American Horror Story: Halloween Part 1 (Episode 4)
Legend has it that Halloween night is the night the dead are able to walk the earth with the living. However, in the Harmon household, they don't really seem to need a special day or an invitation to do it. And so begins the first part of our Halloween episodes of "American Horror Story." In this episode we learn the backstory behind the last owners of the house, the fabulous and bickering couple Chad (Zachary Quinto) and Patrick (Teddy Sears), a major character dies, another rises from the dead and the gimp suit returns. All in all, episode 4 was a perfect mix of creating backstory and building characters with just the right amount of supernatural happenings and action. Major plot points in this week's episode:
1. The sonogram. When Vivien has her pregnancy scare and is rushed to the hospital, the nurse alludes to the fact that she's farther long than what she thought. And then she looks at the sonogram screen in surprise, gasps and faints. What exactly did she see? We know that Vivien and Ben had sex for the first time since his affair that night in the house and right after Vivien had sex with the entity in the gimp suit. Both were around the same time and we are led to believe that those were her only sexual experiences. So the baby is growing at some sort of rapid demon rate? Does it also have demon horns? Is that what the nurse saw? Honestly, this whole storyline is a bit far fetched for me. (I know, I know, I'm calling an over the top haunted house drama far fetched.) What would be more interesting than a demon baby? What if Vivien was also having an affair and became pregnant as a result and that's why the baby is more developed? It would make sense that she may not have realized that she was pregnant since she had just recently suffered the miscarriage.
2. Addie. I don't know about you, but I'm sad to see Addie go. Hopefully she'll make a ghostly return in the next episode. But what was with Constance dragging her towards the house instead of letting her go in the ambulance? Was this action taken in order to keep Addie's spirit confined to the house? My thought would be that (as it seems with the other ghosts) if you die on the premises of the house the spirit will have no choice but to be stuck there. This almost seems so easy that I could actually be completely wrong. But hey, it's a good guess. I also found it so sad that all that poor girl wanted for Halloween was to dress up as a "pretty girl" (and NOT snoopy, god dammit!) and how devastatingly awful Constance treated her. I'm also left to wonder who exactly is the hit and run driver and if they are a major character in the series or if their character will come in to play at all.
3. Zombie Hayden. So apparently Hayden has come back from the dead to pay good ol' Ben a visit, which he actually deserves in my opinion. Apparently the dead can call people's cell phones from beyond the grave too! SO is this the ghost of Hayden, a zombie Hayden, or just a one time visit from Hayden since its Halloween and the dead can work the earth and all that jazz? I don't know but I can't wait til next week to find out. Everything about this story line from the beginning affair, to Ben's visit with Hayden in Boston, to her death by shovel pummeling is probably the most compelling story line in my opinion.
It looks like good news for "American Horror Story" in the ratings department as well. The show debuted with the highest number of viewers in FX history, beating out previous number one ranked show "The Shield." The forth episode drew in the highest ratings from the series so far. If you're interested in what creator Ryan Murphy has to say about the show's happenings and future happenings, head on over to Entertainment Weeklyfor a spoiler laden interview with one of the series creators. Here's a preview for next week's episode:
