American Beauty

Among all TV series that I am following, which according to my Next Episode app are 27 at the moment, I consider American Horror Story one of a kind.  Not just because of the astonishing acting presence – a gift from Jessica Lange, Angela Basset and Kathy Bates – but mainly to the fact that the irony and sarcasm present in every episode makes this series my best TV moment of the week.

American Horror Story is unique also due to the fact that every season is completely independent from each other. You can start from season 2, 3, whatever. The plot and theme are totally different and not correlated. Some actors are the same, but they are so good you don’t even remember the characters they were playing on the previous season.

And personally I think this will become a trend: series with independent seasons. We have so many options to watch nowadays that sometimes it can pull you off the fact that a TV show is already on the 4^th season for example and you have something like 50 episodes of 45 minutes each to catch up with what everyone is talking about. It is a lot of time consumed. No one has time – and patience – for that. True Detective (another great new HBO production) is a proof that more series will be like that in the near future.

Last week was the season finale of American Horror Story: Coven (no spoilers here) and I am really sad that is over. Really, really, deeply sad. There was not one single episode that I disliked. Yes, they were gore. Yes, there was a lot of blood and guts spilled. Yes, there were some bizarre moments that you simply don’t understand at all. But the satire and the criticism to real problems that we face now were behind every single joke. Racism, intolerance, discrimination – against different genders, sexual orientation, religions, skin color. Ryan Murphy is a master when it concerns to acidly criticize prejudice (you can clearly see that on Glee).

Different from the previous seasons, Coven was not scary. It was fun. It was fashion. It was incredible. Do you know those moments when you think “I cannot believe they are actually doing that”? It was full of them. The estrangement and nonsense will not please everyone, of course. Because it is bizarre. You really have to just open your mind and let it go.

American Horror Story: Murder House (Season 1) and Asylum (Season 2) were more the terror-thrilling type. Season 1 was more sexual appellative, including themes like sadomasochism and polygamy, while season 2 was, personal opinion, the scariest one. I could not even watch the opening credits that used to freak me out.

Asylum was so horrifying that I couldn’t watch by myself. Although the theme was very obvious – horror contextualized inside a “haunted” asylum during the 60s – it used to scare the shit out of me. Again, Jessica Lange was the cherry of the cake. Can someone give her more Emmys, please?

Anyway, if you don’t mind gore and appreciate dark humour, American Horror Story is for you. The bets now are to try to guess what season 4 will be about. The only information revealed is that will be set in the 50s and the tone will be darker and scarier than Coven. We still have many months ahead. Unfortunately.

Rest in peace Fiona. We will miss you dearly.