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Lead Critic for the site, as well as serving as an editor when needed.
The Season Two premiere of FX’s American Horror Stories, titled “Dollhouse,” was released on Hulu this past Thursday. Series regular writer Manny Coto helmed this episode, while Loni Peristere returned to the director’s chair, having been a regular director of the show since American Horror Story: Freak Show. As expected, this episode connected at least one more dot with a past season of the original show, so minor spoilers will be discussed here.
This episode’s cast was led by series regular Denis O’Hare and included Kristine Froseth, Houston Jax Towe, Abby Corrigan, Simone Recasner, Maryssa Menendez, Emily Morales-Cabrera, Matt Lasky, and Caitlin Dulany. While everyone but O’Hare is a newcomer to the series, each performed great, with Coto’s writing continuing to be some of the best of the show.
Small Connections to the Original
It isn’t actually revealed until the end of the episode, but this premiere serves as a prequel for American Horror Story: Coven and gives one central character his origin story: Spalding, whom O’Hare portrayed in Coven.
In this premiere, O’Hare portrays his character’s father, a dollmaker named Mr. Van Wirt. Froseth portrays Coby Dellum, who turns out to be a witch, like those from Coven calling Miss Robichaux’s Academy home. She’s recused by a young Fiona Goode (Caitlin Dulany) and a fellow witch!
Furthermore, right at the episode’s conclusion, we are revealed where Spalding’s name actually came from, and, as another bonus, we are introduced to a young Myrtle Snow (Ellie Grace Pomeroy), another of Coven‘s biggest characters. I love that the writers continue to connect nearly every episode and season of American Horror Story and American Horror Stories to one another, no matter how small it may be.
Cinematic Aspects
Coto’s writing in American Horror Stories improves with every episode he tackles and also proves that he is one of the best writers working in television today. His work on Dexter is fantastic too. I’m extremely looking forward to the other four episodes he’s written for this season of American Horror Stories. This episode, while not really all that creepy, was rather unsettling at times and served just the right amount of punches throughout. It also moved along quicker than expected and kept the perfect pace until the end.
Peristere’s direction is also an improvement from his past work on the show as well. There were a couple of one-shot takes, together with great editing, that gave Coto’s writing terrific life. Furthermore, there are tracking shots of O’Hare that put him in direct control of the “dolls” (Froseth, Corrigan, Menendez, Morales-Cabrera & Recasner), reinforcing his menacing presence in the episode.
Other “Dollhouse” Callbacks
Dolls serve as one of horror’s profound focuses. From Child’s Play to The Boy, dolls have served as one of the creepiest subjects in the horror genre. While the art of dollmaking itself is something elegant and, to some collectors, perfection, I think we can all agree that one too many dolls are too much for the normal person.
But after all, what is a normal person if you’re so into horror, and in this case, dolls? Slashers are a great subgenre of horror, and while there is none of that here, the creepiness of characters like Chucky takes center stage in “Dollhouse.”
This episode’s character study of Mr. Van Wirt is one of the best in the series, and very interesting considering what is revealed in its connection to Coven. It’s nice to learn some more about O’Hare’s character from that season.
Lasky plays Van Wirt’s henchman Eustace, who is also a mute. While it’s never revealed why he actually lost his tongue, perhaps that’s one of the many reasons Spalding ends up a mute himself (along with the witches of Miss Robichaux’s keeping him on a leash, of course).
Final Thoughts on the American Horror Stories Season 2 Premiere
While it might seem a little redundant to continue to give us callbacks to past seasons, it seems the connections are smaller and more discreet this time around, instead of an entire episode set in Murder House that was done from American Horror Stories Season One. If the writers can keep up this act, it should work well for the future of American Horror Stories and should not necessarily interfere with the key narrative at play in the episodes. It seemed like the first season just wanted fan service and new stories where it could put them, rather than actually expanding the universe, which is the hope with Season Two.
If anything can be told from this premiere, hopefully, it will continue its own key narrative of stories and present fan service and callbacks when necessary, rather than nearly every episode like Season One. Overall, this was a killer premiere for Stories and helps me look forward to the next episodes, and hopefully, others feel the same.
American Horror Stories will air new episodes every Thursday as part of FX on Hulu. Other great FX on Hulu shows that should be checked out are The Bear and Reservation Dogs!
American Horror Story: Double Feature (Season Ten) is also streaming and was the best season yet. Season Eleven is currently in planning stages, and FX has renewed the show until at least Season Thirteen, so fingers crossed for another great season.
As always, keep it right here at TCS for more reviews of the latest TV shows and films!
Lead Critic for the site, as well as serving as an editor when needed.
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