I had two blogs written and ready to go but after watching American Horror Story: Apocalypse last night, I feel inspired to write about one of my favorite shows on television! As far as I am concerned some of the best television on in recent times belongs to HBO and FX. The team of Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy cannot be beat, both story wise and aesthetically. I love all of their shows, from American Horror Story, to The Assassination of Gianni Versace, to Scream Queens, to Glee and so on. Their eye for detail and sets are endlessly interesting to look at and the new installment of AHS does not disappoint. I also appreciate the way their shows often comment on real world events usually in a sarcastic way as it appeals to my cynical side. There is a genre of shows that I call “in on it shows” that have a social commentary on current events happening right now in America. Either you get the subtext or you don’t. but these shows are multi-layered and for me, endlessly fascinating.
Apocalypse opens with Coco getting her hair done by Mr. Gallant, the excellent Evan Peters when suddenly everyone’s phones begin to buzz with a warning that a ballistic missile is one hour away from hitting Los Angeles and that pretty much every major city has been hit and the end of the world is coming. I can actually picture this happening so the chaos that ensues afterwards seemed fitting to me. Coco, Leslie Grossman, is part of the elite, with her assistant, Mallory ( the under-appreciated Billie Lourd) receives a call from her daddy in Tokyo to get to the airport asap in order to get on a private jet and escape certain death. The private plane can seat four and since her family perished in Tokyo Mr. Gallant, his grandmother Evie (Joan Collins, I love you!) and her assistant Mallory get a seat. The fact that these people would have died except for a twist of fate is not lost on those of us watching. They got lucky being in the right place at the right time with the right person.
Next they cut to a scene happening at the same time, showing a family where the son, Timothy is celebrating his acceptance to college. Suddenly they get the news and some people break in their front door saying that Timothy is genetically perfect and has been chosen to survive but must leave his family behind. How did they know he is genetically perfect? He submitted his DNA to a genealogy website of course! His father, realizing this is his son’s only chance to survive, pushes him screaming out the door. So the nuclear ballistic missile hits and fast forward to 2 weeks later, when the genetically perfect people, Timothy and Emily, are moved from the cells they have been in to a new location. A very eerie scene ensues showing the complete devastation of the Earth complete with decontamination suits for everyone still alive that look like something out of Mad Max. The show does not explain in this episode who saved Timothy and Emily or why but I am sure that is coming in future episodes. They arrive at a bunker and meet Wilhemina Venable, Sarah Paulson, who is the representative of The Collective, the group behind their survival. The elite have paid one hundred million dollars each to reserve a spot in the bunker and there are also servants who have earned a spot. The class distinctions are obvious and are made even more apparent since the elite always wear purple while the servants are in gray. God forbid anyone forget their place!
The bunker is beautiful and looks like a very expensive hotel and it only adds to the ambience that the entire thing is lit by candles. So you would think that the elites would be able to do whatever they wanted and would live out the Apocalypse in stunning comfort? Nope, things are not so easy no matter how much money you have paid to survive. Food consists of gelatin cubes that have all the vitamins and nutrition that you would need but do not satisfy your appetite for food and different flavors. Sex? Not allowed period. Everyone must be dressed to the nines and meet at 6:30 sharp for drinks every night in the same room, with the same song, playing over and over again. There is only mineral water to drink which is served, of course, in champagne glasses. In comes another warden, Miriam Mead, played by Kathy Bates, who is the enforcer of the rules and checks everyone for radiation. She and Ms. Venable rule with an iron fist and they kill one of the elite claiming he has radiation poisoning. This is actually a play for control and dominance and the viewer soon learns that the wardens are playing their own game with the survivors. Finally a real meal is served but the survivors soon realize that the meat they are eating is human flesh. From there ensues a hilarious scene where Coco is demanding her servant Mallory put her fingers down her throat so she can throw up while Evie calmly eats her stew not caring what the meat may be.
Flash forward to 18 months later and the survivors look a little worse for wear. Imagine being trapped underground, no food, no sex, nothing to drink, nothing to do, the same thing day in and day out with the same people listening to the same song over and over and over again. Would surviving be enough? Or would you slowly go insane? Perhaps it would be better to have died along with everyone else? Finally at the end someone new arrives, Michael Langdon (if you watch the series, this is a character from Murder House, Season 1, and he is the AntiChrist) and he is from The Collective. He is there to observe the survivors and determine who will be moved to a new, secure location. It is time to be judged and the episode ends there.
There is so much in this episode that is a commentary on current social and political issues we are having in the real world. Is it fair that the wealthy have so much more than those that are struggling? Does money give you the right to buy survival? Is one person’s life worth more than another’s? What does it say about us that even in the Apocalypse the poor might be spared just so that they can continue to be in service to those richer than they are? Who gets to decide who lives and who dies? Will the current turbulence in America lead to World War III and the end of everything as we know it? Once again American Horror Story is not just a great story but actually thought provoking and yes, very, very scary.
The night is calling... 