american horror story: asylum

i don't like being negative, there's enough of that online already and if i don't like something i'd rather just move onto the next thing and not spend any more time on it. but sometimes i see something that seems like it's going to be the best thing ever, and then it falls apart and it's super frustrating and i want to talk about it. that's what happened with american horror story: asylum.

so the deal is, it's a brand new story with some of the same actors from season one. the story is about an asylum in 1964 and follows the exploits of both the inmates and the people who run the place. there are too many things going on to explain here, but the storyline includes a possessed nun, a serial killer called bloody face, aliens and a nazi doctor among others.

i was in love with this season for the first few episodes. there are so many things that are great about it. the performances are amazing, particular sarah paulson and jessica lange who both play more interesting characters in this season. the set is fantastic, so good that i didn't realise it was a set and assumed it was a real building. and the atmosphere is intensely creepy. after the first couple of episodes i was scared to turn the lights off before i went to bed, it was that creepy. every episode was kind of unpleasant to watch because the characters were so appealing and yet nothing good ever happened to them, but at the same time the storylines made it totally compelling. also, props again for a wealth of interesting female characters.

but around episode seven or eight, it kind of started to go wrong for me. the show had done a great job balancing all these conflicting storylines; connecting the strands in a way that made it seem meticulously planned. it looked like it was all heading towards an epic conclusion where all the characters and storylines would clash in one almighty finale. instead, the writers just started resolving storylines from episode seven onwards. that would have been kind of okay but they weren't resolved in particularly satisfying ways. one formidable character kills himself, another is easily dispatched when she is pushed down some stairs. the villains kind of just quit.

the last couple of episodes are then these jumbled, rambling efforts to tie up loose ends, some of which didn't need tying up. sure, there are a couple of nice moments, but it all feels like filler. the climax of a series should not feel like filler.

there's an argument to say that really, this is a story about sarah paulson's character and that story does play out to the end. but it had so much potential to smash these amazing, monstrous characters up against each other that i felt more and more disappointed in those last few episodes.

like i said, i don't like complaining about stuff and there is so much to appreciate and enjoy in this series that you should still check it out if you haven't seen it. it's just a shame it wasn't the series i wanted it to be, because it was so close to being amazing.

oh well, game of thrones starts again soon...