So after quite a wait, the beauty that is American Horror Story has finally arrived back to our televisions (or in my case, laptop). I understand I'm sort of late with this post but better late than never! I've been a dedicated AHS fan since the first series, but I will admit I was slightly apprehensive about the idea of a coven based story line. I'm incredibly interested in the pagan religions such as Wicca, and I was nervous that this series would literally rip apart everything meaningful and good about these religions, and reduce them to nothing more than a few cheap scares. Thankfully it's so far so good, and the witches in the series don't appear to be based off of modern day witches, but are rather more inspired by Carrie and Hocus Pocus (and Teeth from the sounds of things).
First things first, I feel I should probably express how happy I am that there's so many "Murder House" actors in this season. We still have Jessica Lange (goddess), Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe and Frances Conroy (all season one actors, but they were also in season two, but actors that didn't come back for the second season are now back for season three! Taissa Farmiga, Jamie Brewer, Denis O'Hare and Alex Breckenridge have all returned (well Alex hasn't yet but you know). Jamie Brewer was so awesome in Murder House so honestly I'm super happy she's in it again. Kathy Bates and Emma Roberts have also joined the cast and so far is actually fitting in well (I seem to be constantly underestimating her).
This time, the story is set in New Orleans, at a school specifically designed for young witches. The school is a shadow of its former self. It's only students being Madison, the bitchy movie star who is a telekinetic, Zoe who from what I can tell has a poisoned vagina (don't ask), Queenie the human voodoo doll, and Nan, the clairvoyant. The girls are under the watchful eye of Cordelia Fox, and her mother Fiona, who is the Grand Supreme (aka baddass). The story alternates between the past and present. In true AHS fashion, they have brought in a historical element in the character of Delphine LaLaurie, who actually existed! She was a socialite who brutally tortured and murdered her slaves. The torture scenes are pretty brutal to be honest. By adding in the characteristic of being obsessed with staying young, they tie her character in with the events of the present, especially with Fiona (Jessica Lange) who is also obsessed with aging.
There appears to be HUGE feminist themes in this series. Namely because of the fact there is a very strong female cast. Already in episode one, AHS addresses a horrible event that many women experience, being raped. Emma Roberts' character Madison is gang raped after being drugged at a college party. I reckon that the rest of the series will explore the aftermath of such an event. The main themes also seem to be about women being strong and being empowered.
A big new feature to the series is a narrator (Taissa Farmiga's character Zoe). A lot of people are praising this feature because it makes the story line much more linear and less confusing. The first episode established a clear story line that looks as if it'll be very interesting in future episodes. Evan Peter's character has already been killed off so it'll be very interesting to see how they reintroduce him, since he's in the titular credits (necromancy maybe?). Also the character of Misty Day (Lily Rabe) seems very interesting. She seemingly burns to death at the start of the episode but Lily Rabe is also part of the main cast, so I don't think we're finished with her yet.
All in all, my thoughts on this series so far are hopeful. I'm unsure as of yet if it'll be my favourite (I'm still a die-hard Murder House fan) but the story line seems really awesome, and the characters are interesting. Hopefully it won't disappoint.
