Episode cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Dylan McDermott | ... | Dr. Ben Harmon | |
Connie Britton | ... | Vivien Harmon | |
Evan Peters | ... | Tate Langdon | |
Taissa Farmiga | ... | Violet Harmon | |
Denis O'Hare | ... | Larry Harvey | |
Jessica Lange | ... | Constance Langdon | |
Kate Mara | ... | Hayden McClaine | |
Frances Conroy | ... | Moira O'Hara | |
Alexandra Breckenridge | ... | Young Moira O'Hara | |
Jamie Brewer | ... | Adelaide 'Addy' Langdon | |
Jamie Harris | ... | R. Franklin | |
Mageina Tovah | ... | Bianca Forest | |
Azura Skye | ... | Fiona | |
Kyle Davis | ... | Dallas | |
Michael Graziadei | ... | Travis Wanderly |
Ben gets a new patient, Bianca Forest, something of a murder groupie who is just amazed that he lives in the house that has been the scene of so many famous murders. Ben has his own problems when the student with whom he was having an affair in Boston calls to tell him she's pregnant. He lies to his wife Vivien saying he's got to return to Boston to deal with one of his old cases. While he's away however, Bianca and two of her friends stage a home invasion intent on recreating a murder of two student nurses in 1968. Written by garykmcd
The pilot had such an odd impact on me that I highly awaited the show's return and wrote one of my strangest reviews. With productions like Masters of Horror we know what to expect as all episodes are standalone but with American Horror Story I was wondering what would be its format. Home Invasion revealed that its main story has potential because all the Harmon family members have what it takes considering what they have been through but I'm more skeptical about the weekly dose of horror or crime. My first complain was that the subplot wasn't frightening or disturbing enough. In fact it was even predictable at times. However it was shaken by the enigmatic Tate Langdon. Evan Peters role is surprising because so far I only knew him as the nice boy from Invasion. The therapy session was almost shocking, specially if you try to take Ben's place. His controversial relationship with his daughter Violet made things even more interesting because you don't know what he's capable of. As for Taissa Farmiga her role was reminiscent of feminism because it takes a lot of courage to survive, specially when your house is haunted or taken over by psychokillers.
Beside Tate and Violet I also really enjoyed Constance and Abby's side. The gorgeous aging mother and the trisomic daughter. A modern and twisted version of The Beauty of the Beast ? Probably but Jessica Lange definitely makes a charming monster and Jamie Brewer's performance was also quite convincing. Indeed until the vertiginous room of broken mirrors sequence the episode had been less surprising than the pilot. It just lacked the amount of creativity that made it so excellent. I also missed Moira, at least my libido did, and found Ben's arc far too anecdotic even if his absence served the main story in the end. However the show has plenty of intriguing plot lines to build up a crowd of hungry horror fans. From properly dealing with what happened to the girl who got her face hurt last time and of course the pregnancy I have definitely signed up for the upcoming episode. Otherwise I think the series desperately needs a goal the audience can rely on or else it will lose interest. Ending the episode with a cliffhanger was a first step in the right direction so considering its numerous qualities I can't see how it could miserably fail to satisfy our vicious appetite.