User Reviews

I have mixed feelings about this season and especially about this episode. It was very emotional, well-acted, serious, all that stuff. It wasn't "horror," though. There was nothing scary about it. It was very depressing, though. I'm of the generation that came of age in the early '80s, having started college in 1984. I witnessed the AIDS crisis firsthand, watching so many of my friends get sick and die during that decade. I don't need a TV show to remind me what it was like to be a gay man in the '80s because I remember exactly how it felt.

It's not that this kind of story shouldn't be on TV; I think it's important to tell people what happened. That said, had I known this season of AHS wasn't going to be a horror story but rather a story of the start of the AIDS crisis, I probably would have opted out. Or I could have at least made myself emotionally prepared for it. Instead, I'm stuck in PTSD-land crying over memories of the loved ones who were taken far too soon.

It's hard to understand how the writing of this show has gone downhill so far. I'm struggling to get through this season. The much much too obvious subtext of the AIDS epidemic with a mixed message of the vilification of hedonism in homo-eroticism & subsequent glorification and use of its sexual powers to get you to keep paying attention. The season explores trauma, buts it's much too heavy and basic for the usual pop & smarter series. There is too little actually going on on the surface to excuse or cleverly hide the subtext, instead it plays like a bad after school special reenactment series... detached from itself and telling a personal experience in a non-personal way. It's aimless except to educate and depress. This show used to enjoy its own horror and now it just feels aggressively begging for your attention, yet it doesn't deserve it.

Look, I was in nyc at the time and we all know how horrible the AIDS crisis was, how that jerk Reagan wouldn't even say "AIDS", how it was the "gay" plague...but this is supposed to be a horror show and if the "horror" here was some kind of misplaced political message, c'mon guys!! This whole episode wasn't scary or weird or anything like that...it was just sad and depressing and really brought down this misfire of a season, I don't even think I'm going to bother with the last episode!! Again, I remember the horror of this time & it sucked but didn't really need to be reminded of it during an "entertainment" show about fantasy horror...read the room guys!!

This episode was "A Christmas Carol". That's it. That's all. Multiple Scrooges being shown their past, present, and/or future by ghosts. Why? Is this for people that haven't seen "It's a Wonderful Life", or for the ones that are nostalgic for it? Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Russell Tovey, and I'm glad that he's finally allowed to show some emotional range other than "tough guy" here. This doesn't pull at the heart strings the way his role as George in "Being Human" did, but he's really good at tears and regret. And I love Patti LuPone, both as a Broadway superstar and as an occasional guest on AHS. But her appearance in this episode was PURE CRINGE. It took a perfectly acceptable dramatic moment and poured hot, melted cheese all over it. It was an absolute "oh, no, they WOULDN'T" experience. And the entire episode was a metaphor. I think. It's hard to tell with AHS these days. Yes, hospitals are scary for some people, but nothing that happened is old-school AHS-level of scary. Nothing as horrific as the Minotaur in "Coven", certainly. Nothing as horrific as any of the doctors in "Asylum". Nothing horrific at all, just sadly realistic. That's not why a lot of us watch AHS. We watch it for the weird. We watch it for the absurd. Not for, "Hey, this really happened. And it happens to people every day." That's what documentaries are for, not previously entertaining horror series. And I'm clearly not smart enough to figure out why the ghosts have sparkly antlers, but I'm sure it's a very serious and important reference to something. I hope there's a follow-up special that explains the metaphors in detail for those of us that can't be bothered.

20 mins into episode 9 and I finally gave up. This is without a doubt the worst script and the worst acting for any AHS season. It's cringeworthy rubbish and snowflake stereotype of the worst kind. I'm gutted I wasted as much time as I did to go 9 episodes deep and decide it's dire. I doubt I'll watch any further seasons.

I can't believe that a quality actor like Zachary Quinto would be associated with such a poor show. He must have read the script so is he struggling for work? If I'd picked this script up I'd have declined to take part. It's self righteous and undignified tosh and I can't believe Disney is streaming it.

For a show called American Horror Story, you could not get closer to a truly Horific story of America's past.

Whilst this show has delt with true past events, none were better represented than in this episode. To show the tragic way people were treated in those early days of the AIDS epidemic, may be confronting and uncomfortable, is true horror perpetrated by society.

Some reviews would have you believe this was unnecessary or uncomfortable to watch, that's all true but it is necessary to remember the plight of those who suffered in those early days.

I find it difficult to read reviews that state that this season was pushing some sort of LGBTQ+ agenda. As a heterosexual it is clear to me that whilst this did effect mostly gay men (during the 80's) this is a tale of the horrific way humans can treat those they consider other. Despite where you stand on same sex relations it should terrify you the way people who were infected were treated. It should not matter who someone loves when it comes to a disease like HIV/AIDS (HUMAN) compassion should be universal. These people deserved better in their last days and I commend the writers of American Horror Story for living up to the name of their show. It is easy to write and market easily digestible fiction, but it takes true courage to risk shinning a light on the true inconvenient true horror of the not so distant past.

People are saying is not "scary enough" is not "weird or gore enough" but you don't need serial killers, ghosts or demons to tell a horror story. This is a true horror story about how people was let to die in the 80's, always AHS told some stories that were true, not fictional and this episodie was so emotional, this was an American Horror Story in every single frame.

Not everything is witches, scary hotels, vampires, hanted houses or aliens... sometimes the most scary stories are made by regular people like me or you, is not the typhical season of AHS, but is indead a American Horror Story......

This episode was emotionally powerful and thoughtful showing several characters on their death beds and seeing their past was just such a great idea. The cinematography this episode was also really good with this gritty realness yet hopeful light flushing the scenes. We got to see more of underused actors here and it was a great choice being able to fully understand almost all of our characters. There is a tragedy in this episode watching peoples lives flash before their eyes the plot at this point its just about wrapping up the character arcs and the show as a whole and this is going to have a very dark and brutal ending.

Being a young adult of the 80s and losing someone close to me, who died of AIDS this was both painful and powerful to watch. That was a horrifically scary time. AIDS was the monster that stalked my dear friends and took many of them too soon. Faceless and feared cutting wide swaths through entire communities. And we all felt helpless to stop it. All we could do was huddle together and try to be as "normal" as possible. This has been a great season. Not one for everyone I understand, but we'll done as always and important that we never forget. Great casting and well written script. 10 stars across the board.