Election Night

Election Night starts with the immediate reaction to the 2016 presidential election from this episode's main two characters (Ally and Kai). Each one seems to be an over exaggeration of the stereotypes used to describe a member of each party. Glad to see this was evened out because by the look of the trailers it seemed to favor one side over the other.

I found myself enjoying the episode even if it did seem over the top at times. While I did watch Roanoke from beginning to end, in the back of my mind I kept telling myself it will get better, it well get better... and ultimately was disappointed. Cult on the other hand feels more interesting and has a good creeping factor going that has been missing since Freak Show. I say this mainly because clowns do scare the hell out of me. If you aren't then this season might turn into a laugher (and enjoyable one).Speaking of Freak Show, I enjoy AHS a whole lot more when characters return or references are made about past seasons. The tease the pilot gives alone will have me watching to see what happens.

Also we are treated to Evan Peters playing what looks to be the Joker this season as Kai and the Joker have similar philosophies. As they both believe through chaos can true order...or something like that. Peters will most likely be the highlight of this season as he seems to bring the best characters to the show. I hope I am wrong and some or the others have good character arcs this season but time will tell.

I am hopeful for this season as the pilot captured my intrigue. It is also good that Murphy is down one project as I attribute part of the blame of Roanoke to the fact that Murphy was writing for three Fox shows. That seems crazy to me. With Scream Queens cancelled maybe he can focus more on AHS.

Ultimately would rate the pilot a 7.5 as it was a fun watch.

If you think "I need to hear it from Rachel Maddow, shes the only one I trus"t wasn't satirical then I don't think there's hope for you. That line set the expectation that this would be over the top hysteria. That said, I think it should have been more subtle, she's getting too annoying about it.

...or a cash-in on progressive angst, as the other reviews say. For non-Americans, it's a test of patience how much more US neurosis one can take with one's entertainment. There are some signs that this could become a great parody, given how over the top Sarah Paulson's character is (that orgasmic beam on her face when she says "and then Barack got elected"). And Evan Peters' character could become a great parody of supremacist basement boys, because he's got a few great lines of derangement and genuinely scary strategies.

But this could also become another play on hyping paranoia if it presents itself as serious social commentary, which is what ruined "Get Out" for me - because in that case the rampant misogyny of the writing would also be serious (the psycho sis; Lesbian super-neurotic time-bomb, butch = masculine, stable, sane; femme = feminine, weak, deranged). Jessica Lange and Taissa Farmiga gave AHS some pretty awesome female characters in the past, but lately the writing's been the only horror in this show.

Update: I thought it would turn real ugly but halfway in, I got to say they've really dared to swing the series towards social parody, and Paulson's character is less of a stereotype now. It's still waaaay over the top compared to the narratives of earlier days. But I keep watching for the sake of the huge risk the team is taking.

This is the scariest season ever, because it has YOU as the main character . It doesn't matter if you're left or right. I know I'm right. Violence? You are the clown. You need to THINK!

This season was very good. An excellent portrait of the situation that the USA experienced shortly after Trump's election and the paranoid and hateful behavior that took over the average and/or ignorant American. The country really went crazy. And it hasn't improved much 7 years later, since whoever succeeded him, Biden, a weakling, hasn't improved the lives of the 36 million Americans who live in extreme poverty today. After all, his focus is solely on enriching the weapons industry. That said, we have this season of AHS dealing with the topic in a very convincing and faithful way, showing how irresponsible politicians can indoctrinate a large part of a population, especially those Intellectually unprepared for a civilized debate and understanding of political contexts. Once again Sarah Paulson delivers a great performance, with great help from the excellent Evan Peters and Adina Porter. Apart from that, we have the "AHS brand" section, the graphic violence that always excites, despite trying very hard to link fictional violence to political issues. Still worth it. My average rating for the season is 8.