Written by Ryan Murphy And Jon Robin Baitz And Joe Baken
Directed by Max Winkler
Lois (to her officers): "You have to really hate people to do something like this. It's inhuman. No, it's unhuman."
You know when all is said and done, there's no reason why this show technically couldn't be the 13th season of American Horror Story. Throw in a few alumni in guest roles and I think you'd get away with it tbh.
However there's also something in this show very much being its own thing as well as we've got the blend of the aforementioned long running horror anthology with a dash of True Detective to boot. Does it work? Kind of. It's early to tell.
You've got alcoholic and troubled Detective Lois Tryon (Niecy Nash-Betts) investigating a really fucking gruesome murder where an unknown killer called Grotesquerie murdered the Burneside family. Worse than that, there was also allusions of a baby being boiled and the father served up as dinner.
It's a gruesome death and the later one involving two drug users also didn't hold back either. The killings have Lois and her team trying to detect patterns as well as a connection to a mystery fluid that turned up on both crime scenes. Luckily for Lois, she also herself some outside help in the form of true crime obsessed young nun and reporter, Sister Megan (Micaela Diamond).
The rapport between Lois and Sister Megan might be the strongest element of this first episode. The seasoned, world weary detective versus the bright eyes but quirky young nun. Out of the character's introduced into this first episode, Sister Megan definitely felt like the most Ryan Murphy character of them all. It's going to be interesting watching these two work together to solve the case.
As for Lois's personal life, she's got a husband named Marshall (Courtney B. Vance), who's been in a coma for over a month and a daughter named Merritt (Raven Goodwin) with designs to enter a reality show. Some decent time was spent on Lois's home life yo try and flesh her out a bit more as a character.
- Lesley Manville had some great scenes as Marshall's nurse, Redd. Lois should probably keep an eye on her.
- Sister Megan writes for the Catholic Guardian and isn't adverse to swearing. There was one scene where I thought Lois was going to arrest her. Sister Megan also identified the fluid as brimstone.
- Standout music: Angie Stone's I Wish as Lois drove home from work and encountered a homeless man talking about the world ending.
- Chronology: Given the reason why Marshall's in a coma, this is a post COVID middle America.
While this show definitely has the gore factor of a certain show it's trying to fill the void, its definitely more hard boiled than that. Its a good Pilot episode, setting up a decent mystery with a flawed but engaging enough lead.
Rating: 7 out of 10
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