American Horror Story 1.02-1.05
I appreciate how addictive and breakneck this show is -- it doesn't seem to have filler episodes and already the Harmon family's doing everything you wish characters would normally do in horror films and stories. I hope it knows where it's going, considering how fast it's letting everything develop. It's like the A Song of Ice and Fire conundrum; it's fantastic and gripping to be willing to kill off your characters faster than genre trope usually permits, but also you run out of characters.
Anyway, let's see. I like Vivien Harmon and I'm annoyed that the cast is always billed "Dylan McDermott; Connie Britton" and not "Connie Britton; Dylan McDermott." Come on, they're co-stars, but if you had to pick one as the protag it would definitely be Viv -- Ben stands a much stronger risk of becoming the eventual antag, actually, considering that's what the house seems to do to pairs of partners. I realize Dylan McDermott is a bigger star, but he's not exactly an A-lister either. Is the marketing power of a supposed male protagonist really so strong?
Have I mentioned how much I goddamned love Constance? Everything she does or says is magnetic to watch. Chad is my favorite recurring non-main character, though, and I wish he'd join the regular cast. I guess Zachary Quinto's dance card is pretty full.
Constance and Tate are probably my favorite main characters right now, in that if they're onscreen I'm likely to be immediately interested in what's happening. I do love the Harmon family and find them terrifyingly relateable -- Viv is an excellent protagonist (and main character I would like to add), Ben is a horrible parable of "things fall apart" and makes me wince for every time I've pushed a problem aside and shoved it under the rug, and Violet is one of the few teen characters on TV who is apparently both an actual teenager and respected by the writers.
The show does a lot with unpredictable camera work and small Jacob's Ladder effects that work to make you feel unsettled watching it. Sometimes it relies on slightly overemphasized power chords, but for the most part the feeling is unsteady, which I appreciate. The opening music is creepy too, though I must say the staring babies are sort of cute.
My current favorite theories:
Tate has a twin brother:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
relia first guessed that Tate was one of the two boys from the very beginning of the series, going by the hints of his age compared to Addie and his suspiciously stripey shirt. Based on Halloween, I'm thinking he's the one who was killed by the (ghost of the original owners'?) child, and his twin brother survived and went on to be mentally disturbed and shoot up his school. It'd explain why the kid ghosts are so determined that he's their killer but he has no idea aside from some strange psychic connection to the events -- we already know Constance thinks of Tate as needing protection from reality and wants to enlist Violet in that, so it's possible she would've never told him the actual fate of his brother. It depends on whether he's wearing the right shirt. Anyway, if he were a Columbine-esque shooter you'd think he'd have a suicide gunshot wound or some remainder of. We know that ghosts can 'age' in an illusory manner -- Moira is evidence of it -- and it's pretty obvious that Tate is dead. Also, Constance speaks of her children as if they all possess a steeliness that came from her, aside from Tate: I postulate a Cain and Abel theme and his brother was the one who took after Constance. This gives Violet sort of a potential overarching Tam Lin/Snow Queen/Cupid and Psyche/East of the Sun, West of the Moon beastly bridegroom plot with Tate, which I would really love if it came to fruition.
Ben is bisexual to some degree: "They see what they want to see." Chad's dead, sexually aggressive boyfriend acted similarly to Ben's perception of Moira, IE immediately and aggressively trying to pursue him despite his stated lack of interest. If his scenes with Moira are implying repressed desires he's denying -- which seems to be sort of a theme with avoidant passive-aggressive Ben Harmon in general -- I figure his reaction to him might be the same. I like my theory. It's trivial, but pleasing. "I'm not gay." "Neither was I until I got a blowjob from a man."
Anyway, let's see. I like Vivien Harmon and I'm annoyed that the cast is always billed "Dylan McDermott; Connie Britton" and not "Connie Britton; Dylan McDermott." Come on, they're co-stars, but if you had to pick one as the protag it would definitely be Viv -- Ben stands a much stronger risk of becoming the eventual antag, actually, considering that's what the house seems to do to pairs of partners. I realize Dylan McDermott is a bigger star, but he's not exactly an A-lister either. Is the marketing power of a supposed male protagonist really so strong?
Have I mentioned how much I goddamned love Constance? Everything she does or says is magnetic to watch. Chad is my favorite recurring non-main character, though, and I wish he'd join the regular cast. I guess Zachary Quinto's dance card is pretty full.
Constance and Tate are probably my favorite main characters right now, in that if they're onscreen I'm likely to be immediately interested in what's happening. I do love the Harmon family and find them terrifyingly relateable -- Viv is an excellent protagonist (and main character I would like to add), Ben is a horrible parable of "things fall apart" and makes me wince for every time I've pushed a problem aside and shoved it under the rug, and Violet is one of the few teen characters on TV who is apparently both an actual teenager and respected by the writers.
The show does a lot with unpredictable camera work and small Jacob's Ladder effects that work to make you feel unsettled watching it. Sometimes it relies on slightly overemphasized power chords, but for the most part the feeling is unsteady, which I appreciate. The opening music is creepy too, though I must say the staring babies are sort of cute.
My current favorite theories:
Tate has a twin brother:
relia first guessed that Tate was one of the two boys from the very beginning of the series, going by the hints of his age compared to Addie and his suspiciously stripey shirt. Based on Halloween, I'm thinking he's the one who was killed by the (ghost of the original owners'?) child, and his twin brother survived and went on to be mentally disturbed and shoot up his school. It'd explain why the kid ghosts are so determined that he's their killer but he has no idea aside from some strange psychic connection to the events -- we already know Constance thinks of Tate as needing protection from reality and wants to enlist Violet in that, so it's possible she would've never told him the actual fate of his brother. It depends on whether he's wearing the right shirt. Anyway, if he were a Columbine-esque shooter you'd think he'd have a suicide gunshot wound or some remainder of. We know that ghosts can 'age' in an illusory manner -- Moira is evidence of it -- and it's pretty obvious that Tate is dead. Also, Constance speaks of her children as if they all possess a steeliness that came from her, aside from Tate: I postulate a Cain and Abel theme and his brother was the one who took after Constance. This gives Violet sort of a potential overarching Tam Lin/Snow Queen/Cupid and Psyche/East of the Sun, West of the Moon beastly bridegroom plot with Tate, which I would really love if it came to fruition.Ben is bisexual to some degree: "They see what they want to see." Chad's dead, sexually aggressive boyfriend acted similarly to Ben's perception of Moira, IE immediately and aggressively trying to pursue him despite his stated lack of interest. If his scenes with Moira are implying repressed desires he's denying -- which seems to be sort of a theme with avoidant passive-aggressive Ben Harmon in general -- I figure his reaction to him might be the same. I like my theory. It's trivial, but pleasing. "I'm not gay." "Neither was I until I got a blowjob from a man."
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