American Horror Story

dragonjax

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Agreed. I was skeptical of Tate at first--ok, I didn't like him at all--but now all my sympathies are with the ghosts.

I like Tate. Halfsies on Moira; I don't dislike her, but I'm not rooting for her, either.

I think I care a wee bit about Violet only because I loathe her parents.
 

Jehhillenberg

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From the very beginning I was for Tate and Viv, nothing's really changed so far. I read somewhere that none of the characters are supposed to be likable anyway.
 

JohnnyGottaKeyboard

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I read somewhere that none of the characters are supposed to be likable anyway.
I remember they tried this the last couple of seasons of Murphy Brown (most of you are probably too young to have heard of that show). It doesn't work well. People tend to want to tune into shows about people they care for.
I like Tate. Halfsies on Moira; I don't dislike her, but I'm not rooting for her, either.

I think I care a wee bit about Violet only because I loathe her parents.
I feel like Moira is completely sympathetic. She didn't seduce Constance's husband, he practically raped her and yet she got shot in the eye. And now she's trapped in Hell House.


Funny aside: my lack of passion for the parents extends so far that I did not know their names. So I went to IMDB to look them up. Got my columns confused however and thought the mom's name was Connie (which is the actress' name, actually). That was why I asked earlier if Connie was short for Constance, I thought the writers might be going to do something clever.

Carry on...
 
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dragonjax

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I remember they tried this the last couple of seasons of Murphy Brown (most of you are probably too young to have heard of that show).

Crap. I'm old. ;)


I feel like Moira is completely sympathetic. She didn't seduce Constance's husband, he practically raped her and yet she got shot in the eye. And now she's trapped in Hell House.

Well...yes, he was raping her when Constance shot them dead. But that wasn't the first time they were physical together -- she says to him before he got with the rapin' that the first time was a mistake. So there **was** something happening between them, even if it was a one-night fling.
 

DancingMaenid

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Overall, I'm enjoying it so far. I feel like the plot and the rate at which we're learning stuff is a little rushed in some regards, but I'll see how it goes. I don't think it's as bad as some people seem to, and I find the story of the house interesting. And there are still some things that are yet to be explained.

I'm not sure about the whole thing where the ghosts can interact with the living characters as though they were alive. I'm generally not a big fan of stories like that (a little too much for my suspension of disbelief), but I'm going with it.

I am confused about the timeline, though. First of all, the whole thing with Ben's mistress being pregnant even though it was implied he hadn't been with her in a long time. I hope that gets explained somehow.

But also, I'm having some trouble getting a sense of the house's history. I can't remember the exact years that the flashbacks took place in, but the twin boys were killed in the 70s, and the house was abandoned and all the original owner's creepy medical experimentation stuff was in the basement. But the nursing students were murdered in the 60s. Were all those body parts and stuff down in the basement then?

And Constance and her husband lived in the house in the 80s, right? That's what I got from the flashback, unless I was mistaken. But if they did, they must have lived nearby before that, since Adelaide was hanging out by the house in the 70s flashback. Why/when did Constance move out?

I can't tell you how utterly bored I get with most horror today. There are very few exceptions. So much of it is formula. I see no formula in AHS. Sure there are conventions, but they're so disjointed and erratic that I'm continuously surprised.

Yeah, I think I agree with you there. It doesn't follow the obvious formula that many horror movies follow.
 

Jehhillenberg

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And Constance and her husband lived in the house in the 80s, right? That's what I got from the flashback, unless I was mistaken. But if they did, they must have lived nearby before that, since Adelaide was hanging out by the house in the 70s flashback. Why/when did Constance move out?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was the eighties, I wanna say '83 to be exact. Haha. You caught that continuity too. Those kids are everywhere.
 

dragonjax

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I really liked "Halloween, Part 2." Greatly enjoyed the flashes of Tate's history -- and the consequences of his previous actions.

And it looks like they're going to kick the pregnancy subplot into high gear next episode, which is good because that will take us to about the halfway point. I'm guessing November will end with a massive cliffhanger for episode 7 or 8, and then it's hiatus time until...January? February sweeps? Who knows?
 

JohnnyGottaKeyboard

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I especially liked the parade of souls returning to the house on Nov 1. But why do all the ghosts appear to know they are ghosts, and yet Tate appears not to know he went on a columbine-like rampage? Or maybe he was lying. Or he could have blocked it out.

I do like this show a lot--and I'd never heard of it until about 2 weeks before it aired. I hope they can keep it up.
 

dragonjax

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I especially liked the parade of souls returning to the house on Nov 1. But why do all the ghosts appear to know they are ghosts, and yet Tate appears not to know he went on a columbine-like rampage? Or maybe he was lying. Or he could have blocked it out.

I think that's exactly why Constance has insisted on Tate getting therapy from Ben. Maybe once Tate understands and acknowledges what he did, and accepts it, he'll be free to move on. **shrug** Just a guess.

I'm also guessing Constance attempted to poison Violet in ep. 2 so that Violet would die in the house and Tate would have a permanent girlfriend. At least, permanent until he moved on.
 

DancingMaenid

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I found this past episode to be a little "busy," but I liked it pretty well nonetheless. I'm really glad they cleared up that timeline thing about when Ben got his mistress pregnant. And I kinda liked how Hayden decided to reveal Ben's lies.

I'm really interested in Tate, and how his story is unfolding.

I wonder what Chad did with the arsonist guy. We never saw, did we? I hope we see Chad again. I like him. I kind of like the ghost of the original owner (Nora?), too.

I wonder when the Harmons will realize that some of these people are ghosts.
 

Max Vaehling

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I wasn't sure after the first two eps, but I'm really beginning to like the show. The ghosts are such strong characters! (Still not sure about the living characters, though.)

Or maybe it was just Tim Minear's writing on this one.

I keep hearing the horror tropes aren't that original. I thzink that's kind of the point. The way I read the show (and the title), it's all about playing with the tropes from American 70s' and 80s' horror movies. All those cues from Shining and Amityvile? - Okay, the Columbine thing was newer. Or maybe I just didn't see that movie.
 

Forbidden Snowflake

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So far I love how it's done and I have zero sympathy for anyone which is an added bonus since I can just happily watch characters get murdered.

However, I do love Jessica Lange's character. Flawless.
 

donroc

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Does anyone know how long it takes the episodes to appear on the FX website? Only the first 3 are on there now.

Try one of those cable channels that have all the FX, ABC, CBS, NBC, etc. series and shows. In our area it is BrightHouse Channel 358, which has episode 4. 360 has BBC America.
 

Max Vaehling

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Um...Columbine...the movie?

Edited the "also, not a movie" part out in case there is one.

What, you're saying they still haven't made one? The media industry that offers everybody a book deal and a movie option if they just as much as prominently sneeze hasn't cashed in on Columbine yet? (Not counting Michael Moore. Not the same genre.)
 

JohnnyGottaKeyboard

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What, you're saying they still haven't made one? The media industry that offers everybody a book deal and a movie option if they just as much as prominently sneeze hasn't cashed in on Columbine yet? (Not counting Michael Moore. Not the same genre.)
Well, there is Elephant, but that isn't a documentary.
 

Grrarrgh

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I especially liked the parade of souls returning to the house on Nov 1. But why do all the ghosts appear to know they are ghosts, and yet Tate appears not to know he went on a columbine-like rampage? Or maybe he was lying. Or he could have blocked it out.

Right before the high school ghosts disappeared, while they were grilling Tate, the cheerleader commented that she should be 34, married, and with a family by now. So how could Tate have been the guy who went on the Columbine-type rampage? Assuming the students are all the 17-ish that they look, they died 17 or so years ago.
 

JohnnyGottaKeyboard

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Right before the high school ghosts disappeared, while they were grilling Tate, the cheerleader commented that she should be 34, married, and with a family by now. So how could Tate have been the guy who went on the Columbine-type rampage? Assuming the students are all the 17-ish that they look, they died 17 or so years ago.
Um...I'm assuming he died 17 years ago too.

I could be wrong--that's one of the reasons I like this show--but I believe Tate is a ghost.
 
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Grrarrgh

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Um...I'm assuming he died 17 years ago too.

I could be wrong--that's one of the reasons I like this show--but I believe Tate is a ghost.

I originally thought that, too, but then there was something that changed my mind. Shoot, now I can't think what it was. Crap!! And I guess it just got used to thinking he wasn't. I guess I'll go back to my original thought process. This show makes my head hurt.
 

dragonjax

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Um...I'm assuming he died 17 years ago too.

I could be wrong--that's one of the reasons I like this show--but I believe Tate is a ghost.

Pretty sure he's a ghost too; the other ghosts (the ones whom Tate murdered IRL) commented about how he finally left his house. I think Tate died in the house (suicide is my guess) and his spirit stayed, as did Moira's, etc. So he's anchored to the house/the property, and can leave only on Halloween, when all spirits are free to roam.
 

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Tate has to be a ghost. He dresses way too mid-nineties Kurt Cobain-esque grunge to be anything but!

Does anyone know how long it takes the episodes to appear on the FX website? Only the first 3 are on there now.

I think it's a week, so last week's episode will be available tomorrow.
 

Jehhillenberg

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Tate has to be a ghost. He dresses way too mid-nineties Kurt Cobain-esque grunge to be anything but!

I'm not knocking that notion AT ALL. Might even explain why the character appeals to me so.