3.5/5
Written by Luke Barnes
Summary
Failing screen writer Harry Gardner, Finn Wittrock, move his family to the coast for the winter in hopes of finding inspiration. However, what he finds is a town overrun by pale creatures that feast on human blood.
It has been a while since we last saw American Horror Story on our screens. Is this a return to form for the series after the so-so outing of the last season? Partially maybe, but it is not without its issues. I understand that this is a first episode, so it has a lot to set up, however, it is so slow it puts you to sleep. The pacing in this episode is way off, with the first forty minutes being fairly bland and then things livening up in the final ten or so minutes.
Another thing I think that is hurting the show somewhat this season, is that they are no leading with their strongest performers. Evan Peters and Sarah Paulson are only briefly in this episode is bit supporting parts, with the lead instead being Wittrock and Lilly Rabe. That is not to say they are bad, rather that they might have been better suited to supporting roles as they aren’t really compelling enough to act as leads.
I do like the rather obvious vampire influence over this season, though it is clear they won’t actually be vampires, instead they will be sea monsters as the theme is aliens and sea monsters for this season- at least going off the promotional art work. I think the origins of the pale creatures is set up to be interesting and I would like to see how they tie into the wider lore of the universe.
Overall, it has promise but as first episodes go this was a bit too slow.
Pros.
The pale creatures
The vampire influence
Paulson and Peters in the small doses we get of them
Cons.
The leads aren’t strong
The episode is poorly paced
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Another Millennial Reviewer 