My Review of American Horror Story: 13 - 1:13 am

 

Written by Ned Martel And Charlie Carver

Directed by Crystle Roberson Dorsey

Constance (to Ben): "I said to myself, 'Constance, don't mire in the mud like a pig. Get out there and give back.'"

Two episodes in and I can't decide if Ben DeSoto is more like a lamb to the slaughter or a deer caught in the headlights. He's so out of his depth and in a job that a smart person would've likely quit by now. At least he's pretty, right?

He notices things about Mr. Nas that are understandably unusual but almost allowed himself to be fobbed off by Constance's clear bullshit and lies. I should give him some credit for trying to find out the meaning of sunflowers and their connection to 13 while talking to his boss about Mr. Nas. That's more assertive than Anna Victoria Alcott ever.

Ben and Constance, I'm not gonna lie. I find her interactions with him incredibly creepy and especially when she was filling him in on her husband's adultery and how she dealt with a certain maid at the time. Ben should be more terrified of her than he actually is. Constance's motherly act won't spare him if he's too much of a nuisance for her.

Speaking of motherly act - we actually got to see the return of both Adelaide (Jamie Brewer) and Tate (Evan Peters), with the latter decked out as Rubber Man. Why are both of them back? I think it's obvious that Constance sought a higher power for their return. She might have even traded something for it, so to speak.

Anyways, it was just just Constance's children back. Evan Peters got to act alongside himself as Kai Anderson was also back. Kai been such a dick to both Tate and Adelaide was a delight to watch. I can't believe I missed him but this rivalry between Kai/Tate is something I want to see a lot of this season. Oh and Winter (Billie Lourd) returned too with the Black Dahlia (Mena Suvari) in tow. That led to a nicer cliffhanger ending compared to the more abrupt ending of the first episode.

Last but not least, Twisty the Clown (John Carroll Lynch) rocked up to kill a clown college ran by the unfortunate Ricochet (Tig Notaro). Twisty also reminded everyone that clowns weren't funny. Why was Twisty back? No idea, but his actions got Ben's attention, so I'm hoping those two share a scene together later in the season.

- Mr. Phibes has a snake on his person and why are him and Constance trying to get Mr. Nas to 90?

- Ben's birthday was acknowledged when he watched a video with him and Kira. He also won on a scratch card but he didn't collect his winnings due to a cat scratching him.

- Adelaide talked about the wolf moon and doesn't seem to remember she died. Kai called Tate a basement dweller, showing a lack of awareness on his part.

- Ben seems to rely on AI a lot, doesn't he? Is the show trying to allude to him as Judas? Constance gave him German biscuits and Sanka.

- While more cast members appeared here, certain ones also didn't and likely won't until the second half of the season.

- Chronology: Shortly from where the first episode left off. Ben was dreaming at 1:13am and Twisty killed that clown school in Los Angeles at 10:13pm.

1:13am did make for a somewhat better episode than the first one did. Ben's thirteen story was interesting enough but the slew of returning characters certainly livened things up considerably more. Ben, you in danger, boy.

Rating: 7 out of 10