Written by: Ryan Dailey
American Horror Stories is a HULU exclusive that drops a new episode weekly. Some of the stories take place in the same universe as the flagship show, while others do not. This premise sounds amazing on paper, as American Horror Story continues to be renewed and bring in fans, despite the very hit-or-miss quality of every season. In execution, however, the premise frays around the edges a bit.
In the first two-part episode, The Rubber (wo)Man Parts One and Two is a double-edged sword. While it is great to revisit Murder House, it could also be perceived as the showrunners using it as a crutch. Re-visiting this backdrop could bring in new fans that have yet to see a single episode of the flagship series and watch this based on how strong the Murder House season was, while exiting fans will no doubt want to kick in the front doors of Murder House and make themselves right at home. The pilot episode(s) seems almost catered to people that are unfamiliar to the AHS universe, as it is a very condensed copy of the first full season, only with the rubber-suited killer gender-swapped for a young woman.
For your consideration, a young couple that flip houses for a living, (Matt Bomer and Gavin Creel) bring their young daughter Scarlett, (Sierra McKormick) to their newest project, the Murder House. The teen finds the infamous rubber suit and feels compelled to put it on, giving her the freedom to act out her violent fantasies. Sounds vaguely familiar thus far.
From there on, Scarlett is tricked into believing she has found not only a friend, but a lover when one of the more popular girls in her school. This dream quickly becomes a nightmare as the possible love interest live-streams Scarlett’s confession about being partial to hardcore, violent BDSM pornography. Scarlett retreats back to Murder House and promptly blackmails the girls involved in her humiliation to come to her or she will kill herself and implement them. To avoid the possibility of getting in trouble, the group of girls give into Scarlett’s request. Much like Violet in season one of the main continuity, Scarlett is faced with an emotional event and then contemplates suicide in the bathtub. With the help of her ghost lover, (Kaia Gerber) Ruby, the two kill the group of girls, thus trapping them in the house. The episode ends with Scarlett hunting down the caretaker that abused Ruby and killing him.
Overall, the first two-part episode is well written and well-acted, although it seems to be condensed, forcing a lot of time jumps to fit in all the story points. If you have been wanting to jump in on the AHS wagon, but find that catching up on nine seasons is a bit daunting, this is perfect for you. If you are a long-time fan of AHS and love anthology series like Tales From the Crypt, FX and HULU have you covered.
Episode three is set in a small town where a local drive-in has just reopened.
Chad (Rhenzy Feliz) is trying his hardest to finally have sex with his long-time girlfriend Kelly (Madison Bailey). After months of trying to no avail, Chad’s friends tell him to take her to the screening of Rabbit, Rabbit. The film in question has a history of triggering insanity in those that view it. Every student in school and a large portion of the community shows up for the screening, filling the lot with crazed……zombies? Madness ensues once Verna (Adrienne Barbeau) threads the film into the projector. The patrons bite, claw, scratch and kill one another, leaving Chad and Kelley seeking refuge in the projection booth…….where they happen to find a shotgun and a box of shells?
After destroying the print of the film that caused all this chaos, the two wait it out overnight. After Chad recovers from his head wound in the morning, the two decide to kill the director and destroy his own personal copy of the film. Chad and Kelly, having seen some of the movie, are slightly more violent, thus not having any reservations about killing.
The two corner the director, Larry Bitterman, played by John Carroll Lynch in his trailer, shooting him in the knees and setting his home and print of the movie on fire, leaving him inside.
As our “heroes” finally make love back at Chad’s house, it is revealed that Netflix picked up the streaming rights to Rabbit, Rabbit. Outside of Chad’s bedroom window, Los Angeles burns.
Episode three suffers from the same problems as the first episode(s), in that it needed more time to tell the story. Again, it was well acted and written, even though it has really close parallels to John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness.