Behind the Screen - American Horror Story

Ranking: #8 Out of 8 Seasons

American Horror Story: Cult is the one everyone will remember as being highly political and the only season thus far to not feature a supernatural element to its plot. Now, did this tactic work? Some say yes, others say no, and I find myself somewhere in between.
There were certain elements to Cult that I enjoyed, such as it had me guessing a lot throughout its 11 episodes as to what was actually going on, and I have to say I liked trying to figure out whether or not Sarah Paulson’s character Ally was truly going crazy or if something more sinister was at hand. It had numerous twists and turns and therefore didn’t have an easily predictable outcome.
On the negative side, I wasn’t as invested with the characters in Cult as I was for many of the other years of American Horror Story. As per usual, Sarah Paulson dominates any scene that she is in, and I wanted her character to have a justified ending, but everyone else was highly unlikable, though I think that was probably Ryan Murphy’s intention.
I find that I don’t have very much to say about Cult, because I didn’t love it and I didn’t find much I despised about it. I will say that the constant jumping around of the timeline was a bit jarring, but otherwise there wasn’t anything that really stood out to me to make Cult a truly memorable season. The political commentary is certainly daring and timely, but other than that it’s just an okay season.

Ranking: #7 Out of 8 Seasons

American Horror Story:Hotel marked the first season without Jessica Lange and for that reason and many others, the likability factor of it took a major hit. In all fairness to Lady Gaga, I was genuinely surprised and impressed with her overall performance. She had phenomenal style and looked fantastic on the screen, but even all that put together wasn’t able to fill the void of losing Lange. Storywise, I would definitely say that Hotel is easily one of my least favorites. For one, I felt it far too violent in comparison to the other seasons. Yes, being American Horror Story, a heavy amount of blood and gore is to be expected, but based on the first episode alone, there just seemed to be way too much over the top violence, making it so I originally had never gone passed the first episode until my recent rewatch of the entire series. Visually, this season is stunning. The costumes and set design are bold, breathtaking, and really hit it out of the park. Though I didn’t enjoy very much of Hotel, what made me it tolerable was the always reliable performances of Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, and Angela Bassett. Those three women never fail to impress with their acting talent, and thank God they were all in this season, because otherwise it would have been hard to get through. Denis O’Hare also deserves major recognition for his work in this season, because his role as Liz Taylor along with her relationship with Kathy Bates’ Iris was easily the best part of Hotel. So, all in all, not my favorite, but I will say it was nice to see Evan Peters tackle a new character type and its last episode made it worth sticking around for all 12.

Ranking: #6 Out of 8 Seasons

American Horror Story: Roanoke is, for reasons apparently beyond my understanding, most commonly ranked as the worst season of the AHS franchise. For me, I have to say that I couldn’t disagree more.
Personally, I found the whole reality TV docu-series angle to be highly original and very well made. Overtime, I have seen a few of the ghost investigation series that the fake “My Roanoke Nightmare” was based off, and I think American Horror Story did a really great job at mimicking that style. The whole concept of the interview/reenactment was really clever, and a great way to be able to bring more familiar faces back to the series.
As fantastic as Sarah Paulson is, and don’t get me wrong, I think she’s exceptional, I was more excited to see the return of Lily Rabe to this season of American Horror Story. I have often felt that she is one of the more under-appreciated actors to be a part of the Murphy-verse, and as anticipated, she did a fantastic job in Roanoke. Rabe is a very gifted and diverse actress and anytime that I see she is part of the cast of AHS, I get excited because I know she’ll put out a phenomenal performance.
The second half of Roanoke isn’t nearly as good as the first, and the last episode feels quite unnecessary. To me, it only appeared to exist in a way to try and thread together the concept that all the seasons are connected as well as to exploit more of the asinine tactics that are associated with reality TV.
Despite its bad reputation, Roanoke is certainly not the worst season in the bunch and I find it to be unfairly judged.

Ranking: #5 Out of 8 Seasons

American Horror Story: Apocalypse was probably the biggest surprise for me in the entire series, because I went into honestly expecting not to like it very much. I mostly only wanted to watch it for the promise of Jessica Lange’s triumphant return, but Apocalypse actually ended up being one of my more favorite seasons.
As if there could have been any other possible result, Jessica Lange’s reprisal of her role as Constance Langdon was just as sweet and glorious as I had anticipated. Her presence was reminiscent to the original days of the series where it possessed a bit more restraint on its gore and was expected to receive a high level of critical acclaim every season.
This season is really a showcase of the brilliance that is Sarah Paulson. She not only has to tackle three separate characters in Apocalypse, but she also directs the season’s best episode as well. If I hadn’t already been sold on the immense talent that Paulson possesses, this season alone solidified my opinion on her greatness. The fact that she plays three people in this season is highly impressive, and her ability to not have those characters blend together is truly remarkable.
I think what really took me off guard with how much I loved Apocalypse was the fact that it was a crossover season between Coven and Murder House. Originally, I hadn’t loved the idea that all the seasons were supposedly connected, but Apocalypse proved me wrong and showed me that there is some good to that concept. It is most likely because it was dominantly focused on the characters from Coven that I loved so much, but even so, the people behind Apocalypse did a fantastic job at blending the seasons together. It almost made me wonder why there needs to be a season after this one, for it has a great sense of closure and finality to it.

Ranking: #4 Out of 8 Seasons

American Horror Story: Freak Show isn’t free of faults, but I don’t feel it is nearly as bad as many would lead you to think.
What I truly loved about Freak Show was the concept and the time period. I have always had a fascination about the old traveling carnivals and I am also very drawn to stories based anywhere between the ‘40s through the ‘60s, so in that sense, the season was a perfect match for me. It also doesn’t help that the acting by Kathy Bates, Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, and Evan Peters was, as always, top notch.
What is seemingly the most disliked element to Freak Show is the singing that was added into the season. It appeared that people had a strong aversion to the songs sung by the characters because they were not true to the time period. Personally, I didn’t have an issue with this, and when I learned that Ryan Murphy chose the songs he did because the original artists for those tracks described themselves as “freaks”, it made perfect sense to me. What bothered me more with the songs was not the period discrepancies, but the fact that I found them to feel a tad forced. Jessica Lange’s musical numbers seemed the most natural, given that her character longed to be a star, but I never quite understood why Bette, Dot, and Jimmy had to sing as well.
The only true negative I can say for this season is that it is the first one that merged its timeline with a former season. At first, I wasn’t overly thrilled with this idea, because I liked the concept of each season being a standalone, but Freak Show did well at combining some of its elements with Asylum, and the main crossover episode ended up being one of the most well acted and emotional installments to the season.
Freak Show is certainly one of my favorites and I look forward to seeing it again on my next watch through the series.

Ranking: #3 Out of 8 Seasons

Ok, so this is where we start splitting hairs, because the first three seasons of American Horror Story are so fantastic, that it’s really difficult to put the top three in order.
AHS: Murder House was the season that kick started it all, and boy what a way to begin. What’s great about Murder House, is when it first hit the air, there was very little known about it, and if you weren’t aware of anything to do with the plot before watching, it contained some genuine scares and surprises for its viewers.
I think what I love the most about Murder House, aside from the phenomenal performances, is how the season transcends different time periods as well as its’ nods to other famous horror icons. The way the story of the first season is set up, there’s literally no possible way to get tired of it, because there’s so much suspense and curiosity packed into its plot. You are desperate to find out what exactly is going on in the house and just how many souls have been unfortunate enough to find themselves bound within its’ walls.
I know as I have been ranking these seasons I have been doting on and on about Jessica Lange’s roles in each season, but it’s pretty impossible not to. The other actors and actresses in Murder House are no slouches by any means, in fact they give some of the finer performances that have been put on the small screen, but there’s just nothing that beats the southern tenacity and bite that comes along with Lange’s original character of Constance Langdon.
As previously mentioned, I had quite the challenge choosing how the order of my top three rankings would go, and the only reason Murder House has been put in third place is because the other two seasons that follow just seem to hit their stride a bit more and therefore are stronger seasons, but only ever so slightly.

Ranking: #2 Out of 8 Seasons

So, I’m going to take a guess and say that this will be my most controversial ranking, as many people will put Asylum in the top spot, and I don’t fully disagree with that decision, but for me, it just narrowly missed out on being number one.
Let’s start by talking about the major plusses for AHS: Asylum. First of all, this is the beginning to Sarah Paulson becoming a major player in the series, and it was a stroke of brilliance. We barely got to see her in Murder House, so it is here in this season, that she got her chance to shine. Lana Winters is without a doubt one of the best characters to come out of the American Horror Story franchise and I cannot think of one person who could have played her better than Paulson. She keeps her character strong throughout the most gruesome and horrific adversities and keeps the audience pulling for her the whole time. In a setting that seems so distantly pulled from reality, Paulson keeps Lana Winters grounded and frighteningly believable.
Of all the seasons, I would say that Asylum is more bleak than most. Many of the seasons have some small moments of comic relief, even it is just a slight quip here and there, but Asylum is mostly grief and despair. Of course it does have “the Name Game” sequence to lighten the mood, but that is truly one of the only moments where the audience can allow their tensions to ease.
I would say that the main reason Asylum didn’t receive the top spot for me would be the alien part of the story arc. I just couldn’t buy into it, and it felt more inexplicable and bizarre compared to the rest of the subplots that made up the season. Had it not been for that element, Asylum may have been made my number one, because it most certainly was not lacking in impeccable acting skill, style, and substance.

Ranking: #1 Out of 8 Seasons

Though I know many will disagree, I have decided that American Horror Story: Coven deserves the number one spot.
Coven possesses a remarkably high level of acting talent. Honestly, I couldn’t really care less about the younger witches’ in the story, it’s the scenes with Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, and Angela Bassett that make me love this season more than the others. The sheer amount of power that is brought to the screen when any of those three women are put in a scene together is absolutely brilliant. There is no doubt in my mind as to why both Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates won Emmys for this season, and I only wish there was a way that Angela Bassett would have been able to get one as well. This season actually took me the longest to rewatch, because I kept rewinding scenes with those actresses in them because I was enjoying them so much.
This season really gives the actresses a chance to showcase the wide range of talent they posses, especially for Lily Rabe and Sarah Paulson. Coven is where Rabe proves more than ever that she can tackle whatever role she is given, and perform it to perfection, and Paulson continues to prove how fearless she is as she took on the many struggles that Cordelia Goode faced throughout the season.
Along with the performances in Coven, it was the look and story that made me pick it for first place. I enjoy plots that are focused around the supernatural or witchcraft, mostly because I am curious to see what new spin someone can put on the commonly used theme. I truly love what AHS did with the magic on Coven, though I do wish there was a bit more of it, especially when Madison was finally about to get what was coming to her.
To me, Coven has a great balance between the gore and actual storytelling and I doubt for me, any future season will be able to top it.