Hopefully no hard feelings in regards to last week’s post. I really did intend on ranking all seven in one blog, but two things happened. First, the blog started to get too long. I want the blog to be no more than a ten minute read, and as I wrapped up the top four I realized that at my current place I would blow by that time point. Second, and to me more importantly, I was really struggling with placing third and second place. I knew immediately what season would be number one, but three and two were so close in my mind that I wanted to take the time to really reflect and be sure I liked where I placed them.
So with all that being said, I am happy with my final rankings for first through third. Thank you to everyone who read last week, it was my most read blog post yet! Only thing I would ask is to give me your feedback! I know that my list reflects my opinion, and I would like to see what your opinion is as well. You may have points that I didn’t consider, or criticism of my criticism that may make me change my mind. I want to grow as a writer and you, the reader, can help me with that. So, with platitudes and exposition out of the way, let’s get into the top three!
3. Freak Show (2014)
Pros:
- All three of these top three seasons have amazing casts, but I truly believe that Freak Show has the best cast of all the seasons. Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett deliver amazing performances. But the person who delivers the best performance is once again Jessica Lange (spoiler alert, it is her performance in my top season as to how it beat out Number 2). The character is so well fleshed out, nuanced, and relatable. Lange really left it all out there on the stage, just like Elsa, as this was her last season on the show. Come back Jessica ☹
- This is the first season that we really start to see the AHS universe start to tie together. Pepper is sent away to live with her sister late in the season, but smart viewers knew that there was a very similar character in Season Two who was also named Pepper. After a painful and unimaginable betrayal by her sister and her sister’s husband (that made me angry and close to tears from sadness at the same time) Pepper is sent away to live at Briarcliff where Sister Eunice takes a special interest in her. This is not the only cross-over. Another very big cross-over to Season Two comes from the fact that one of Elsa’s mutilators ended up being Dr. Arthur Arden, the Nazi doctor at Briarcliff. I loved seeing the stories cross each other’s paths!
- The two main villains in this season were also huge pros for me. Anyone else think that Twisty is a far scarier clown than Pennywise?! Also, after finding out his background, who didn’t feel conflicted about their initial hatred towards him? But when it came to Dandy Mott, there was nothing redeemable there. He might be the most purely evil character AHS has produced. And Finn Witrock nailed his performance, selling the deranged, weak, entitled Momma’s boy to perfection.
Cons:
- My first con is Twisty. But wait, you might say, didn’t you just list him as a pro? Ya I did. But they can both be true at once. Although Twisty was an awesome and terrifying villain, he was gone as soon as he was flushed out. I wanted to see Elsa bring him into her Freak Show. I wanted him to find redemption. It can be argued that when Edward Mordrake brought him into his ghostly crew that he did find peace in death. But after finding out how terribly the world treated him, I wish he could have found it in life as well.
= The next con is personal, and maybe many will disagree. But I HATED Maggie Esmerelda’s death and the freaks reaction to it. Yes, she was in partnership with Stanley (who was a great villain in his own right, RIP Ma Petite) but she never ended up betraying the freaks and it was because of her that they were able to uncover Stanley’s ruse and stop him before anyone was hurt. For them to let Chester cut her in half, and then to show no pity for her (including Jimmy Darling) really annoyed me. The freaks are in and out group, and Maggie was definitely not a part of their group, but a part of the more privileged class. But after rediscovering her humanity and leading the freaks to the plot of Stanley, she truly showed herself as an ally to the freaks. For them to cast her aside so callously still bothers me to this day.
- Finally, the ending scene. Bringing back Mordrake to usher Elsa’s demise was perfect symbolism. But the final scene bugs me. Mainly for two reasons. First, I felt like it was a carbon copy of the end scene from James Cameron’s “Titanic”. Rose drifts off to sleep and ends up on the ship in its prime, with all her friends and Jack Dawson waiting for her. In this, Elsa ends up walking into her tent, with all the freaks that were massacred at either her hand or killed by others waiting for her. Although I do like the symbolism, it so closely mocked “Titanic” that it bugged me. Second, I didn’t like how everyone was happy to see her. Because of her, many if not most of the freaks met her demise. Even the bearded woman, who was betrayed, murdered and mutilated by Elsa welcomed her. It would have been more fitting in my opinion if the freaks remembered her betrayals and returned them in favor. But hey, I am not the writer just another critic.
2. Murder House (2011)
Pros:
- The one that started it all. The season that introduced me to actors Jessica Lange, Taissa Farmiga, Evan Peters and Zachary Quinto. I remember watching this and immediately thinking I can see the themes Ryan Murphy highlighted in “Nip/Tuck” while also being amazed at how SCARY it was. All the performances were amazing, with Lange pulling down a Golden Globe, SAG, and Emmy for her amazing performance as Constance Langdon. It was a great way to start the series and it delivers in all the best ways.
- The twist! I do not care what anyone says, they did not see Taissa being dead for several episodes when it was revealed. After rewatching, it is very obvious, but at the time it was not. The misdirection was great and the way the show had set up the ghosts in the house made it all the more reasonable. And let us not forget her decaying face upon the reveal. Ahhhhhh I still get goosebumps.
- I loved the intersecting stories throughout the season. If someone told who how much ground was covered in this season as far as character introductions, I think they would say it was too much and couldn’t be done well. But oh my how well they were done. From the dual performances of Frances Conroy (who ALWAYS turns in a great performance in AHS) and Alexandra Breckenridge the maid Moira who was sexually assaulted and unjustly cut down, to Quinto’s Chad Warwick and his boyfriend who were also cruelly cut down in their prime, to Mena Suvari’s portrayal of The Black Dahlia, the show turned in characters who although had small screen times ended up stealing the scenes and sticking in our minds far after the season ended.
Cons:
- I have only two main problems with this season, and it is because of these that Asylum took the top spot. First, the gimp suit. It is used as a MacGuffin in the show to set things in motion. A MacGuffin is an object that merely serves as a trigger for the plot. Yes, Chad Warwick makes a reason for it to exist, but is the audience expected to believe three very different bodied men could fit into that thing? Come on son. How could Connie Briton not tell that it was someone other than her husband when Tate raped her? He is a 15 to 17-year-old boy, her husband is a 40-year-old man. There WOULD be a difference that a gimp suit would not cover up. That always bothered me.
- Second is the school shooting plot and its implications. I want to caveat it by saying that the way it is shot in the show is brutally realistic, and I do not know how someone can watch that scene and not think America should strongly reconsider our current gun laws (and this is coming from an avid hunter). But to me, I feel Tate is glorified too much in the season. It makes you feel badly for him, almost finding ways to justify his gruesome acts. I would have far more liked to see him suffer, punished forever for his terrible actions. I feel the same way when media blasts the real-life shooters all over TV in the aftermath. They should be cast into the bowels of hell. I find no room for nuance with someone who would do that to his fellow man. This is the biggest reason that the first season could never sit in the top spot for me.
1. Asylum (2012)
Pros:
- What can I say, I am a sucker for a creepy abandoned insane asylum! Having done my fair share of urban exploring in my younger days, the opening scene to Season Two of AHS put an end to my bravery (or foolishness depending upon how you look at it). Watching Adam Levine get ripped apart by Bloodyface was a great way to start the show and certainly kept the audience on the edge of their seats.
- If you haven’t been able to tell by now, I am madly in love with the acting of Jessica Lange. Season Two is her magna opus. The fact she didn’t win an Emmy for her portrayal of Sister Jude Martin is criminal. She goes from top bitch of Briarcliff, ready to stand by Monsignor Howard as he takes the papacy to inmate of the asylum herself, a victim to the system she helped create. And although upon first viewing hating the Name Game scene, I have grown to love it. Judge me all you want. Sarah Paulson (in her first appearance as show favorite Lana Winters) and Lily Rabe (Sister Mary Eunice and F*****G DEVIL ITSELF) also deliver amazing performances that really show what this show can do when it lets its actors and actresses bring their characters to life.
- Finally, for me, I thought the show did something similarly great in this season as it attempted to do in Freak Show, force the audience to see the terrible way society treated the outgroups. After knowing poor Pepper’s full story, who didn’t feel the terrible anguish at her fate? And poor Shelley (portrayed by Chloe Sevigny) who was a victim of the patriarchy (her husband cheated on her multiple times and when she decided to cheat as well, he had her admitted to Briarcliff as a nymphomaniac) ended up being victimized by the Nazi doctor himself Arthur Arden (portrayed by James Cromwell, for which he won an Emmy). For me, AHS is at its best when we the audience are forced to question the way we treat societal out groups. This season tackles race, religion, sex and gender in amazing ways and I would really like to see AHS do more in the future.
Cons:
- For me, I really only have one con. Why did you have to bring in aliens Ryan Murphy? It was so unnecessary. It was dumb. The season was so great, and if you want to tackle aliens (which I would be down for because extraterrestrial life is terrifying when you truly take the time to think about it) have it be its own season. This season had Nazis and the Devil, not to mention Bloodyface. If not for my very real disdain for the arc of Tate in Season One, this one and only con is enough to knock it down. Maybe Apocalypse will do just that.
So, there it is, American Horror Story ranked from worst to best. I hope you have forgiven me for splitting the rankings, but as I said it started to get way too long. I prefer to binge AHS, so as soon as Apocalypse wraps I will update these rankings. Please either comment on this blog, send me an email at heresjohnnypodcast@gmail.com or message me on Twitter @beaverla to give me your thoughts and feedback on my ratings.
Larry