I remember watching the first season of American Horror Story (now called Murder House) and thinking "WHAT THE H*** WITH THIS SHOW?" - it was unexpected, visceral, graphic and just really compelling. Twists came out you so fast and the characters were all memorable and stunning.
Seasons 1-7 really are good with my favorite being "Asylum" - Murder House, Coven, Hotel all add pieces to already stunning puzzle. Good writing, well shot. Both Roanoke and Freakshow were a bit weak but in both cases you could see the writers were trying to stretch and pushed past what they could do. Cult was the worst of this group as showrunners tried their hands at politics which didn't really translate to this genre. Still, it was visual and interesting.
Season 8 picks up characters and storylines from the best of the previous seasons and gives a full-circle story. Worth every minute with characters (particularly from MH and Coven) you really like.
Season 9 forward shows what happens when a series runs out of what made it great. In trying to start a "new" arc - the show is all over the place and really poor in quality. The emphasis on "hot gay characters' replaces deep or quirky people, and the show itself searches for a genre - 1984 can't decide if its making fun of 80's slasher films or if its trying to be one, Double feature gives anthology style a chance and fails twice - neither story is long enough to tell a good story or short enough to dismiss. NYC is the AIDS allegory no one asked for, and Delicate shows AHS at its saddest grasp yet - writing a vehicle for Kim Kardashian because. Love her or hate her, people will watch here.
AHS has gone from ground-breaking TV to the lowest of low hanging fruit. Watch 1-8 or at least watch 1,2,3, 6, 8. Let go of the rest.
