American Horror Story Why Death Valley Is So Underwhelming (Compared To Red Tide)

American Horror Story: Why Death Valley Is So Underwhelming (Compared To Red Tide)

Contents

American Horror Story: Red Tide was an exciting season that called back to the show’s heyday, but its follow-up, Death Valley, is too underwhelming.

You Are Reading :[thien_display_title]

American Horror Story Why Death Valley Is So Underwhelming (Compared To Red Tide)

American Horror Story season 10 was split into two separate premises, and part 2’s Death Valley is sadly far more underwhelming than Red Tide. Following the mixed reviews of American Horror Story season 9, 1984, the series went into a new direction for Double Feature where half of the season took place with characters at the water and the second half followed new characters at the desert. Death Valley and Red Tide haven’t been explicitly linked yet, but they do share underlying themes of U.S. government experimentation and using Americans to scientifically create new humanoid creatures.

The first five episodes of Red Tide were exciting and fixed the slow pacing issues that AHS had been plagued by in recent seasons, with episode 5, “Gaslight,” being one of the top-rated episodes in American Horror Story history. It left fans guessing with the next episodes because it was unclear who would kill, be killed, or become victim to the black pill’s bloodsucking powers. Red Tide’s finale episode was disappointing and put a bit of a damper on the first half of the season, but the vampire premise still captivated fans in a way reminiscent of American Horror Story’s heyday in its early seasons. With only six episodes compared to the show’s usual 10 to 12, Red Tide was able to quickly develop its core conflict, drop any fluff, and have enough time to connect with and explore the main characters.

Following up such a well-regarded shortened season, the expectations for Death Valley to carry on the trend were high. Fans were already a bit skeptical considering the disappointment of Red Tide’s finale but, by the end of Death Valley’s premiere episode, hopes for the same exciting recreation were largely put to rest. American Horror Story season 10 part 2 was already at a disadvantage for taking up only four episodes compared to its predecessor’s six, but it still failed to capture fans right off the bat like it needed to. Death Valley isn’t a bad or overall poorly made premise, it just came off far more underwhelming for its inability to keep up with the celebrated casting, development, pacing, and enthralling storyline of Red Tide.

Death Valley’s Casting Recalls AHS’s Recent Critiques

American Horror Story Why Death Valley Is So Underwhelming (Compared To Red Tide)

One of the most significant aspects of the success of American Horror Story’s seasons has been its casting, especially the prominent use of its most popular actors like Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe, Frances Conroy, and, in its early seasons, Jessica Lange. American Horror Story: 1984’s cast brought back several popular recurring actors like Billie Lourd, Cody Fern, Emma Roberts, Leslie Grossman, and Lily Rabe, but was sorely missing the king and queen of AHS: Evan Peters and Sarah Paulson. After eight straight seasons of leading the series, their absence in season 9 was clearly felt, which is why it was so exciting that both returned for AHS: Red Tide. Sarah Paulson is still present in Death Valley, but doesn’t have the same presence and compelling character that she did with TB Karen in Red Tide. Red Tide also featured Evan Peters, Frances Conroy, Lily Rabe, Finn Wittrock, Leslie Grossman, Denis O’Hare, and new AHS fan-favorite Macaulay Culkin in main or supporting roles, which contributed to the stellar performances and captivation of the audience that AHS desperately needed.

See also  10 Biggest Arguments On The Good Place

The success of American Horror Story’s characters has largely relied on its adult figures, with the exception of the teen witches in Coven and the fan-favorites Violet and Tate in Murder House. Outside of Coven, American Horror Story primarily focusing on younger characters hasn’t led to the greatest critical and audience reception, with the clearest example being the AHS spinoff series American Horror Stories. Nearly every episode aside from the well-received “Gaslight” and “Feral” (which starred AHS fan-favorites Billie Lourd and Cody Fern, respectively) focused on teenage characters or young adults, which didn’t land with audiences in the same way that American Horror Story’s mature characters do.

The most overwhelming critiques from fans about American Horror Stories’ season was its less captivating teenage casting and focus on young characters, and Death Valley sadly fell prey to this unwelcome casting trend for its modern-day timeline. Featuring two AHStories actors Kaia Gerber and Nico Greetham as well as newcomers Rachel Hilson and Isaac Cole Powell as college students abducted by aliens, Death Valley doesn’t bring any star power to its casting, and the characters feel just as bland as those in American Horror Stories. Leslie Grossman is brought in as crowd control for the modern timeline, but it isn’t enough to outweigh the underwhelming performances and characters of the college students.

Death Valley’s Dual Timelines Leave Each Underdeveloped

American Horror Story Why Death Valley Is So Underwhelming (Compared To Red Tide)

With only four episodes to dive into a new alien premise, American Horror Story: Death Valley erred in splitting its story into two connected timelines. With no characters that appear in both nor direct conflict tie-ins, the two timelines almost take on their own mini mini-seasons. The episodes for Death Valley split equally between the two, with about a half-hour being dedicated to the 1950s government timeline and the episode’s remainder following the modern-day college students. With the total amount of time allocated to each timeline being less than two hours each, it’s far more difficult to pull in audiences to root for and feel connected to the characters than it would be if Death Valley chose one timeline to stick to.

The different timelines have also been received differently by fans and critics, with audiences really enjoying the 1950s black-and-white timeline while feeling far more underwhelmed by the present-day alien abductions. The 1950s timeline focusing primarily on President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s treaty with aliens is largely compelling, with plenty of mysteries occurring, planned murders of celebrities, elaborate government coverups, and the creation of locations and experiments that have long been subject to conspiracy theories by Americans. The first timeline covers a lot of ground that is actually exciting and features the horror tropes and premises that American Horror Story requires, but it would be far more effective if it didn’t have to share time with the modern storyline.

See also  Why Amanda Waller Isnt Involved In Peacemaker

Additionally, the character development falls short without having enough allocated time, with the only character who audiences can really connect to being Neal McDonough’s President Eisenhower. Sarah Paulson, who plays Ike’s wife Mamie Eisenhower, is present, but just barely. Red Tide was able to create three-dimensional characters with depth, while Death Valley’s ensemble characters struggle to be memorable.

The Alien Experiment Storyline Isn’t As Thrilling As Red Tide

American Horror Story Why Death Valley Is So Underwhelming (Compared To Red Tide)

American Horror Story already found a way to make aliens compelling with their mysterious role in season 2’s Asylum, but Death Valley’s split storylines can’t find a way to connectedly outdo the terrifying experiments. Aliens can clearly be scary as demonstrated by Asylum, but Death Valley’s aliens only really elicit fear and tension in its black-and-white timeline as they kill humans, possess characters, and blackmail the president. This tension between the aliens and humans is far more interesting than the pregnancy experiments in the modern-day timeline, and keeps up with the talented-untalented-vampire conflict that was so thrilling in Red Tide. As a whole, Death Valley’s dual alien timelines and different conflicts don’t create as succinct and terrifying a storyline as Red Tide, which was contained to the black pills and vampiric consequences. Red Tide also gave fans something larger to anticipate and fear, such as theories on how Doris would take the black pills. In contrast, Death Valley really just takes viewers along for the ride without a clear path for where it’s headed with the characters.

Death Valley’s Pacing Is Uneven Between Its Timelines

Aside from the oddly rushed and uneven finale, Red Tide was a glowing example of how American Horror Story could amend its recent pacing issues. Red Tide was able to develop its characters, create believable and compelling tension, and a clear vision for its horror without adding too much fluff or unnecessary side plots. Death Valley sadly falls short with its pacing, which is fast and succinct in the past timeline, yet slow and drawn out in the modern timeline. American Horror Story season 10’s black-and-white section moves quickly as it goes through plenty of characters and events like finding famed long-missing pilot Amelia Earhart with aliens, JFK’s assassination, Marilyn Monroe’s death, dealing with a robotic liaison, and Eisenhower racking his brains around signing AHS’s alien treaty. The modern timeline lingers far more, spending way too much time with the college students reuniting at a dinner and slowly moving through the human-alien hub where they find Steve Jobs. Death Valley’s college student storyline can’t keep up with the hurried momentum of Dwight Eisenhower’s conflict, and it makes American Horror Story season 10 feel uneven overall.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/american-horror-story-season-10-death-valley-underwhelming/

Movies -