This week offered up one of my most anticipated season premieres of the fall. So anticipated that I couldn’t less that there was absolutely nothing else on this week.
Much to my delight, Oct. 17 brought me the premiere of American Horror Story: Asylum.
Following the “Murder House” chapter of the series, I was expecting big things from the second season of the show, and it delivered, however, something seemed to be missing.
As I watched, there wasn’t a ton jumping out at me. Literally. Sure, there were a few scenes that might be considered jump-worthy by some, but I just wasn’t getting anything on my end.
Having watched most of “Murder House” by myself in the dark, I was terrified by the opening theme alone after one or two episodes. Sure, it stopped being scary about halfway through, but those first few episodes had the potential to make it into my nightmares (if I could just remember them).
My only other concern is that I think Ryan Murphy has been working in the high school setting of Glee for so long that he has become sexually deprived and is now taking that out on AHS. It wasn’t even five minutes into the show before someone was strapped down on a table and . . . well, you can probably guess where I’m going with that . . .
Not that there is anything wrong with sex, I just hope it hasn’t taken the place of the fear factor that I loved so much in the first season.
Anyway, let’s get into what was good about the show.
Returning cast members Jessica Lange, Evan Peters and Sarah Paulson all deliver stunning performances in their new roles on the show. After her performances in “Murder House,” and now “Asylum,” I think Lange could be the new Meryl Streep, i.e. if she were chosen to be the next Batman, it would be the right choice (Modern Family fans will get this reference).
Lily Rabe, who played Moira in “Murder House,” returns as well, but the meek and nervous nun she is portraying this time around just isn’t doing it for me quite yet.
Newcomer to the series, Adam Levine, also takes the opportunity to demonstrate that even with a small “amputation” you can still manage to go on looking good.
Just like in Murder House, Murphy has chosen an ideal setting for this instalment. A large, red stone building that in the daylight seems harmless. Shut out the lights and everything just seems to go to hell. It’s going to be a little more difficult becoming accustomed to this large stage in comparison to the Murder House, but I think there is a lot of potential here. I just wish I could have been part of the team that got to trash the asylum for the scenes set in present day.
In true AHS fashion, after only the first episode it’s pretty much impossible to tell what everyone’s motivations are and what kind of crazy creatures we’ll be encountering this season, but here is what I do know:
There may be aliens.
Animal testing is wrong, so let’s do it on humans instead.
Something has an appetite for tattooed arms.
There may or may not be an orgy by the time this series is done.
I may or may not have also looked into an AHS wiki and discovered a little bit more about our arm-nibbling friends, but at this point, I can’t say whether I’m disappointed or not until I actually see them in all their glory.
Asylum has a lot to live up to and I’ll definitely be sticking this one out. If it manages to stop dropping so much viagra and maybe dropping a little more acid, we may see all of those award nominations that the first season received manifest in the forms of actual rewards.
If you have your eyes on the tubes and have a show you want Fraser to check out, be sure to leave a comment below!
Disclaimer: Fraser refuses to watch Community no matter how much you love it.
