S11.E02: Thank You For Your Service

[AnimeMania]

Mysterious deaths and disappearances ramp up in the city. A doctor makes a frightening discovery, and a local reporter becomes tomorrow's headline. 

Original Air Date: October 19, 2022     FXX    11 pm 

[peridot]

Oh my goodness at the scene in the beginning!  I had to look away a lot.  If Gino was in so much pain from being tortured, how could he type up that article?  I'm also not sure why the cop's ex-wife asked what happened to his hands, if she already read his article.

The masked guy can't be the tall guy from the doctor's office, right?  The guy from the office seemed less muscular.  His face looked really creepy, too.  Good job to casting.

The scene in the police station was odd.  They had a random guy in a thong available for use?

I thought the cop was a good guy, but now I'm not sure. 

[SunnyBeBe]

I watched part of this last night.  I wasn’t paying close attention and will need to rewatch it.  Something about this show is so dark.  I’m wondering if it’s wise for me to focus on it right now.  

[farmgal4]

I’m so pissed off!  I had no time idea that 2 new episodes aired last night!  When did they start doing that??  Is it going to be that way all season?  Did anything happen in the second episode that I need to know about before next week’s episode(s)?  I’m sorry for so many questions.  Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

[SunnyBeBe]

I don’t know much about it.  I don’t normally watch it.  I just landed on it by accident and it caught my attention.   I’ll probably watch both episodes again this weekend.  I wasn’t giving it my full attention.  

[MrPissyPuppy]

2 hours ago, farmgal4 said:

I’m so pissed off!  I had no time idea that 2 new episodes aired last night!  When did they start doing that??  Is it going to be that way all season?  Did anything happen in the second episode that I need to know about before next week’s episode(s)?  I’m sorry for so many questions.  Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

They're showing two episodes/night the next two Wednesdays at least.  Seems like they're burning it off fast. 

I swear that's 

Spoiler

Hale Appleman's 

voice as the killer.   Really loved 

Spoiler

him in The Magicians so am happy if it's him.   Wait - that sounded wrong - I'm glad he's getting the work! 

[gesundheit]

On 10/20/2022 at 12:11 AM, peridot said:

The scene in the police station was odd.  They had a random guy in a thong available for use?

That cracked me up -- however, it was the scene that promised us this really is AHS and not just a serial killer story!

14 hours ago, farmgal4 said:

I’m so pissed off!  I had no time idea that 2 new episodes aired last night!  When did they start doing that??  Is it going to be that way all season?  Did anything happen in the second episode that I need to know about before next week’s episode(s)?  I’m sorry for so many questions.  Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

I'm pretty sure it's double episodes every single week for the full season, yes. I don't understand why. But at least episodes are on Hulu by morning now instead of the endless wait it used to involve. FX re-airs episodes a lot, too, so you might be able to find a rerun of the 2nd episode before next week if you're just dealing with the cable schedule.

Unrelated: I love Jeff Hiller, so it's fun seeing him get to play a bad guy in this (Whitely).

[iMonrey]

Quote

The masked guy can't be the tall guy from the doctor's office, right?  The guy from the office seemed less muscular.  His face looked really creepy, too.  Good job to casting.

The guy in the doctor's office (Whitely) was definitely the guy who kidnapped and tortured Gino. But he's definitely not Big Daddy, he doesn't have the physique. I'm leaning towards Big Daddy being some sort of paranormal manifestation, I'm not sure he's really "there." 

There is something so inherently menacing about Zachary Quinto, I can't imagine him playing anyone other than a psycho. And yes, I've seen him play Spock and even there he's kind of creepy.

Quote

I swear that's Hale Appleman's voice as the killer. 

I don't think this needs to be spoiled, as we've actually seen Hale walking down the street with another character, but if you mean it was his voice when Gino was being tortured, it wasn't. It was definitely Whitely's. But I was pleasantly surprised to see him on this show too.

[gesundheit]

I'm hearing both of these episodes are basically remakes of Cruising, so it sounds like I need to rewatch Cruising this weekend for the first time in decades because I basically remember nothing (other than undercover Pacino, S&M clubs, serial killer).

[SuzieSioux]

I'm really just logging on here to express my very pleasant surprise that... I am enjoying this so far. If you knew me, you'd know I can't stand this series, the tone just doesn't do it for me, and Murphy is always losing interest 3 episodes in and everything goes off the rails. But these two episodes were much more serious than I've seen in previous series. I am cautiously hopeful going forward!

It basically is Cruising @gesundheit. For those above wondering about the weirdness of the cowboy in the jockstrap at the police station, this is lifted completely from Cruising. Based on a real thing that apparently used to happen, allowing the police to beat up suspects who would never be believed if they reported it because what judge would think that a random, near-naked cowboy walking into the room and beating you up was something that really happened?

[Cinnabon]

Klaus Nomi!

[sheetmoss]

On 10/19/2022 at 11:11 PM, peridot said:

.

The scene in the police station was odd.  They had a random guy in a thong available for use?

Just an FYI - that was an old style jockstrap

[SunnyBeBe]

I watched more closely this time.  I’m still undecided if I’ll continue watching.   I do love the actor who’s playing Mr. Whitely. He so versatile.  

Spoiler

He’s also a regular on the comedy series Somebody Somewhere, which is an underrated gem of a show.  

[Chaos Theory]

Zachary Quinto has always played a good psycho.  

I am really liking the reporter guy but not sure about the gay cop boyfriend who has a lot of secrets including an ex wife and apparently a leather fetish.

I did like the scene where the lesbians got there own desk at the newspaper. 

Still not sure about anyones names but this might be my favorite season since Hotel.  Yes I liked Hotel.    I also liked Asylum.   I also liked 1984 so don’t really go by my tastes.   

Edited October 23, 2022 by Chaos Theory

[Starchild]

1 hour ago, Chaos Theory said:

Still not sure about anyones names but this might be my favorite season since Hotel.  Yes I liked Hotel.    I also liked Asylum.   I also liked 1984 so don’t really go by my tastes.   

Hotel and Asylum are my favourites, the only two seasons I would rewatch, so actually purchased. We'll see if the same holds true for NYC. I absolutely LOVE Russell Tovey, his presence is really elevating the material IMO. So far this season feels very cinematic. 

1984 was OK; aside from Halloween I've never really been into the 80s slashers.

[Redrum]

I'll say it. I'm kind of bored. IN the first two episodes, no one impressed. I literally just saw John Waters on Law and Order SVU and Denis O'Hare you're no John Waters. I never found the early eighties bondage scene that interesting, and the Maplethorpe pretender and Zachery Quinto snorting coke is fun but not that scary. The Lord Humongous guy isn't that scary and I feel clubbed over the head with "gay bashing is wrong!"

I grew up with the AIDS explosion and the plot that is interesting to me is Whitely has Karposi's sarcoma and Zachary Quinto's character has a rash and the deer illness on Fire Island is interesting. But watching closeted cops and their reporter boyfriends argue while everyone wears leather isn't doing it for me. The AIDS epidemic was horrifying all by itself. My little hometown upstate had a surprisingly high gay population and it got to the point where it seemed like a neighbor was dying every week. I don't really want to see a lot of conspiracy nonsense on this.

And a complete aside but what does Ryan Murphy have against lesbians? With the exception of Season 2, it seems like lesbians just get the nastiest stereotypical writing. 

[tennisgurl]

Everything is so dark and grainy, it feels like I'm watching a 70s serial killer thriller. Of course now we are getting a bit of that Ryan Murphy crazy, especially with Zachary Quinto going hard on the crazy eyes and the possible AIDS conspiracy, which will certainly be utterly nonsensical, but I am still really enjoying these first few episodes. But then with AHS your always just waiting for the season to inevitably fall apart, like when your investigating a haunted house and you just know the killer is going to jump out and scare you, your just waiting for it to finally happen, bracing yourself. 

Yea, the lesbians get a desk! I get that the show wants to show the issues within the LGBTQ community, but why do they always seem like they're on the verge of challenging someone to a knife fight?

I'm really excited that Hale Appleman is showing up this season, I loved him in The Magicians, a show that I once adored until I had to give it up after it broke my heart in the worst way possible. 

Edited October 24, 2022 by tennisgurl

[TiffanyNichelle]

I finally got a chance to catch up and I'm glad that so far this looks like a straightforward thriller. I'm sure by episode 5 there will be some kind of crazy supernatural twist (was that Big Daddy really there outside of Zachary Quinto's apartment or not?) but for now I'm in.

The whole thing about the Brownstone Bar was a real place where a real serial killer did pick up victims and yeah, the police never questioned anyone there. In fact 

Spoiler

he wasn't caught until 2001 because no one did anything.

I'm hoping there's a better ending in this story.

Also happy to see Hale Appleman back again.

[txhorns79]

On 10/23/2022 at 8:25 PM, Redrum said:

But watching closeted cops and their reporter boyfriends argue while everyone wears leather isn't doing it for me.

It's not a particularly interesting storyline, and given the reporter's attitude, I don't really buy he'd get to the point where the two of them are living together as a couple.  They would have already broken up a long time ago. 

And seriously, is there anywhere in this version of NYC that has air conditioning?   

[sugarbaker design]

13 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

And seriously, is there anywhere in this version of NYC that has air conditioning?

I like the effect, t reminds me of noir movies in the '40s and '50's before the omnipresence of air-conditioning.  I also like seeing Charlie Carver in a sheen of sweat.