I’ve been holding my tongue, or rather ignoring possible use of my keyboard, for weeks now in the greatest optimism that I would no longer feel compelled to write on this topic, or perhaps that my tone toward the topic would shift dramatically, but since we are now past the debut night of episode three of “American Horror Story: My Roanoke Nightmare”, I have some feelings to share with fellow fans, the most prominent of those being, as you can see loud and proud in the title above, disappointment.
Don’t get me wrong, I adore the show and the cast in its entirety, I always will; AHS, barring some sort of major crisis, will continue to be the only running TV series I follow near religiously—at least until the re-release of “Twin Peaks” in 2017—and that hour of my Wednesday nights is still very much booked. What I mean to say is that, by general entertainment standards, AHS is still a thrill and piques an incredible amount of interest, continuing to leave viewers with an overwhelming sense of dread and excitement for the events to come in future episodes, however, the latest season is failing to deliver on the precedents the show has set for itself.
The mockumentary set-up of “Roanoke” troubled me from the beginning, as the style itself leads to too many answers for a show that relies, and has relied for so long, on elements of mystery to carry it forward. While the surprises have not been lacking, it seems as though, to a certain extent, the fates of the characters are already somewhat settled. Though I hope that I am wrong.
But, speaking of characters, the development in that aspect is also slightly unsatisfactory, as the relationships between characters are being explained pretty heavily from outside the storyline due to the mockumentary format. That sort of third-party interruption and explanation has allowed for the show to jump the gun a little bit in terms of developing tangible and emotionally evocative relationships between the re-enactment characters, who are currently the characters the audience feels inclined to follow. Personally, I feel I have learned more about particular familial relationships in the series from the intermittent interview clips than I have from watching the family members interact with each other in the main narrative.
My dear friend with whom I follow the show summed up my frustrations most accurately when she said: “I just don’t like how this season is taking so long to develop storyline.” Hers is a fair criticism, considering that the previous seasons of AHS have plunged viewers right in to violence, intimacy, and other provocative elements that thus far, this year have seemed only to guest star. I will lend that with this most recent episode, “Roanoke” seems to be gradually developing into what most viewers have grown to expect from the series in terms of the shock value of imagery.
While I am disheartened in the slow progression and perhaps detrimental formatting of “Roanoke” so far, I am willing to give the program the benefit of the doubt for a couple weeks at least, just because the show has a fantastic track record. I am optimistic for future weeks, though with lowered expectations from a standpoint of how much each episode will accomplish on an individual basis.
Moral of the story: despite my disappointments, I am completely hooked. Will you be tuning in? Or have you lost your patience?
