This premiere TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER of the Death Valley arc got off to a great start in the 1954 timeline set in New Mexico with the arrival and discovery of the aliens. In particular, Neal McDonough (as President Dwight D. Eisenhower), Sarah Paulson (as First Lady Mamie Eisenhower), Lily Rabe (as Amelia Earhart) and Rebecca Dayan (as alien-possessed housewife and mother Maria) are all exceptional in their roles. The 1950s arc was so intriguing and compelling that I wish that the episode had stayed in that timeline.
Unfortunately, the episode had to shift to the modern 2021 timeline to potentially connect the two arcs. While, the modern timeline diluted the episode, it's not the fault of the 4 young actors playing the college students, but mostly the fault of the really shortsighted writing. No actor should have to say the awful dialogue that the writers gave these actors in this episode. And I honestly think this quartet did the best they could. There was way too much gross and graphic sex talk that felt completely unnecessary. Is this how Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk think young people talk? These AHS writers really need to get out of their own way and quit it with all this cringe, gross dialogue and agenda-riddled storytelling. They think they are progressive, when it reality they are veering into the realm of disgusting and unwatchable.
In actuality, there WAS an interesting part of the modern day subplot and surprisingly, it was from the character played by the actress everyone riffed in American Horror Stories. I actually thought Kaia Gerber (as science major Kendall) was rather convincing as a girl who shunned technological advancement and her acting was MUCH better than it was in Stories. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't remotely award-worthy or even great acting, but Gerber was very persuasive and made Kendall very likable. I've seen better actors than her who were lead characters get their thunder stolen from them by supporting characters, so the fact she held her own and drew me in to the story is a good start. In fact, her dialogue was much more palatable than the other 3 characters. Hopefully, this is the end of all the awkward dialogue and the last 3 episodes of Death Valley are better.
Unfortunately, the episode had to shift to the modern 2021 timeline to potentially connect the two arcs. While, the modern timeline diluted the episode, it's not the fault of the 4 young actors playing the college students, but mostly the fault of the really shortsighted writing. No actor should have to say the awful dialogue that the writers gave these actors in this episode. And I honestly think this quartet did the best they could. There was way too much gross and graphic sex talk that felt completely unnecessary. Is this how Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk think young people talk? These AHS writers really need to get out of their own way and quit it with all this cringe, gross dialogue and agenda-riddled storytelling. They think they are progressive, when it reality they are veering into the realm of disgusting and unwatchable.
In actuality, there WAS an interesting part of the modern day subplot and surprisingly, it was from the character played by the actress everyone riffed in American Horror Stories. I actually thought Kaia Gerber (as science major Kendall) was rather convincing as a girl who shunned technological advancement and her acting was MUCH better than it was in Stories. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't remotely award-worthy or even great acting, but Gerber was very persuasive and made Kendall very likable. I've seen better actors than her who were lead characters get their thunder stolen from them by supporting characters, so the fact she held her own and drew me in to the story is a good start. In fact, her dialogue was much more palatable than the other 3 characters. Hopefully, this is the end of all the awkward dialogue and the last 3 episodes of Death Valley are better.