American Horror Story – Are you scared now?

My bro-in-law Bob (you know him here as Bob Degon), in talking about American Horror Story, brought up a very true point: the show’s not scary. It’s strange, because it really should be scary, and it certainly sets up moments that should be frightening as hell, but I can’t recall ever actually jumping out of my seat in fear, or biting my nails in anticipation of something suddenly jumping out at the screen. Why is that? Is the show just ineffective in delivering fear?

Despite not making me pee my pants with fear, I do appreciate the show’s strangeness and uniqueness. In this episode, we got a little taste of what the deal is with the house, and one of the Harmons finally learns the truth of who Tate really is. Violet got to see a good number of the “ghosts” that reside in the Harmon home, but is she able at all to tell who in the house is real and who’s dead? Take Moira, for example. Will Violet be able to distinguish her from the living?

Speaking of the dead vs. the living, is anyone else starting to wonder if the security guard might be one of the ghosts? He did apparently get in a car and drive to the police station, but it was Halloween — where we saw several ghosts take to the streets and interact with people and objects. However, the sun was up so … probably not. More likely Ben will be driven to kill the guard, or at least come close.

One of the most bizzarre scenes of the series so far was Moira feeding Vivien raw … was that human flesh and brains? Alright, so the show may not scare me, but it can do a decent job of grossing me out. Vivien’s pregnancy has got to be the one big thing on this show that might just scare me, as there’s a lot of unknowns going on there. What the hell is she growing in there? A big part of me thinks it’s a red herring in that, in the end, that baby won’t come out deformed or monsterous. Instead it will be just a normal baby, with maybe something not quite right, just not on the outside.

Could Tate’s rampage have something to do with the house leading him, or did his crazy mother get on him too much? I’m sure we’ll get several more flashbacks to his time in that house, though which of the ghosts would have been the one to drive him batty?

I loved seeing Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) in this episode, and his character’s poor story of being afraid of urban legends. The poor bastard gets the courage to say his “Here, piggy, piggy” one last time, only to be shot dead by burglars. One very frustrating thing about both instances of him saying the mantra into the mirror was that he didn’t look behind the shower curtain first! Just look behind the curtain — he’s there! But … that still wouldn’t have saved him the last time.

I wonder what Constance meant when she asked the medium if she could trust Violet. What is Constance’s true goal here? Is it really just to allow Tate to pass over? It seems like she’s more trying to keep people there, and she was trying to get Addie to the house’s lawn to trap her there as well. She plays a big part in everything that’s going on at the Murder House, and we’re getting closer to finding out what her endgame might be.

Clacked by Keith McDuffee
on Nov 09, 2011 @ 23:30 EST5EDT