American Horror Story - Apocalypse

While Ryan Murphy had two good ideas for the individual seasons, he also had another idea: to mix them together and get one of the best seasons of the anthology against all expectations. Apart from the main plot of what might happen in the future, this is above all a properly strengthened sequel to the American Horror Story third season, Coven, as well as an impressive epilogue to the first season, Murder House; and in the latter case, there are more than a few references and cuts to previous seasons. Paradoxically, it is in the pivotal and rightfully beloved episode "Return to Murder House" that a certain division occurs, transitioning from the absolute zenith of the AHS universe to attractive experimentation and genre fooling around, where a robotic storyline with the crazy duo of Evan Peters-Billy Eichner remains sufficiently entertaining, but flirting with an Illuminati parody crosses a certain line between gentle absurdity and unrestrained satire. The finale then brings everything back to ninety percent, as it is suspenseful, deeply emotional, and ingeniously headed in the right direction. And yet I am falling just short of giving it the highest rating, perhaps because the sixth season, Roanoke, to me felt even more polished. Two big acting pluses for Sarah Paulson, who is more beautiful at forty-four than ever before, and for finally being able to sell me on Cody Fern, who has been popping up everywhere lately and is more than capable. I couldn't warm up to him for a long time, but as Michael, he's fantastic in every aspect. (11.01.2019)

Eine postapokalyptische AHS? Das ist vielleicht gar keine so schlechte Idee. Außerdem sehen wir Verbindungen zu Murder House, Coven und Hotel, wir werden an Figuren und Schauspieler erinnert, die wir seit Jahren nicht mehr gesehen haben (ja, Jessica Lange ist wieder da, Emma Roberts ist fabelhaft, ebenso Taissa Farmiga, Lily Rabe, Frances Conroy)... ein neuer Gast ist die unsterbliche Joan Collins, die es schafft, all diejenigen zu überraschen, die dachten, dass Schauspielerinnen nach ihrem 80. Geburtstag ins Altersheim gehören. Ja, ich habe die Fortsetzung der alten Handlungen mit Interesse verfolgt, aber das Ganze war sehr ermüdend. Ich mag es nicht, Science-Fiction mit Horror zu vermischen. Die letzten drei Staffeln sind sehr aus dem Ruder gelaufen, und ich halte nichts von weiteren Experimenten. Vielleicht eine Rückkehr zu Freak Show? Aber es gibt keine weißen Stellen mehr in der Geschichte. Oder Asylum? Gott bewahre. (27.03.2019)

The eighth season didn't impress me much from the start, because the creators' approach to the nuclear disaster and the ensuing radiation strongly reminded me of the unabashed amateurism of The 100 creative team. Things seemed to be improving later on, but it didn't last long. What fascinated me most about Apocalypse is that it didn't feature any elements of horror. I would be okay with calling it a mystery. There was no sign of a horror atmosphere, though. What I enjoyed were the callbacks to previous seasons, but I wasn’t amused by the final showdown. (21.12.2020)

American Horror Story: Apocalypse is another example of producers wanting to be very original, different, and interesting. However, in the end, all that comes out are overwrought gossipy pieces that I do not enjoy and only watch when I have nothing else to do. The eighth season is an example of this, and I hope that the ninth season will really be a slasher horror. I am not going to bet on it, though. (31.01.2020)