‘AHS: Cult’ Season Premiere: Review

Last nights American Horror Story premiere was a little underwhelming for me. Here's why.

Before I begin my review I'd just like to say that this review is simply my opinion. Different people have different views on last nights episode. I have some friends that absolutely loved it. And others that thought it fell flat. These are my thoughts.

Simply judging from last nights episode, I'm going to say that AHS: Cult is my least favorite season so far.

American Horror Story, as a whole, has always revolved around one thing: fear.  We've had ghosts, psychopaths, murders, clowns, vampires, weird mutant people living in the woods, aliens (why?), witches, and now a cult.

But what makes this season different from the other seasons is that, usually, the fear portrayed in the show is somewhat fictional, (Vampires, witches, ghosts, mutant people, aliens) and then they add a bit of reality so it seems plausible.

Murder House: Ghosts! But also the fear of the past coming back to haunt you (literally).

Asylum: Creepy mutant people in the woods, the actual devil. But also, the reality of what living in an asylum was like back then. And then aliens for some reason.

Coven: Immortal witches, reanimated corpses. But also the voodoo culture of New Orleans.

Freak Show: Murderous clowns. But also the fact that the people who work in the freak show aren't the actual "freaks" of the world. They're normal compared to Dandy Mott.

Hotel: Vampires, ghosts, psychopaths. But also, those walls have a history. That hotel has seen many things. And sometimes the actions of someone in the past can indirectly (or directly) affect someone in the future.

Roanoke: Ghosts, cannibals. But also, the history and mystery surrounding the Roanoke colony (and the things people will do for reality tv.)

But Cult is just about fear. No ghosts (Maybe Twisty...TBD). No zombies. No vampires or cannibals. The only thing this season is about is reality. And how reality right now is scary. Which sounds really cool as a concept. But seeing it put into action, compared with what we've seen AHS do in the past, kind seems...boring.

If I wanted to be scared by reality I'd just watch the news.

I appreciate that they're building off of people having actual fears, like Sarah Paulson's character having a severe fear of clowns. But don't shove it down my throat the entire episode. We get it. She has a deathly fear of clowns. I don't need to have the entire episode revolve around her freaking out about clowns. Can we move on?

And, of course, there's a cult of killer clowns. Which, if you have a fear of clowns, is really going to freak you out. But honestly, AHS has desensitized me to so much that a killer clown cult doesn't phase me.

The only people I found interesting were Kai and Winter. Mostly Winter. I want to know what's going on in her head. I want to know her backstory. I want to know what her end game is. Kai...is just causing chaos because it's fun. Which is interesting, but will only keep me captivated as an audience member for so long.

Winter is the only character I want to know more about.

I don't care about Sarah Paulson's deathly fear of clowns, or her marriage, or her kid.

I don't care about the killer clown cult.

I don't care about Twisty weirdly being back.

I don't even care that the police detective said that the neighbor's were killed in a murder suicide, when they clearly weren't. (Okay, I care a little bit. Is he part of the clown cult?)

I don't care about any of that. Right now the only thing that interests me is Winter. Who was only in about 10-15% of the episode.

In my opinion there are two types of tv shows: Shows that you have to be watching and fully invested in 100% or you'll miss something. Or shows you can just have on in the background while you're cleaning the house.

In the past I'd say that AHS was the first type of show. But after last night...let's just say I started doing dishes halfway through it.