Ever wonder what’s going on in the background or in other parts of the American Horror Story episodes? A lot of times we’ve been treated to the action up front and personal since that’s what fans want to see and that’s what’s pertinent to the story. But since FX gave the green light to the spin-off, American Horror Stories, it sounds as though we’re going to get the chance to see what’s been happening in the background, at least to some degree, as each episode is going to be different from the other and won’t be likely to have much to do with the next one in line or the ones before it. It’s normal to feel a little trepidation leading into this since it hasn’t been done with this series yet, but Rachel Labonte of Screenrant and many others sound excited to see what will come from this attempt, and it’s sounding as though it will be featured before season 10 of AHS since it makes sense to keep the two apart. That could upset a few fans in 2021, but at the very least producing an anthology spin-off could help to keep a lot of people primed for another season since there’s a good chance that the episodes will overlap with various themes that have been used in the AHS series.
Right now there’s not a lot of information as to who might be in line to star in the new series, but for season 10 it does sound like many of the core characters are coming back, even if we don’t know what the overall theme is just yet. A lot of people are likely wracking their brains trying to figure out just what AHS could be coming up with next since we’ve seen a wide array of stories that date back to historical times and utilize various historical figures in ways that obviously weren’t realistic but were entertaining thanks to the narrative that was used. In Cult it was even seen that the story was capable of being moved into the current era in a manner that was downright eerie since it brought out some of the more negative aspects of society and made it clear that the show isn’t going to pull any punches when it comes to the type of content it’s going to produce. Unfortunately from Roanoake on the seasons have really had a different feel as the Roanoke season was a bit divisive among the fans and everything from that point on has either been great or felt a bit contrived, as some moments did in Apocalypse. 1984 was a definite throwback to a time that almost felt as though the show was being given an easy out so as to draw the fans back in by showing them more of the slasher content that they’d come to love about the show rather than the prophetic and very feminist lean that things had taken in Cult and Apocalypse. While the stories were highly entertaining there was no doubt about the ‘future is female’ touch that was thrust into each story and the all too real idea that men are more problematic by nature. Patti Greco of Vulture had more to say on this point.
This, unfortunately, is the detriment to pop culture that does tend to come out from time to time and while it does make for a controversial and very popular view in many opinions, such a narrative also becomes a bit tired after the first few moments and needs a bit of balancing in order to really make it work. 1984 was a great return to the series since it didn’t feature damsels in distress as much and it didn’t demonize or demoralize every male character it could find, as there were redemptive and heroic arcs all over the place and the norms definitely shifted in a big way. It almost felt like chaos being unfolded with each episode, but it also felt far more balanced in a way since it didn’t target anyone in such an obvious manner. Instead it sought to include everyone in the main plot, in very stereotypical fashion at times since the 80s were notorious for this, but in an entertaining manner at the same. But what’s also been done in the last couple of seasons of AHS is that the bar has been set so incredibly high that it’s hard to think of how this new spin-off is really going to compete and how it will stand up to the original series. Obviously season 10 has its work cut out for it as well, but fans are more likely to be critical of a spin-off than they are the original, as even Roanoke, which had a lot of fans giving the thumbs down, didn’t turn off that many fans to the series. Given the idea that the spin-off will arrive first it will be interesting to see how people react. Chris Harnick of E! News has more to say on the matter.
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