S08.E08: Soujourn

[hatchetgirl]

Ryan must be way too far up his own ass to listen to anyone saying "dude, this is a freaking mess!" Maybe he's busy burying himself in mounds of cocaine while wearing a wig? 

What is with having the actors play so many parts? Was he too busy to be bothered with casting? Is he afraid he'll lose his status if one of them gets upset? Criminey.

The first 3 episodes could have been handled in 1 episode. I agree with PP who said it seems like they are writing this on the fly. Oh the audience wants Nan? Hmmmm.... oh let's write her in with Papa! Oh no, they miss Angela? Let's give her 10 lines next week! 

I was entertained this week, sure but the satanist church was a farce. They could have at least PRETENDED to be more on the level with that. 

Kathy bates and cody are definitely stealing this show. 

As for Michael being so tearful... did christ have a period of doubt in faith? (Not religious, sorry)  but maybe Ryan is having Michael parallel christ?

[Rap541]

3 minutes ago, hatchetgirl said:

As for Michael being so tearful... did christ have a period of doubt in faith? (Not religious, sorry)  but maybe Ryan is having Michael parallel christ?

Thats pretty standard for the AntiChrist - In The Omen 2, which isn't a bad sequel, pretty much has the same plot as this - Damian Thorne, the young teen AntiChrist is pondering his true nature versus what society says he should be, ultimately embracing his fate as the son of the devil.

I just don't know that what, two episodes? Is going to work with this and I will be *really* annoyed with a "TBC"

[Daltrey]

9 hours ago, DangerousMinds said:

it was only 38 minutes of content, sans commercials.

Not even! 37 fucking minutes and change to find out how the Meade robot came to exist?! What a fucking waste, this could've been done in 15 minutes, 20 tops. I've enjoyed every episode this year to varying degrees but this was so boring I nodded out and had to rewind at least four times once Michael got to Cokehead Robotics Inc.....only to have the credits roll and say "WTF, that's it?!!". I really don't get all the literal and figurative hard-ons for Cody Fern; it seems to be a lot of straight women and gay men swooning because he's pretty. Nothing wrong with that but it doesn't equal fantastically brilliant acting. He's had moments but mostly he's been a weepy, mopey whiner capable of one and a half facial expressions at best. He reminds me of Adam Driver as Kylo Ren in Star Wars, only slightly better.....or worse, I haven't decided. Regardless, this episode was a crack town alley full of dumpsters on fire that seemed to burn far longer than it actually did. The final two episodes had better miraculously bring it full circle and wrap it up well or this show is going to get kicked far down the block that is my watch-list, if not completely curb stomped into oblivion. 

[kokapetl]

8 hours ago, DrSparkles said:

What was that whole robotics crap?

Two coked out bowl cutted nerds, who sold their souls to satan, and who couldn’t iron out the kinks in a handjob robot hand, built a flawless android in what seemed like a few days. 

Edited November 2, 2018 by kokapetl

[Female83]

This wasn't the best episode this season. 

[littlemommy]

When Michael said he’d just bring humanMeade back from the dead and Cordelia was like “Nyah Nyah Nyah I made it so you CAN’T!” I was thinking she shouldn’t have said that. Let the kid/man spend forever in hell trying to resurrect her, and use witchy powers to just keep him stuck there. 

[DrSparkles]

2 hours ago, kokapetl said:

Two coked out bowl cutted nerds, who sold their souls to satan, and who couldn’t iron out the kinks in a handjob robot hand, built a flawless android in what seemed like a few days. 

Bwah! Thanks! Oh Ryan...

[100Proof]

4 hours ago, Daltrey said:

Not even! 37 fucking minutes and change to find out how the Meade robot came to exist?! What a fucking waste, this could've been done in 15 minutes, 20 tops. I've enjoyed every episode this year to varying degrees but this was so boring I nodded out and had to rewind at least four times once Michael got to Cokehead Robotics Inc.....only to have the credits roll and say "WTF, that's it?!!".

Lol, yeah.  Whenever I watch something and doze off so that I miss something, I'll rewind a bit before the bit I missed but then wind up dozing off again at the exact same spot again. Usually 5-10 times in a row!  rewind/snore... rewind/snore... rewind/snore.... rewind/snore... weird,  lol

 

4 hours ago, Daltrey said:

I really don't get all the literal and figurative hard-ons for Cody Fern; it seems to be a lot of straight women and gay men swooning because he's pretty. Nothing wrong with that but it doesn't equal fantastically brilliant acting. He's had moments but mostly he's been a weepy, mopey whiner capable of one and a half facial expressions at best. He reminds me of Adam Driver as Kylo Ren in Star Wars, only slightly better.....or worse

Yeah. This is the only thing I've seen this guy in afaik.  Initially he has a presence, but then you realize he's just a graduate of the wooden barbie doll acting school. Agree with Adam Driver thing as well.... sooooo bad, lol

Edited November 2, 2018 by 100Proof

[Rap541]

22 hours ago, littlemommy said:

The secondhand embarrassment while watching this episode was pretty unbearable. Why didn't they hire any of the thousands of desperate, hopeful actors/actresses hanging out Hollywood to play Chief Angry Satanist instead of Sandra Bernhard? She was terrible! What the hell has happened to American Horror Story? Is this an "Emperor's New Clothes" sort of situation, and no one is brave enough to tell the "brilliant" showrunner that the season makes no sense ?

You know how this, the "Sandra Bernhard is the head of the Church of Satan" plot line would be totally brilliant?

Wait for it....

If she was playing *herself* - Sandra Bernhard owes her career to a deal with Satan.

[LoneHaranguer]

16 hours ago, DangerousMinds said:

Grape Fanta is absolutely still out there.

Locally, they sell the Strawberry and Pineapple flavors too, with more choices in the pick-any-Coke-product-you-want dispensers found in some fast food restaurants. As to why Fanta in the episode, Fanta was invented in Nazi Germany, so it could be a reference to the Holocaust and evil wanting to take over the world.

5 hours ago, littlemommy said:

When Michael said he’d just bring humanMeade back from the dead and Cordelia was like “Nyah Nyah Nyah I made it so you CAN’T!” I was thinking she shouldn’t have said that. Let the kid/man spend forever in hell trying to resurrect her, and use witchy powers to just keep him stuck there. 

What brought Michael to the execution site with Cordelia there to have this conversation? Did she go tell him "We just burned some folks at the stake; wanna see?".

[Bruinsfan]

I would assume that the sudden disappearance of all his mentors/boosters would cause him to look for them in some fashion, and there don't seem to be that many limits to what Michael can do once he puts his mind to a course of action. Of course it also seems that there's some diabolic intervention going on more subtly in the background, for things like knowing to have Ms. Meade show up at the gas station John Henry stopped in at the exact right moment to kill him, or just happening to find a second sympathetic devil-worshipping mama bear with connections to people who could build a clockwork replacement for the first.

[Bizabra]

Gotta say, I loved this episode. The Satanists being idiots amused me. Mutt and Jeff amused me. I was interested in the Ms. Meade build. Michael being weepy and moody and irritating seemed right for his development at that stage. Ms. Venable intrigued.  I thought it was fun.

[iMonrey]

Quote

What is with having the actors play so many parts? Was he too busy to be bothered with casting?

Well, I think it's because the structure of this season is so scattered that there aren't many roles that appear in all ten episodes. Instead, there are a lot of roles that only appear in two or three episodes. So Murphy's stable of actors, like Even Peters and Sarah Paulson, are showing up as different characters so we feel like we aren't cheated by seeing too little of them. And if you nab someone like Joan Collins you don't want to waste her in a role that's killed off after three episodes so you use her in two different roles.

However, it's proving to be way too confusing with all the time jumps and the cross-overs of characters from previous seasons. Are the robot engineers the same characters as Coco's hairdresser  and Coco's boyfriend? Or are they just completely different characters played by the same actors? 

Quote

 I really don't get all the literal and figurative hard-ons for Cody Fern

I don't really get it either. Unless there's some sort of residual good will towards him from some other role he's played.

[LoneHaranguer]

24 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

However, it's proving to be way too confusing with all the time jumps and the cross-overs of characters from previous seasons. Are the robot engineers the same characters as Coco's hairdresser  and Coco's boyfriend? Or are they just completely different characters played by the same actors? 

They're putting next to no effort into making different characters played by the same person look different. I shouldn't be having to guess that Sarah's a different character because she's wearing a wig; I shouldn't even know it's her.

[Nutjob]

Well, it's nice to know that Murphy's history with this show stays the same--turns into a hot mess about midway through. I thought the flashbacks might last a few episodes. But most of the season? Really? And now he's trying to get me to sympathize with the son of Satan because he can't figure out how he's supposed to destroy the world? In a super boring episode that was mostly filler?

 

Oooooookay.

[ClareWalks]

18 hours ago, Lady Iris said:

Agreed. In a show of oddities seeing an old fashioned can of grape fanta was especially odd and made me want one really really really bad. 

I never knew until I went to a random Giant Eagle in Pittsburgh that they make DIET grape Fanta. It is delicious as well. We have to stock up when we go because there is no such product sold anywhere within 500 miles of my home.

Edit: it's actually Diet grape FAYGO, which is essentially the exact same thing. But it's amazing how rare diet grape soda is.

Edited November 2, 2018 by ClareWalks

[Dobian]

I did crack up when the Satanists asked Michael what they should do, and he proclaimed that they should go enjoy their pot luck.  And the Omen chorus that was so scary and evil, followed by applause and Sandra Bernhard congratulating their performance like a typical Sunday church choir, lol.  I also laughed when Michael had the vision of the girl with the can of grape FANTA, but that didn't seem to be getting the message across, so it was like, okay, we'll just go with the stereotypical goat and snakes thing since you don't like originality.

[sashayshante]

8 hours ago, Daltrey said:

I really don't get all the literal and figurative hard-ons for Cody Fern; it seems to be a lot of straight women and gay men swooning because he's pretty. Nothing wrong with that but it doesn't equal fantastically brilliant acting. He's had moments but mostly he's been a weepy, mopey whiner capable of one and a half facial expressions at best.

I think people expected The Anti-Christ to be sinister and evil - a younger version of Satan himself - forgetting that he's actually a mortal human, like Jesus. Fern has said he's deliberately chosen not to play Michael as evil because that was too simple of an interpretation. He considers Michael to be a very damaged, very broken manchild who has been discarded and abandoned by everyone who ever meant anything to him and born into a role he's not sure he fits. Plus, he's still emotionally only, like, 7 years old. While I think Fern is over-doing the tears, I've enjoyed his interpretation. 

There's definitely residual good-will towards him because of his performance in ACS Versace, but it's not unwarranted IMHO.  He makes great choices and really works at developing a character rather than just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. He's also very gender fluid onscreen and off, kind of like Timothy Chalamet. There's a vulnerability to Chalamet and Fern that we're not used to seeing from male actors. For me, that's refreshing. That's why I like Fern.

[DangerousMinds]

9 hours ago, Daltrey said:

Not even! 37 fucking minutes and change to find out how the Meade robot came to exist?! What a fucking waste, this could've been done in 15 minutes, 20 tops. I've enjoyed every episode this year to varying degrees but this was so boring I nodded out and had to rewind at least four times once Michael got to Cokehead Robotics Inc.....only to have the credits roll and say "WTF, that's it?!!". I really don't get all the literal and figurative hard-ons for Cody Fern; it seems to be a lot of straight women and gay men swooning because he's pretty. Nothing wrong with that but it doesn't equal fantastically brilliant acting. He's had moments but mostly he's been a weepy, mopey whiner capable of one and a half facial expressions at best. He reminds me of Adam Driver as Kylo Ren in Star Wars, only slightly better.....or worse, I haven't decided. Regardless, this episode was a crack town alley full of dumpsters on fire that seemed to burn far longer than it actually did. The final two episodes had better miraculously bring it full circle and wrap it up well or this show is going to get kicked far down the block that is my watch-list, if not completely curb stomped into oblivion. 

Thank you! Just being a pretty boy doesn’t win an actor any points for me either.

[KnoxForPres]

On 11/1/2018 at 1:22 AM, Megan said:

The hair just made me think Marc Davis. And how he is continuing the Davis Family work (as of the early  90's) - making my beloved, local for NOW, NFL team as terrible as possible.

And I know as a NFL follower even when a team is successful I'm on the losing, take my money end, but those haircuts! It was probably more intended towards a 1970s cult vibe and only I am relating it to the horrible season.

 

I wish Michael instead of "look at my 666 thingy" was much more powerful, and it annoyed me that he incinerated the one chick that recognized his power immediately. Why kill a believer?

Bold got a good laugh from me as well as a resounding yes!

Ive always hated filler episodes (especially when so much needs to be explored and answered) but to make it boring seems shameful. 

AHS has devoted fans (keeping it honest I’m not one- though long live Asylum) and it pisses me off Murphy and friends don’t try harder and do more. This season had so much potential and to its credit I am still here...but this epidode sucked. 

Halloween Night- such an opportunity wasted.

I never saw the Versace thing and don’t know Fern but I am a female. For what it’s worth I don’t find him hot (Cheyenne for the win) however I found him very compelling initially this season. Lately not so much. And reading here it sounds like he’s written at length of his “method” playing this character which seems premature at best and a bit overkill at worst. Let the viewers decide. We don’t always need intel (own gripe about today’s world- ignore me).

I don’t get why Sandra Bernhardt was selected but she was terrible. And we are at a devil worshipping service and the confession is stealing money from the register and similar. That humor falls flat. Let’s get some horrifying satanism behavior if you’re going there. Funny not needed- scare and creep the hell out of us on Halloween.

I felt more during Eyes Wide Shut (Kubrick I love you, but...).

Go there if you’re willing.  And that odd scene where Michael slit throats of those 2 felt entirely out of place and oddly non emotional when it should have been horrific to view. 

[AnswersWanted]

7 hours ago, sashayshante said:

I think people expected The Anti-Christ to be sinister and evil - a younger version of Satan himself - forgetting that he's actually a mortal human, like Jesus. Fern has said he's deliberately chosen not to play Michael as evil because that was too simple of an interpretation. He considers Michael to be a very damaged, very broken manchild who has been discarded and abandoned by everyone who ever meant anything to him and born into a role he's not sure he fits. Plus, he's still emotionally only, like, 7 years old. While I think Fern is over-doing the tears, I've enjoyed his interpretation. 

 

Couldn’t agree with you more. 

I am a queer woman who leans hard from finding most men attractive in the first place and Cody is basically the opposite to any male I have actually thought was hot or cute.

Not saying he isn’t a hottie for many or shouldn’t be thought of as such, but for myself he tingles not an inch, heh. And I actually detest seeing him in the long haired wig, it doesn’t suit him at all, imho. 

But I enjoy how he is playing Michael, there is a softness and he harnesses the little boy who lives within that is lost and alone and needy. The humanity has helped me to stay engaged. 

I also appreciate a male actor who can cry without looking like he is ripping out fingernails just to eek out one tear, though he could cutback on that you’re right, heh. 

I wouldn’t say he is this impossibly amazing actor or anything, but he has been very decent and I feel that he has done a good bit of heavy lifting and carrying such a hodgepodge of a storyline.

Ryan hasn’t exactly helped him out very much, imo. 

[Token]

Another filler episode.  In a season with too much filler.  There really hasn't been much story to enjoy, because it's all been disjointed filler.  I think RM has firmly jumped the shark.

[Daltrey]

1 hour ago, AnswersWanted said:

 

Couldn’t agree with you more. 

I am a queer woman who leans hard from finding most men attractive in the first place and Cody is basically the opposite to any male I have actually thought was hot or cute.

Not saying he isn’t a hottie for many or shouldn’t be thought of as such, but for myself he tingles not an inch, heh. And I actually detest seeing him in the long haired wig, it doesn’t suit him at all, imho. 

But I enjoy how he is playing Michael, there is a softness and he harnesses the little boy who lives within that is lost and alone and needy. The humanity has helped me to stay engaged. 

I also appreciate a male actor who can cry without looking like he is ripping out fingernails just to eek out one tear, though he could cutback on that you’re right, heh. 

I wouldn’t say he is this impossibly amazing actor or anything, but he has been very decent and I feel that he has done a good bit of heavy lifting and carrying such a hodgepodge of a storyline.

Ryan hasn’t exactly helped him out very much, imo. 

Yeah, I like his interpretation as well and I think it makes sense to play him that way based on everything we know about his situation. I just don't find him so amazingly riveting that my eyeballs are intensely glued to my screen whenever he is on it. He is decent and, considering the writing he has done a good job, but there's probably a hundred other actors who could do just as well.

[Rap541]

I find him cute but I also find him a little too similar in body and face to Evan Peters. He's not my physical type but if that package came with a nice personality, I'd look twice. He's certainly not ugly but I am not panting in lust here.

 

Acting wise, he's certainly not awful but I am also not blown away. The material isn't great and while he's doing well with being sulky and angry, I'm not feeling the character at all.

[owenthurman]

13 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

I never knew until I went to a random Giant Eagle in Pittsburgh that they make DIET grape Fanta. It is delicious as well. We have to stock up when we go because there is no such product sold anywhere within 500 miles of my home.

Edit: it's actually Diet grape FAYGO, which is essentially the exact same thing. But it's amazing how rare diet grape soda is.

At any grocery store, you can go to the shelves of Crystal Light, and nearby you'll find packets of sugar-free grape drink powder from Welch's and other brands. There are packets that make a half-gallon and packets that make 16 ounces. I mix one of the smaller packets of the grape mix with one teaspoon of water, stir until it's got a syrupy consistency, and slowly pour in cold club soda. It works out great, and I do this with other flavors too.

Sorry for the off-topic-ness, everybod.

[kokapetl]

I think Cody Fern is definitely attractive, in a tight lipped, gimlet eyed way, but someone here pointed out he’s got no muscle tone, and so now I always notice that.

Evan Peters has a weird toddler face like Tyler from Teen Mom. Plus, you know: 

[BingeyKohan]

It was a missed opportunity within the Cooperative campus not to hint at more going on there than the goofy cocaine fueled robotics lab. Unless I missed it there were no peeks behind other doors. Surely that’s not all that was happening in that big building? Even just a glimpse could have tied back to the bunker and made us feel this episode had more to offer.

At this point I think any title card with text like ‘2 years before the bombs’ should be replaced with more meta ones reading ‘6 episodes since present day.’

[coppersin]

Despite my growing frustration (and common sense re: this show) I'm officially crossing my fingers for a cliffhanger. I'd rather be a little annoyed that we're getting consecutive seasons on an anthology series than very annoyed that they botched the apocalypse season of a show with "horror" right there in the title. We need to get back to the present of this timeline stat, even though I know we still have much that could/should be covered beforehand. I wanna see all the truly creepy things that one would expect from the end of the world. I wanna see plenty of Michael once he has come into his own. I want the actual apocalypse that we've been promised so I can at least be a little invested when the witches inevitably reverse it.

I wonder if this season was going to happen later but then Ryan Murphy worked with Cody Fern and knew he'd found his Michael and just couldn't wait?

As for the actual episode: the Satanist church was a wasted opportunity to go darker than this season has been but it was actually kind of amusing to see how normal and bland it was, mostly because of Michael's reaction. He was so uninspired. Poor kid is lost and looking for guidance and look where he winds up. Then he meets the tech guys and it's more of the same. You could tell he was constantly eyerolling and thinking, "JFC, Dad, I ask for a sign and this is what you give me?" Probably also explains why Michael isn't traveling with an entourage during the apocalypse. His people are so lame.

[sashayshante]

1 hour ago, coppersin said:

I wonder if this season was going to happen later but then Ryan Murphy worked with Cody Fern and knew he'd found his Michael and just couldn't wait?

I was surprised to learn that Fern knew he'd been cast in this season since October of 2017. He just didn't know who he was playing. As has been said here before, Murphy does like his ingenue projects, so I could see him discovering Fern and developing projects specifically with him in mind.

I'm really hoping the Mallory build-up has been a misdirect of sorts and that it doesn't come down to a battle royale between she and Michael. They've done so little character development on Mallory that she has to be a red herring, or at least play a much smaller role in the finale than we've been led to believe. I could see her healing Michael and reversing his age and they go back to Murder House, where Michael dies. And...scene.

Edited November 3, 2018 by sashayshante

[Stringey]

I actually was okay with this episode and kind of see where they were going with the church stuff. If you want to talk about useless and silly how come more people are not talking about the stupidity of Madison's and mistys version of hell???? Especially Madison's. Come on hell is supposed to be pure torment and misery and what Madison got was just pure annoyance. Madison went to Heck not Hell. And let's not forget the bullshit of wasting time with Stevie Mixx songs????  Anyway let me get back to my point. I guess I am the only one that got a kick out of what they were doing with the satanic church stuff. And the mockery parallel of Michael going off by himself and being tempted just like Jesus. I liked how the satanic church was essentially set up like a Christian church and the people more or less looked like ordinary people. I thought it was amusing that the Satanist in this episode were into pot lucks and were throwing food in Michaels face the same way Christians would. Also I don't  mind Michael being kind of whiny and in doubt instead of a stereotypical anti Christ.

[AnswersWanted]

13 hours ago, Daltrey said:

Yeah, I like his interpretation as well and I think it makes sense to play him that way based on everything we know about his situation. I just don't find him so amazingly riveting that my eyeballs are intensely glued to my screen whenever he is on it. He is decent and, considering the writing he has done a good job, but there's probably a hundred other actors who could do just as well.

 

I sometimes find Ryan’s casting choices very hit or miss, so I was glad to see that Cody could do the job without a high level of cringe factor. 

I actually wasn’t feeling him per say in the beginning honestly, most of the characters in the first few episodes didn’t intrigue me much at all. I couldn’t even be bothered to watch long enough to have something to comment on. 

I found myself starting to like him after episode 5 I think, when the flashbacks were starting. I definitely prefer pre-apocalyptic Michael, at least so far. 

I do wonder how Ryan insteads to ham stuff and rush the ending so there is a very good chance that my “mehness “ about Cody will return in full, heh. 

[Stella Rose]

The cheese on this episode was so thick,  I had a wee conga line of mice lined up trying to nibble on the TV.   Bless.

 

I have never seen Cody Fern before, but there is something very compelling about him as an actor.  He kind of has that 'thing' that is just not something you can nail down, but he is quite intriguing.  I imagine he will do great things in the future (if he can get away from RM, ha ha). 

Honestly, If not for him, I would have stopped this madness 3 episodes in.  Dreadful.  

Edited November 4, 2018 by Stella Rose

[Stringey]

I have something random. How do you guys feel about the age spurt thing?? Well actually it's the only thing they can do to explain the time span. However...... I think it would have been cooler if Michael did the physical age spurt at a different moment. I think it would have been creepier if he was still in his child body during the flashbacks of him in the murder house being taken care of there. Constance did not necessarily need the age spurt thing to send her over the edge to commit suicide(hence why Michael went to live there). I would have liked to see child Michael in action a little other than the scene with the nanny. Anyway I think it would have been cool if Michael did the age spurt thing the morning after the satanic mass. He goes through the initiation and accepts his position and the next morning is when the physical change happens. However I think maybe the show itself  and people would feel a  little uncomfortable with a child acting in a scene like the satanic mass. It is a little weird but I think it would have made the story better if the physical change came later.

[Rap541]

I think the age spurt is stupid writing done so a cute guy can be cast.

I mean, from a story telling standpoint, is it even necessary to have Michael Langdon AntiChrist be the Michael Langdon from Murder House? It's amusing, yes, and a nice call back but did we learn *anything* from the Murder House episode that we didn't already know? The irony is that the Hotel cross aspect told us everything we needed to know, that Michael was so scary even the ghosts there were scared of him, that evil Marsh was cowed by him. 

Was there any need for the age spurt other than to shoehorn in Murder House? And don't get me wrong - its a relatively clever tie in but overall it feels like they are just trying too fucking hard to connect everything and get a reference to every season.

I'm waiting for Pepper to turn up in a flash back, and for Beverly Hope to report on the incoming nukes. 

[sheetmoss]

If the show wanted to be really cheeky, they should have had Harriet Sansom Harris-- who helped Michael, be a reincarnation of her agent Bebe Glazer  character from Frasier... now was really scary

Edited November 4, 2018 by sheetmoss

[Bill1978]

That was the longest 37 minutes of entertainment I have ever sat through. I have been enjoying the flashback episodes, but they've gone on for too long now. Especially since we have only 2 episodes left and there is so much that needs answering the present. I honestly felt nothing of importance really happened in the episode, well maybe Robotic Meade but did I have to sit through all the other pointless crap and Sandra acting to get to that revelation? When you have 10 episodes you really can't afford a filler episode like a 26 episode series can. Kinda expect the next episode to by a clip show..

[kokapetl]

Little kids can’t act and can’t work all day.

[Daltrey]

22 minutes ago, Bill1978 said:

That was the longest 37 minutes of entertainment I have ever sat through.

That's incredibly generous of you! ;)

[sashayshante]

5 hours ago, Rap541 said:

I think the age spurt is stupid writing done so a cute guy can be cast.

I don't think Murphy met Cody Fern and decided they were going to revisit the Antichrist storyline. I think that was a possibility from the end if season one.

I was perfectly content with the season one explanation that the Antichrist baby was growing at an alarming rate, hence why - 7 yrs later - he's a man instead of a 10yr old boy. The overnight growth spurt thing was stupid, as it completely ignored the fact that Constance always knew Michael was The Antichrist.  She shouldn't have been shocked by any of it. All this time focusing on backstory just to insert fan favorites into an episode has only served to muddy the waters.

[Rap541]

2 hours ago, sashayshante said:

I don't think Murphy met Cody Fern and decided they were going to revisit the Antichrist storyline.

I am pretty sure I read an article that Cody Fern was basically cast without any assigned part in part because Murphy liked him so much on Versace.

He's certainly watchable and not Adina Porter awful, 

And agreed that Michael was set up as the Antichrist from season one which makes Constance's inability to deal with what she *intentionally encouraged* basically character assassination. Don't get me wrong, I get that Jessica Lange probably had to be bribed just to appear as much as she did but in frankly if she wasn't going to play Constance as actually raising Michael (essentially it should be Constance in the Meade role) then maybe they should have skipped the nonsense to begin with. Because yes, Constance knew what she was encouraging. So this half assed treatment of the topic just fails for me... And I am not even a big fan of Murder House but I do believe if you're going to do these sorts of crossovers that you respect the material on both sides. Constance may not have specifically been looking for her grandson to be the Antichrist but she knew she wasn't encouraging something good so the whole suicide because she can't handle it was disrespectful to the character. 

My point? The crossover reference to Murder House was achieved when Michael flashed his id at the Outpost and it didnt really need to get an hour treatment where our take away was something we already knew. 

[Captanne]

I have already paid my money for the whole season so I will watch it through.  However, that said, I think I have finally been left behind by this series.  I didn't find the "wunderkind" boys interesting at all (we're saying that young entrepreneurs in the computer sciences -- a Zuckerburg, shall we say? -- have sold their souls to the Devil and that's why they are so successful?  Letting their immature drives take over while producing marketable programs for consumers with equally immature drives to keep them in the money?)  Okay, well, as someone brightly pointed out above -- these boys couldn't develop an arm/hand consistent motion and, yet, within days they build a humanoid "Data" that simulates a real, adult, human being?  Narratively, that doesn't follow.  Plot-wise, without development, I'm not interested.

Next season is probably off my list.  I think the show has simply left me behind.  And that's fine.  Whether I watch or not, really makes no difference.  I'm just not interested in what this show produces anymore.

[LoneHaranguer]

1 hour ago, Captanne said:

Okay, well, as someone brightly pointed out above -- these boys couldn't develop an arm/hand consistent motion and, yet, within days they build a humanoid "Data" that simulates a real, adult, human being?  Narratively, that doesn't follow. 

It looks to me like nobody was paying attention when a writer decided that it'd be cool if Mead were to be shot and turn out to be an android, so now they're trying to justify that, by killing off the original Mead, telling us about a super-duper spell that keeps anyone from bring her back (including Michael, and I guess his dad), and having nerds doing unlikely things. BTW, according to Wikipedia, nobody has written more than one episode so far this season with Ryan Murphy just a co-writer of the first, so a coherent story free of digressions to explain what some other writer did may be too much to expect.

[Rap541]

Point - in episode one, Miss Venable appears to not know Michael Langdon but in this episode, Miss Venable works for two of Michael's Satanic Network and was told by the two Dumb and Dumber gimps to let Michael in thru the special elevator. So Michael is going back and forth to this building and Venable is the receptionist/lead organizer/head of the underlings... and never met Michael ?

This episode also confirms my theory that it's Meade who defeats Michael - Billy Eichner in a dumb wig clearly said letting her know she's a biomedical device would send her into angst filled mess that would likely result in homicide. 

[sashayshante]

11 minutes ago, Rap541 said:

Point - in episode one, Miss Venable appears to not know Michael Langdon but in this episode, Miss Venable works for two of Michael's Satanic Network and was told by the two Dumb and Dumber gimps to let Michael in thru the special elevator. So Michael is going back and forth to this building and Venable is the receptionist/lead organizer/head of the underlings... and never met Michael ?

This episode also confirms my theory that it's Meade who defeats Michael - Billy Eichner in a dumb wig clearly said letting her know she's a biomedical device would send her into angst filled mess that would likely result in homicide. 

She knows she's a robot. After she shoots venable she says, "I'm having a hard time with this. I know I'm just a machine..." Then Michael jumps in and tells her he had the Cooperative's R & D department construct her in Meade's image, but he had to hide her true self from her.

She's definitely going to have a meltdown of some kind, as we've seen her show remorse multiple times now; both in human and robotic form.

What I'm having a hard time with is the fact what Mallory, Coco and Dinah all ended up at The Outpost together. So, someone obviously put them there for a reason, yes? Could Coco's father be part of The Cooperative?

Edited November 5, 2018 by sashayshante

[Rap541]

Yes, but that is the trigger point - as "ms meade, not a robot" she fell in love with Venable. Now she knows she's a robot just in time for whatever little show down is going to happen and her knowing her true nature is a known programming issue that causes violence. 

And she's Mossad. This keeps getting pointed out. You don't hang a biometric android with Mossad assassin training on the wall next to Chekov's gun in act one and not end it all in a psychotic rage of "I'm a real girl! I AM FILLED WITH LOVE! BAM BAM BAM!!!" 

I mean, god knows they haven't tried for a *thoughtful* end like Michael realizing he doesn't have to follow in the footsteps of a father that abandoned him to be raised by a parade of nutjobs. The clever idea of Michael rejecting his role is probably too boring and lacking of public eviscerations and vomit. 

[sashayshante]

I want to see the evolution from Michael - unsure of himself, emo -  to Langdon - cocky and arrogant.  I just don't believe this whiny kid could oversee such a gigantic undertaking like the apocalypse.

[nokat]

Watching Cody Fern do an interview. Damn, but he's pretty.  I'm still expecting a twist.  Come on, Michael, the fallen angel. True evil sits there with an innocent face.
 

[owenthurman]

Here' s the twist ending I'm rooting for:

Michael discovers his humanity and decides he doesn't want to harm anyone... but it turns out Satan has a backup plan. Antichrist Plan B is Mallory.

[llewis823]

On 11/5/2018 at 8:51 AM, Captanne said:

Next season is probably off my list.  I think the show has simply left me behind.  And that's fine.  Whether I watch or not, really makes no difference.  I'm just not interested in what this show produces anymore.

I agree. And I'm sad to say that because I thought "Murder House" was just the bomb back when it first aired. I can usually see stuff coming a mile away, but when 

Spoiler

Violet saw herself dead

I didn't see it coming at all. I was yelling at the TV. I was walking around the house saying, "OMG - that just blew my mind", etc. Then I had to text all my friends and say "I'm not gonna say it in case you haven't watched yet, but you're not gonna believe what happened on AHS tonight!"  

But since then, RM has shoved Sarah Paulsen, Adina Porter and worst yet Emma Roberts down our throats - against our will I might add. Then, even though I love Stevie Nicks, we were subjected to that awful rendition of her song on this season, which as I said...awful...but even more so - waste of time that could have been used in clarifying things in this season and even helped in wrapping it all up. 

I was an avid fan and I've just kept giving RM the benefit of the doubt each season, and some didn't totally disappoint me (Asylum & Freakshow), but like you, Captanne, I am sad to say I think I'm out after this season unless they do something to give AHS its edge back. Even the show intro disappointed me this year.

[DangerousMinds]

1 hour ago, llewis823 said:

I agree. And I'm sad to say that because I thought "Murder House" was just the bomb back when it first aired. I can usually see stuff coming a mile away, but when 

  Hide contents

Violet saw herself dead

I didn't see it coming at all. I was yelling at the TV. I was walking around the house saying, "OMG - that just blew my mind", etc. Then I had to text all my friends and say "I'm not gonna say it in case you haven't watched yet, but you're not gonna believe what happened on AHS tonight!"  

But since then, RM has shoved Sarah Paulsen, Adina Porter and worst yet Emma Roberts down our throats - against our will I might add. Then, even though I love Stevie Nicks, we were subjected to that awful rendition of her song on this season, which as I said...awful...but even more so - waste of time that could have been used in clarifying things in this season and even helped in wrapping it all up. 

I was an avid fan and I've just kept giving RM the benefit of the doubt each season, and some didn't totally disappoint me (Asylum & Freakshow), but like you, Captanne, I am sad to say I think I'm out after this season unless they do something to give AHS its edge back. Even the show intro disappointed me this year.

You just said everything I feel. Murder House blew me away and this show has simply gone downhill since. There was so much potential.