“Madison’s Happy Ending”

“Sisters in Arms”

I found these two episodes that were designed to set up the finale to be extremely intriguing and satisfying.

The arrival of Ben at the coven in New Orleans was great. Ben being more than just an evil son of Satan is a fitting twist as this is what I would have expected from this character that we have met this season.

Making Ben and Madison a thing worked well in episode 11. I found them to be a cute couple.

However, the best part of these two episodes was yet to come. Ben brought Myrtle Snow back to the witches of the coven, pulling her from Hell.

Myrtle revealed to Fiona that she was the daughter of Satan and that she was a twin- separated at birth. Her twin- Constance Langdon. Then, she told the story of their mother, Sister Judy Martin from the Briarcliff Manor asylum, thus connecting the three characters of Jessica Lange from Murder House, Coven and Asylum together.

I found this to be a genius move. Seeing the connection between Fiona and Constance was one thing (a great scene with the pair of Jessica Langes together), but to tie Sister Judy into this was such a exceptional move. There was even a name drop of Pepper, from Asylum as well.

However, things do not end up very hopeful as at the end of the episode, Ben, Cordelia and Queenie (also back from Hell thanks to Ben) went to start off their plan to trap Satan, and both Cordelia and Queen get killed, making next episode’s finale totally a free for all.

I found both of these very strong and I am ready for the finale of the 13th season of American Horror Story.

“Is That All There Is?”

“Date Night”

“The Return of Devil’s Night”

I guess it looks as if each week will have three new episodes.

That seems to be the trade off for the shorter run times.

Elsa Mars makes her return to AHS as an emcee of sort and a musical guest, performing Peggy Lee’s 1969 hit “Is That All There Is?” Elsa was from season 4 American Horror Story: Freak Show. This is another character played by Jessica Lange. I loved the Freak Show season.

She was basically emceeing the sacrifice of 13 souls into the pit of hell.

The souls included: aka “Mr. Nas’ favorite bad girls,” include: Hypodermic Sally (Paulson’s “Hotel” character), “Gestapo gal pal” Eva Braun, “dynasty-busting divorcee” Wallis Simpson, “selfish writer” Ayn Rand, “vegetarian man-eater” Brigitte Bardot, “fker of horses” Catherine the Great, Mamie Eisenhower (Paulson from “Death Valley”), “sneaky Romanian tyrant” Elena Ceausescu, “original slty princess” Jezebel, Tuberculosis Karen (Paulson from “Red Tide”), “union-busting b***h” Margaret Thatcher, and lastly, poor Elizabeth. What’s her sin, you ask? According to Elsa, she “sucked the world dry” with her “hopeless dreaming.” Way harsh, Elsa.”

-Read More: https://www.tvline.com/2275397/ahs-season-13-episode-6-ending-explained-cordelia-dead-alive/

Wilhelmina Venable, Sarah Paulson’s character from Apocalypse, filled out the 13 when the number came up short.

Piggy Man returned this week. He was in Murder House and Roanoke seasons. Jeffrey Dahmer (played by Seth Gabel, from AHS: Hotel).

This show has been interesting, but the story itself is fairly lacking. It has been all nostalgia for the previous 12 seasons. We’ll see how things go as it moves on.

Spoilers

“The Auteur”

Mercifully, this is over.

Thank goodness.

Since this came back from its break, Delicate has been nearly unwatchable. The finale was as bad of an episode of AHS that I think I have ever seen. It wished to be at a B-movie level. It does not reach that.

Maybe this was meant to be all camp. I did not get that impression from the rest of the episodes of the season, but maybe that is what it was intended to be. If that was the case, they succeeded.

Before the break, Delicate was okay, but I was not in love with the show. It was engaging enough to keep me coming back, but the last four episodes were just continually sliding down the level of quality until it was just a joke.

I thought Emma Roberts was overacting like crazy. Kim Kardashian was nothing more than a villain who had to use shock value instead of actual horror to get a reaction.

This is probably my least favorite season of AHS that I have seen. I am glad it is over.

Spoilers

“Little Gold Man”

Since Delicate return from hiatus a few weeks ago, I have been very down on this series. Even the first half of the season was not as gripping as some of the past seasons.

The eighth episode of the season was better than recent ones. It still is not in the upper tier of AHS seasons, but at least I am not cringing every scene like I have been the last few weeks.

The whole Oscar plot is strange. She found out she was nominated and won the award all in the same basic time frame and that does not happen.

Anna got that Oscar, but what did she have to sacrifice in order to hear her name called? Sure seemed like she just said she would give up her unborn child to win that award. Hm. Anna was never going to be mother-of-the-year, but that was really crappy of her.

A lot of this episode was exposition and explanations for what was going on. Then, it is never easy to figure out what is in Anna’s head or what’s actually happening to her.

Then, the episode was over before you knew it. Just around 35 minutes run time is surprisingly short for the show.

Spoilers

“Ave Hestia”

Okay, what the hell did I just watch?

It was an episode where we saw background info on everyone but Anna, and what we saw was nonsensical and dumb.

I really have found this season, specifically since it has come back from break, to be some of my least favorite American Horror Story episodes of the entire series.

Honestly, I have a lot of things that I am watching right now and if this show does not get better in a hurry, I think it may be done.

SPOILERS

“Opening Night”

Okay, I saw that American Horror Story: Delicate returned for the second half of its season. I was not overly inspired to watch it.

I was interested in Delicate when it first aired back in 2023, for the first five episodes. However, it was not the best AHS I had ever seen. Then, it went away for months.

Whatever momentum this series may have had, this long of a break really killed it. I was not anxiously waiting to see this episode and I only watched it tonight because it fit into the schedule.

The episode was really good, but I had a very challenging time trying to recall what was going on. It was weird and bloody. Things started to come back to me as I watched the episode, but there were still parts that I did not recall.

This long of a break can really sap a show. I feel the same way about Invincible on Amazon Prime which I have not yet watched, and I liked that show more than the current AHS. I am not sure about the choice to wait so long before the second part of the season dropped.

The show was really creepy though and hopefully I will continue to be intrigued moving forward.

Spoilers

I had been doing a rewatch of the first season of American Horror Story: Murder House, usually once every Sunday. I made it through episode 8, but so many other shows popped up that I kind of let AHS: Murder House slide. 

Now, with the Picket Fences rewatch finished, Monarch, Echo and Fargo (almost) ending, I decided to wrap up the first season in the Murder House. 

I remember the first time watching this show, the shocks were absolutely flying. I never saw the hanging of Ben coming. The deaths of the members of the Harmon family were all amazing, and is something that you can do in an anthology series, since you do not have to revisit the characters in a subsequent season (although, Constance, I believe, comes back in a later season with the baby she took from the house- as the Anti-Christ. That is a season I may have to watch for the first time).

The group of characters are all given pretty decent ends, even the ghosts that are trapped inside the house. It was a strangely satisfying and, dare I say, happy ending for the Harmons, considering that they all died tragically in the house. The ending of the show with them celebrating Christmas was a strange conclusion.

It was fun watching the spirits inside the house chase off the new couple that tried to buy the house. 

I glad to have finished off the first season. It was one of my favorites of the seasons that I have seen. 

Spoilers

“Rubber Man”

Episode 8 had a lot of things happening, and many of them dealt with a suit of black latex.

We discovered that it was not Ben who put on the rubber suit and had sex with Vivien. We discovered that it was Tate, which makes more sense on why Vivien’s babies might, I don’t know, have hooves, as the nurse seemed to believe.

We learned more about the gay couple, Chad and Patrick, who were previous owners of the house involved in the murder/suicide, which was not actually a murder/suicide. They were killed by Tate as well. Tate killed them when they stopped looking to adopt a child. Tate was trying to get a child for Nora.

Tate and Violet had sex and he worried that Vivien was going to take her away because she was leaving the house. Vivien accidentally shoots Ben when she is afraid of the spirits in the house. Hayden is manipulating the situation, trying to torment and drive Vivien crazy. Ben seems to be buying it, not believing what Vivien is seeing.

This is really the step of the series where Tate becomes less of a romantic and tragic figure and shown more as a sociopathic killer.

Spoilers

“Open House”

AHS: Murder House continues to peel back the layers of the pain and mystery contained inside the walls of Murder House.

An Armenian arrived at the open house looking to perhaps purchase the Murder House. He planned on tearing the house down to put up affordable housing, making a mint.

This possibility sent the crew into an anxious moment and made uneasy allies out of Constance, Moira and Larry, who murder the man (letting him die off the property so he would not be wandering around inside the house).

Several other tidbits appeared in this episode.

• We find out Larry’s story, and his desire for Constance, which led to his wife’s suicide by fire and his own burns.
• Vivien is pregnant with twins. Double anti-Christs?
• Back with the Murder Tour and Josh Gad. The story of the Montgomerys are told.
• Vivien sees a photo of the Montgomery family and recognized Nora.
• Violet and Tate continue to grow close.
• We meet another of Constance’s children who died in the house, a deformed Beau, who is in the Murder House’s attic.
• Marcy packs a handgun!

Murder House is absolutely a fantastic series and one of the best of the AHS run.

Spoilers

“Piggy, Piggy”

What an episode this was.

The first five minutes was just about as disturbing of a five minute scene television has ever seen. It was also very tough to watch as a character that we have come to like, Tate, played expertly by Evan Peters, is shown to have gone into his school as an active shooter, killing a whole bunch of people along the way (many of whom we had seen in the Halloween episode as the group chasing Tate).

However, Tate’s origin and backstory was not the only shocking and horrifying moment of this packed episode.

Here piggy, piggy, pig.

Eric Stonestreet had a guest appearance as Derek, one of Ben’s patients who was afraid of urban legends, especially the one about the Pigman. Derek could not look in the mirror in fear of saying the words, “Here piggy piggy pig” which, much like the story of Candyman, is supposed to summon the Pigman. The explanation of the story by Derek to Ben was absolutely the creepiest, scariest thing I had seen on TV in a long time.

Derek’s absolute fear was palpable and his attempt to overcome this fear in the Harmon’s bathroom in Murder House was frightening and just not a good idea. The irony of how the story ended up was amazing writing, if not tragic.

Tragedy was all over this episode as Tate saved the life of Violet, who had taken a handful of pills in a suicidal wave. Tate dragging Violet’s body into the bathroom and forcing her to vomit the pills while running the shower over her was heart-wrenching.

Watching Constance eating some of the disgusting things that Constance brought her ‘for the baby’ was stomach-churning.

Speaking of Constance, her ‘talk’ with Adelaide through a medium, Billie Dean, was another tragic moment of this episode, providing Jessica Lange with some wonderful material to play. Billie Dean was the first appearance of the brilliant Sarah Paulson in the series. Sarah Paulson becomes a fixture in American Horror Story and other projects by Ryan Murphy.

And we hear from the ultrasound technician who had fainted when giving Vivien’s ultrasound. She claimed that she had seen the beast in Vivien’s womb, hooves and all. She had left her job and had taken up residency in a church where she was praying. Between this and the raw brains and pancreas Vivien has been consuming, this baby is going to be something else.

“Piggy Piggy” is one of the best episodes of the season. It is disturbing and keeps the audience constantly on guard, uneasy about where the show is taking us. It is full of some great acting, from Jessica Lange to Eric Stonestreet to Evan Peters.

Spoilers

“Halloween Part 1“

“Halloween Part 2“

On Halloween, the spirits of the dead are able to walk the streets once more. So it makes it easy for all of the lost souls living inside the Murder House to get out for a night.

The story advanced like crazy in these two episodes. So much happened. We met a gay couple who were former owners of the house who was killed by Rubber Man. Moira left the house and went to see her mother who was on life support that she immediately took her off. Hayden showed up to torment Ben and Vivien, forcing Ben to tell Vivien the whole truth. Tate and Violet were chased by a group of teen ghosts who claimed that Tate had killed them. Adelaide is hit by a car after she was dressed for Halloween as a ‘pretty girl’ and she dies before Constance can drag her onto the Harmon’s lawn. Constance grieves desperately for her loss and tells Violet that she was Tate’s mother. Vivien felt her baby kick, which should be too soon so they go to the hospital and the nurse collapses when she see the baby. Ben leaves the house the next morning and Vivien indicates that she is going to divorce him.

Just so much happening. I remember when it was first aired being really uncertain about everything that was going on, but this time, with my foreknowledge, everything was much clearer.

There is a ton of drama going on around the Murder House and everyone does a wonderful job. Jessica Lange is magnificent in this episode with the death of Adelaide. She always acted as if she did not love her ‘monster,’ as she called her, but the moment she finds her on the ground and desperately tries to drag her to the lawn before she dies so she would continue to exist, albeit trapped in the Murder House, is heartbreaking.

Evan Peters is another actor who brings his best in this episode as he starts to remember what he did to those teens. I believe that is coming up soon.

Dylan McDermott and Connie Britton both play every possible emotion during these two episodes as Ben clings to his life with his family, even while it slips away.

Zachary Quinto makes a great cameo as one of the former owners of Murder House, the one whom is killed by Rubber Man.

Overall, these two episodes play great together and is a complete gamechanger.

Spoilers

“Murder House”

Vivien finds out that her house is on the famous murder location tour in LA (which was emceed by Josh Gad).

We get a bit of an origin story for the house as they give some details about the man who built the house back in 1923, Dr. Charles Montgomery. He was doing Frankenstein-like experiments in the basement, which we know is the most haunted place in the house.

Because of their desperate need for money, Montgomery’s wife, Nora, forced him to perform abortions in the basement as well.

Besides the Montgomery horrors, we saw what had happened with Moira and how she ended up trapped in the house. And surprise, she had been having an affair with Constance’s husband, although she wanted it to end and he was forcing himself on her when Constance found them. She shot her through the eye and then murdered her husband.

The show hinted at a deeper connection between Constance and Tate.

Hayden, the young girl Ben had an affair with in Boston and who he had taken to the abortion clinic, showed up in LA and told him that she did not go through with the abortion. The cracks in Hayden were really starting to show. She was murdered by Larry with a shovel. They bury her in the backyard of the Murder House and Ben builds a gazebo over the spot. Moira was buried in that same spot.

Kate Mara was amazing as Hayden, who was clearly unbalanced and crazed. She had just a few scenes but she really shook the life of Ben.

There are a ton of events happening in the show and everything is centered around the Murder House. There is a power to the place that almost feels like it is messing with the Harmons.

Murder House is one of my favorite anthology series from the AHS list.

Spoilers

“Home Invasion”

It’s Sunday morning and it is time for the next American Horror Story episode. This one is entitled “Home Invasion” and it is really creepy.

The episode starts off showing a home invasion into the Murder House from the past when a couple of nursing students were tortured and murdered by a man. This led to Vivien and Violet being taken hostage by a group of three wanting to re-enact the famous murder.

Lots of weird and frightening things happened this episode:

• We find out that the house is on the LA famous murder tour.
• Ben gets a call from the woman he cheated on Vivien with and she told him she was pregnant. He went to Boston so she could have an abortion. He lied to Vivien about it.
• Constance made some poison cupcakes for Violet.
• Constance was having an encounter with a young male model.
• She shut Addie into the “bad girl closet” with a bunch of mirrors.
• Tate mortally wounds one of the home invaders with an axe.
• The ghosts of the dead nurses murdered the other two home invaders.

• Tate, Constance and Moira have a connection and knowledge of each other and work together to get rid of the bodies. Tate says that they had to get rid of the bodies, “If we want him to keep treating me.” Mysterious.
• Constance could sense that Vivien was pregnant.
• Vivien is worried that she has not been getting sick with this pregnancy unlike before. She worries that something is wrong.
• Vivien ends the episode saying that they were going to sell this house.

Packed full of horrific goodness, I remember how confusing everything was when this first aired. Watching it with foreknowledge of what happened is a new experience and bring more depth to what is happening.