American Horror Story: My Roanoke Nightmare. A pretty good title, I guess. I’m personally a die-hard fan of the series, having watched every episode at least twice. The big thing this year was to keep the cast and theme as much of a secret as possible before the premiere about three weeks ago. I kept forgetting that one of my major problems with keeping up with the past couple seasons was that I knew too much about them before the show started.
As any fan of AHS would likely do, every time an article came out through Facebook or what-have-you, I’d smash that link and read the shniz out of it. Whether it was about who’s officially cast, what a scene is about, or even a hint of what the season’s theme was, I was ON IT. I absolutely adore the relatively recycled cast with unique characters with seemingly no connection with past seasons, with a few exceptions (I’m looking at you, Pepper).
You know, while we’re talking about characters, I think it’s beyond respectable that the AHS team has consistently been able to recruit stellar talent that helps bring the show alive, no matter how dull the plot may be. Hey, I’m not afraid to admit that there were some below satisfactory seasons, but that doesn’t mean that most of the actors involved weren’t at the top of their game considering what they had to work with.
Although there have been some questionable moments throughout the seasons, this show has been one of my biggest incentives for staying motivated in my college career and beyond. I first heard of this show from my friend who was watching it sophomore year of high school. Season 1 had just started and I thought it was a weird looking show that was too scary for me. But then I started actually watching it with her and boy was I hooked.
I can’t believe that this show went from a diamond in the ruff to an engagement ring on the queen’s hand; and I never thought it’d get as big as it did. Just the mere fact that someone may have been engaged in some aspect of AHS might get them pushed a little further in their career, and I think that can be so powerful.
Anyways, I’ve been very pleased with the past two episodes in this season, and I’m very excited for what’s to come.
I read an article recently in which Ryan Murphy, one of the creators, reveals that in the 6th episode of this season there’s going to be a significant twist that will cause the viewers to turn on their heads and it’ll really escalate from there.
In looking back for this above reference, I also stumbled upon an article where Murphy also teases that he’s booked a lot of the actors from past seasons that have been highly requested to return in recent seasons. I sure as H-E-double-hockey-sticks hope that that means Taissa Farmiga, Jessica Lange, Connie Britton, and Kate Mara, to name a few, could be returning?? Please, Ryan Murphy????
Okay, I may have gone off tangent a little bit from the main focus: season 6. I ADORE how the team chose to release only some of the cast members for this season, and specifically say certain ones weren’t coming back. My favorite part about this, though, is that they actually did bring back Lily Rabe, even though she has a fairly secondary part.
For those of you who haven’t dipped your toes into this season yet, it’s to be a mockumentary type deal where everyone in the cast is an actual actor, but some play as the real people, and then there’s another level of actors that play the reenactments of those “real people’s” experiences. So basically, there’s a heck of a lot of talented people involved in this.
It is interesting, however, that one of the few things I heard about this season before it premiered was the actors involved saying that it was a very exclusive and small cast, so it made it a lot more intimate and helped make this season more terrifying than before.
The real magic for this season stems from the unknown. We, as the viewers, don’t know what this season has in store, and I think that makes this season one of the best ones yet.
Personally, that makes me more encouraged and intrigued with each week’s episode, and also brings a sense of community to those around me. Honestly, I’ve met some of my favorite people through AHS, and connected to acquaintances that I now call some of my best friends this way.
Although, being the fan that I am, I don’t want this show to go on forever. I have enough logic to realize that would mean the story would just suffer, and everyone involved would surely get tired of it, and it just wouldn’t be the same. For that reason, I hope they end it soon. I’m not saying this should be the last season, but there definitely shouldn’t be more than 7 or 8, absolute max 10. I understand that money can be a huge factor for this and blah blah blah, but Murphy has Scream Queens to transfer his horror obsession into, that should be enough, right?
Either way, I’ll say the show is still going strong. Some of y’all may not agree because of the lacking efforts from last season, but y’all don’t have to watch it! Regardless, I think this season is gonna kick (alternative-word-for-a-donkey) and I can’t wait to see what’s to come, especially with that big twist in the middle.
Tune into FX on Wednesdays at 10/9c to peep some good acting & scary stuff, feel free to tweet me about it; you bet your boots I’ll be watching.