There was no “Revenge” this week so “Guilty Pleasure TV Round Up” will only cover “American Horror Story.” What follows is a rundown with some spoilers (of course).
Things We Learned:
Both young master Tate and Quentin Tarantino think no killing spree is complete without “Georgie’s Theme.”
The Murder House doesn’t even have Google?? Ugh, that place is the worst.
According to Billy Dean Howard, The Craigslist Medium, there are two kinds of ghosts. Those that seek their “pound of flesh” and those who “don’t even know they’re dead and walk among the living with childlike confusion.”
Sarah Paulson is only slightly less annoying than Haley Joel Osment.
Both Connie Britton and I have rosy dreams about rubbing cocoa butter on Connie Britton. Mine don’t involve buzzkill fetus fingers.
Everything sexy Heirloom Security Guard says sounds like a double entendre to me. “Sensitivity Training?” Yes please.
Violet is a cutter. Did we already know that? She’s also, possibly, a Medium.
This episode had a real Rosemary’s Baby vibe with Jessica Lange playing the Ruth Gordon role.
“You’re in my house and you’re safe, you’re safe” is possibly the stupidest thing Dr. McDerp has said thus far. And that’s saying a lot.
If the Murder House tour is booked, you can always check out The Murder Library.
Tate likes Birds, Byron and “Battlestar Galactica.” Of course that kid reads Byron. Of course he does.
Tate went full retard “childlike confusion,” hauling a half-dead Violet into the bathtub before covering her in tender, wet vomity kisses.
Back in Jessica Lange’s Kitchen of Tearful, Oscar Worthy Monologues, Billy Dean Howard, The Craigslist Medium, proved herself to be a better therapist than Dr. McDerp.
Carnage:
The Organic, Free Range Creature that gave its life so Connie Britton could go all Daenerys Targaryen on its brains. (Cause of Death: Something Cruelty-Free, I’m Sure.)
The Undead Breakfast Club. (Cause of Death: Tate, Driven Mad By Too Much Byron And Time Spent In The Murder House.)
Horror Cliche:
All the religious chatter from both Angie, The Fainting Ultrasound Technician, and Violet’s classmate. “Li’l Hooves” is what I’m calling the fetus from now on.
The cavalcade of ghosts including the Ginger Brats, Murder House Tourists, The Nurse and Dr. Charles Montgomery.
Favorite Lines:
“It’s hard to keep good help.”
The Gist: Not a particularly strong episode, especially on the heels of the delightful Halloween two-parter. Taissa Farmiga was given a chance to shine and I think she’s really finding her footing with this role. What was at first a rather one-note, sullen performance is turning into something far more nuanced. I did dig the Rosemary’s Baby homage, but did not at all enjoy the Pig Man subplot. Even though Eric Stonestreet is actually straight and they did their best to butch him up in flannel and messy hair, I snorted in disbelief every time he mentioned having a relationship with a woman. Also the O’Henry-esque “twist” at the end? Dumb. Why was every bathroom mirror in that episode directly in front of or adjacent to a drawn shower curtain? Not a whole lot of answers or action this week, but I like the (demon) seeds the writers are planting.
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I thought the school scene was great, intense and that kid who plays Tate is doing a bang up (sorry) job of showing both sides of a whackjob. What with Jessica as a mother, what chance did he have.
I kept screaming at the TV, "Mister Pig is real!" Ryan Murphy is clearly a fan of Motel Hell.
Also, when Jessica had her little communication with Addie, she failed to mention (in her declarations of love) that locking the poor girl in the mirror room was to help her see how beautiful she was. Right?
Posted by: Cindy at November 10, 2011 12:18 PM
This episode had a chalky undertaste.
Posted by: Kettle at November 10, 2011 12:19 PM
Dermott McDermott needs to find a way to keep his patients alive if he's going to make a living. Tate's ghostbucks can't buy conditioner for Connie Britton.
Posted by: Optimus Rhyme at November 10, 2011 12:37 PM
I kept screaming at the guy in the bathroom "Check behind the shower curtain before you say that!!" He didn't listen. To his peril.
I loved this episode, but the security guard seemed kind of non-chalant about losing the girl from the back of his car. It's like "Oh, she must have jumped out at a street light". Gee... real good police work there, Lou!
One thing I had missed before ... or maybe they just showed it for the first time. When did the daughter talk to Jessica Lange's mom? They showed it in flashback, but I don't remember seeing that before.
Posted by: OldRod at November 10, 2011 12:39 PM
Somehow, that scene was way more gross to me than Dany's horse heart scene.
I think they showed Violet cutting in the first or second episode.
I can't quit this show. Jessica Lange is still crushing it. And though I've never especially cared about him in anything else, bitchy Zachary Quinto is delightful. I hope there's more of him. I missed him in this episode.
We did know about Violet being a cutter - that was established in one of the first two episodes. Tate calls her on it and we see her do it. Also, you are missing Piggy Man patient on the list of casualties for the episode. His arc was incredibly stupid, and he didn't die in the house, so we won't see him again, but still.
Is it weird that watching her eat that brain grossed me out more than anything else has so far? It's apparently a week for me discovering random things I don't have tolerance for - the skin peeling off your body is another (thanks House).
Next week looks like the up the crazy some more. The only things that got to me at all this week were jump scare related, and that's sad - I like when they really amp up the tension and I just didn't get that. I'm intrigued with how the Violet/Tate relationship moves forward from here, what with him being dead and not knowing it and all.
Posted by: KatSings at November 10, 2011 12:41 PM
Is it wrong that I'm rooting for Dr. Charles Montgomery to perform a ghostbortion?
Posted by: I Need More Allowance at November 10, 2011 12:49 PM
You take back what you said about Sarah Paulson. SARAH PAULSON IS NOT ANNOYING SHE IS A DELIGHT IN EVERYTHING SHE IS IN. GODDAMNIT.
Other than that I enjoyed your recap very much.
This show is so out-there batshit crazy that I spent the pregnant-eating scenes wondering what Jessica Lange and The Maid are really feeding her. I'd bet a cookie that it's not pig..."We need that baby"...*shudders deliciously*
Posted by: Jerce at November 10, 2011 1:01 PM
Sooooo. . .who can see the ghosts? Just the Craigslist Medium and the owners of the house. Or anyone IN the house (police officer saw the maid)? And then everyone in the world on Halloween? I'm super confused as the "The Rules."
Posted by: Siricruz at November 10, 2011 1:19 PM
You're so right, KatSings, I must have blocked it on account of the fact that I hated that plot line so much. I was actually rooting, early on, for Stonestreet to die in The Murder House. Then he could have come back for sporadic hauntings and to cause some feisty gay/not gay love triangles with Bitchy Zachary Quinto and his physically fit luuvvvaaaahhh.
Posted by: Joanna Robinson at November 10, 2011 1:22 PM
Best line of the night "Do you think I wanted a
bloody Mexican ghost in my bathroom?"
Posted by: sarah at November 10, 2011 1:40 PM
I cannot say I like that Twilighty romance shit though, please do not take us yet again down the forbidden young love road. It is already fraught with too many worn down pairs of Converse All Stars.
Posted by: Cindy at November 10, 2011 1:54 PM
Converse All Star-Crossed Lovers!
Seriously, Tate was giving off a strong Sparkly Vampire vibe. Stalking (putting on iPods, writing on chalkboards) does not equal love, young peoples!
Posted by: I Need More Allowance at November 10, 2011 1:56 PM
Everything sexy Heirloom Security Guard says sounds like a double entendre to me.
Every time I see him, I'm all "Hey there, security guy, why don't you come over here and install my system, if you know what I mean"
Posted by: Anna von Beav at November 10, 2011 2:43 PM
Tonally I thought this was the least cheesy episode yet. As troubled as I was by the events at Virginia Tech, Columbine, etc., that opening scene in the school was a little disturbing to me.
I don't understand why those shower curtains had to be closed at all. Does Pig Man have to have the curtain to materialize behind? I'd open all the curtains first. Or try doing the chant in front of a mirror that doesn't have a shower behind it at all. And what was up with that burglar that was in the shower? Was that just completely absurdist coincidental morbid humor?
Angeleno Ewok and I were riffing on the "little hooves" as well.
Posted by: DarthCorleone at November 10, 2011 6:14 PM
I agree with OldRod. Hated the nonchalant delivery of, "oh by the way, that crazy chick who terrorized you last week is still on the loose."
I might be annoyed by converse all-star crossed lovers if the guy who plays Tate wasn't so damn good. He's killing it. I want to see him and Lange interact.
Also, I need more Alby as the doctor. What will thst sick fuck think of next? Brilliant actor.
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Posted by: Alonso Bowan at December 12, 2011 3:55 AM
I thought the school scene was great, intense and that kid who plays Tate is doing a bang up (sorry) job of showing both sides of a whackjob. What with Jessica as a mother, what chance did he have.
I kept screaming at the TV, "Mister Pig is real!" Ryan Murphy is clearly a fan of Motel Hell.
Also, when Jessica had her little communication with Addie, she failed to mention (in her declarations of love) that locking the poor girl in the mirror room was to help her see how beautiful she was. Right?