Last year, I thought "American Horror Story" (AHS) was merely a horribly frightening television series, and questioned why anyone would want to watch it. One of my friends watched it, and whenever she turned on the show, I would leave the room. This year, my perspective has changed. I have watched all five seasons of the anthology series, and a couple seasons were so enthralling that I binge-watched them. Although the show does contain violence and treachery, the relationships and families within the seasons create atmospheres that are tragically beautiful in their own way.
The interesting part of the series is that the storylines of each season are different, but parts of them are connected, including characters that reappear within multiple seasons. The series often brings back the same actors and actresses as well. For this reason, sometimes it is difficult to keep track of which actor plays a certain character in a given season. There are many recurring actors and actresses, so naming them all would be difficult.
**Spoiler alert!** If you keep reading, you may know more about the plots than you may want to if you plan on watching all the seasons.
AHS's title makes it obvious that the seasons contain many villains that could haunt your dreams, and stick in your mind for longer than you may feel comfortable with. The first season, Murder House, has many horrific characters, most are permanent residents in the house or frequent visitors that lurk around the house, Constance and Tate being two of them.
Asylum, season two, has Bloodyface (yep, creepy before you even meet him), also known as Dr. Thredson, but on the other hand, there are Dr. Arden and Sister Mary Eunice, who are a couple of horrible people which contradicts their occupations of saving lives, and devoting themselves to the Church, respectively.
Coven, the third season, has Papa Legba, the voodoo man that is the connection between life and death, and Marie Laveau, the voodoo queen and leader of her minions. This season also has Delphine Lalaurie, a racist slave owner who tortured the people she employed, and is based on a real person.
The fourth season, Freak Show, has Twisty the clown (who will make you hate or fear clowns even if you don't already), and Dandy, who seems to have issues with his "boring life," and finds it necessary to go on killing sprees for fun. Dell could also be a villain in the fourth season because he kills Ma Petite, which is an act that can never be forgiven, no matter the complications and hardships that Dell faced in life.
The carnival of "freaks" in the fourth season band together to protect one another from the treachery of Stanley and Maggie, who are con artists looking to profit off of the freaks. Elsa is the leader of the circus, albeit for a while she loses her sight and forgets who she is, trading the comfort and loving people that she has considered family for the spotlight as an actress. Each one of the characters is challenged physically, and is strangely unique in some way. They have profited from these quirks, and most have learned to love themselves despite their differences, but that tends to fall through at certain points for each character. They manage to overcome hardships and persevere through the tough times.
The fifth season, Hotel, has Lady Gaga as The Countess, also known as Elizabeth Johnson, her pack of little vampire children she has converted, and the Ten Commandments Killer, who I won't spoil the true identity of.
Despite the horrific events that take place in each season, they all have a central theme, something that the season as a whole represents: lessons to learn from and things to avoid.
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I wouldn't say that I have a favorite season, but my favorite actor within the series would have to be Evan Peters. His roles as Tate Langdon, Kit Walker, Kyle Spencer, Jimmy Darling, and James March grab and maintain the viewer's attention. Here's hoping that he will be a part of the sixth season, but now that he's acting in movies now too, he might not be a regular actor on the seasons anymore. Jessica Lange would come in a close second because of her acting skills. Her portrayal of Sister Jude in the second season certainly made me emotionally invested in her fictional life within the asylum.
Fan favorites like Evan Peters, Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, and Lily Rabe are sure to pull at your heartstrings throughout the seasons. Whether it be Violet and Tate's relationship in Murder House (though kinda creepy on Tate's side), or Elsa Mars and Ma Petite's in Freak Show, loving relationships are portrayed in each season in their own way. Lily Rabe's innocent and sweet character, Misty Day, in Coven is obsessed with Stevie Nicks and loves using her healing powers for good. Her character serves as a foil for Fiona Goode (ironic, huh?) in this season.
Relationships are shown throughout all of the seasons as loving, yet corrupt in some instances, and represent how real life relationships can be tainted by outside forces. In some cases, however, the interactions of characters that are good, or mostly act morally, with those who are immoral, allow the moral ones to grow and learn from the mistakes of the immoral, and make sure to avoid those bad actions.
I can hardly contain my excitement about the show being renewed for a sixth season, and rumor has it, Jessica Lange and Lady Gaga will both be participating!
