving them a Once Upon a Time-esque script (for the record I think OUaT is a decent distraction).

Perfect description of this show.

I'm out, good look with that mess.
 
I’ve had a lot of 19-year-olds tell me I’m hot, which, bless them, is super. But what can I say? They go, “You’re really, really hot” and I go, “Thank you. You’re really, really 19.”

Holy shit ahah. Let's hope we see more of him in the next few years.
 

Downhome

Member
Watching this new episode tonight and I feel like I missed a complete episode.

I know I didn't, my wife and I watched it last week, but I just feel like I'm missing something here. Anyone else feel the same way so far?
 
One thing that I've taken away from this episode is that they've really underutilized Paul this season. He was great this episode. And now that he has become highly intriguing, he's probably dead. I liked this episode and I think I know why, there was no Dell and Desiree and Doofus Dandy and the Twins only book-ended the episode while the rest of the story had a chance to breathe throughout the middle section. I think those four characters (well, five if you count the bad CGI twins as two) are the ones I like the least.
 

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
Well, I'm glad Dot is speaking the realtalk about Dandy.

RatskyWatsky said:
AV Club - American Horror Story’s Mat Fraser won’t star in your “inspiration porn”

Wow, not even a day goes by and the Youtube video linked about the "Ryan Murphy edited interview" was taken down? He's apparently kinda pissed about that. What was it edited into?
 
Good thing Emma Roberts character didn't killed LaPetite, I don't want to hate her.

I'm still struggling to see why Dandy considers himself a freak. Guess he's just psycho.
 
I haven't watched the last few episodes because it seemed that the only "horror" aspect about it was the clown serial killer. Despite watching seasons 1-3, I've only found 2 to be engaging all the way through. :\

Can someone tell me if it's worth catching up on this season?
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Decent episode, though it felt weird having Bassett and Chiklis absent this week after they received such a big focus last week.

Wow, not even a day goes by and the Youtube video linked about the "Ryan Murphy edited interview" was taken down? He's apparently kinda pissed about that. What was it edited into?

I have no idea.

Can someone tell me if it's worth catching up on this season?

It's still early and since AHS tends to be so wildly inconsistent (scene to scene, episode to episode), that you'd probably be better served by waiting until the season is over before deciding whether to dive in or not.

I think after a first few wonky/dull episodes, the season has picked up a bit and is much more interesting than it originally was. I think I'd rank it higher than Murder House or Coven at this point, though that isn't saying much.
 

hateradio

The Most Dangerous Yes Man
Was that Tobias Beecher. :eek:oo

All those memories came rushing in when I realized it was him.



Any way, the episode was alright. Not really a high, but it made some small progress with the twins and Dandy's weird random love thing, that's now at an end.
 
Boring episode, was surprised Roberts character didn't go through with drowning the little one.

Guess Lange's time is up next week when Jimmy returns with the twins? Not a moment too soon, I've hated her pretty consistently this season, get rid of her...
 
I haven't watched the last few episodes because it seemed that the only "horror" aspect about it was the clown serial killer. Despite watching seasons 1-3, I've only found 2 to be engaging all the way through. :\

Can someone tell me if it's worth catching up on this season?

You're not missing much. This season has a couple of interesting moments, but by and large, it's rather boring. I'm with you, Asylum has been the pinnacle season of the series while the others all languish somewhere near the bottom.
 

Matt_

World's #1 One Direction Fan: Everyone else in the room can see it, everyone else but you~~~
emmys for lange and dandy
 

Symphonic

Member
You people are so confusing, you're all as polarizing as you claim the show is.

This season is no weaker than Asylum started out, a bit above Murder House, and far above the shit of Coven.
 

Superflat

Member
Was gonna start watching Murder House but decided to jump into Freakshow, and I'm almost caught up, about to start episode 6.

It's about as entertaining as American Horror Story has been. After watching Asylum and Coven, to me AHS established itself as a show that goes all over the place, throwing as many twists, hooks and cliffhangers as they can to keep it interesting. So far there's nothing in Freakshow that outright frustrates me like Coven has, but it's not as entertaining or as unnerving as Asylum.

It's just not great television if you compare it to other prestige original programs. A bit middle of the road, but I'm finding it pretty fun nonetheless. If it's any consolation, it has the most consistent tone and least convoluted story of the seasons I've watched so far.
 

Lazyslob

Banned
if anyone hurts ma petite i will rage, but holy shit at dandy. best character in all of the seasons id say. dude was cold as fuck this episode.
 

Weapxn

Mikkelsexual
Now that Ryan Murphy has said that all the seasons are connected and we have crossover characters, could the show's "miniseries" status in award shows be affected?
 

zeitgeist

Member
if anyone hurts ma petite i will rage, but holy shit at dandy. best character in all of the seasons id say. dude was cold as fuck this episode.

Same here. I knew it wouldn't actually happen in the tube thing but I hope she is okay for the rest of the season. She is seriously so adorable!!
 
The character development in the last episode was decent. Overall, it was one of the better episodes thus far.

I still don't get the love for Dandy, though. He's not that interesting to me.
 
This week's episode wasn't amazing, but it was still miles ahead from anything last season delivered. I'm enjoying most of the characters and storylines so far, Dandy is one of the best characters this show has produced and the writing so far is not wildly inconsistent. I just need more Angela Bassett and Frances Conroy and less Jessica Lange.
 

Superflat

Member
I still don't get the love for Dandy, though. He's not that interesting to me.

Comparitively he's got the most going on as a character. There's an actual semblance of an arc, which is nice lol; esp for a villain.

This week's episode wasn't amazing, but it was still miles ahead from anything last season delivered. I'm enjoying most of the characters and storylines so far, Dandy is one of the best characters this show has produced and the writing so far is not wildly inconsistent. I just need more Angela Bassett and Frances Conroy and less Jessica Lange.

I haven't seen the first season but this is Lange's dullest character yet. She's basically a weak mix of her Asylum and Coven characters, with none of the spark.
 
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