HomeARTS“American Horror Story” Season Preview

“American Horror Story” Season Preview

By AARON KREIN
Arts Editor

For months now, fans of the FX anthology series “American Horror Story” have been anticipating the premiere of the sixth season.
Creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have teased viewers with short commercials promoting the upcoming season online and provoking suspicion on what the theme would be.
For the first time since the inaugural season, the theme and anything related to the show besides casting was not announced prior to the show’s premiere. Every promotion teased the season with “?6” in a mysterious fashion.In response to the disappointment of the “Hotel” season last fall, I thought this was a brilliant move on FX’s part to gain anticipation.
The show opened with an introduction by Murphy thanking fans for their support the past five seasons and shamelessly promoting a Mercedes behind him.
Basically, the show is about an interracial couple, Matt and Shelby Miller, who move from Los Angeles to Roanoke Island, NC after being attacked on the street.
They buy this beautiful 18th century house located in the middle of the woods at an auction. While Matt is away on business, Shelby is visited by spirits of long ago who continue to haunt her.
They contact the police, but like in past seasons of “American Horror Story,” they think Shelby is crazy and refuse to help her. Shelby wants to leave but Matt assures her everything will be fine.
Matt’s sister Lee, a former cop, comes down to stay with them as protection. Shelby and Lee don’t get along and the spirits use that as an advantage frequently with scaring them.
The episode ends with Shelby driving away in panic but bumping into spirits played by Kathy Bates and Wes Bentley.
One new direction for “American Horror Story” this season is the way the show is structured. The new meta format follows a reality show called “My Roanoke Nightmare,” where Matt, Shelby, and Lee recount their experiences in the present. It’s similar to the set up of a show like “I Shouldn’t Be Alive” and “My Ghost Story.”
The story is shown as a dramatic reenactment with Cuba Gooding, Jr., Sarah Paulson, and Angela Bassett playing these characters. The actual victims talk directly to the camera to interject emotions they were feeling during certain points of the episode.
It was quite a refreshing format for the show, which has followed a paint-by-numbers structure for the past three seasons.
After the season premiere, it was announced online that the subtitle would be “Roanoke” and that it would revolve around the 1590s disappearances in the Roanoke Colony.
Reportedly, this will be the first time a season takes place in the present but has remnants from the past interspliced. However, it can be argued that the third season, “Coven,” has done this previously.
With only a very few characters introduced, I’m very curious how the rest of the returning cast will fit into this season.
AHS alums such as Evan Peters, Cheyenne Jackson, Denis O’Hare, Matt Bomer, Finn Wittrock and Lady Gaga are scheduled to appear in the season. “Murder House” co-star Adina Porter and “Coven” co-star Leslie Jordan are also returning to the cast.
Jacob Artist is the latest alum from Murphy’s previous series, “Glee,” to join the cast with Darren Criss being the first last season. Emma Roberts, who’s currently starring in the sister series “Scream Queens,” is rumored to return to the show but as of yet has not been confirmed.
I’m looking forward to this season based on the mysteries and cliffhanger the season premiere presented. If you were a fan of the series early on, I would recommend you give it a chance.
Like “Hotel,” the first episode is a bit long-winded but it builds up the climax waiting toward the end.
With other successes like “Scream Queens” and “American Crime Story,” I feel this is AHS’s “make it or break it” season.
The series took a dip last year but with what I’ve seen so far, they may be able to obtain the majority that give it a chance back.

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