Well, the first half of the season is wrapped up nicely…..kinda. We will spend some time looking back while also looking towards the other half of the season. We had a preview to the second half, and let’s face it, it was terrible. I would have preferred nothing than that. This week, well this week I am joined by an eclectic selection of people. Allow me to re-introduce you to Steff, Tom, and Kelly. Welcome back. We also have 2 new contributors. One is a lady I have known for approximately a decade by virtue of my gal pal Bitty, and come to find out is also an AHS fan, Melanie. Finally, I got this email from a person who wants to go by the name Anne Nonymous, so I think it is safe to say that her first name may or may not be Anne. This person appears to be very aggressive towards me, which I find endearing, but I will try to tone down some of the F Bombs and turn them into fun words through the power of editing. I want to thank ALL of you for contributing to the biggest AHS 9 Deuce yet. Let’s do this.
The 9
- For the first half of the season, who has been your favorite character?
Steff: I know he only appeared for one episode, but I’d have to say it was Edward Mott, due to the fact that I love when Evan Peters does that accent (like in last season), and the character was just completely obscure and ridiculous.
Melanie: Scathach was my favorite this season, but only because Lady Gaga is my spirit animal. (Kent: This is the first that I have heard this name, but upon reading up on it, I can absolutely see it.)
Tom: I gotta say Pig Head.
Kelly: This is tough for me since I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed this season so far (like most of the even numbered seasons). I would have to say Dr. Cunningham and only because I love Denis O’Hare.
Anne: The lovely Butcher, Thomasin
Kent: The obvious answer is Cunningham for me, but I’ll also say Pig Head. Every time I see Pig Head, he instantly grabs my attention.
- For the first half of the season, who has been your least favorite character? It should be somebody of substance, not like Cop #4.
Steff: Lee would probably be my answer here. I know that putting her in there helps to add some features to the story, but I almost feel like she could’ve been done without.
Melanie: Cricket-Leslie Jordan creeps an me out anyway, but the haircut tops the cake!
Tom: Documentary version of Lee because…her face.
Kelly: I’ll go with Shelby. (Kent: You chose wisely.)
Anne: Flora, she’s incredibly annoying.
Kent: Uh oh, I am fearing that this may turn into a Lee bash here, so I will say Shelby. She really offered very little in smarts or abilities, just always the victim. At least Lee took some action by kidnapping Flora, and, in my mind, killing Mason. I still believe that we will find out the truth of Mason’s death by the end of the season.
- How do you feel about the small preview for next week? As in, did you like what little bit that you were given?
Steff: They could’ve just flipped us off, for Pete’s sake. Seriously.
Melanie: First I thought, yay Cheyenne Jackson, but then I thought…What in the what?
Tom: No, it felt like a preview for a boring other show that I don’t want to see.
Kelly: I must be missing something, maybe it’s the pregnancy brain, but I don’t get it. I think there’s a chance they’ll do an even more modern documentary on the house Blair Witch style. Maybe that’s what we were getting teased with.
Anne: Heck no!
Kent: It was good, like straight to video NetFlix good. HA! I am not Kentertained!
- I think it is safe to say that we will see repeat characters for this second half. What character do you want to learn more about for the last 5 episodes?
Steff: I’m kind of curious about the Polk family – like how did they end up there, and what kind of inbred shit they have going on, because uhhhhh, who’s the mother of those boys??? (Kent: I hadn’t considered that question. We have yet to see female Polks. Not to say that they don’t exist, but as of now, we only know of Mama. Yikes.”
Melanie: None of the characters are coming to mind as ones that I have to learn more about. I suppose I am just interested to see how the “documentary” plays itself out.
Tom: I gotta know more about Gaga.
Kelly: Side note based on your wording, is this season only 10 episodes long? Because most, if not all, seasons have had 12 episodes. And I want to learn more about the ghosts of the house, all of them. (Kent: Based on what IMDB has listed, we are only getting 10 episodes, which I thought was odd as it’s usually 12-13 depending on the season. Murphy also did the People vs. OJ, so we may be getting short changed here.)
Anne: That charming powder haired Ed(ward Mott)
Kent: I would love backstory on Cricket, but I feel that is unlikely, so I will say Pig Head. Why was he trying to leave?
- Aside from Cheyenne Jackson, care to speculate on some other actors or actresses that you anticipate seeing in this upcoming half?
Steff: I’m honestly still holding on to hope that Jessica Lange is going to pop in there.
Melanie: Jessica Lange is always on the top of my list every season (hint hint Ryan Murphy and Brad Fulchuk). But on a more realistic note I would love to see Matt Bomer or Finn Wittrock.
Tom: I’d like to see John Carroll Lynch and Danny Huston (Axe Man).
Kelly: Evan, maybe a second character of Sarah since they’ve been doing that lately (maybe they’ll bring in her psychic role of Billie), Lady Gaga as someone other than the witch.
Anne: Emma Roberts
Kent: Everybody wants Lange. I want Danny Huston, Dylan McDermott, Taissa Farmiga, and Mare Winningham back. But above all, and this is an odd one, I want to see John Carroll Lynch.
- Will we see Lily Rabe of Andre Holland, the real life Shelby and Matt, moving forward this season?
Steff: For some reason, I don’t think so.
Melanie: As they are the “actual” subjects of the documentary, it makes sense. But, I don’t think we have seen the end of Cuba Gooding Jr. and Sarah Paulson either.
Tom: Yes, I bet that we revisit them and find out that they are dead.
Kelly: This is a toughy because she’s a great addition to the series, but Lee and Matt’s real actors are small names unlike Cuba and Angela. I’m not sure we will see Lily.
Anne: Heck No
Kent: I say yes. If my theory is accurate, and rest assured, it isn’t, I think the students contact Matt and Shelby, or they were the ones filming them to begin with. Andre Holland is too good of an actor to not appear again. Watch the Knick everybody!!!! It’s only 2 seasons and it’s brilliant.
- I feel like I keep asking something along these lines, but will we see Dr. Cunningham (Denis O’Hare) again this season? He keeps on popping up.
Steff: I don’t think he’ll be “popping up” anywhere after what Mama did to him!! Haha! But seriously, unless they have a flashback for some reason, or they’re watching one of the videos from the basement he made, I don’t think so.
Melanie: I think we will see footage of him from the documentary crew and he will drop some sort of bomb, but otherwise no.
Tom: I shall say yes because it was too brief of a stint for Denis.
Kelly: Yes we will.
Anne: Negative (Kent: I didn’t even have to edit this answer!! Progress is being made.)
Kent: Yes, via flashback/footage. The students making this documentary will have studied some stuff from Cunningham. He is too talented to not be seen again this season.
- Did Ambrose accomplish anything long term by pulling his mom, Thomasin, into the fire, aside from saving Flora?
Steff: With the blood moon allowing them to be more “alive” in terms of harming/killing people, are they alive enough to die again?? I’m thinking the Ambrose might have known that it was possible to take her down for good since he attempted it.
Melanie: I think that she will come back on the next blood moon as she died when she was “alive”, thus becoming the blood sacrifice. (Kent: Damnit, I like your answer better than mine.)
Tom: No, I think the Butcher is alive and well……dead and well. (Kent: ……..and well)
Kelly: He pissed her off, that’s for sure. She got out of the damn fire. I’m not sure she’ll truly be dead.
Anne: No because she jumped out of the flaming fire after,
Kent: I’m going to say no. The Witch, Gaga, should be able to undo any harm by Ambrose, and she seems to like that The Butcher does her bidding.
- We now know that the 2 feral boys belonged to Lot Polk (Chaz Bono). Looking at it logically, why were the boys feeding the way that they were, when Mama clearly is a capable chef/cook?
Steff: Maybe they were just thirsty.
Melanie: First, bravo for putting Chaz Bono on the show! Second, I think they were thirsty as well.
Bonus thought…The Polk family reminded me so much of the Peacock family from the X-Files in the episode Home.
Tom: Because Mama took too many hormones and could no longer produce milk.
Kelly: I wouldn’t want to eat what that woman serves up. Maybe they were so hungry from not eating humans that they decided to eat the animals. I would guess from the consumption of humans and animals the two boys didn’t have a strong enough immune system and contracted a disease.
Anne: Because they’re sick in the fucking head from eat human flesh, so they prefer suckling on pigs.
Kent: While obviously the Polk’s don’t care what they eat seemingly, I believe that they have crops. It just seems like country folk raise their kids smart enough to know that you can BUTCHER pigs and do better things with them rather than what those boys were trying to accomplish. With that being said, I feel that we are missing vital information about their upbringing. Ya know, like, who is their birth mom?
Bonus Deuce
- Will Evan Peters continue as Ed Mott, or will he have a whole new character as well this season?
Steff: I really hope he pops back up as Mott again. Lol
Melanie: I definitely see him keeping the Mott character for the accent.
Tom: I think that he will still remain as just Edward Mott.
Kelly: I’m undecided. They clearly loved his historical role from Hotel (I did, too) so they gave him another role with an accent. He does great with historical roles. Maybe he’ll be a ghost that shows up. They’ve come a long way from his horrible character Kyle in Coven.
Anne: Just as Edward Mott
Kent: I would absolutely prefer that he continues as Mott. This almost feels like a similar role as March, from last season, which was arguably his best, or at least, second best role that he has had. He looks like he’s reinvigorated and having fun. Seasons 3 & 4, I didn’t get that vibe. While he may be gay, still only one episode with Man Ass this season. FX, you are letting the viewers down.
- Carelessly speculate as to what is in store for the second half of this season. If you don’t want to do that, tell me your favorite season all time of AHS, as that is simpler.
Steff: Well, it’s easiest to answer that Season 1 was by far my favorite. It intrigued me, without all the gore. And Kent, you & I sort of touched on this after the show, but I’m anticipating that this half is going to be more of a present day setting, with some people – ghost hunters or what have you – that are going to want to visit the house to see if they find any activity… dare to spend the night and what-not. Obviously we have to wait another week to find out ANYTHING. ugh.
Melanie: I think it will show us how the crew of the documentary were affected by their time at the house and on the grounds. Also, this particular documentary/news crew spends its time researching weird events that have happened, including Harmon Residence, Briarcliff Asylum, LaLaurie Mansion, Mott Manor, Hotel Cortez, and Roanoke. My favorite season would have to be Coven as I identified the most with the characters.
Tom: I think that we will be dealing with a ghost hunting team, after seeing the show, or at least having heard of it, and they will all meet their demise trying to find the ghosts. We will see the old gang back, as far as the Butcher’s crew.
Kelly: My favorite of all time is Murder House, it’s classic. It has the right amount of gore and sex with a great storyline to reel us in. Coming up second is Coven tied with Hotel. (I like the odd numbered seasons). Coven had the best romance so far, Fiona and Axe Man, as well as a badass duo when Jessica and Angela kill off the boardroom. Hotel had some of the best performances I’ve seen out if the cast. Unforgettable.
Anne: It appears that Cheyenne may get anally ravaged, possibly by Edward. I suspect that a group will crash/stay in the house and then be tormented by the ghosts of the past.
Kent: As I have alluded to, I do believe that students from the same college as Cunningham, will end up filming a documentary. I feel that we are in for some awful first person perspective, shaky cam, found footage garbage. This season has been so good, that it won’t be garbage, but it could still be grating, unfortunately. I believe that this is where Cheyenne and Taissa come into play. Then any of the 3 guys I mentioned earlier: Dylan, Zachary, John, or even Danny Huston could be the teacher. I do believe that they will review stuff of Cunningham’s, and they may delve deeper into Cricket’s past, as well as Mott’s. We have yet to see Lange, and it would be awesome to find out that Lange and Huston bought the house at one point and that be a one episode flashback thing. I think we will find out more about Priscilla’s parents, the history of Pig Head, and who killed Mason, which will be Lee in a trance. I will also speculate that The Butcher returns, probably via Gaga. I also say this, not to be mean, but I truly hope that some of you are wrong in regards to a Ghost Hunter style because I hate that stuff. At least with this, it would be more realistic than what they do on the real show.
As for favorite season, it’s Murder House. It was the absolutely, most consistent season, and had sex appeal, scares, lots of creepy shit, probably the best cast. I liked Coven, but that season had some shit episodes, and if you watched it week to week as opposed to binge watching it, some weeks were annoying. So for you binge watchers thinking I’m wrong, you’re wrong. Also, loved Coven for Axe Man and Fiona. One of the few romances in ANYTHING EVER that I supported, real or fictional.
With that being said, I want to give a huge thank you to all of my contributors this week. This is probably the best one that we have done, and I loved to get some perspectives that I hadn’t considered before while still being a stubborn asshole.
All pictures used in this blog are for review purposes. They are the property of the FX Network, Ryan Murphy, and whoever else is involved.