This week, man……this week sucked. We saw how Michael got his followers and Meadbot. Seriously, that’s it. A bunch of stupid one-liners and it felt really out of sync with the season. If you’re new to the blog, my name is Kent and I ask the questions and get some unique answers. Any comments in bold are from me unless otherwise stated. Please enjoy!
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- Evan and Billy played characters named Mutt and Jeff. Was this stupid or funny or some other adjective since you all like wowing me with your vocabulary from time to time.
Raylene: Were they parody after dumb and dumber that’s what the hair reminded me of. (So I have heard of Mutt and Jeff, and Melanie talks about it, but the wigs were certainly Dumb and Dumber inspired.)
Cece: This was hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. And I love how it tied in with the story. (You and I do not share the same sentiments in regard to this, but I admit, I think I laughed 3 times. My issue is that I didn’t want a cheesy comedy this week.)
Melanie: I honestly never knew where Mutt and Jeff came from. Interesting history! So, from what I gather about the comic strip where they originated…they were really manly men. I think that Evan and Billy (especially Billy) really lived up to that origination. Too funny! (So manly that Billy totally forgot about the girl under the desk, doing her job.)
Tom: I don’t really know much of the history, maybe if I did I would have enjoyed these characters more. Not a fan. I did enjoy getting some backstory to where the Bates-bot came from and seeing how Michael gained power. (Yeah, the Bates bot story could have been like a 10-minute segment and spared us this episode.)
Kayleigh: The only thing that Kentertained me about these two was that they were coke heads that were obnoxious. I felt that they weren’t really needed, much like this whole episode. (Mmmmhmm. I did enjoy that ridiculous amount of cocaine. Clearly, somebody is a fan of Scarface. I am not.)
Kelly: Absolutely vapid. (There we go! Vapid is never used.)
Kent: I felt that this episode was written by a troglodyte. What a waste of an episode in the best season that we have had in a while. More complaints coming later. While I laughed 3 times, I don’t want to laugh at this garbage juice. When Coco or Madison say something mean or rude that makes me laugh, I accept that with glee. I felt this was trying way too hard.
- Are you hoping to see more of Ms. Venable, or was that just enough for you?
Raylene: Yes, we will see more of her I enjoyed her bitchy demeanor. (I think we will see her more this week, but maybe not. I like this role for her. She’s good as a bitch.)
Cece: I loved Ms. Venable but I’ve had my nice share of her. (Maybe she will be Sally this week. I really liked her as Sally. Sally was my favorite Paulson character now that I think about it. She was compelling and not overused.)
Melanie: It was enough. She is my least favorite character that Sarah has played. (Really? I prefer her over Ally, Bette & Dot, as well as Lana. I really need to rewatch Asylum because I am always giving that season a lot of shit.)
Tom: Well this Ms. Venable didn’t seem like the same character she was in the beginning. I don’t know, this using the same actor/actress over and over is bugging the heck out of me. Poor, poor choice by AHS. I’d be fine if we don’t see her again if just to limit the Paulson characters. (Amen! Less Sarah Paulson is fine with me.)
Kayleigh: I have honestly had enough of her character. I’m hoping that is the last we’ll see of her because she’s dead, and now the flashback of her is out of the way. (I think we got at least one more episode of her this week.)
Kelly: Touching on that topic could have been interesting, but this episode was absolute garbage and I don’t have much to truly comment on. (It’s nice to see the anger coming out. This episode should have been titled “This is why we can’t have nice things.”)
Kent: I don’t care. I think we are getting more of her this week, and if she can be mean and fire more people, I am all for that.
- Who was more compelling: Sandra Bernhard as Hannah the leader of the Satanic church or Madeline the lady who took Michael in and helped him?
Raylene: I am not a fan of Sandra so for me it has to be Madeline and I’m sad to say I recognized her as Bebe Glazer from Frasier hence the bold comments from Kent of my great choices I make regarding my TV watching. (I have nothing against Frasier.)
Cece: I LOVED the leader. She was so funny. (Once again, I don’t think we necessarily share the same sense of humor.)
Melanie: Sandra, she was fantastic. She was commanding and hysterical. (I don’t mind Sandra and I felt this was actually a perfect role for her. With that being said, I found no real value in any of her scenes. It kinda felt like “Hey, we got Sandra Bernhard, we need to give her some ample screen time to make it worth her time.”)
Tom: I feel like I’m putting everything down this week but I hated Bernhard. On top of just finding her annoying, I felt she really didn’t fit the part. I feel like entering the satanic church should have been more shock and awe, like the heart removing scene in Temple of Doom (hum mum shu bye). Instead, we got a clown-show. Madeline was way more believable and, on her own, could have conveyed the message that these Satan worshipers are just everyday people. They’re pushing that message hard! (Tom, you forgot to bitch about the NRA thing. You’re slacking!!)
Kayleigh: I felt I was more entertained by Bernhard overall. But Madeline also had a scene that I loved. Going out into the kitchen to get a knife to slit Langdon’s throat before she found out he was the antichrist. (That scene with Madeline was really solid and was probably the most realistic scene of the episode. You could imagine that being the reasonable reaction.)
Kelly: Madeline. Hannah was insipid. (While you aren’t saying much this week, you brought your thesaurus, and that pleases me.)
Kent: I asked who was more compelling because Sandra was more entertaining, but I felt her scenes were just there to kill time. Madeline was a good character caught up in a shitty episode. I really like her, although I was kinda hoping for a Mare Winningham appearance this season.
- From your perspective, what is Michael’s plan to take on the witches and warlocks?
Raylene: I think he will have help from Papa since Cordelia did not make a deal with him. (That’s actually not a bad theory. He would be more than willing to sacrifice anybody, except Mead.)
Cece: I honestly am not too sure…
Melanie: I am not sure. This episode was super confusing. Maybe with help of his father? He seems pretty deadbeat to me though. (Yeah, he went out for that pack of smokes and never returned.)
Tom: In the time frame of this episode I really don’t think Michael has a plan at all. He’s doing a great job of collecting allies so I guess that’s a plan on its own. (I am going back to the dead horse that I like to habitually beat in this blog. He has so much power. I’m still baffled why he needs so many allies, but you’re right in that is what the show is leading us to believe.)
Kayleigh: I don’t think we got much insight about any sort of plan yet. But there is definitely something coming. His father is the devil!
Kelly: Couldn’t tell you, so I won’t. (Good……don’t.)
Kent: Why not just make a robot army and clone them and call this episode II. Wait, no, that turned out horrible the last time someone tried that. I do think a robot army is the way to go though. They can survive the apocalypse, in theory. More reliable too. Yes, he has a group of worshippers, but you only need a few of those to be your top advisors.
- In a season with witches, warlocks, ghosts, and the antichrist, did this episode seem a little odd to you, or was it just right?
Raylene: It seemed to be oddly placed. (Very out of place!)
Cece: Nope. Not odd at all. It’s all wrapping up. (I would like further explanation on this. What exactly did this wrap up aside from the creation of Meadbot 2000? I don’t know if your thought process goes deeper. I could really be blinded by my disdain of this episode.)
Melanie: Odd and my least favorite for this season. (Yeah, and there’s not a close second place award. This was just bad. This was Roanoke finale bad.)
Tom: Extremely odd and I feel like it halted my enjoyment of this season. I honestly said to myself “this is stupid” several times during the episode. (Yeah, you had all of this momentum and it felt like it came to this abrupt stop. It didn’t fit the flow or the tone of this whole season.)
Kayleigh: I was not a fan of this episode. It reached into another style or type of show completely. They could have gotten this whole episodes point across with one 15 minute flashback. (Yeah, if they did the opening and the segment after the commercial break, they could have told this entire episode’s story, with ease.)
Kelly: Completely wrong timing for an episode like it and the context of it was just garbage. (Remember when they tried squeezing in that alien story in Asylum? It NEVER fit in the context of that season. That’s what this felt like, only with extra garbage juice poured over it.)
Kent: This episode could have fit a different season. This episode did not feel like anything else from this season, and that is a shame. Really, when I go back to binge watch this season, I will probably just skip this episode.
Final Thoughts – Was this a good place to insert this episode, as the 8th of 10, or should it possibly gone on earlier in the season?
Raylene: Earlier in the season (The episode after they brought back the witches. You could have followed that week with this episode I think. People would be pissed because they want more witches, but it’s easier to write off an early episode rather than a late one.)
Cece: Nah. It’s going to wrap up well as stated earlier. (I do wish that I had your optimism.)
Melanie: Earlier, but that is what makes AHS so great, it always puts episodes where they do not belong, lol. (I gotta disagree with you. I will stand by the fact that Cult could have been somewhat enjoyable had the changed the order of the episodes or where they placed certain things. And this is something that I feel Ryan Murphy, and others, get stuck doing. I don’t feel that you always need the flashback. The Purge just pulled this nonsense and it stopped working by the halfway mark. Murphy is far more successful with it, but sometimes dead is better, I mean less is better.)
Tom: No. We should be winding up to a climax at this point and instead, they are filling in backstory with a lot of cheesy fluff with it. (After episode 7, the bodies were burning, and you sat there and you were getting amped up thinking about the cool possibilities to wrap up the season, right? Then this happened.)
Kayleigh: I am getting sick of these flashbacks. I am ready to get back to the original start of the show. Now that there are only 2 episodes left, I’m starting to feel cheated. (This episode robbed all of us. I would have much rather seen more of Brock’s journey. We really didn’t spend nearly enough time dealing with the wastelands. It honestly pisses me off because, in the beginning, it seemed so promising. And then the witches came and nostalgia for weeks and it was cool. But we could and should revisit the wastelands. That would be a better use of time. Or show more warlock and witch training.)
Kelly: As I said above, no. Should have been earlier. I lost respect with this episode and hope the last two will bring it back full force. (I am really worried based on the preview for this week’s episode. Only 2 episodes to go, and I hope that I am wrong. They need to get back to proper pacing._
Kent: When we look back on this season and compare it to the past greats, shit like this episode is going to hold it back. It’s currently in 4th place and I don’t think it can go any higher. I’m not sure if I can place this above Hotel. Simultaneously, unless these last 2 episodes are trash, I don’t see any way it goes below Asylum or Freakshow. It can’t go lower than Roanoke or Cult. Roanoke is that cautionary sign on the road of life. If that season didn’t have such a lousy finale, I think it would have been in 4th place entering this season. I quite liked a lot of things in it. But it got terrible, slowly but surely.
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