Caught up with the first episode last night (fell asleep too soon on Wednesday
), and, boy... I'm currently listening to this while I type...
What follows may be
SPOILERS, so be warned...
The Good- Geez. The costumes, the makeup, the direction - Not too surprising there. Everything looks absolutely gorgeous and we have that classic dizzying direction that tips and turns.
- The opening theme song and visuals - So creepy and overtly SEXUAL. Part of me was aghast that they got away with that on cable! I know that sounds very Old Lady of me but I love it when art can shock me like that.
- Jessica Lange. Jessica Lange. Jessica Lange. Good golly. PLEASE tell me that this isn't ACTUALLY her last season.
- Twisty the Clown - Wow. The scene with he and the couple in the field legitimately creeped me out - The hubby started to mutter about how our clown-fearing friend would hate this and I shushed him immediately.
- The cast. I love how it stars both actors and "actual freaks" (for lack of a better term) - Jyoti Amge as the Smallest Woman is simply lovely and, man, not gonna lie - I think I might have a crush on Matt Fraser (the guy with the small arms). Also - Evan Peters. Ohhhhh, Evan Peters...
Do I need to mention Kathy Bates? Naw - Everyone knows how great she is. And she's pretty damn great here (hopefully she won't be wasted like she was in Coven).
- I loved our spectators - Can't wait to see where their creepy, odd story goes
- I really like the duality of Bette & Dot
- And the musical number - I wasn't sold at first but I've watched it a couple of times today and I LOVE IT. I thought that maybe my initial love was not only because I love David Bowie but I LOVE "Life on Mars" so the combination of my favorite actress in my favorite show singing my favorite song by my favorite singer - Well, that made my head explode a little bit.
- I've already mentioned Twisty the Clown but I really do love his introduction and can't wait to see what they do with him this season.
- As for the rest of the freakshow I'm excited in terms of who we met but am really wary - Last season they had too many characters they tried to focus on and most of them didn't have much of a journey - I hope that doesn't happen again.
- Lange's legs - Our final view of her. So sad and beautiful (like the musical number)
The Nit-Picky (not bad but stuff that bugged me a little)- So while I was a bit gaga with Lange's musical number, there was a part of me that thought perhaps it was forced... And seeing Bette/Dot sing Fiona Apple in the preview of the season, well that concerns me - When AHS had the "Name Game" singalong, it was random but it worked - it was fantastic and one of my favorite episodes of that show. I worry that these will seem forced and shoe-horned in (while I loved Stevie Nicks as a surprise last season, her musical number did seem stuck in because they had her as a guest star, but because it actually fit)... That's more of a nagging concern than anything else. I don't want the series' trying to fit in music numbers cheapen its creepy brilliance
- Lobster Boy's "second job" - Ok, it's unfair to put it here because MAN do I love that concept - It just felt random and really stuck in - I wish that we had introduced that later perhaps... I hope that we somehow come back to it - The concept of him further selling himself - The concept of housewives "embracing" this freak as it were, and, well, the awesomely freaky creepy sexual vibe - I LOVED IT. I just hope it wasn't a random throwaway scene, like so many last season.
- Lange's accent was hard to get my head around at first, but that's more of a testament to how much I loved her in previous seasons.
- Kathy Bates' accent bugged me; no idea where that comes from
- The two-headed girl - This is going to sound bizarre but the CGI is almost too perfect - She's too pretty to be a "freak" - Another odd complaint but that's been something that bothered me from the beginning.
That's really it in terms of gripes, though...
Oh, and by the way - did you see the look alike while Lange was singing? Is she a twin or just crazy and watching/dreaming about herself? Excited to see where that goes.
All in all, I'm totally pumped to see more. Meanwhile I've binge-rewatched the first season and am working my way through the second. This is my favorite television series ever.