"American Horror Story", a high concept horror/thriller premiered last night on FX. Some thoughts on the pilot coming at you after the break... but first let me follow you while you jog, like the Russian escorts in "Rocky IV".
I came into "American Horror Story" with an open mind, knowing that my sole reason for giving it a chance was in total support of Connie Britton. If you are a "Friday Night Lights" fan, like myself, then you're already missing Mrs. Coach and her grey v-neck t-shirt she so often wore. But, alas, we need to remember that this is not "FNL" and while we get some damn sexy scenes with Connie, it's just not the same. I also took note that the creators were the same creators of "Glee" and "Nip/Tuck" - two shows with large fan bases that seemed to slowly dwindle over time and both are shows I never truly got into. "Glee" has had its moments and by moments, I really mean a couple guest appearances by Kristin Chenoweth (Oh how I miss the pie making days of "Pushing Dasie's"and her tiny aprons) but again, never at the top of my list.
From the start, the episode never truly took off. We start in a flashback from 1978, in what is laid out as a suspenseful scene where twin brothers enter an abandoned house only to be slaughtered in the basement by what we have to assume is a ghost. However, I found this scene to be more amusing then suspenseful, with the twins and their wooden bats destroying shit and playing with "snappers" before their untimely death. Flash forward to today and meet the family that is the focal point of this drama(?). We have Vivian (Connie Britton) and Ben (Dylan McDermott) a couple going through a rough time in their marriage. They recently had a miscarriage of a seven month old baby son and shortly after that Ben is caught sleeping with another women. Broken and lost, the couple along with their high school aged daughter, Violet, pick up and move cross country to LA to start anew. The family ends up buying the same house that we find in the beginning scene but are forewarned that the previous couple died in the house in an apparent murder-suicide. They buy the house anyway cause hey, who could turn down such a great deal!
From here things quickly get confusing and just plain old bat-shit crazy. We are quickly introduced to Addy, the girl next door with down syndrome that is frequently popping in uninvited proclaiming that "you are going to die in here". Addy along with her mother Constance (Jessica Lang), housekeeper Moira, and psychiatric patient, Tate all seem to maybe not exist. My suspicion was possibly confirmed when Ben meets Moira for the first time and he sees a young sexy woman as opposed to the old maid everyone else sees. Later in the episode, Tate scares the living crap out of Violet and her school bully by either turning into or summonsing some sort of ghostly monster. Very strange mysterious stuff going on and I have to admit it makes me want to continue watching to see what plays out.
Aside from our living (or nonliving) side characters, we have the drama that is playing out between Vivian and Ben. Although I find myself maybe not caring if they can work their marriage out or not, Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott acted the hell out of their fight scene. By the end of the pilot it seems that they may be working things out, even though the masked man Vivian is fornicating with is clearly not her husband (although she thinks it is) and she may be carrying someone (or something) else's baby. Not only is Vivian being fooled by the haunting of the house but Ben seems to be feeling some effects as well, as he's sleep walking and playing with fire (Constance stops him and tells him it's not his time yet and to "enjoy the house"). We learn through the disfigured man, Larry Harvy (is this a play on Harvey Dent, aka Two-Face), that when he lived in the house, he would hear voices that told him to kill his family, which he does (Amytville horror much?).
So the pilot basically spent most of the time laying the ground work for what is to come. Layering suspicion, on top of suspense, on top of family drama. Will this be a success? I really cant tell based on this but, I do know I'll be returning for at least one or two more episodes. My biggest questions is how could this be a continuing series? After all the shit that could possibly go down in this first season what would posses them to stay in this house? It's like creating a show about high school students that are seniors in the first season (*cough* FNL *cough*), but I'm sure when the gravy trains pulling into the station you find a way to buy a ticket.
So what did everyone else think? Will you be watching again next week?
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