Written by Ryan Murphy And Brad Falchuk
Directed by John J. Gray
Harry (to Austin): "I don't like choices you can't come back from."
After a two year absence, a spin-off that was a tad hit and miss, the main event has finally returned and because it's a show that's in its tenth season, of course it would be time to mess around with the format of the show.
Gentle viewers, we're not just getting a new season of American Horror Story, no we're getting two half seasons merged into one and I'm assuming with a connective issue that will make more sense once things move along .
Opening up this first half season, we have struggling TV writer, Harry Gardner (Finn Wittrock) moving to Provincetown, Massachusetts. Harry's accompanied by his pregnant interior designer wife, Doris (Lily Rabe) and violin prodigy daughter, Alma (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), the latter of whom also likes to count roadkill for some random reason.
Of course with family moving out to Provincetown for creative inspiration, it didn't take long for the weirdness to creep in with the Gardner family soon getting stalked by pale Nosferatu looking vampires (yes, we're doing that again) as well as Harry encountering a few eccentric locals and visitors along the way as well as the rather unhelpful Chief Burleson (Adina Porter).
These eccentric folk range from relatively harmless hustler Mickey (Macauley Culkin), scatty vagrant Karen (Sarah Paulson) who repeatedly tells Harry to leave the coastal town, which he nearly did at the end of this opening episode. However it's drunken playwright Austin Sommers (Evan Peters) and erotic novelist Belle Noir (Frances Conroy) that stand out the most here.
Austin himself eventually wore Harry down into taking a mysterious black pill that gets the creative juices flowing while Belle not only was revealed to be a vampire but seems to have control over the others and has Karen bringing her babies for protection. Both Peters and Conroy eat up these particular roles and were the highlights of this first episode.
- The first half of this season is Red Tide and it seems this season will break the rules with a very different genre that will make up the second half of the season.
- Both Evan Peters and Sarah Paulson are producers this season. Leslie Grossman also appeared as Harry's agent, Ursula.
- Standout music: I wasn't expecting to see Evan Peters and Frances Conroy to duet on Islands In The Stream but it worked for the scene it was setting up.
- Chronology: It's Winter time in Provincetown, so very late 2020 or possibly early 2021.
Cape Fear got the ball rolling well enough, introducing most of the essential players right off the bat. Harry and Doris aren't new in terms of seemingly normal couples thrown into a world of madness and while I'm wary of vampires being explored again, I'm intrigued to see what this half season will add to the mythology nonetheless.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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