American Horror Story Season 6: My Roanoke Nightmare
Season 6 Episode 2 “Chapter 2”
Directed by Bradley Buecker
Written by Tim Minear
Created by Brad Falchuk & Ryan Murphy
Starring Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Wes Bentley, Chaz Bono, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe, Cuba Gooding Jr.
FX Network
Air date: Wednesday, September 21, 2016, 10pm

Last week, we discovered the top secret theme of Season 6 of American Horror Story — My Roanoke Nightmare. The infamous first colony that disappeared hundreds of years ago is the new home to Shelby and Matt Miller. The show is different from prior seasons in that it’s done “Unsolved Mysteries” style with the “real” Shelby (Lily Rabe) and “real” Matt (Andre Holland) narrating their experiences to the camera, while we watch actors in a re-enactment, Sarah Paulson and Cuba Gooding Jr. After a big city scare, The Millers retreat to Matt’s home state, and buy a huge colonial in Roanoke, NC. They instantly become targets for the locals who attack Shelby while Matt is away on a work trip. There also, of course, is a mysterious force lurking in the woods around the house. When Shelby finally takes off, she veers off the road and ends up in the middle of the woods witness to a bizarre cult.

Spoilers below for this week’s AHS.

American Horror Story
Season 6 Episode 1 “American Horror Story Season 6: My Roanoke Nightmare”
Directed by Bradley Buecker
Written by Brad Falchuk & Ryan Murphy
Created by Brad Falchuk & Ryan Murphy
Starring Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Wes Bentley, Chaz Bono, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe, Cuba Gooding Jr.
FX Networks
Air date: Wednesday, September 14, 2016, 10pm

Few shows can rival American Horror Story for sheer creepiness. Over its first 5 seasons, Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy have shocked, scared, amused, and at times, befuddled fans. Each season a different theme, the show premiered in 2011 with the mesmerizing Murder House storyline. Since then, the seasons have met with a mix of critical success and backlash. Season 2’s Asylum was perfectly maddening, but seasons 3 and 4 (Coven and Freakshow) were near misses. Last season’s Hotel was a return to form, introducing Lady Gaga into the mix as the ravishing Countess, a vampire dwelling within the walls of a murderous hotel. The creators have acquired a phenomenal set of acting talent, many who return each season in different forms including Oscar winners Kathy Bates and Jessica Lange, Oscar nominee Angela Bassett, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe and more. Season 6’s theme was the subject of a viral campaign with countless ads hinting at possible choices. Ryan Murphy himself introduces the episode asking us if we’ve guessed it, and away we go…

Spoilers for the Season 6 premiere of American Horror Story below.

Carol
Director: Todd Haynes
Screenwriter: Phyllis Nagy
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Sarah Paulson, Kyle Chandler, Jake Lacy, Carrie Brownstein
The Weinstein Company
Rated R | 118 Minutes
Release Date: December 25, 2015

“My angel, flung out of space…”

Directed by Todd Haynes (I’m Not There, Far From Heaven) and written by Phyllis Nagy (Mrs. Harris), Carol is based on the novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith.

Set in 1952 in New York City, the movie follows Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara), a twentysomething shop clerk, and her relationship with Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett), an alluring older woman going through a divorce. An aspiring photographer, Therese is working in the toy department of a Manhattan department store when she is approached by Carol, who purchases a model train set for her daughter as a Christmas gift.

American Horror Story: Freakshow
Season 4 Episode 2: “Massacres and Matinees”
Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Written by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk
Starring Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Frances Conroy, Evan Peters, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Michael Chiklis, Denis O’Hare, Emma Roberts, and Finn Wittrock
FX
Air Date: Wednesday, October 15, 2014, 10pm

From the nightmare house, to the Asylum to a witch’s coven, you never know what you’re going to get on FX’s American Horror Story. Season 4 welcomed us to Jupiter Florida circa early 1950s introducing us to Elsa Mars (Jessica Lange), who has just found the new headliner (or should we say double headliner) for her Freakshow. Sarah Paulson plays Siamese sisters Dot and Bette Tattler, Bette longing to be a star while Dot longing to be left alone. Among the other strange and interesting characters we meet are Ethel, the Bearded Lady (Kathy Bates), and Jimmy “Lobster Boy” Darling (Evan Peters).

There will be spoilers below, so proceed with caution!

American Horror Story: Freakshow
Season 4 Episode 1: “Monsters Among Us”
Directed by Ryan Murphy
Written by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk
Starring Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Frances Conroy, Evan Peters, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Michael Chiklis, Denis O’Hare, Emma Roberts, and Finn Wittrock
FX
Air Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2014, 10pm

No network pushes the bounds of television like FX. Whether it’s the uber-realism of Sons of Anarchy or the low-brow hijinx of the gang from Paddy’s Pub in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, FX has cornered the market on extreme cable TV, giving viewers premium shows without the premium prices of HBO and Showtime. In 2011, American Horror Story joined the lineup and immediately caught on with the growing TV horror craze giving FX a competitor to HBO’s True Blood and AMC’s The Walking Dead. The difference can be summed up easily: American Horror Story is genuinely and purely terrifying.

What makes AHS unique is that it is the first and, to my knowledge, only show in TV history to begin and end a specific story during a season, and then bring back nearly the entire cast in a totally new genre concept each season. From season 1 till now, the series has set itself apart with its ability to push the boundaries on sexuality and violence. It also makes use of phenomenal acting, tremendous score (always a must in the horror genre), and stunning visuals (the leather-suited man springs to mind).