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Lead Critic for the site, as well as serving as an editor when needed.
American Horror Story has finally returned to the small screen with a slow start in its two-episode premiere, yet it yields some interesting results. Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuk’s hit FX horror anthology returns for its eleventh season after an intoxicating tenth season that gave us two stories in one; and coming off an intriguing sophomore run with their companion show, American Horror Stories. (That second series’ premise is essentially the same as this one, but by episode instead, and I highly recommend it if you want more from this universe.)
Season 11, titled NYC, will be releasing two episodes per week for five weeks on Wednesdays starting October 19th, marking the final episode count at ten. It’s quite an interesting way to release a show on network TV, but whatever works, I guess. Every episode will also be available to stream on Hulu — as part of FX on Hulu — the next day afterwards, which is how I get all my American Horror Story content anyway.
This is looking to be the craziest season of American Horror Story yet, as FX waited about two weeks before its premiere to begin marketing for the season. The initial release posters were intriguing shots of men and women clad in leather BDSM wear, so it did well to pique interest. The trailers revealed almost nothing except for the fact that we’re getting a story set in New York City in the underground world of some form of BDSM. An IMDb storyline description for this season gives some clarification, thankfully:
“Gay men in 1981 NYC are being brutally murdered, and the authorities aren’t interested. However, one secretly closeted officer and his lover, a newspaper writer, look into it further. Meanwhile, a scientist discovers a new disease is spreading among deer and could transfer to humans.”
Minor spoilers to follow.
Episode One Discussion
American Horror Story: NYC‘s premiere episode, titled “Something’s Coming,” is one of the slowest starts to a season of the show thus far. It works very well to immediately present the viewer with our time, story, and setting: 1981, New York City, underground BDSM sex clubs, the overall LGBT scene, and a twisted serial killer in love with it all.
The Protagonist
Our lead this season, Russell Tovey, plays closeted cop Patrick Read. The character is at an interesting place when our story begins: he’s divorced from his ex-wife (Leslie Grossman returns as Barbara) who knows he is gay, and lives with his now-boyfriend (Joe Mantello as Gino Barelli), but practically no one else knows.
Tovey’s role itself is interesting; he plays the lead, but also serves as somewhat of a foil character for the audience, at least in terms of his police coworkers. Even his first on-screen interaction with some of them at a crime scene is damn foil! I caught two lines where a character goes to say something and follows it up with a gay slur, then Patrick stops it and pulls the story back into the focus of the scene. Now, I’m not complaining, but it seems noteworthy nonetheless that this is our lead character. It’s too early to tell if this design is good or bad, hopefully, it’s the former.
The Cast of American Horror Story: NYC
The rest of the cast rounds out the show nicely, and as always, it’s awesome to see the former season’s cast members return to NYC. Joe Mantello and Leslie Grossman are great and hopefully, when they and Tovey are in a scene, altogether it gives some of the best performances. Both bounce off of Tovey excellently and it’s going to be great to see how their character’s stories will inevitably intertwine.
Charlie Carver is noteworthy as well. I’ve seen him in a few things with his twin brother, Max, like The Batman. It’s always welcoming when they branch off like this, and his character should become a main player by the season’s end.
Billie Lourd, Denis O’Hare, Isaac Powell, Zachary Quinto, Sandra Bernhard, and Patti LuPone are all significant to watch again as well. Their roles vary but it’s still a good time when they grace the screen. I’d enjoy seeing more from Lourd and LuPone as the season progresses though. Another noteworthy catch — Kal Penn plays Tovey’s captain, and the actor is seemingly perfect in his role, so I wasn’t sure how he would come across on screen at first.
The Backdrop
“Something’s Coming” is directed by John J. Gray and written by series creators Murphy & Falchuk. Right off the bat, this season feels atmospherically different from the past few seasons, and already, the show’s serial killer is catching comparisons to Evan Peters’ portrayal of Jeffrey Dahmer from Murphy’s Netflix miniseries Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Now, if you’ve seen that show, I will say that they (coincidentally enough) feel almost the same.
Murphy & Falchuk’s NYC in 1981 is gloomy and dark, almost dirty, similar to how that show felt. The lighting on inside sets almost feels nonexistent too, in that it’s low and eerie. The lighting work, done by Eric Boncher, itself is great. Gray’s direction is superb this time around and I’m enjoying the direction the story is going. The writing is very clever to get across the main character: the then-gay community and also the LGBT community. They want to talk about the whole community and their suffering at this time, rather than Gino and Patrick’s, although I don’t want to underscore them either. Gino and Patrick are very intriguing characters on their own and they are also our vessels through which it’ll all come out.
This premiere episode works well to deliver the usual oddness that American Horror Story premieres give audiences. It is a slow start, which didn’t really work until the very end, but it still does its job. However, by the time one tunes into the next episode, everything seems to circle back together, which more than likely has to do with giving audiences two episodes per week rather than one, and time will, inevitably, tell.
Minor spoilers for “Something’s Coming” to follow for my analysis of American Horror Story Season 11 Episode 2.
Episode Two Discussion
Episode Two, titled “Thank You for Your Service,” catches right back up where the premiere left off and gives the audience an odd anecdote about our serial killer: you allegedly can’t serve twice. Gino Barelli (Joe Mantello) is let go by the serial killer due to the sheer randomness of his Marine Corps tattoo on his chest, nothing else. Adam Carpenter (Carver) is doing his best to uncover what he can without ending up a victim himself, and Patrick Read (Tovey) continues his investigation with Barelli. This episode is directed by Max Winkler and written by Ned Martel & Charlie Carver & Manny Coto.
It’s interesting how quickly they’ve already decided to interweave some characters’ paths. While it doesn’t really amount to anything particular here, the serial killer, Mr. Whitely (Jeff Hiller), had an appointment with Dr. Hannah Wells (Billie Lourd), who just finished one with Sam (Zachary Quinto). Prior to this appointment, Whitely had just let Gino go, and Adam had a meeting with Gino right after his abduction. Adam also had already spoken with Sam and Theo (Isaac Powell) in the last episode. I can see where this will all boil to a head by the end of the season.
The lighting this time around is much better, and this episode is Winkler’s best direction on the series, as he’s helmed two other episodes prior to this one. During a scene in Gino’s newspaper’s office, there is a very cool zoom-out shot that really brings it together. This episode in particular feels less rehearsed for the cast and crew and works very well in the universe. Gino and Patrick make a great duo for the story we get to see. My hope is that they can work out their small problems and end up happily ever after, but it seems that for now, their main concern is the story at hand. I am also very interested to see where Dr. Wells’ story will go, as there’s been some mystery to her true role so far.
“Thank You for Your Service” works well for where the story will end up as we make it to the next two episodes. The technical aspects are much better than in the premiere and our two leads have more time to shine. Our other characters have more time to shine and the story seems to weave into more complexity as the show goes on. Overall, I’m liking where the story is going and I’m excited to see where this leads.
Final Thoughts
This two-parter for American Horror Story makes for a great premiere. It was a slow burn but by the end of the second episode, you’re left with questions of ill intent for the story’s serial killer. The cinematography seems a step up from what American Horror Story has put out lately, and the overall premise is gripping and interesting. If they do it right, NYC could capture the essence of seasons like Hotel or Coven, but we’ll find out soon enough.
American Horror Story: NYC will air two episodes every Wednesday and will stream those episodes the next day on Hulu, as part of FX on Hulu. Check out the rest of the American Horror Story catalogue on Hulu as well.
For reviews on the rest of the season, stay right here with The Cinema Spot!
Lead Critic for the site, as well as serving as an editor when needed.
This article was edited by John Tangalin.