Posted: 8/26/15 at 12:52pm
Premiering Wednesday, October 7
10 First Look Photos and Character Bios
Updated On: 8/26/15 at 12:52 PM
Posted: 8/26/15 at 2:52pm
This will be like every other season.
1. General excitement/skepticism
2. Anyone who says that this season will be no different than the last ones will be told to f*ck off and stop "hating"
3. The first episode will air and it will mostly suck.
4. Some people will say how they were right, people under 20 will say it was "everything" and others will say that it just needs time to develop.
5. This back and forth will continue through episode 5, where after it airs the consensus will be that this season is terrible. The under 20 crowd will still claim that it is terrifying and "everything", telling people who are fans of the genre to go kill themselves when they are told yet again how this show doesn't understand the meaning of the word "horror".
6. Gaga will most probably be good and campy as hell which will mean she was "everything" and even though this season sucked, her "everything-ness" made it the best season ever.
7. 6 episodes in, people will throw their hands up when every storyline and character arc are thrown out the window in order to bring in and for some reason focus on another famous actor who will derail any development the plot has made up to that point.
8. The season finale will air and people will say that next season will hopefully be better.
Updated On: 8/26/15 at 02:52 PM
Posted: 8/26/15 at 3:12pm
Glad to see that you're approaching it with such an open mind, Jordan. 
Updated On: 8/26/15 at 03:12 PM
Posted: 8/26/15 at 4:22pm
Jordan Catalano said: "But you know I'm right."
Well... I know that some people will like it and others won't. But that's true of just about everything. If you've got a hard-on for Ryan Murphy (and not in a good way), or if you've disliked all of the past seasons, and have made up your mind in advance that the coming season will be no different, then that's probably what your take on it will be. You seem to have one definition of "horror" firmly planted in your head, and are not willing to allow for the fact that different people find different things horrific. I'm not tying to sway you. Different strokes... and all that. And everyone is entitled to their opinion. But if I don't like something, regardless of how many people do or don't, I don't watch it. I guess I just don't get the "hate watching" trend.
Updated On: 8/26/15 at 04:22 PM
Posted: 8/26/15 at 5:58pm
That's where you're wrong. I fully allow for different definitions of "horror". That's why there are so many subgenres - cannibals, monsters, aliens, serial killers etc., but it's how those things are used that make something actually horror or not. Hocus Pocus uses things like witches and zombies but it isn't a horror film. Its all about how these elements are used and as myself and so many others have pointed out for the past five years now, this show just doesn't really do that. And you also can't point to two specific scenes in a season and site them as examples of how they were suspenseful and scary, therefore it's a scary show. Just like I wouldn't tell someone to watch SCREAM and call it a comedy because there are a couple of scenes that are funny.
Posted: 8/26/15 at 6:21pm
I'm still disappointed they didn't go with AHS: Spooky Boat.
But in all seriousness, watching a Ryan Murphy production is like watching a Tim Burton production. You don't really go into it expecting "good" as much as you expect "stylistic exercise," and are pleasantly surprised when "good" happens. Murphy's "Big Eyes" was "The Normal Heart."
Posted: 8/26/15 at 6:51pm
Jordan's prediction seems likely, unless the first episode is good. That's how they got me last time.
Posted: 8/26/15 at 6:59pm
You're right! The first episode WAS good! The rest of the season made me completely forget about that!
Posted: 8/26/15 at 7:02pm
The Twisty backstory episode was really good but I'm pretty sure you stopped watching long before.
Posted: 8/26/15 at 7:03pm
I have to agree with Jordan on this one, but I will still watch it all the way through. It might be garbage sometimes, but it's my garbage damn it!
Posted: 8/26/15 at 7:13pm
I disagree about the twisty backstory. Personally, it did nothing for me.
And I watched the whole season because I'm such a huge fan of Lange, Bates and Bassett. And I'll watch this season also because no matter how awful the writing is the performances are always top notch.
Posted: 8/26/15 at 9:42pm
I could have sworn you stopped watching it early but kept complaining about it.
Anyway, you saved me a lot of anguish by reminding me I didn't have to watch Girls. I hope to do the same for you.
Posted: 8/26/15 at 10:31pm
The only season of this show I really enjoyed from beginning to end was Asylum. Sister Jude hasn't been topped yet.
Posted: 8/26/15 at 10:35pm
You can just feel the coke and booze coming off of Angela Bassett and Sarah Paulson.
Posted: 8/27/15 at 7:21am
Every day they announce a fabulous new addition to the cast. It's become the new Night of a Thousand Stars. This has been the downfall of the series. Too many stars means too many plot lines, cause each star needs their moment. But they can't have all these plot lines running concurrently throughout the whole series. So they have to break it up into a series of consecutive, small, meaningless stories that add nothing to the whole.
Case in point was Coven's opening plot line involving Kathy Bates' character. There was such potential in that story line to make a whole season. But after a few episodes she was reduced to some comic relief head-in-a-box that eventually faded away to make room for the rest of the cast to have their moments. In the end, this turned the whole Bates story into something meaningless that had no connection to the rest of the season. This continued in the extreme in Freak Show.
I'll watch because I remember the awesomeness that was Asylum.
Posted: 8/27/15 at 9:37am
The funny thing is that if you go back - COVEN wasn't even received all that well initially. It was only after how bad the following season was that people started saying how great it was. COVEN had the same problems you laid out above but also tried to introduce every single horror movie cliche at some point. I remember joking at one point "where are the zombies?!" - and wouldn't you know, the next week there were zombies. I tried to go back to watch COVEN a little while ago and, while it is the "best" season so far, it's still just not very good.
Posted: 8/27/15 at 9:43am
I'd say Coven was the most fun season, especially early on, but that the "best" was the first season, even though that was riddled with problems, too. Asylum was too gross for me and I stopped a few episodes in.
Posted: 8/27/15 at 9:53am
I'm with Phyllis on this, except I did finish "Asylum," though I can't say I had anything vaguely resembling a good time.
I really liked season one, finding it sufficiently spooky and ultimately, oddly, moving. "Asylum" was mostly upsetting; "Coven" was campy fun; "Freak Show" I gave up on after about four episodes. But I always go into the new season excited. I expect that's how I'll feel about this one, too.
Updated On: 8/27/15 at 09:53 AM
Posted: 8/27/15 at 9:53am
Oh wait, I meant to say what I said about ASYUM, not COVEN.
I got confusified.
Posted: 8/27/15 at 10:07am
I'm a huge fan of this show, thought I'll admit to being disappointed at times. I watch it for the acting, and I think the production is always top-notch.
ASYLUM was my favorite. I think it was really incredible. COVEN left me cold when it was airing, but re-watching the DVDs gave me a new appreciation. Not "great" by any means, but you Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates definitely deserved their Emmys.
Count me as one who is really excited for HOTEL. Those character pics from EW look incredible. At the very least, we'll see some great work from Paulson, Bates, Bassett...I'm glad there's a show with so many great actors in one place!
Posted: 8/27/15 at 4:03pm
Freak Show quickly became unwatchable, despite terrifically weird performances from Finn Wittrock and Frances Conroy. But they were basically acting in an entirely different universe than the rest of the show.
Posted: 8/27/15 at 4:22pm
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