A comparison of the good and the bad of the Murder House storyline.
**CONTENT WARNING: Death, rape**
Synopsis
Ben, Vivien, and Violet Harmon move into a haunted house (“Pilot“) and suffer the consequences (“Home Invasion“, “Murder House“, “Halloween Part 1 & Part 2“, “Piggy, Piggy“, “Open House“, “Rubber Man“, “Spooky Little Girl“, and “Smoldering Children“). Vivien gets pregnant with twins, but one is fathered by a ghost and may become the antichrist (“Birth“). By the end, all of the Harmons, including Ben’s baby, die and become ghosts (“Afterbirth“), though the antichrist baby is taken away to be raised by their awful neighbor.
Overall Review
As a whole, I generally liked this story. I had started it once before, but stopped watching halfway through. Clearly I stopped too soon, because the penultimate episode was the best one of the season. Now that I’ve seen the whole thing, I like it more than I expected, but I did notice some issues, and can see why I lost interest during my first attempt.
Pros
There were several things about the show I really enjoyed:
- The references to popular horror themes, myths, or true stories. We had, at the very least, urban legends, home invasions, Halloween hauntings, a reference to the Charles Lindberg Jr. kidnapping and murder, a scene influenced by Columbine, a recreation/explanation for the Black Dahlia murder, and an explanation for what happened to the Roanoke colonists. It was always exciting to see what new things were referenced.
- The storytelling and filmmaking. Every episode (with the exception of the second part of a two-parter) opens with a flashback that reveals more about the ghosts in the house or the Harmon family. The filmmaking also frequently utilizes cross-cutting techniques, comparing whatever was happening with some contrasting scene. These are some of my favorite scenes throughout the show.
- The issues the family deals with. Violet has depression and the couple has relationship issues they attempt to work through. Also, Vivien has to endure people not believing her claims that she was raped and getting institutionalized because no one supported the reasons behind her justified paranoia. These are scenarios in real life that people go through, so it was interesting to see them portrayed and addressed.
- Vivien. I really like Vivien. I felt so bad for her the whole time, but she stayed strong.
- Jessica Lange. Constance is an awful character, but it was clearly an intentional choice to make her so atrocious. She hit just about every -ist in the book (e.g. racist, classist, ableist). But Jessica Lange’s acting is so good. You could feel Constance’s history of hurt and trauma that haunt her to this day. While that by no means justifies Constance’s actions or misguided viewpoints, it turns her into a character you love to hate.
Cons
Unfortunately, there were also some issues I had with the show:
- The back and forth with Tate’s memory. First we don’t know he’s a ghost, then we’re told he doesn’t know, then he does, but doesn’t know all the facts… I get the intent to produce an air of mystery and surprises, but the order in which things were revealed made Tate’s actions confusing. It came across more like the writers didn’t understand what they were doing here.
- Moira’s motivations. Moira’s overtly sexual actions were simply not in line with any other aspect of her. I don’t get it. It just came across like an excuse to have a sexy housemaid in the story.
- Various random facts. Why was Beau living in the house with Larry’s family? Why did Constance try to poison Violet in episode two? Some things that bothered me are explained by the end of the show, but I still dislike the frustration caused along the way by both the things that are and aren’t eventually explained.
- Disappointing/unresolved conclusions. I felt like Chad and Patrick’s story wasn’t fully resolved, and their murder was a bit of a letdown compared to the set up. I don’t even understand why Tate felt the need to kill them—they would have just moved out soon anyway. Constance claimed she had four children, but we only ever saw three of them. Who was the fourth child, and why did we never once see or learn anything about them other than that they existed and were born with some unspecified malady? Also, the ending of the story altogether was just a little too happily concluded for a horror story. I don’t like Ben, even if he did come around towards the end, so I’m disappointed that he and Vivien work it out now that they’re ghosts.
- Hayden. While Constance was a character you loved to hate, Hayden was so annoying that I groaned inwardly every time she showed up. I’m pretty sure the choice to make her awful was also intentional, but she was awful in a different way that made me hate having her on screen. I don’t blame Kate Mara for her portrayal, because I’ve seen her in other things and I know she’s a good actress. I think she had to work with what she was given, and what she was given happens to be a manipulative screeching banshee.
A con that turned into a pro was the baby theme. Halfway through I complained about how in-your-face they were about how having a baby is the most important thing you can do with your life. At the time, it came across very preachy. However, by the end it was less preachy and more plot, and I found myself very engaged by the complications of multiple people wanting to steal the babies and wondering who would wind up with them.
Social Issues
I mentioned that Constance is a huge bigot, but at least when she said and did such horrendous things, it is made abundantly clear that she is in the wrong. Some other character’s actions are a little more subtle. However, I understand that this is a product of its time, so I didn’t often bring these things up in my individual reviews. The early 2010s was an interesting time in media. LGBT+ characters started to become incorporated more frequently, which AHS certainly was among the forefront in doing. However, this was also prior to various social awareness campaigns, so some behaviors towards gay characters are stereotypical and a bit problematic by today’s standards. Considering there are also a couple characters with disabilities in this season, I actually was a little surprised that, aside from Constance, the other characters behaved pretty well towards Addy. They didn’t coddle her or treat her differently just because she had Down syndrome.
Conclusion
Overall, I liked it, but I didn’t love it. Most of the episodes I ranked in the 6-7 out of 10 range because there was enough I liked to keep it over half, but enough issues to keep it out of the 8+ range. I have hopes that the later seasons are going to be an improvement, since they can build on experience. I’ve watched seasons two and three, and I remember really liking season two, though I hardly remember any of the plot by now. It’ll be fun to explore that season next.
Score: 7/10
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