American Horror Story Murder House
Episode 1 Pilot
When American Horror Story Murder House first aired, I was so excited! It felt like the perfect show to satisfy that creepy, horror TV show itch I was missing. I was hooked from the very first episode. (Granted, some of the later seasons are hit or miss ... .I'm looking at you Double Feature!) But overall the first handful of seasons were good.
PLOT
Therapist Ben Harmon, his wife, Vivien, and their daughter, Violet, move across the country to Los Angeles to escape their troubled past.
Photo Credit: Ryan Murphy Productions
Released: 5 Oct 2011
Runtime: 51 Minutes
Director: Ryan Murphy
Writer: Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk
Actors: Connie Britton, Dylan McDermott, Evan Peters
In the beginning we open in 1978 where a young Adelaide gives a warning to these two bratty red-headed twins who want to go into this deserted house to cause mass destruction. The warning, I believe, is for the twins and anyone who gets involved with that house.
"Excuse me: you are going to die in there."
Then flash forward to 2010 where Vivienne finds out that her husband Ben was cheating on her. We don’t see a lot so we push on to 2011 where Vivienne, Ben, and Violet (their angsty teenage daughter) move across the country to Los Angeles and move into the Murder House.
As if Vivienne doesn’t have enough going on dealing with her cheating husband, she meets Constance, her next door neighbor. They meet because Constance’s daughter, Adelaide, keeps breaking into Vivienne’s house, scaring her.
Ben, a psychiatrist, sees patients in his home. This is where we meet Tate. A VERY troubled young man with visions of killing his fellow students. And yes, you can see him and Violet getting involved. It’s so obvious. Also, Ben starts sleepwalking as well as hearing voices.
Vivienne meets Moira, an older woman who claims to be a maid who has worked at the house for a long time. Vivienne likes the older woman and hires her. Later when Ben meets Moira, she appears to him as a young woman who constantly tries to seduce him.
Ben and Vivienne argue for the umpteenth time. Ben is tired of no sex after a year and Vivienne still hasn’t forgiven him for his affair. This leads to them having sex. Later that night, Ben sleepwalks downstairs again and turns the stove on, nearly setting himself on fire. Lucky for him Constance saves him. While this is going on, Vivienne sees a figure dressed in black bondage gear (from head to toe), thinks it’s Ben and they have sex. WTF?
Meanwhile, Tate and Violet decide to get even with the mean girl so Violet tricks the girl to her house and things get out of hand.
The next day while Ben is jogging he is followed and accosted by Larry, a man who used to own the house. He tells Ben the house is evil and that the house made him kill his wife and daughters. The fire he set also caused him to be severely burned over 70 percent of his body. He attempts to warn Ben but Ben tells him to leave him alone.
We end the episode with Vivienne telling Ben that she is pregnant and they both are happy.
I feel like this is a great episode to start the season. We learn about the characters and we get a little peak about the history of the house. Yes, there are some deaths with the twins and some good bloody scenes with the revenge.
There is some nudity. We have a couple of butt scenes with Ben and a, um… masterbation scene with Ben. But what is up with him crying afterwards? Dude cries a lot. So far a good show and I would recommend watching if you haven’t seen it yet.
The standout for this episode I think is Jessica Lange as Constance. Everytime we see her it’s a great performance. Evan Peters as Tate is pretty good. I like the different sides of Tate. You see the nice guy that wants to help Violet, but then will turn into this weird, psycho guy the next.
And now for your Forever Final Girl Exclusive…Did you know?:
Jessica Lange originally turned down the role of Constance in season 1, but finally accepts after creator Ryan Murphy repeatedly offers her the role. (Thankfully she accepts because she is the queen of American Horror Story!)
Christine Estabrook (Marcy) and Frances Conroy (Moira) appear together in HBO's Six Feet Under (S2E5 "Invisible Woman").
Kills/Blood: 3.5/5
Sex/Nudity: 3/5
Creepiness: 4/5
Enjoyment: 5/5
My Rank: 4/5
IMDB: 7.9/10
