AHS Double Feature, A Review

Something from the sand, something from the sea.

AHS Apocalypse Review. AHS 1984 Review.

AHS Red Tide follows married couple Harry (Finn Wittrock) and Doris (Lily Rabe, Tell Me Your Secrets) as they move with their Daughter Alma (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) to Provincetown so Harry can focus on his screenwriting. Arriving in town, Harry meets Belle Noir (Frances Conroy, Dead to Me) and Austin Sommers (Evan Peters, Mare of Easttown), two highly famous writers who welcome Harry into their group, promising him the secret to their success. The secret it turns out is a little black pill which fuels creative inspiration, promising any taker mass success with only a few side effects. The pill also causes a blood lust, meaning Austin and Belle are forced to kill to survive and stay fueled. Harry begins taking the pill as does Alma after she steals one from his desk, also wanting fame and fortune. With such promising futures ahead the side effects and killings must be worth it, right?

AHS Death Valley follows two seperate timelines, both dealing with an invasion by the same alien race. In the 1950s President Eisenhower (Neal McDonough, Legends of Tomorrow) and his wife Mamie (Sarah Paulson, Ratched) deal with the arrival of a new alien species who want to make Earth their home, by force if necessary. In the present day four friends- Kendall (Kaia Gerbee), Cal (Nico Greetham, The Prom), Troy (Isaac Cole Powell) and Jamie (Rachel Hilson) are mysteriously abducted and then discover they are all somehow pregnant. In both timelines the aliens are hellbent on repopulating the Earth, but will they succeed?

I think the decision to split the season into two storylines was a risk that ultimately did not pay off. At only ten episodes it just wasn’t enough to fit in two fully fleshed out narratives, meaning Red Tide had a rushed ending and Death Valley never pulled me in in the first place. Both parts could have easily been their own season and I really wish they had been, it just seemed a shame to cram both into only ten episodes? With Death Valley especially being again split in two we were again getting two narratives in only four episodes, it just felt so rushed and underdeveloped. I understand the excitement of two ideas at once but I just wish we’d gotten one instead? I’d rather have one perfect storyline than two rushed ones.

I really enjoyed Red Tide and felt liked I was watching classic AHS again, the last few seasons have definitely been a bit hit or miss but this one seemed like it was going in the right direction. The P-Town setting, creepy pale people, star studded cast and brilliant storyline really made for an engaging watch, AHS at some of it’s best. If it weren’t for that rushed ending Red Tide could have potentially been my favourite season so far.

Death Valley on the other hand was not as good and was honestly my least favourite season of AHS so far. Having the already halved season split in two again meant the storylines had to be massively short, leading yet again to a rushed ending. Unlike Red Tide however Death Valley never seemed to hit the ground running and I just could not connect at all. The black and white sequences had promise but eventually grew boring and the present day bits were just awful, never have I seen such annoying lead characters. Completely unlikeable. I will say I enjoyed a few of the performances (namely Paulson’s, McDonough’s, Ross’ and Grossman’s) but aside from this the season had very little going for it.

AHS Double Feature allowed a lot of underrated players to really shine this season as well as introducing some new blood onto the scene. In Red Tide, Frances Conroy, Finn Wittrock & Lily Rabe really stole the show whereas Sarah Paulson & Evan Peters had smaller (yet still very enjoyable) roles. I really liked seeing Conroy play such a powerhouse of a character, it was unlike any of her previous roles and I also loved seeing Wittrock and Rabe leading the season, they gave amazing performances. In the same way Death Valley introduced us to a mostly hew cast, with Paulson, Grossman and Ross playing up the supporting cast. This time however it wasn’t as succesful, in many ways the show didn’t even feel like AHS with these brand new actors, and I just didn’t connect with the second half of the season. I’m all for new and upcoming actors getting their break but the four teens here just didn’t feel qualified enough to lead the entire season?

I feel like Double Feature had some extreme highs and lows, featuring the very best and worst of AHS so far. Red Tide had a brilliant start and really felt like classic AHS again, it felt like the best we’d seen in a long time. The storyline was just so interesting and well excecuted and the characters were all brilliant, it was just such a shame the ending felt rushed. On the other side Death Valley is, in my opinion, the very worst season of AHS to date. I’m not that big of an alien fan anyway but I just did not connect with the characters or storyline at all, in all honesty I struggled to watch.

Overall AHS Double Feature was definitely a mixed bag. I think splitting the season into two in the first place was a mistake and each part should have been given it’s own run. Red Tide was admittedly brilliant (aside from the ending) but Death Valley failed to hook me in, and I ended up losing interest in the season. Both the best and worst of AHS, Double Feature was an interesting choice but next year I hope we just get one storyline, it might not work otherwise.