What’s The Drama?

Jessica with American Horror Story co-star Lily Rabe, the show’s producer/creator Ryan Murphy, and Zachary Quinto

You may or may not remember that in July American Horror Story: Season One earned 17 Emmy nominations. This tied it with Mad Men, and put it far ahead of Homeland, Downton Abbey, and Game of Thrones. So how did FX manage to be the only network not completely shut out of the drama category? Well, actually, they were.

American Horror Story‘s producers decided to submit the show into the “movie/mini-series” category instead of the “drama” category, arguing that because it is an anthology series (no continuing narrative elements between one season and the next) it could be considered in either grouping. They decided to enter it in the less competitive “mini-series” category, completely removing networks from a chance in the drama category.

Clearly it seemed to pay off when they received 17 Emmy nominations. Major categories included “Outstanding Miniseries”, “Lead Actress” for Connie Britton, “Supporting Actress” for both Jessica Lange and Frances Conroy, and “Supporting Actor” for Denis O’Hare. It also recieved recognition in technical categories for “Art Direction” (x2), “Casting”, “Costumes”, “Editing”, “Hairstyling”, “Main Title Design”,” Makeup”, “Prosthetic Makeup”, “Sound Editing” “Sound Mixing” and “Stunt Coordination.” That’s a mouthful, and very impressive! Especially considering the horror genre doesn’t often receive many Emmy nominations.

Despite these promising nominations, some criticisms along the way to the Emmy’s may have harmed American Horror Story‘s chances of sealing the deal in September  Many critics disagreed with the producers’ decision to shy away from the drama category in favor of the mini-series category. The producers countered that they knew AHS would be a miniseries all along despite critics being unaware of the fact. Come time for the Emmy’s, AHS were only selected to win 2 Emmys: one for Jessica Lange as “Supporting Actress in a Miniseries” and one for “Hairstyling for a Miniseries”. Whether this happened because of some tainted opinions of the show, or because Game Change was a genuine front runner movie in the category, we can only hope American Horror Story‘s next season can hold it’s own in the Emmys, whether in the mini-series or drama category. Better believe I’ll be rooting for it.

The Characters

After months of speculation as to the actors to Season Two: Asylum, this video seems to give the most complete insight as to just who will be joining us.

As the music in the background so aptly puts it, “Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be).” When it comes to American Horror Story, there is really no way to fully predict what will happen. Whatever will be, will be. This is especially true because as you can tell from the trailer, both old and new faces will be joining us. This is because American Horror Story is intended to be an anthology, meaning each season bring a completely new story line to life. All new characters, an all new setting, and all new opportunities to scream like a little girl. Without fully delving into the corkscrew that is this season’s plot, let’s get a little context.

The season opens in modern day as Newlyweds Leo (Adam Levine) and Teresa (Jenna Dewen Tatum) visit abandoned Briarcliff Manor as the last stop on their “haunted honeymoon tour”. When things begin to go awry for the couple, we flash back to 1964, where Briarcliff Manor, an institution for the criminally insane, is run by the Catholic Church and Sister Jude (Jessica Lange). When she’s not busy fantasizing about the Monsignor, Sister Jude acts as a nurse to those who were committed for being considered “unnatural” in the 1960’s society. Some of these include Shelley (Chloe Sevigny), a nymphomaniac, Lana (Sarah Paulson), a lesbian journalist, and Kit (Evan Peters) who believes aliens abducted his African American wife Alma (Britne Oldford). SPOILER ALERT: You will see aliens, though it’s up in the air whether they abducted Alma’s wife, or if the local serial killer Bloody Face murdered her to wear her skin. Helping Sister Jude with patients is Dr. Arden (James Cromwell), who may or may not be a Nazi. All signs seems to point to yes as the Doctor enjoys hiring girls for kinky nun role-play, flirting with Sister Eunice (Lily Rabe), and enjoys performing horrific experiments on his patients in his free time.

So if you aren’t interested in nuns, crazy Nazi doctors, mutants in the woods, aliens, sex addicted patients, exorcisms, or blood, please run far, far away from this show immediately. This is seriously your warning: get out while you can. As for everyone else, remember I’ll be right here alongside you, though I may occasionally be hiding under a blanket.