S10.E08: Inside

[jewel21]

The President struggles with the morality of a deal he must make.

Airdate: 10/06/2021

[farmgal4]

Kaia Gerber couldn’t act her way out of a wet paper bag.

[HollyG]

Again, I liked the black & white story set in the early 60s. Interesting that they tied the assassination of JFK to a plot to keep the knowledge of aliens a secret.

The modern story with the young adults is ff material. 

Edited October 7, 2021 by HollyG

[Female83]

The only good part of ep is the black and white segment which was well done. Gerber can't act and I think the only reason she even got a role is because her mom is a former super model. 

[TexasGal]

This would be so much better with just the black and white bits.  I'd rather have watched more about how the "JFK was assassinated because he was going to disclose alien pact" story developed than seeing the vapid pretty pregnant people. 

From the previews for next week:

Spoiler

If we only get five minutes of Cody Fern as I assume an alien ambassador because we have to cut back to them, I'm going to be really mad.

 

[TVMovieBuff]

I officially decided last night, that I like this 4-part show. It is a comparison, a monsters from space story, shown to us as how such a movie was made in 1960, and then how the same type of story would play in present day. It could be said it is more a comment on movie-making, than it is a horror story! But it is that, too. 

Kaia Gerber and her 3 cohorts are playing their roles well! They are acting like dopey modern kids, the way kids their age act in real horror movies made today! Terrible acting, to match the terrible acting in today's horror schlock. It's on purpose!

AHS always was tongue-in-cheek dark comedy. It always does mess with you, showing you intentionally over-the-top gore and suggested outrageous things. It's all in keeping with the title. 

The 1960 b&w parts are a joy. Eisenhower was President when I was born, but I was only 5 when Kennedy took over. I wasn't aware of Ike as the Pres. I laugh every time a head explodes and at Mamie's bangs. I didn't even recognize Sarah Paulson right away as Mamie. 

[AnimeMania]

What the hell is wrong with this show, they are eating TV Dinners that are in aluminum foil trays that the claimed they cooked in a Microwave Oven. You can't put metal in a Microwave Oven! They are Aliens, not Wizards!

Do they really make Jell-O with caterpillars in it?

[iMonrey]

Quote

Kaia Gerber and her 3 cohorts are playing their roles well! They are acting like dopey modern kids, the way kids their age act in real horror movies made today! Terrible acting, to match the terrible acting in today's horror schlock. It's on purpose!

I wish I could say that were true but Kaia Gerber was no better in Rubber (Wo)man (the American Horror Stories spinoff). That said, I thought she was just OK in this episode. Not great, but certainly a step above Billie Lourde, say.

And I agree with TVMovieBuff, this four-parter (so far) is one of the best stories they've done in a long time. I don't find myself distracted by gaping plot holes and things that don't make any sense. I still prefer the black and white sequences to the present day scenes but overall the story is quite good IMO. 

[rhofmovalley]

I didn't want Mamie to be an alien. I wanted her to be an overly ambitious, overbearing wife. But still human.

Wonder if Tricky Dicky is also an alien. 

Sorry dude, there's really only a couple of ways for the alien baby to come out of you. None of them involve you surviving. I'm sure he knows this. Too bad, he's the only one of the four vapids I can tolerate.

[TVMovieBuff]

2 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

What the hell is wrong with this show, they are eating TV Dinners that are in aluminum foil trays that the claimed they cooked in a Microwave Oven. You can't put metal in a Microwave Oven! They are Aliens, not Wizards!

Do they really make Jell-O with caterpillars in it?

I can testify, that in 1960, there were no microwave ovens in regular households. You put the TV dinner in the regular oven. In 1960 I lived in Philly and no one had ever heard of a toaster oven either. we had popup toasters. 

Perhaps the former President could have had a microwave oven but no one else did.

[AnimeMania]

24 minutes ago, TVMovieBuff said:

I can testify, that in 1960, there were no microwave ovens in regular households. You put the TV dinner in the regular oven. In 1960 I lived in Philly and no one had ever heard of a toaster oven either. we had popup toasters. 

Perhaps the former President could have had a microwave oven but no one else did.

Yes, this was the point, the Aliens gave the U.S. the technology to make microwave ovens. They said in the previous episode that the microwave oven that the Eisenhowers were using was as big as a refrigerator and weighed 700 pounds. They were testing the new technology.

[txhorns79]

1 hour ago, rhofmovalley said:

Sorry dude, there's really only a couple of ways for the alien baby to come out of you. None of them involve you surviving.

I mean, you could just do a C-Section.  It doesn't have to be an Alien-type chest burst. 

Quote

Yes, this was the point, the Aliens gave the U.S. the technology to make microwave ovens. They said in the previous episode that the microwave oven that the Eisenhowers were using was as big as a refrigerator and weighed 700 pounds. They were testing the new technology.

True.  Though I think in reality, they were first available in that size in the 1940s.  I don't think the residential units we think of today were available until the 60s/70s. 

 

[iMonrey]

Quote

I didn't want Mamie to be an alien. I wanted her to be an overly ambitious, overbearing wife. But still human.

I think she was, up until this episode. No? I'm not clear on that.

Quote

Sorry dude, there's really only a couple of ways for the alien baby to come out of you.

In theory they could cut him open then sew him back up. I mean, he doesn't actually have a uterus though, so I assume the alien baby is growing in his stomach?? Which . . . weird. That doesn't really make much sense. If the alien just needs a human host (a la "Alien") yeah, I assume the critter will burst forth but I don't see what prevents the nurse in charge from removing it more humanely. 

[Craft Cocktail]

I know I badmouthed the first part of this double feature, but in this second part I am actually intrigued by the idea of alien intervention in the 1950's, which gave the US world-dominating technology but also came with a cost via the "treaty." This idea of shared alien technology (going all the way back to the Egyptian pyramids) has been batted around for a while, but I don't believe it was ever linked to deaths of political figures and celebrities, as in this show.

Who knows what other famous deaths or disappearances will become part of this story? Maybe RFK or Jimmy Hoffa, but I still believe that Sonny Bono skied into a tree. RIP, Sonny!

[rhofmovalley]

3 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

5 hours ago, rhofmovalley said:

Sorry dude, there's really only a couple of ways for the alien baby to come out of you. None of them involve you surviving.

I mean, you could just do a C-Section.  It doesn't have to be an Alien-type chest burst. 

I'm just wondering what exactly they would have to cut through. With a woman it's her abdomen and uterine wall. He has no uterus so would what they needed to cut through kill him?

And, I obviously have thought about this too much. But seems to be what the character is thinking too.

[EllaWycliffe]

2 hours ago, Craft Cocktail said:

This idea of shared alien technology (going all the way back to the Egyptian pyramids) has been batted around for a while, but I don't believe it was ever linked to deaths of political figures and celebrities, as in this show.

It was implied in the X-Files. 

[laschifosavita]

This is a weird complaint to have about AHS, but I wish that they were playing it bigger and campier in both the black-and-white stuff and the present day scenes. Sarah Paulson's performance is the only one of the main characters that are hitting the tone that I wish this had. The religious guy whose head got blown up was pretty good, too.

[Lethallyfab]

I thought Nixon was chewing up the scenery appropriately but that was a WEAK-ASS Marilyn.  Like, without context clues of history, I would have zero idea that was a Marilyn.

I, too, would also have preferred Mamie to be a conniving First Lady than an alien.  I’m also confused because they had to just be possessing her temporarily,…right?  I don’t think Eisenhower would stay married for years to an alien.  

So are we to assume that all of Steve Jobs’ tech is taken from aliens as well, hence him being on the ship as a “regular”?  They also made it seem like Leslie Grossman’s character was supposed to be a rip-off - sorry, “homage” - of someone famous but I have zero idea of who that someone famous should be.

I do think the general concept of an alien invasion ending not in destruction but in a treaty is a really interesting idea.

 

[EllaWycliffe]

13 hours ago, TVMovieBuff said:

The 1960 b&w parts are a joy. Eisenhower was President when I was born, but I was only 5 when Kennedy took over. I wasn't aware of Ike as the Pres. I laugh every time a head explodes and at Mamie's bangs. I didn't even recognize Sarah Paulson right away as Mamie. 

Agree the black and white parts were fun, and I also didn't immediately recognize Sarah Paulson (perhaps because she wasn't shrieking motherfucker at others)

Was Lily Rabe as Amelia Earhart really even necessary for the plot? I keep hoping to see someone smoking Morley cigerettes in the background. Aliens making deals with humans was kind of the mythos arc on the X-Files so I am having fun. 

I sense Leslie Grossman's character will be significant in that she did say/imply people usually don't last so long. 

Agree that if I didn't know the JFK/Marilyn Monroe rumor already, I would have not immediately assumed she was supposed to be Marilyn

[AnimeMania]

8 hours ago, EllaWycliffe said:

Agree that if I didn't know the JFK/Marilyn Monroe rumor already, I would have not immediately assumed she was supposed to be Marilyn

She could of at least tried to do the Marilyn Monroe "breathy voice" speech pattern.

[chlban]

I am enjoying the black and white segments. The period of history of the 50's and 60's has always fascinated me. I was born during the Eisenhower administration. They are doing a good job of portraying these people as they were, Mamie was truly a much more opinionated First Lady than anyone knew. She also had a mean streak. Although I am pretty sure she was never an alien.  Ike truly did detest Nixon, which is also portrayed well here. I also sincerely hope that JFK was not taking advice from Marilyn. His wife was a very intelligent, educated woman but the reality is the person he would have discussed it with was Bobby. I am making myself watch the present day parts because I assume there will be some tie ins. I read virtually every book with a JFK conspiracy theory for years (before reluctantly concluding there was no conspiracy) but I must say I never considered aliens. I like how they are solving 2 of the great Mysteries of the 20th century (Earhart and JFK) in a short series. Wonder if they will manage to tie in Michael Rockefeller and Jimmy Hoffa. Taken by aliens?

Edited October 8, 2021 by chlban

[Cinnabon]

On 10/7/2021 at 11:46 AM, AnimeMania said:

What the hell is wrong with this show, they are eating TV Dinners that are in aluminum foil trays that the claimed they cooked in a Microwave Oven. You can't put metal in a Microwave Oven! They are Aliens, not Wizards!

Do they really make Jell-O with caterpillars in it?

That’s ALL I could think of during that scene. Foil in the microwave???

[iMonrey]

Quote

She could of at least tried to do the Marilyn Monroe "breathy voice" speech pattern.

To be fair, that very voice was an affectation Monroe only used for her public persona. That said, I'm disinclined to give THIS show any kind of credit for realism. 🙂

Quote

Foil in the microwave???

I know, right? That was weird.

[Cinnabon]

48 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

To be fair, that very voice was an affectation Monroe only used for her public persona. That said, I'm disinclined to give THIS show any kind of credit for realism. 🙂

I know, right? That was weird.

I was going to say the same - like Paris Hilton 🤣, Marilyn’s regular voice was different than the affected one she used on camera.

[chlban]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

To be fair, that very voice was an affectation Monroe only used for her public persona. That said, I'm disinclined to give THIS show any kind of credit for realism. 🙂

I know, right? That was weird.

😀😃yeah, not exactly a Documentary! I've seen much better JFK's too.

Edited October 8, 2021 by chlban

[Mr. Sparkle]

20 minutes ago, chlban said:

😀😃yeah, not exactly a Documentary! I've seen much better JFK's too.

For real. The Nixon was pretty good, but I wouldn't have known it was JFK if they didn't tell me. 

[Mattipoo]

Yeah the JFK and Marilyn Monroe impersonations were pretty weak. The actors did not look like either of them at all.

I echo everyone else's opinion that the scene in the alien hospital ward looked like a Lady Gaga video. I thought Ms. Gaga herself was going to make a surprise cameo as the alien nurse/doctor in the mask. Was that Angelica Ross? She looked fierce!

So Lily Rabe's role as Amelia Earhart is over? She was barely in either of the last 2 episodes! What a waste of her talent.

All the time Troy was asking about how the baby was going to come out of his body, I kept wishing the baby would just rip its way out of his stomach or chest, like in "Alien". Those modern day kids are just too insufferable.

Kaia Gerber's acting is getting (slightly) better in this episode. She hardly has any expression on her face, like it is frozen with too much Botox, which shouldn't be the case, since she is a teenager or at most in her early 20s.

I like Sarah Paulson as evil Mamie Eisenhower. Hope she gets to play a bigger part in the last 2 episodes.

What was Steve Jobs doing in the hospital ward? Leslie Grossman is playing the same type of character again. Boring!

Edited October 9, 2021 by Mattipoo
Typo

[Terrafamilia]

How do they even know that the aliens aren't also in cahoots with the commies? I mean, if the future of their species is in the balance why put all your eggs in one country?

[EllaWycliffe]

14 minutes ago, Terrafamilia said:

How do they even know that the aliens aren't also in cahoots with the commies? I mean, if the future of their species is in the balance why put all your eggs in one country?

Not to be difficult or anything, but why do the aliens need a treaty with either the US or the Soviets? They're insanely more powerful and can just snatch the 5000 people they need.

[iMonrey]

Quote

Not to be difficult or anything, but why do the aliens need a treaty with either the US or the Soviets? They're insanely more powerful and can just snatch the 5000 people they need.

Yeah, you never want to pull too hard at any AHS thread because it falls apart pretty easily. I could hand-wave that the aliens, for whatever reason, need to operate out in the open and need human cooperation with logistics and equipment. They apparently have this whole birthing center set up somewhere, for example, and Men in Black as their muscle. 

[Dobian]

My two takeaways from the episode are that JFK has to be an alien since he does not look or sound like Jack Kennedy, and that Marilyn Monroe has to be an alien since she is in bed with JFK in 1963 when she died in 1962.

[AnimeMania]

6 hours ago, Dobian said:

My two takeaways from the episode are that JFK has to be an alien since he does not look or sound like Jack Kennedy, and that Marilyn Monroe has to be an alien since she is in bed with JFK in 1963 when she died in 1962.

Well if JFK is an alien, maybe he abducted Marilyn Monroe in 1962 and the government made it seem like she "died" to covered it up. You see JFK attempting an alien impregnation with a more "hands on" approach.

On 10/8/2021 at 9:59 PM, EllaWycliffe said:

Not to be difficult or anything, but why do the aliens need a treaty with either the US or the Soviets? They're insanely more powerful and can just snatch the 5000 people they need.

Maybe it is just easier that way, the Aliens get buildings to work in, the best security, an agency to keep their presence secret, the government becomes a partner in their crimes, if the secret comes out, the government is just as guilty as they are, they have entire agencies to write off the missing people as being something else and not waste too many resources trying to uncover what really happened to them. Maybe the Aliens can "trade" the humans the means to their own destruction and they will end up destroying themselves and the Aliens can say their hands were "clean" when they "inherit" what is left of the world. Nixon said something like "Every technology can be used as a weapon".

[bilgistic]

7 hours ago, Dobian said:

My two takeaways from the episode are that JFK has to be an alien since he does not look or sound like Jack Kennedy, and that Marilyn Monroe has to be an alien since she is in bed with JFK in 1963 when she died in 1962.

And "Nixon" looks more like a lumbering, square-jawed mob goon than the actual Nixon.

[Empress1]

On 10/7/2021 at 3:01 PM, txhorns79 said:

I mean, you could just do a C-Section.  It doesn't have to be an Alien-type chest burst. 

That was my first thought when he asked how the baby was coming out of him. I just assumed that's what was going to happen.

On 10/8/2021 at 9:15 PM, Mattipoo said:

Kaia Gerber's acting is getting (slightly) better in this episode. She hardly has any expression on her face, like it is frozen with too much Botox, which shouldn't be the case, since she is a teenager or at most in her early 20s.

She's 20. I hope she's not messing with her face already. She looks just like her mother. I think the Black modern-day actress, who I have seen somewhere before but can't place*, is the strongest of the 4 modern-day characters.

*I just looked it up - I've seen her in This is Us, in which she plays young Beth.

[EllaWycliffe]

3 hours ago, bilgistic said:

And "Nixon" looks more like a lumbering, square-jawed mob goon than the actual Nixon.

This. I mean, I was wondering why Ike was ordering a hit. 

[bilgistic]

Speaking of being 20 and being expressionless, I saw a commercial the other day for Botox or some other injectable and one of the "real patients" was 27!!! I literally yelled at the TV. NO 27-YEAR-OLD NEEDS BOTOX! I hate this place!

Just now, EllaWycliffe said:

This. I mean, I was wondering why Ike was ordering a hit. 

Thank you for that laugh!😂

[chlban]

13 hours ago, Dobian said:

My two takeaways from the episode are that JFK has to be an alien since he does not look or sound like Jack Kennedy, and that Marilyn Monroe has to be an alien since she is in bed with JFK in 1963 when she died in 1962.

I don't think that was supposed to be '63. I took it to be right after the 1960 election, probably when JFK was President-Elect. He would have to know about the treaty before taking office. I agree neither actor is particularly convincing though. I also wondered about the later scene of Ike and Mamie eating TV dinners when the news flash of JFK'S shooting came through. He died at 1:30 EST. I guess they could have been eating lunch, but that threw me a bit.

[Dobian]

7 hours ago, chlban said:

I don't think that was supposed to be '63. I took it to be right after the 1960 election, probably when JFK was President-Elect. He would have to know about the treaty before taking office. I agree neither actor is particularly convincing though. I also wondered about the later scene of Ike and Mamie eating TV dinners when the news flash of JFK'S shooting came through. He died at 1:30 EST. I guess they could have been eating lunch, but that threw me a bit.

It said 1963 in the overlay, unless I misread it.

[chlban]

10 hours ago, Dobian said:

It said 1963 in the overlay, unless I misread it.

Oh, I didn't see that. If so, that's a really big miss for the show since Marilyn died in '62.

[EllaWycliffe]

1 hour ago, chlban said:

12 hours ago, Dobian said:

It said 1963 in the overlay, unless I misread it.

Oh, I didn't see that. If so, that's a really big miss for the show since Marilyn died in '62.

Sure, Marilyn died in 1962, but *AlienMarilyn* is likely alive and well....

[tennisgurl]

I still prefer the black and white flashbacks, they have done a good job of mixing camp with some actual creepiness, but the modern day parts have picked up a lot. The concept of the US getting an edge on technology from aliens is basically a modern day version of the ancient aliens theories, which is silly but the kind of thing you expect to see in alien stories. They even had the actual men in black show up, just so we know exactly what we're dealing with. That is going to be one seriously miserable C Section. or I guess they just want it to burst out of his chest like in Aliens? Seems pretty unnecessarily cruel, why cant they just do a C Section with anesthesia? It seems like they could have done a lot of this without being such dicks about it. Do they really have to blow up everyone they possess? Are they the same aliens from Asylum, or some other bunch of aliens? The AHS universe is so wild I can totally picture about thirty different alien species all running around having the occasional awkward vampire or witch run in. 

While I like the black and white flashbacks, their versions of a lot of the historical characters leave much to be desired casting wise. The Eisenhauer's are pretty good, although I wish that Mamie really was just really down with aliens instead of being possessed by an alien (although she is still quite down in the 60s, is she still possessed?), but the guy playing JFK didn't even look even remotely like him and he didn't even bother trying to sound like him. I have seen a lot of bad JFK's, but this one seemed particularly lazy. The woman playing Marilyn looked like her a bit more, but they could have done a lot better, and Nixon gets the vocal patterns (even if they're pretty over the top) but honestly the floating Nixon head from Futurama felt more legit.

is the random Steve Jobs cameo going to be as useless as Amelia Earhart ended up being? Why even bring her into the show if your just going to kill her offscreen after just one episode where she hardly did anything? I guess AHS ADD won again. 

Edited October 11, 2021 by tennisgurl

[Minkus30]

No the true question is do these aliens have anything to do with the ones in asylum is the question that should be answered 

it is a 10 year difference but to are knowledge from that they at least had two success rate with Kit walkers kids 

[Noneofyourbusiness]

On 10/11/2021 at 9:23 PM, Minkus30 said:

No the true question is do these aliens have anything to do with the ones in asylum is the question that should be answered

They seem too different.