This series does little to improve on the flaws of previous seasons. Plot threads are introduced then dropped and characters are introduced largely at random. Neil Patrick Harris' character, as memorable as he was, has virtually no effect on the overall plot.
I've always found it irritating that even though the seasons only last 13 episodes, it always seems like they're written episode-by-episode, instead of the writers sitting down and plotting out the season before they start writting. I can understand that for a lengthy series, but for such a short one a practice like that borders on They Just Didn't Care for me. There are noticeable inconsistencies with the characters. Dell goes from having no redeeming traits at all to guilt ridden. A man who would kill a baby just because it was annoying him is not the kind of man who would feel guilty for the things Dell does later in the series. The reason it feels like inconsistency instead of complexity is because of just how extreme his character was. He's the most notable case of character inconsistency, but he's not the only one. I wonder how much of that can be blamed on the season having eight writers, which seems excessive for thirteen episodes.
Horror-wise, this is the least overtly supernatural of all the seasons, but their attempts at mundane horror often fall flat. Twisty was a great character, and I found the exploration of Dandy's character to be fascinating even though I couldn't take him seriously at first. Aside from them, there's not much in the way of memorable scares, and several episodes are boring from beginning to end.
I'd say this was my least favorite season of American Horror Story. Granted, it's not as much of a mess as Coven was, but at least Coven had a lot of fun elements to partially make up for its writing problems.
Dull and aimless
This series does little to improve on the flaws of previous seasons. Plot threads are introduced then dropped and characters are introduced largely at random. Neil Patrick Harris' character, as memorable as he was, has virtually no effect on the overall plot.
I've always found it irritating that even though the seasons only last 13 episodes, it always seems like they're written episode-by-episode, instead of the writers sitting down and plotting out the season before they start writting. I can understand that for a lengthy series, but for such a short one a practice like that borders on They Just Didn't Care for me. There are noticeable inconsistencies with the characters. Dell goes from having no redeeming traits at all to guilt ridden. A man who would kill a baby just because it was annoying him is not the kind of man who would feel guilty for the things Dell does later in the series. The reason it feels like inconsistency instead of complexity is because of just how extreme his character was. He's the most notable case of character inconsistency, but he's not the only one. I wonder how much of that can be blamed on the season having eight writers, which seems excessive for thirteen episodes.
Horror-wise, this is the least overtly supernatural of all the seasons, but their attempts at mundane horror often fall flat. Twisty was a great character, and I found the exploration of Dandy's character to be fascinating even though I couldn't take him seriously at first. Aside from them, there's not much in the way of memorable scares, and several episodes are boring from beginning to end.
I'd say this was my least favorite season of American Horror Story. Granted, it's not as much of a mess as Coven was, but at least Coven had a lot of fun elements to partially make up for its writing problems.