Beware of spoilers!
The anticipation of the new season of "American Horror Story" was parading my mind for weeks before the first episode aired. I even followed the countdown; my expectations were incredibly high. "American Horror Story" is beautifully constructed. It's one of my favorite shows: the writing, the plot points, the concepts, and the social commentary have me giddy. Also, I was overly excited to see Evan Peters's face, but can you blame me?
But I'm not going to lie, the past few seasons of "American Horror Story" have been pretty disappointing. First off, I miss Jessica Lange. Second off, "Roanoke" had me beyond disappointed with its underdeveloped storyline and abrupt ending. And I just couldn't get behind "Cult" because I mean, clowns. So, to say the least, there was a lot riding on "Apocolypse."
After I finished the first episode, I was disturbed. After I finished the most recent episode, my mind was completely and utterly blown. This season stands apart from the rest. The supernatural components are there, but not like "Murder House." It's gory, but not "Asylum." It's shocking and can be hard to watch, but not as bad as "Freak Show" or "Hotel." It's funny and can be lighthearted, like "Coven," but it has an unsettling underlining factor: this can happen.
It's disturbing to say, but after the election—after "Cult"—I can see this happening. I can see a country just being over it and unleashing nuclear war and destroying the world. I can see humans being the reason for the apocalypse. And that thought terrifies me. This season terrifies me.
The first episode was perfectly set up because it seemed so real. It demonstrated how so many people live their lives based on these shallow ideals and lackluster voids like social media. But it also showed the other parts of life, a family celebrating their son's acceptance into UCLA, only for that son to be taken from their family before the world ends.
The "chosen people" are brought to a "haven" and I use the term "haven" loosely because it is actually the worst. Sarah Paulson's and Kathy Bate's characters develop a class system by the way people dress. They dehumanize the survivors by calling them "dirty" or "contaminated." And they refuse to allow these emotionally vulnerable people to have relationships, which is torturous within itself. They claim that this is instructed by a higher operative named the "Cooperative" but in the most recent episode, we find out that these rules are just based off of the Sarah Paulson's and Kathy Bate's characters' beliefs. It's unnerving because I can see this power hungry, classist, "Hunger Games" mentality take form when the apocalypse actually does occur. The second episode mainly focuses on "who deserves salvation" which emphasizes this primal, horrifying side of humanity.
Overall, what's terrifying about this new season is that it forces people to think about what would actually happen if humans end the world. For me, based on our current political climate, that seems to be a constant underlying fear of mine. So, if you want to have an existential crisis while laughing at comedic relief, and goggling at Evan Peters—check out the new season. Because, thankfully, I am finally thoroughly impressed.