American Horror Story and the 12 episode long tale of Murder House and the Harmon family is over. And not over for now. Over for good. Or at least that's what Ryan Murphy tells us. For one, I believe him and look forward to meeting a whole new family in a whole new house next season.
Speaking of things that Ryan Murphy tells us. I remembering reading an interview with Murphy in which he stated that by the end of this season we (the viewers) would understand each and every spooky thing in the opening credits. I think I understand about 3/4 of the spooky things. I still don't know about that guy with the hedge clippers, or the body in the attic (at least, it looks like the attic). You know, the one draped in a clear frosted tarp? Do you know who that's supposed to be? Beau (we were told) was supposed to have looked like he died in his sleep, peacefully, so he would likely not have been in an upright position with a tarp over his body. And what about that child skeleton hanging in the mirror? Who's that supposed to be???
I'm going to write a post with all of my unanswered questions soon, so for now here are my thoughts on the final episode of American Horror Story aptly titled "Afterbirth".
This episode of was a mixed bag for me. I loved the tension of the first few minutes. I thought "maybe it's all been a figment of Ben's imagination?", but then we see the Harmon family moving into Murder House and the rest is history. I found Ben's death scene completely devastating and heartbreaking. So, so sad and violent in a dark, upsetting way.
But once that new family showed up, I sort of lost interest. And then they were gone, and I was relieved. I'm happy for the Harmon family, that they've been reunited in the afterlife and all. They have their baby boy and named Moira the godmother. They even celebrated Christmas. Love it!
And so, here's a list of the things that I loved about "Afterbirth":
1. The tension of the first 10-15 minutes. Ben discovering that Tate was Constance's son. The baby in the mirror closet.
2. Ben's death scene. As I said before, it completely broke my heart and genuinely upset me, but I thought it was very well done.
3. Tate's "confession" to Ben about missing their talks, and how much Ben was helping him. And Ben's response.: "You're not a person, you're a monster...a psychopath, Tate...and the worst kind. You're charismatic and compelling, and a pathological liar." Totally.
4. Tate's attempted murder of the new kid. He couldn't do it!?! He even asked the kid to look away, or something. Maybe he really is a changed person. Or a changed ghost person. Or better yet, a changed man-boy-ghost.
4.a. I really enjoyed Tate's hair during the season, but I hope that Evan Peters goes back to his usual medium brown hair color. I re-watched a bit of Kick-Ass recently and I really like the brown hair.
5. Violet and Tate's final kiss. Of course, we know that Violet was trying to save the new kid's life (which she did), but it was also very sweet and sad, especially Tate's choked sobs after the kiss, once Violet had gone. Poor Tate. Doomed to be alone forever. Maybe he'll go dark side again and join forces with Hayden.
6. Christmas at Murder House! I love that this episode was not only the finale, but also a Christmas episode of sorts. The tree was very pretty. Simply and sparkly.
And that's that! It was a really fun ride. I've loved writing about it, and keeping notebooks with timelines and what not.
Thank you Ryan Murphy for creating such an interesting and refreshing tribute to the horror genre, the age old story of the haunted house, and the poor family that buys it for half of what it's worth in an attempt at starting fresh after some unspeakable tragedy. Great season! Great show!
