Season 11: NYC - 10 episodes (2022)
Rent AHS:NYC on Amazon Video (paid link)
Created by: Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy
Starring: Russell Tovey, Joe Mantello, Billie Lourd, Denis O'Hare, Charlie Carver, Leslie Grossman, Sandra Bernhard, Isaac Powell, Zachary Quinto, Patti LuPone
Rated: TV-MA
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Plot
An anthology series centering on different characters and locations, season eleven takes place in 1980s New York City, and focuses on a string of killings involving gay men, as well as the emergence of a new virus.
Verdict
This season certainly wants to be salacious, often to a fault. This season focuses on a mystery, but it's not something that can be solved, so that aspect is weak. The mysterious virus sub-plot this builds is obvious from the very first scene, so there's no tension there. Later in the season, it's clear this is trying to be a metaphor, but everything about this season is either over the top or heavy handed. This does have a very strong ending that almost makes it worth watching. The last couple of episodes are thoughtful and focused on emotional impact, whereas most of this season is in your face and exploitative.
Skip it.
Review
This seasons focuses on the New York gay subculture. It often leans very hard into stereotypes, focusing on the salacious details and wild parties. The foundation of the story is solid. Cops don't care about gay men getting killed, unfortunately the season cares less about the alienation of a group than their sex lives. It's a cheap way to capitalize. This is American Horror Story, so the show likes to be campy and over the top, that's what it does.
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| Russell Tovey plays Patrick |
Patrick (Russell Tovey) is a cop in the closet. He doesn't want to jeopardize his job, but he's caught between his lifestyle, his job, his boyfriend, and this murder case. The serial killer is frightening, but not in the way previous seasons of this show has been. Granted the show has been moving away from traditional horror for a few seasons, so this isn't a stark genre jump.
There's a lot of twists, drama, and characters that could be the killer. It doesn't connect as this seasons throws so much at you. There's a mysterious virus that you'll be able to guess the outcome in the first scene it's introduced, there's a line news paper covering the issue, and there are plenty of unequal power dynamics.
At times it feels like it's exploiting gay subculture by flaunting stereotypes. This connects being gay with devious sexual behavior constantly. The entire season really leans into the gay camp stereotype. This often obscures the social commentary and how this subculture was ignored in various ways.
This has a strong ending. It's when this season leans into the emotional side of the issues that it becomes good. Characters see the horror of the AIDS virus ravage the community. We see what those endured, both those that had the virus and those who knew people with it. They watch loved ones suffer. I was indifferent to most of this season as it focuses on a mystery that goes nowhere and stereotypes, this emotional ending is strong. It's just too little too late. Thankfully the season doesn't feel the need to point out this emotional climax in the way it wants to hit you over the head with everything else. Everything builds to the final episode, but not everything that precedes it is worth it despite we need those episodes to build the depth.
There's a masked figure throughout the season that is implied to be the killer. That figure is a metaphor, but it blends the subtlety that most of this season lacks with the camp in which this season likes to revel. You could look at it as the gay lifestyle caught up to these characters and killed them, but it's not a reprimand. It's portraying the power of the virus and how it affected a certain demographic. Despite the presence of this figure and virus, no on acknowledged it until it was too late.
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