American Horror Story

The season premiere of American Horror Story: Coven weaves a menacing tale of witchcraft that pushes past anything that would resemble good taste. A Teenage virgin’s vagina is used as a deadly weapon; a bull’s head is crowned upon an African American slave, which leads to a depressing transformation of a man into minotaur; and a date rape leads to a disastrous bus crash, killing several teenage boys. That doesn’t include the various men held as prisoners and tortured in an underground dungeon, the apparent deaths of several characters; and oh, did I mention the magical vagina?

As my Televerse cohost Simon Howell and I discussed in our Top 10 TV Series of 2013 (So Far), this has been a spectacular year for television, with many shows delivering remarkably consistent seasons (or half-seasons) of memorable, moving television. A number of series were in contention for our Top 10 but didn’t quite make …

5-American Horror Story If you’ve yet to tune in to Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuck’s show American Horror Story, now’s your chance to catch up before the newest season kicks off this upcoming October. One of the more unique shows currently on air, each season acts as a new story. A new era, new location, …

Bates Motel, Season 1, Episode 1: “First You Dream, Then You Die” Written by Anthony Cipriano Directed by Tucker Gates Airs Mondays at 10pm ET on A&E In 1987, a year after the second Psycho sequel hit the big screen, Universal looked to take the franchise to television by turning it into a weekly anthology …

When starting a new television show, the thing I look forward to the most is the title sequence, so it only felt right to devise this list when I heard the theme was favourite television shows this month. In early television there wasn’t a huge focus on title sequences; their only purpose was to present the …

American Horror Story Episode 13: “Madness Ends” Written by: Tim Minear Directed by: Madness Ends Original airdate: 23 January 2013 The “Madness Ends” this week, as the season two finale brings the audience to present day with a somewhat rewarding sense of closure. There is a huge contrast between last week’s and this week’s episode. …

American Horror Story Episode 12: “Continuum” Written by: Ryan Murphy Directed by: Craig Zisk Original Airdate: 16 January 2012 Each week I watch American Horror Story; I’m completely blown away and decide this is the best episode I’ve watched. Just when I thought it couldn’t possibly get any better cinematography wise, Continuum took the show …

American Horror Story Episode 11: “Spilt Milk” Written by: Brad Falchuk Directed by: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon Original Airdate: 9 January 2012 This week’s episode of American Horror Story is the triumph of Lana and definitely the most visually interesting yet. Thanks to Sister Jude confessing to wrongly imprisoning Lana, she is released from the asylum with …

With new seasons of existing shows to get me through the year, this list was a hard one to devise. 10. FOX’s Napoleon Dynamite Following the 2004 film Napoleon Dynamite the series follows the adventures of Dynamite and his family and friends. With Simpsons/Parks and Rec producer Mike Scully as executive producer, the franchise has …

American Horror Story Review, Season 1, Episode 12, “Afterbirth” Written by Jessica Sharzer Directed by Bradley Buecker Airs Wednesdays at 10:00 pm ET on FX Warning: Spoilers The opening flashback brings back the delusional Ben we knew for most of the season. Vivien’s ready to leave, but Ben pulls her back with promises of piecing …

American Horror Story Review, Season 1, Episode 12, “Afterbirth” Written by Jessica Sharzer Directed by Bradley Buecker Airs Wednesdays at 10:00 pm ET on FX Warning: Spoilers A little bit of context is useful in digesting the helping heap that is this season finale. Soon after this episode aired, series co-creator Ryan Murphy (below) explained …

For the first time ever, we polled the entire SOS staff on their favorite TV of the last 12 months. We knew that, given the fact that our contributors are (principally) spread out across Canada, the US, and Britain, that the results might well be a mixed bag. What we didn’t necessarily expect was the …

American Horror Story Review, Season 1, Episode 11, “Birth” Written by Tim Minear Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon Airs Wednesdays at 10:00 pm ET on FX Warning: Spoilers  This penultimate episode, “Birth,” feels like a finale. Without rushing, this episode builds an exciting momentum from the very beginning. Everyone in the house is ready for the …

American Horror Story Review, Season 1, Episode 10, “Smoldering Children” Written by James Wong Directed by Michael Lehmann Airs Wednesdays at 10:00 pm ET on FX Warning: Spoilers There’s very little to complain about in “Smoldering Children.” The wonderfully directed episode is a highlight of the season that wraps up several mysteries, moves the plot …

American Horror Story Review, Season 1, Episode 9, “Spooky Little Girl” Written by Jennifer Salt Directed by John Scott Airs Wednesdays at 10:00 pm ET on FX “Spooky Little Girl” covers a lot of ground. It introduces a possible recurring character and spends equal time with several plotlines. This week, Hayden discovers more about her …

American Horror Story Review, Season 1, Episode 8, “Rubber Man” Written by Ryan Murphy Directed by Miguel Arteta Airs Wednesdays at 10:00 pm ET on FX Last week’s “Open House” wasn’t an episode as much as a poor transition to the excellent “Rubber Man,” an episode that thoroughly delivers on several levels. This week, viewers …

American Horror Story Review, Season 1, Episode 6, “Piggy Piggy” Written by Jessica Sharzer Directed by Michael Uppendahl Airs Wednesdays at 10:00pm ET on FX As another solid episode, Piggy Piggy manages to progress the plot in a more traditional and serialized manner while also infusing a strong feeling of discomfort. This week follows each …

American Horror Story Review, Season 1, Episode 5, “Halloween, Part 2” Written by Tim Minear Directed by David Semel Airs Wednesdays at 10:00pm ET on FX Within the past decade, the availability of TV on DVD has demonstrated that the first season of any great series is an obligatory viewing experience. The very nature of …

American Horror Story Review, Season 1, Episode 4, “Halloween, Part 1” Written by James Wong Directed by David Semel Airs Wednesdays at 10:00pm ET on FX Four episodes in, it’s clear that American Horror Story won’t be taking its time for the remainder of the season. Every character and every subplot is a spinning plate …

American Horror Story Episode 1.03 “Murder House” Written by Jennifer Salt Directed by Bradley Buecker Airs Wednesdays at 10pm ET on FX This week’s episode of American Horror Story, “Murder House”, improves the series in several ways. First, the pacing has slowed for the better. It’s still too fast at times, but at least it’s not …

American Horror Story Episodes 1.01, “Pilot”/1.02, “Home Invasion” Written by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk Directed by Ryan Murphy (1.01) and Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (1.02) Airs Wednesdays at 10pm ET on FX The creators of FX’s new American Horror Story have already crammed two seasons’ worth of story arcs into the series’ first two episodes. Unlike …