FX
While it might be too far away to make any solid predictions about the fourth season of American Horror Story, the recently announced Freak Show, it’s not too soon to talk about what we don’t want to see. We’ve noticed certain plotlines or tropes that have popped up regularly in the show’s first three seasons, and some of them aren’t working for us. So, if Ryan Murphy could do us all a favor and axe these tropes, Freak Show might be that much more enjoyable than Coven.
Evan Peters Is Easily Forgiven
In Murder House, Tate commits mass murder in the form of a school shooting, but he’s forgiven. In Asylum, Kit is accused and sentenced for a string of murders, but he’s forgiven (in this case, he’s innocent). In Coven, Kyle murders his mother, but he’s forgiven because his mother abused him. We understand that Peters is charming, but he commits some pretty heinous crimes and is forgiven too easily. We’re not buying it; dimples can only get him so far.
Everyone Dies
Okay, not everyone dies. But by the end of each season of American Horror Story, the majority of the characters are dead. In Murder House, it didn’t matter much because they’re all ghosts anyway, but in the other seasons it came off as unnecessary. Also, if a show kills off characters so often, their deaths become less and less impactful. That was the case in Coven when Misty Day was killed off at the very end of the season.
Strange Babies
Yes, pregnancy is a part of life, but it shows up every season on American Horror Story — usually to the end of strange or freakish baby being born. Murder House had Vivien’s anti-christ child, Asylum had Bloody Face’s child that grew up to also be a serial killer as well as Kit’s alien children, and Coven dealt with Cordelia’s inability to have children. If you didn’t have a fear of children or giving birth to demons before watching American Horror Story, you probably do after watching three seasons of it.
Rape Plotlines
Most of all, American Horror Story should cut down on the number of unnecessary and poorly developed plotlines. The show includes at least one, sometimes more than one, storyline dealing with rape each season. In Murder House, Vivien has sex with who she thinks is her husband in a bondage suit, but is actually Tate. In Asylum, Dr. Oliver Thredsen rapes Lana Winters and the possessed Sister Mary Eunice rapes the Monsignor Howard. Finally (we hope), Coven depicted a very graphic gang rape scene in the premiere episode. Rape is a serious subject and to see it poorly addressed for the sake of horror again and again on American Horror Story is atrocious.
Taking all this into consideration, Murphy might be able to give us a satisfactory fourth go ’round.
