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Last night, I was so psyched, darlings, I am sorry to report that I was not at all impressed by the season premiere of "American Horror Story: Apocalypse."
Maybe because the opening, apocalyptic sequences, scared me. Well executed, they engendered in me a cultural feat that is present in all of this--that this someday could be real, and we pray it is not in our lifetimes. I thought Ryan Murphy was trying to engender paranoia among viewers, or challenge the sickos out there to copy this. I don't need this kind of anxiety. I have enough of my own, thank you!
After Evan Peters' star turn in last year's "Cult," it was lovely to see him as gay hair dresser, Mr. Gallant. And Billie Lourd as assistant to Leslie Grossman's Coco, who was, essentially, Leslie Grossman.
The show was enlivened when Sarah Paulson appears, in one of the best hair styles she has had since my favorite of her characters, Hypodermic Sally on "Hotel." Her entrance here seems to channel Judith Anderson, as Mrs. Danvers, in "Rebecca," and I could tell she was having a rip roaring old time, doing this role! And her name is Wilhemina Venable--what a hoot!
She is the spokesperson for The Cooperative, some organization that has assembled the best and the brightest, for survival. It also assembles the liveliest--Kathy Bates, who, as Ms. Miriam Mead, is the nightmare embodiment of every Victorian housekeeper. But, then there is Joan Collins' as Evie Gallant, Peters' grandmother, who is just a hoot, going on about white meat chicken! You just gotta LOVE Joan, darlings, a trouper, all the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As is everyone with this show. But the script offered me no clues as to where this might be going, nor how such listed performers as Emma Roberts, Lily Rabe, Frances Conroy, let alone Jessica Lange, are going to step into it.
Every season has the chance of being the best or the worst. "Hotel" held such promise, but, for my money, turned out to be the worst, with Lady Gaga and all that blood.
On spec, "Apocalypse" looks to be the worst, but, it just might surprise us!!!!!!!!!!
"We'll meet again," darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2 comments:
My (straight!) cousin texted me the most insanely brilliant take I've seen of this premiere ep right as the credits rolled. He said:
"Oh, well, I feel like I just watched a Sondheim version of 'Clue', but without the nifty music."
I'm still rolling from his comment: I didn't see that analogy at all, but now he's pointed it out I can't un-see it. All I can think of, over and over, is how funny it would be if some wag would dub the song "A Weekend In The Country" over Sarah Paulson's entrance scene, and post the clip on youTube. I swear I'd do it myself if I had a YT account.
As for the rest: I remain hopeful. The pre-credits setup with the atomic bombs dropping was very well done, but Sarah and the bunker nonsense left me cold. Once the story shifted to the bunker, AHS fell apart in the same manner it usually falls apart halfway thru any given season: Murphy can't resist the impulse to undercut his own premise and plot logic in favor of juvenile gay snark moments (Sarah's last name is "Venable" and she serves her guests human meat! Do ya get Ryan's dated elder-queen reference, ain't he witty, nudge nudge wink wink!).
Um, NO, Miz Ryan: get a goddamned clue. Your primary audience is under thirty, and they wouldn't be caught dead watching a dated homophobic black and white movie from the '50s. Much as it pains me to admit, todays gay kids have no idea who Tennessee Williams was, and their only exposure to Elizabeth Taylor was her perfume commercials. So thanks for wasting everyone's time with a tedious, ultimately pointless setup for a weak cannibalism gag that was immediately dropped and will have no bearing on the rest of the story. Also: would Sarah and Kathy really be SO stupid as to defy their masters so obscenely a mere TWO WEEKS into the apocalypse? Story logic, Ryan: learn it before its too late. And BTW, its extremely unlikely ominous "Cooperative" would stock any given sanctuary with so many gays and lesbians: 10% or 20% of the residents is plausible, 60% is not.
Speaking of which, I'm not too thrilled with Michael Langdon turning up at the end looking like a transvestite Oscar Wilde. It so threw viewers off their game that nobody immediately made the connection he's the now-adult version Vivian Harmon and Tate Langdon's "Omen Child" from season one. The comments sections on several review sites were full of references to Caitlyn Jenner playing the Anti-Christ: not cool, Ryan. The actors deserve better.
Darling,
Are you sure your cousin is
not hiding something. He knows
about Sondheim and Clue?
David, like you, has hope
for the season. I am holding
my tongue till the next episode,
because I have an idea about what
could be going on that I did not
yet express.
Sarah livened things up, but
you are right. The millennials will
not get anything being referenced.
Culture means nothing to them.
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