American Horror Story season 13 ends soon, and you know what that means — the end of weeks of confusion.
Well, that’s being a little dramatic. The new season hasn’t been that bad because the pieces are finally beginning to come together, and a relatively assembled story is starting to show. But I must admit, this season is becoming exactly what I always feared it would be.
What exactly is that? I mean, it’s exactly what Ryan Murphy wanted — a “tribute” season, but it's completely lacking any real substance.
The first few seasons of AHS had well-written stories
I’m going to tell you the worst-kept secret in the industry right now: the first few seasons of American Horror Story did so well and were so well received because the stories were great. It wasn’t because of the cast.
Was the cast fantastic? Of course. You really can’t get better than Sarah Paulson, Jessica Lange, Evan Peters — the list goes on and on. It’s no surprise that so many people from the original seasons came back for this one. They are phenomenal actors.
The difference between then and now is that those stories were well written and left us with tales that stuck with us for ages. They had stakes within the American Horror Story universe, and the series was treated as it really should be, an anthology with no real connections.
That all changed with American Horror Story: Apocalypse, which was season 8 of the show. I did enjoy that season, but that’s also because the story was decent enough to warrant bringing everyone back. It also felt like Coven Part 2 to me because it was the witches versus the literal antichrist, so there’s that.
Season 13, however, has gone in a completely different direction, and now I fear it’ll be forgotten like many later AHS seasons.
Season 13 is a mish-mash of former stars in a half-baked story
The terrible thing about this season is that I can see the bones of what co-creator Ryan Murphy was trying to build. Truly, I believe that if it had been thought out well and released a year later, it would have been great. The idea of the witches taking on Satan himself this time is interesting. Bringing back serial killers was a choice, but this series has always strayed very close to taboo.
However, it’s ruined by including so many past characters needing screentime instead of the ones who actually matter.
For the first few episodes of season 13, everyone was so confused about what the actual heck was going on with these characters. We saw the Coven girls for a few minutes, and then we barely saw anyone we knew again. Then, we were stuck with Ben (Joey Pollari) giving sponge baths and seeing weird things for three straight episodes.
Three more episodes came out, and it felt like we were slowly being fed seeds of what would sprout, but it was still so slow and barely explained why certain characters were there at all, or why any were brought back in the first place. Then the sixth episode ended with a mega-spoiler that I will not repeat, which made me not want to keep watching.
Thankfully, episodes 7 and 8 came out, and they caught my interest again because they mainly featured the Coven girls, which (if we’re being honest) this season should have focused on most. Instead, it goes back and forth between Ben in this apartment and his slowly unraveling mind, Constance (Jessica Lange) and a not-so-charming Satan, who alternate between making eyes at each other and stabbing each other in the back, and this strange fascination with the number ‘13.’
I don’t ever want to see that number again after this season. It’s just too much.
The trailer didn’t give us anything — and now the season hasn’t either
That’s what makes me so sad. When I saw the American Horror Story trailer, I had a feeling there wasn’t a real story going into this, but unfortunately, I’ve experienced that with this whole season too.
Is there something being broadcast to us on screen? Of course. But it’s not good, and the latest episode (without spoilers) is almost too dark, which makes me wonder if we needed it at all.
We also know American Horror Story is coming back for season 14, and I genuinely don’t know how they’ll continue this. If 13 were the last season, it would be fitting to end it there. But after a season like this, what's the end goal? I’m not sure. And it’s a shame that it’s come to this. I used to love this show. But now, season 13 might be the end of the road for me. Hopefully, season 14 can bring me back, but I don't know.
New episodes of American Horror Story air weekly on Thursday on FX and then on Hulu the next day.
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