Oh, boy, American Horror Story. Where do we begin?
Tonight’s finale of American Horror Story gave us the answers we wanted… and then blew its brains out afterwards, leaving viewers shocked and emotionally split about what the hell they had just witnessed on their TV screens. Twitter is aflutter with vows from fans to never tune into the show again. Snarky critics are doing the Snoopy dance by retweeting every negative reaction, finally feeling some sort of ‘vindication’ for people not listening to them in the first place. In short, I’m scared for the future of American Horror Story.
Before I get into the show’s future, let’s discuss what little we could make sense out of in tonight’s episode titled “Afterbirth.”
As I predicted from almost day one, Ben became the Murder House’s last victim after Hayden enlisted the Home Invasion ghosts to hang him from the second floor as he was preparing to leave the House for good. The sad thing about the scenario was Ben had just gotten a wake up call and a plea to leave from Vivien and Violet, who both wanted Ben to raise the surviving twin instead of killing himself to be with them. Even Constance warned Ben to not reenter the House, but you can easily read her warning as being more about wanting her grandson with her and nowhere near Ben or the House. Nonetheless, Ben’s decision to activate his common sense node came a little too late and Hayden stopped Ben on the stairs long enough for the attack to happen.
Now with Ben dead, he was able to reunite with Vivien and Violet to be one big happy family again, despite their current situation. And this all happened before the end of the first act.
So what happened for the next 45 minutes you ask? When we find out exactly what transpired, we will surely get back to you on that, because we are having a hard time trying to figure that out ourselves. As stated before, we did get some answers, but not the ones we were necessarily looking for. For instance, we still don’t know why new residents of the House constantly become gung-ho to have another baby. As soon as the new family, the Ramos’, were in the door they were already talking about adding to their three person family. Does the House subliminally coax its new residents into making whoopee in order to bring another baby into the world? Could this fit into Moira’s statement on how some of the ghosts want to hurt people in order for them to share their torment? Could this be the basis of why babies are so important to the House, given that so many babies lost their lives there?
While American Horror Story left us asking more questions than were answered, it still pretty much wrapped up the main plot points of the season. We know that Tate’s son, Michael, is possibly the Damian Thorne of the series, which could be an interesting direction the show could take. We know that the Harmons’ are now happy residents of the Other Side, and we also know that Tate is still madly in love with Violet, even though she’s far from reciprocating the same feelings.
When you look back at the episode as a whole, you can’t help but notice that “Afterbirth” had a definite, or final, tone about it, as if this was the last time we would see these group of characters ever again. This feeling/notion is what bothers us.
Knowing that American Horror Story will be back with a 13 episode second season after seeing tonight’s finale leaves us with a bit of dread. Why? Well, we are trying to figure out just exactly where the show could possibly carry itself in the new season with these particular characters. Some people are already theorizing that American Horror Story could take a different approach next season by introducing a new family, or a new house, or a new horror trope all together, with none of them involving the Harmons’ or their new ghostly brethren.
But the real mystery that American Horror Story has to answer is how will it win back some of its viewers and dig itself out of the corner they have somewhat written themselves into?
So what did you guys think? Were you pissed? Elated? Want to find Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk to kick their asses? Stay tuned for more American Horror Story content in the next few days.
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I gotta say, I did not see most of the twists coming tonight. It was a wild ride! In those first few minutes I actually thought maybe Ben was just Looney Tunes crazy – alone in the Murder House – that Viv & Violet never even went there with him. Of course that was not the case. I was relieved when the new family got scared away (but a little freaked that the ghosts were watching them get busy in the kitchen), I knew that Ben was doing the Rubber Man spook-out, and I was totally shocked that the "good" baby was down in the basement. Loved the whole Nora "maybe I'm not cut out for this" and Viv telling her to go rest, but the Christmas tree love-fest was a bit much. And Tate & Hayden behind bars watching? Really? Can't imagine what the heck's gonna happen next season (was that Michael kid grinning in the rocking chair freaky or what?), but I loved this one. Jessica Lange was crazy good. I'm keeping my hopes high for next season. Namaste!
I would like to find Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuck and shake their hands on a job well done. Good for you for doing something different. Stuff like this it’s always “Oh nothing’s wrong here” then they figure it out and leave just in time. But here they just went to the end beautifully.
Find it so sad people aren’t getting on this shows case. People are always clamoring for something different and when we get it they hack it up. I think this has become one of the best shows on tv now because they now show they are willing to cross the line. It’s just so emotionally draining though. Can’t wait to see where they go after all this, what their plans are now. Also as a LOST fan I’m really upset when I watch shows like this and all people demand are answers. Just go watch American Idol where you get your answers weekly. Us patient folks will enjoy actual good television.
Love this show..it took chances that most shows would shy away from and made for gripping television viewing. I can't wait for the next season to see how they carry it off. There are so many possibilities that the writers can follow upon that I can only dream (in nightmares) where they might take it. Hope they continue with more twists and surprises that make the viewer gasp.
Jumped the shark!