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American Horror Story: Home Invasion

"Is everybody crazy?"

This episode toned down the supernatural insanity that made the pilot just as attention-grabbing as it was unbearable, but it's still clear that American Horror Story is focused on plaguing its central family with ludicrous levels of misery. It's something that too often affected Ryan Murphy's other series Nip/Tuck, which became over-reliant on terrible things happening to its core group of characters to keep things soapy and dramatic. But, if anything, the groundwork is being laid for a fascinating show mythology, and that ought to keep people tuned in for at least a couple more weeks.

Something that resonated with me throughout Home Invasion was the idea of evil being drawn to the house. 1968 saw a horrific Manson-style murder spree occurring within the property, something so infamous that it spawned its own pack of cultists, who here seek to re-create the carnage with the Harmon family.

With the knowledge of the '60s home invasion, are we so sure that Denis O'Hare's burn man was driven insane by the house? Or were his murderous instincts merely exacerbated by the place he called home? I have a theory that the house latches on to the characteristics of its inhabitants and maximizes them. As a result, we have a sexually-frustrated Ben fantasizing about the naughty housemaid and discovering a penchant for 'extreme' sex with leather and masks. Of course, I may be entirely wrong, but I think it's positive that the show is already forcing us to think things over and speculate.

With such a big cast, stories are unfolding all over the place. Being a Ryan Murphy show, most of it is pretty scatter-shot and confused. Ben's subplot with his former lover only enhanced his skeeziness, since there's something clearly vulnerable about her. Just that squeal of "Pizza!" showcased how young and impressionable she seemed. He should have known better. Then again, he seems like a crummy therapist: "Have you ever suffered from sexual abuse?" Was that just bad writing, or is he supposed to be that unprofessional?

The Constance subplot was more a random collection of unrelated 'moments' than anything actually revealing, but we did discover that Tate somehow knows both Constance and Moira and is integral to the house itself, and that Constance sometimes has a gentleman visitor who must be forty years younger than her. Get some, Connie! I also got major Rosemary's Baby vibes from Constance's homemade cooking, only it wasn't meant for pregnant Vivienne but instead Violet. Violet didn't eat it, but one of the home invaders did, who began throwing up and was later found cut in half somewhere. Were the slicing and the poisoning related? Or was her fate a result of her earlier nightmare?

I feel like I'm asking a lot of questions, but I'm also assuming that that's the intention. Home Invasion, while still wall-to-wall nuttiness, at least felt a lot more calmer than the messy pilot. I'm already finding myself completely intrigued by several of the characters, and I don't see how anybody can be watching this and not want to find out what the hell is wrong with this damn house.

Notables

- Liked the Psycho theme accompanying the stabbing of the girl in 1968, but kind of hope we don't have to see 'random victimized woman' in the teaser sequence every week.

- It's been done a gazillion times before, but the torn-in-half-by-elevator dream sequence was crazy awesome.

- Not a whole lot of Denis O'Hare this week. They need to give him some stronger material, considering his talent.

Are You There, Campiness? It's Me, Constance

Adelaide: How come I don't look like these girls?
Constance: 'cos you don't. It's just the way you were born. But you were hatched with other gifts.
Adelaide: Like what?
Constance: Christ on a stick, I don't know... fingerpainting.

Constance (about the cupcakes): They're not for you. At your age, you might as well just crazy-glue a stick of butter to your ass.

Constance: You're with child... I have the nose of a truffle pig. I could smell that little angel the second I walked in the door.

Previously posted at Unwelcome Commentary.

5 comments:

  1. I still haven't checked out this show, but those first two quotes made me laugh like a loon. :) Denis O'Hare is indeed awesome. I'm thrilled that he's coming back to True Blood next summer.

    Wonderful review, Max... can we call you Max?

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  2. Max is fine. I came up with that username when I joined IMDb in 2003, and it sort of stuck. It's from The Simpsons, by the way, if anybody was wondering.

    And I adore Denis O'Hare. I've seen him in two Broadway shows, and he's ridiculously versatile and charismatic. Major "get" for this show.

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  3. HAH!!! I KNEW it was from the Simpsons!!!

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  4. Max, you've raised a really interesting question: "I feel like I'm asking a lot of questions, but I'm also assuming that that's the intention...I don't see how anybody can be watching this and not want to find out what the hell is wrong with this damn house."

    I would love, love, love it if this became a puzzle show like that. Having a goal beyond shock-and-awe would really keep me interested. But I'm not sure I have enough faith in Murphy/Falchuk to succeed in that arena, and I'm not even sure if that's the goal of the show (although I hope to be proved wrong!). If they can't even keep up consistent character development on Glee, can they pull off a Lost-like puzzler?

    That's definitely a question inspired by cynicism, though.

    Your review was great, by the way. Welcome to the team! (Your t-shirt is in the mail.)

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  5. A few thoughts:

    ""Have you ever suffered from sexual abuse?" Was that just bad writing, or is he supposed to be that unprofessional?"

    I thought it indicated that he was attracted to her. She showed a decent amount of leg in that scene, and there was a weird element of childishness to her character. She also looked a bit like, and was a similar age to Kate Mara's character.

    "one of the home invaders did, who began throwing up and was later found cut in half somewhere. Were the slicing and the poisoning related?"

    Tate attacked her with an axe, and then she ran out into the road and died somewhere from blood loss. Probably.

    " Liked the Psycho theme accompanying the stabbing of the girl in 1968, but kind of hope we don't have to see 'random victimized woman' in the teaser sequence every week."

    It was two boys who died last week, right? Plus, we'll see the two men who were the previous owners of the house at some point, I'm betting.

    Plus, there's an interview with Ryan Murphy where he pretty much states who it is next week, and that doesn't fit the pattern either.

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