I commented on another review that the episode (and show) was pretty much unreviewable. The same with Season 11 of AHS, but for different reasons. If you like or disliked the season, it seems to boil down to whether you "got" the metaphoric approach and the approach to AIDS or not.
Speaking as someone who has watched the show for 11 seasons now, and who has lost friends to AIDS, I'm going to try to review the season for what is. And that is... not good.
I got the metaphors, and the approach to AIDS. The cinematography was so-so (were they trying to replicate Patrick's blindness from episode 9?) and they seemed to intermingle characters who were so busy being metaphors that Murphy & Falchuk didn't develop them or their backgrounds. Why was Henry in Sam's... dream? Nightmare? Hallucination? Did they even know each other? At least Sam and Theo knew each other: see episode 9 among others.
I got the same impression with Adam and Hannah earlier in the season. They were just walking down the street and talking about how Adam had impregnated Hannah. I... guess the two met when Adam went to the clinic. Why did Hannah choose him as the father of her child? Or why did she want to be the carrier of his baby? Who knows? Who cares?
Who was Kathy supposed to be? I guess a metaphor for Bette Midler in the 80s, but so what? What was the point of the scenes where she was with an impersonator auditioning to sing for her?
In 'Fire Island', why were Theo and Adam staying with Gino and Patrick? I get that Adam and Gino met at the Native, but does a working relationship really mean you want to have them share a rental with you? And why and how did they get a rental? Was it a rental?
Who or what were the deer boys? I guess they were former photographic subjects of Theo's. But then why did they appear in Sam's... whatever the heck it was?
Most importantly, what happened to Henry? Denis O'Hare gave arguably the best of his performances on AHS. Henry was the most interesting character of Season 11, as an older gay hitman, which isn't something you see anywhere in moves or TVs. Like him or hate him, he was unique. He deserved better than being quietly disposed of off-screen without explanation, only to be seen as inexplicably a part of Sam's death visions. Ditto for Fran. Sure, her character wasn't unique. But she just...vanishes.
And what about Big Daddy? He seemed to be the biggest change when the premise changed in the middle of the season, like Adam and Hannah suddenly being a couple. I think Big Daddy was originally a supernatural presence, and then he became a metaphor. Wait a minute, he firebombed a gay club? A metaphor firebombed a club and put bunch of gay men in the hospital? Wha?
About the time Whitely got disposed of, the wind went out of the season's sails, like Murphy & Falchuk had nothing more to say after they killed the Mai Tai Killer off. It's like they gave up and said, "We don't know how to end this, let's make it a bunch of artsy-fartsy metaphors."
Speaking of ending, it's a good thing they ended it after five double-episode nights. I don't think the season could have survived a full ten-episode season. All the cracks in the season, particularly the post-Whitely ones, could be glossed over in the compressed season. If it had run ten weeks, I think the viewership would have died way, way off.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
Speaking as someone who has watched the show for 11 seasons now, and who has lost friends to AIDS, I'm going to try to review the season for what is. And that is... not good.
I got the metaphors, and the approach to AIDS. The cinematography was so-so (were they trying to replicate Patrick's blindness from episode 9?) and they seemed to intermingle characters who were so busy being metaphors that Murphy & Falchuk didn't develop them or their backgrounds. Why was Henry in Sam's... dream? Nightmare? Hallucination? Did they even know each other? At least Sam and Theo knew each other: see episode 9 among others.
I got the same impression with Adam and Hannah earlier in the season. They were just walking down the street and talking about how Adam had impregnated Hannah. I... guess the two met when Adam went to the clinic. Why did Hannah choose him as the father of her child? Or why did she want to be the carrier of his baby? Who knows? Who cares?
Who was Kathy supposed to be? I guess a metaphor for Bette Midler in the 80s, but so what? What was the point of the scenes where she was with an impersonator auditioning to sing for her?
In 'Fire Island', why were Theo and Adam staying with Gino and Patrick? I get that Adam and Gino met at the Native, but does a working relationship really mean you want to have them share a rental with you? And why and how did they get a rental? Was it a rental?
Who or what were the deer boys? I guess they were former photographic subjects of Theo's. But then why did they appear in Sam's... whatever the heck it was?
Most importantly, what happened to Henry? Denis O'Hare gave arguably the best of his performances on AHS. Henry was the most interesting character of Season 11, as an older gay hitman, which isn't something you see anywhere in moves or TVs. Like him or hate him, he was unique. He deserved better than being quietly disposed of off-screen without explanation, only to be seen as inexplicably a part of Sam's death visions. Ditto for Fran. Sure, her character wasn't unique. But she just...vanishes.
And what about Big Daddy? He seemed to be the biggest change when the premise changed in the middle of the season, like Adam and Hannah suddenly being a couple. I think Big Daddy was originally a supernatural presence, and then he became a metaphor. Wait a minute, he firebombed a gay club? A metaphor firebombed a club and put bunch of gay men in the hospital? Wha?
About the time Whitely got disposed of, the wind went out of the season's sails, like Murphy & Falchuk had nothing more to say after they killed the Mai Tai Killer off. It's like they gave up and said, "We don't know how to end this, let's make it a bunch of artsy-fartsy metaphors."
Speaking of ending, it's a good thing they ended it after five double-episode nights. I don't think the season could have survived a full ten-episode season. All the cracks in the season, particularly the post-Whitely ones, could be glossed over in the compressed season. If it had run ten weeks, I think the viewership would have died way, way off.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?