The Witches Are Back, But Can They Still Cast A Spell?
We’re just going to say it: American Horror Story lost us somewhere along the way. The early years were a different beast entirely, with Murder House, Asylum, Coven, Hotel, and Apocalypse delivering the kind of horror television that could make fans clear their schedules for the next episode. Then something happened. The seasons became increasingly bloated, the stories seemed to wander further away from what made the series special, and eventually plenty of viewers simply stopped watching. We were among them.
That makes the arrival of American Horror Story: 13 an interesting proposition, particularly because FX appears to be reaching deep into the show’s history for this one. The new trailer brings back some of the franchise’s most recognizable characters, including the witches we haven’t seen together in far too long. Say what you will about American Horror Story, but the women of Coven were one hell of a horror ensemble, and seeing some of those characters return is enough to get even former viewers to at least peek through the window.
American Horror Story: 13 premieres Thursday, September 24, at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT on FX and Hulu, with the official trailer promising a supernatural gathering that looks considerably more complicated than your average family reunion.
WATCH THE TRAILER FOR AHS: 13 BELOW
The cast is stacked with returning favorites. Jessica Lange (Cape Fear) is back as Constance Langdon, Sarah Paulson (Run) returns as Cordelia Goode, and Angela Bassett (Vampire in Brooklyn) reprises her role as Marie Laveau. Emma Roberts (Scream 4) returns as Madison Montgomery, while Evan Peters (X-Men: Days of Future Past) is back as Kai Anderson. Then there is John Carroll Lynch (Zodiac) returning as one of the series’ most recognizable nightmares, Twisty the Clown.
Exactly what all of these people are doing together is where things get a little murky, at least for those of us who haven’t kept up with every twist and turn of the franchise. The trailer certainly looks like FX is assembling its supernatural Avengers, with the fate of everyone involved seemingly hanging in the balance. Whether we’re dealing with Satan, some other ancient evil or simply another excuse to throw every recognizable character into the same room remains to be seen.
And here’s where we admit our bias: we haven’t followed American Horror Story closely in years. We checked out around Hotel, the season featuring Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born) as a blood-drinking resident of the Cortez. By that point, the formula had started wearing us down. Some genuinely great ideas were buried in those seasons, but the storytelling often felt like it needed a pair of scissors. Take a concept that could have made a terrific horror season, stretch it across an enormous number of episodes, and eventually even the most patient viewer starts wondering when the damn thing is going to get somewhere.
We’re also not exactly the biggest Ryan Murphy fans, so a trailer isn’t going to magically erase years of frustration with the series. From our admittedly distant perspective, American Horror Story: 13 looks completely bonkers, wildly excessive, and packed with enough mythology to require a corkboard, several rolls of red string, and considerably more patience than we’re willing to invest.
Still, there is something undeniably fun about seeing these familiar faces return. For viewers who remained loyal to the series, this could be precisely the sort of reunion they’ve been waiting for. And if bringing back the witches of Miss Robichaux’s Academy gets some of those Coven fans who walked away years ago to give the show another chance, well, maybe there is still some life left in the old girl.
The new season centers on Ben, who accepts a hospice position caring for a mysterious patient living inside an unsettling penthouse after surviving a near death experience of his own. From there, the story expands to include Constance’s holiday gathering and the return of the witches from Miss Robichaux’s Academy, setting the stage for whatever supernatural disaster American Horror Story has cooked up this time.
Murphy and Brad Falchuk created the series and serve as executive producers on the new installment alongside Ned Martel and Charlie Carver.
Whether American Horror Story: 13 represents a return to form or simply another chapter in an increasingly tangled anthology remains to be seen. As for us, we’ll be watching from a safe distance and hoping the witches can bring back a little of the magic that made us care about this show in the first place.
