I've been hating this season so far so I had every reason to be skeptical about this episode. Happy to say I surprisingly enjoyed it.
The pacing was really nice-the episode covers a lot of ground in 55 minutes which is a nice breath of fresh air. Porter isn't nearly as annoying as he's been in every other episode too. It really ties up loose ends from the season 1 cliffhanger that was never acknowledged since they didn't know it would be anthology at that point. The scene with Moira and her mom really sold it to me. This is what AHS really is at its core: the horror of being human. The acting was perfect and such a satisfying way to close an arc from 7 years ago.
Tate's wig did throw me off a bit. I know Evan's playing another character this season, but it just looked so awkward and stiff.
I do have to admit that it does still feel like fan service and callback just for the sake of it. The only difference here is that the story actually goes somewhere, whereas the previous episodes seem to just say 'oh look you like these characters, right? that means you like the episode!' without actually going anywhere. Also, the continuity this season is a bit confusing. This is like the third episode of a flashback sequence that I keep forgetting about. A bit much, maybe? The exposition on who the ghosts were in the Murder House was a bit forced, but it's fine. The camerawork is nice to a point. The canted angles and constantly moving camera did become intrusive and unneeded, and all the closeups became somewhat suffocating.
The retcon of Tate not being Michael's father did bother me, though. Come to think of it, it feels like they just made that character Michael to give a reason to go back to the Murder House, which I'm conflicted about.
In the end, even with these criticisms, I did still really enjoy it, which is a first for the season.
The pacing was really nice-the episode covers a lot of ground in 55 minutes which is a nice breath of fresh air. Porter isn't nearly as annoying as he's been in every other episode too. It really ties up loose ends from the season 1 cliffhanger that was never acknowledged since they didn't know it would be anthology at that point. The scene with Moira and her mom really sold it to me. This is what AHS really is at its core: the horror of being human. The acting was perfect and such a satisfying way to close an arc from 7 years ago.
Tate's wig did throw me off a bit. I know Evan's playing another character this season, but it just looked so awkward and stiff.
I do have to admit that it does still feel like fan service and callback just for the sake of it. The only difference here is that the story actually goes somewhere, whereas the previous episodes seem to just say 'oh look you like these characters, right? that means you like the episode!' without actually going anywhere. Also, the continuity this season is a bit confusing. This is like the third episode of a flashback sequence that I keep forgetting about. A bit much, maybe? The exposition on who the ghosts were in the Murder House was a bit forced, but it's fine. The camerawork is nice to a point. The canted angles and constantly moving camera did become intrusive and unneeded, and all the closeups became somewhat suffocating.
The retcon of Tate not being Michael's father did bother me, though. Come to think of it, it feels like they just made that character Michael to give a reason to go back to the Murder House, which I'm conflicted about.
In the end, even with these criticisms, I did still really enjoy it, which is a first for the season.