"Who’s the baddest witch in town?"
Oh, American Horror Story, how I love to hate you. I have to be honest, I didn’t have a lot of expectations diving into this new season, as I stopped watching after the fourth season, but I have to admit that I'm still disappointed. I was fairly hopeful after the first episode, though, but now, the only positive thing I can say about it is that I'm glad Jessica Lange came back. She truly is the star of the show, as are Angela Bassett and all the Coven witches.
How I've missed watching Lange and Sarah Paulson act together. Seeing them on screen together again felt really nostalgic. But apart from that, I’m really struggling with this thirteenth season, because nothing really made sense or was really interesting, whether it’s from a storytelling or a stylistic point of view. How are two major characters one another’s twin daughters when the timelines are awfully different? And why are the witches so poorly portrayed? I won’t elaborate to spoil anything, but let's say that this is all very dissatisfying. Everything is all over the place, and nothing goes anywhere. The events don’t match the other seasons; the episodes were as short as sitcoms, and the pace was off most of the time, but especially the fifth and eleventh episodes. Don't get me wrong, I do believe there's nothing wrong with filler episodes; a lot of them are great, but in a season consisting of 13 30-minute-long episodes? I don’t think it was necessary. As unnecessary as some characters who came up on screen just to die a minute later.
Ultimately, the writing and acting were nothing exceptional, with no real climax and a rather lacklustre ending. The feeling I got from this season was the same feeling I get when I’m forced to look at AI advertising. Were there real people in the writing room, or was it randomly generated? That's what I’m wondering at this point. It's as if money went to getting the cast back, and there was nothing left for good screenwriters.
Ryan Murphy just reunited everyone and hoped for the best; he had wigs for all of them, bad rejuvenation CGI for some of them and a dream. But what he didn’t give any of them was something to work with. It really is a shame because it could have been such a historical season. I really can’t understand how a show can go from innovative and amazing to such a corny and incoherent mess. I know it’s not sudden, and it’s the result of many rushed seasons to keep up and try to stay in the game, but it still stings a little bit.
Again, Coven (2013-2014) was, to me, the peak of AHS and my favourite season, so I was very happy to see all these characters again, but at what cost? This was a really weak season, but it gave us Fiona Goode as a treat, and I feel like a good doggy wagging its tail at the sight of said treat.
So, yes, it was watchable and even nice, I guess, but nothing compares to the absolute thrill the earlier seasons gave me and so many other fans. I enjoyed the ride, but it’s time to hop off; it would be the perfect moment to mark the end of this anthology.
The thirteenth season of American Horror Story is available to watch on Hulu and Disney+.
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