Did you catch "Afterbirth," the season finale of American Horror Story, last week? Wow, what an episode.
[Warning: spoilers ahead]
It was a little bloated, and I was surprised where the story went at times:
- like when Ben decides to off himself so that he can spend eternity with the rest of his dead family in Murder House, but ghost Violet and ghost Vivian stop him before he can pull the trigger-- which we expected to happen-- but just after Viv and Vi told Ben to leave with the baby before disappearing, horrible Hayden-- with the help of the home invaders from the second episode-- strung a noose around Ben's neck and hanged him from one of the Tiffany chandeliers
- I wasn't expecting to see a new family move in during the last episode-- this whole story line seemed a little rushed to me
- it was odd how after so much turmoil in life, the Harmons ended up being so happy together in death. Is that what happened to the Montgomerys? We haven't seen them yell too much at each other in death, but perhaps that is because they spend their time separately. Conversely, death certainly didn't repair Chad and Patrick's relationship.
As a season finale, however, it worked for me. Even the title, "Afterbirth," worked as the entire episode dealt with the aftermath of the messy "Birth" episode.
Not all of our questions were answered (Here's one that bug me: if you die in the Murder House you're stuck there forever, so why was Moira so intent on pushing sexual favors to entice the men of the house to dig up her skeleton? What good would that do? Moving the Boy Dahlia's body to South Central Los Angeles didn't change the fact that his spirit is trapped in a Victorian mansion.), but that's just how it is sometimes. A better story line usually leaves the audience wanting more, which stimulates conversations and discussions about the show.
If the season had been all nicely wrapped up in a pretty little package it wouldn't be as satisfying-- like watching a saccharine children's show, we don't think about it once it ends because it hasn't provoked anything in us.
Life doesn't come in pretty little packages, so for a show like American Horror Story, where the mission is to show the darker underbelly of the average American family, having some loose ends makes sense. In fact, the writers could have left even a few more ends loose, but I'm not sure if the rest of the viewing audience would have loved that-- quite a few questions were answered, and the story kept pushing on, which is perhaps why it felt a bit bloated to me:
- The Harmons have taken control of the Murder House and will do their best to save any family who tries to move in from the evil spirits residing in the house.
- Constance has managed to elude the police and has raised Vivien's surviving baby as her own. And yes, he is the anti-Christ.
- Tate still loves Violet, and he will wait for her forever if he has to.
- Ben admits that psychiatry doesn't help people. He also kind of bonds with Tate over their shared evil side.
These stories did get tied up, but loosely enough for the audience to have something to ponder over until next season. Producer Ryan Murphy has said that he doesn't intend to carry on the Harmon's story for next season, opting instead to start fresh with a different house, a new theme (season one's theme was infidelity, so we're expecting season's two theme to be another everyday horror), and a different family. Some of the cast from the first season may return, but we won't know who (and if they're playing the same character *cough* Tate *cough*) until February.
Murphy says:
"Some of them will be coming back. There will be familiar faces and also some new faces. The people that are coming back will be playing completely different characters, creatures, monsters, etc. (The Harmons') stories are done. People who are coming back will be playing entirely new characters. I would have them all back in a heartbeat. I think we'll announce the full cast and what the new story line is going to be some time in February.
"This allows for those who haven't done television to step up and say 'let's do this.' I've been getting a lot of calls from film actors who have wanted to dabble in television but never could figure out how.
"There is a clue in the last three episodes where we resay what the next season will be about. I think the clues of all the deaths and everything that happened are always there right from the beginning. And there are certainly several references to Dylan and hanging and noose stuff throughout the whole season. I think that'll be fun for fans to go back and look at all those clues that we were planting right from the beginning." - source, The Daily Blam
This is sad, because we have grown to really know and love the characters revolving around the dark power of the Murder House, but it's good in a way. Quite honestly, I think the writers did quite a lot with these characters, as much as they could, maybe, and it's time to start fresh.
In the Harmon's last scene of the first season we see the whole family, including Ben and Vivian's non-demon ghost baby and Moira the maid, gathered around a Christmas tree while "Little Drummer Boy" is playing softly in the background. Hayden and Tate, unseen, look on jealously from another room.
Moira says something subtly remarkable to Vivian in this scene, as they're decorating the tree: "You'll come to understand that the word 'ancient' loses all meaning when your entire existence is one long today."
I think that's a nice way to think about the end of this season-- it doesn't matter what happened in the past or what happens in the outside world (beyond a new family moving in) because every spirit in the house remains the same-- no one ages, no one really changes. Death is stagnant.
Violet may end up forgiving Tate and Hayden may become less horrible-- and I'm sure someone will write some fan fiction with those ideas in mind-- but the fact remains that they're all stuck in that house forever and can't do anything about it. Time will weather the exterior of the house, but the occupants stay the same.
What did you think of the season finale? Were you satisfied, left wanting more, or were you disappointed? Personally, I can't wait until season two! Tell me what you think in the comments below!
