My Review of The Beauty: "Beautiful Betrayal"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Matthew Hodgson 

Directed by Michael Uppendahl 

Diana (re Cooper): "The rebirth has begun."

And we're into the finale - or will it be series finale? If it's the latter, then Ryan Murphy learned nothing when he ended the likes of Ratched and Grotesquerie on cliffhangers. Hopefully the same fate isn't awaiting this one.

To this finale's credit, it's an improvement on the penultimate with three plot strands being weaved into one another with decent results. Even the Bella plot suddenly became a lot more interesting as a result of this episode.

Bella met up with the hunky Conor (Carson Rowland) who offered to sleep with her to pass on the Beauty. Conor also took an extra dose and Bella became horribly mutated as a direct result. It's probably the most sci-fi looking moment we've had in the entire show.

Bella's grotesque transformation was not only pitiful to look at but it became another reason for Byron to grow a conscience. Yes, our villain of the piece finally realised that his little product was causing a 17% rate of damage. What also spurred this change of tack? Oh yes, Byron's dopey sons.

Being good looking did nothing to improve Tig and Gunther's IQ as they decided to inject Franny with the Beauty. Franny now looked like Nicola Peltz Beckham and she wasn't happy about being younger. In fact, her reasoning for it not only made perfect sense in general but it was the thing to get through to Byron. That also put both Byron and Tig at odds with each other.

Tig aligned with Diana and they had a reverse for the Beauty that Cooper was willing to try. The cliffhanger being everyone reacting to the reversed version of Cooper. Do we get Evan Peters back next season? Will there even be a next season? 

- Franny II was styled the same way that Isabella Rossellini was in Death Becomes Her. It was a nice nod.

- Ray was killed off screen and Gunther didn't seem to be part of Tig's attempts to usurp Byron.

- Standout music: Guns N' Roses Sweet Child O' Mine.

- Chronology: From where the penultimate episode left off.

Beautiful Betrayal made for a strong enough finale. The main plots looped together rather nicely but has the show done enough to get a second season? I bloody hope so.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of The Beauty: "Beautiful Beauty Day"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Matthew Hodgson 

Directed by Michael Uppendahl 

Student (re Tina): "She got the shot."

To get this one thing out of the way first - I would have taken these last two episodes, condensed parts of this one and merged it with the last episode. This was a complete filler episode that probably needed to happen earlier in the season or not at all.

I mean it did pick up from where Cooper had been transformed into a pre-teen and Jordan doing her best to reassure. The reality was that Jordan had no idea if Cooper would ever grow up and I think Cooper knew that as well.

On the other hand, I liked the bond that Jordan has formed with both Jeremy and the Assassin. Some snarky banter, both of them seemed surprisingly sympathetic to Cooper's current predicament. Cooper remained determined to actually stop Byron in his tracks.

Then there's Beauty Day. It came and went and The Beauty itself was spreading like wildfire among the American population. The focus on most of this episode was on the unfortunate Bella Grant (Emma Halleen).

Bella wanted to get The Beauty having witnessed a formerly dumpy classmate named Tina get the desired results as well as an influencer she followed online. Bella's parents on the other hand weren't going to let her do, rightly pointing out the possible side effects of the treatment.

The last scene saw Bella being openly envious of her friend Ruthie (Annabelle Wachtel/Paige McGarvin) being turned so dramatically by the process. Ruthie explained to Bella there was another way fot her to get the treatment. Then the episode abruptly ended.

- Bella's father was using Ozempic and this episode was rather critical of that too.

- Emma Halleen who played Bella previously appeared in American Horror Stories episode, Bestie. 

- I think people were way too calm about Tina being aggressive and even that classmate starting his transformation in the middle of class.

- Chronology: A week since the events of Beauty Day.

Beautiful Beauty Day was pure filler as an episode. It's fine for what it is but it didn't need to be it's own episode. I would've merged these last two episodes together.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of The Beauty: "Beautiful Evolution"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Matthew Hodgson 

Directed by Crystle Roberson Dorsey

Cooper: "I'll do it but not like this."

Oh fuck. There's two episodes left and while it was always possible that Cooper would eventually have a transformation of his own, I didn't think it would go this way.

I actually thought with the way this episode was going down, we were going to end up with Cooper being dead. Fortunately that didn't happen. Instead he ended up looking like a teenager and will now be played by Hudson Barry. I already miss Evan Peters in the role.

Anyways the black ops team from the last episode came to rescue Cooper, Jordan, the Assassin and Jeremy and it was revealed rather quickly they're both Deacons and working for Dr. Diana Sterling. She wasn't wasting any time this episode.

For a character who made her debut this week, Diana was determined to bring four people together in order to assassinate Byron. Yup, that woman's motives for Byron being dead might be as a result of him shutting her robotics down but she's making a strong impression in this final hurdle of episodes. I'm partially rooting for her.

Now, the reason why Cooper needed the transformation was that he was the only one who could take out Byron but he needed a new look. Cooper opted to sleep with Jordan in order to become a new person. Granted, it also felt like a culmination of their "will they, won't they" dynamic and then that ending happened.

The show definitely has done a lot of ludicrous things but turning Cooper into a teenager might be the strangest one yet. Will he succeed in taking out Byron? Can Diana actually be trusted or are her Deacons another disaster waiting to happen? 

- I did laugh at Jeremy calling Diana "White Mama" because he couldn't remember her name. 

- Cooper was losing both teeth and nails during his much longer transformation scene.

- Standout music: Cinema Orchestra and Patrick Watson's To Build A Home.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off and two days until Byron's big launch.

Beautiful Evolution certainly upped the horror with Cooper's transformation. I was shocked by the end results but I liked his scenes with Cooper. Diana's also an interesting conundrum. Right now, she's a beneficial ally but could be a future threat.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Beauty: "Beautiful Brothers"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Matthew Hodgson 

Directed by Michael Uppendahl 

Meyer (to Cooper): "Do as you're told."

We're in the final two weeks of the show and it's tine to go into double bills. It feels like the show only just started but here we are. After last week's episode, there's more focus on Byron and a new player added into the mix.

The new player being Dr. Diana Sterling (Ari Graynor). It turned out that prior to The Beauty itself, Byron was very much interested in robotics being the future of preserving humanity. Robotics are now out of fashion and Diana's pretty miffed about being replaced as a direct result.

Keeping with Byron, he opened the episode by waxing lyrical about his upcoming Beautiful Day launch for the Beauty with another big ad campaign. Franny was once again not remotely interested in Byron's lofty ambitions.

There was also the arrival of their sons - Tig (Kevin Cahoon) and Gunther (Eric Peterson). Honestly, I can see why Byron didn't respect them. They're both idiots and clearly Franny had a massive blind spot towards their stupidity. Their idea for a bro themed streaming service sounded absolutely pointless as a pitch.

Saying that, they did serve a purpose when both of them ended up falling victim to another drug overdose and Byron had them transformed into Ray Nicholson and Brandon Gillard respectively. Franny swore revenge but maybe Byron did their idiot children a favour, even if it was a selfishly motivated.

As for Cooper and Jordan, it was funny to see that they ended up in a begrudging alliance with the Assassin and Jeremy. Byron screwed over the latter two and Meyer tried to get Cooper to do what he was told. Then we had some black ops swoop and the episode ended on an abrupt note.

- Byron was 5% Nigerian, which was used to explain why Gunther was now biracial. The costume choices for Tig and Gunther was something else.

- Diana admitted to sacrificing a family in order to continue her work with the Deacons. She's unsurprisingly cold in nature for someone into robotics.

- Jeremy was given a lot more information in between Cooper and Jordan trying to outsmart both him and the Assassin.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Beautiful Brothers did live up to its title on the shallow end of the scale. Will bring beautiful suddenly make Tig and Gunther smart? Byron better hope not or they'll usurp. The episode was good but too short and so was the next one.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Beauty: "Beautiful Living Rooms"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Matthew Hodgson 

Directed by Michael Uppendahl 

Byron: "Happy endings. They get me every time."

Can a billionaire actually show some genuine benevolence? No, let's be honest, not really. Unless it's Bruce Wayne and he's fictional. Also Byron Forst ain't no Bruce Wayne.

Even when Byron showed some compassion, it's because he wanted something in return. For Agent Meyer Williams (John Carroll Lynch/Patrick Luwis), all he had to do was lure Cooper and Jordan into an obvious trap and his family would be whole again. Of course, Meyer agreed to Byron's request.

It's hard to blame him though. His wife Juliana (Kelli O'Hara/Hazel Graye) hated his guts and both of them blamed the other for their daughter Joey (Kaylee Halko/Augusta Liv) having progeria, which was on the verge of killing her. By the end of this episode, the Williams family were reset and Byron seemed oddly touched that he could help them. For a nanosecond, he almost came across as human.

Then I thought about the rest of the episode. We got a needed backstory for Antonio/The Assassin as the latter trusted Jeremy enough to fill him in on the details of his own transformation (Teddy Canez). Yet again, the show struck gold with Anthony Ramos and Jeremy Pope because the two of them play off each other so well here. I really like this pairing.

More interesting in their scenes together was the new found sense of awareness that Jeremy had about himself and incel culture. He kind of pointed out some of Antonio's toxicity, was philosophical about his father. Jeremy even asked sone relevant questions about his transformation that Antonio managed to give answers to.

Then there's Cooper and Jordan. Aww, they love each other. I don't think that's particularly shocking but I found it funny how being captured by Jeremy and Antonio really drove the point home for them. Will Byron succeed in killing Jordan and Cooper or will he find some other way to keep them in line? Assuming they don't escape first that is.

- There was mentions of The Bear, John Cena, Charli XCX, Dr. Oz, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and football talk in this episode.

- Juliana was 30 when Meyer was 45. Joey's 15 but her progerie gave her the heart of a 90 year old. Juliana also was an editor at a fashion magazine and battled cancer.

- Manny reappeared in this episode to be killed off and used as a human shield during Cooper and Antonio's fight scene.

- Chronology: Not long from where the last two episodes left off.

Beautiful Living Rooms provided a few more answers, back stories, love declarations and alliance shifting. It's another strong episode and the last of the single ones. Next week onwards, we're in double bill domain.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Beauty: "Beautiful Patient Zero"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Matthew Hodgson 

Directed by Michael Uppendahl

Clara: "Is this a dream? Did I die?"

Mike: "Actually, Clara, you're the dream now."

We're slap bang in the middle of the show and it was time to mostly step back again and look at some origins. Half this episode focused on Byron Forst and the second half filled some other gaps.

The episode opened with a captive Dr Ray having the misfortune of watching Byron having sex with a stewardess, who would be later killed off in the episode. Byron wasn't pleased that he had 855 days left before he could explode.

In fact Byron nearly killed Dr Ray until the latter persuaded him that he could find a way to keep Byron alive. Then there was Byron monologuing his great plan to Franny. I absolutely love the unbridled hatred that Franny showed Byron but I'd also love to know what made her marry him in the first place and have two children with him? I'm sure we'll find out soon.

Anyways, do you remember Joey Pollari popping up in the second episode in Italy, getting no dialogue and being taken out by The Assassin? Well, the second half of this episode was dedicated to the events that led to Byron wanting Mike McGuinn to suffer as he died. 

Yes, in an unsurprising turn of events, Mike looked a lot different. In fact you could say that he looked like Eddie Kaye Thomas. Mike was working in Zone 1 at the Corporation and was friends with a trans woman named Clara Gardner (Rev Yolanda). In fact their friendship was rather sweet as Mike and Clara both lifted each other up while not being afraid to dish out some needed truths.

Mike also had a crush on Zone 4 worker Jennifer King (Laura Dreyfuss) but learned that she was engaged. I do think Clara might have been a tad harsh about Jen when cheering Mike but an incident involving a chimp named Larry going berserk in Zone 4 gave Mike an idea.

Yes, he stole the Beauty and the boosters needed to prevent combusting and gave it to himself. Then he gave it to Clara and she ended up looking like Lux Pascal. Both of them were happy with their new bodies. Then we circled back to Mike being killed. I would've liked more of Joey Pollari in this show.

- Cooper, Jordan and Jeremy all sat out the events of this episode but the trailer for next week showed the latter two meeting.

- I assume we will properly meet both Byron and Franny's children before the season ends, right? They've been mentioned a lot.

- Standout music: Tame Impala's Dracula. Ashton Kutcher basically got his own Patrick Bateman moment.

- Chronology: Two years before the events of the first episode.

Beautiful Patient Zero did fill in a few needed gaps but that was two flashbacks in a row. The Byron stuff at the start just further cemented how awful he is but the Mike and Clara story was better though.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of The Beauty: "Beautiful Billionaires"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Matthew Hodgson 

Directed by Alexis Martin Woodall 

Byron (to other billionaires): "Let's get poked."

Who had Vincent D'Onofrio transform into Ashton Kutcher on their bingo card? I didn't but it made sense for such a transformation to have happened. We knew Byron was one of the early candidates for the Beauty.

It was also less of a shocker that other billionaires were roped into Dr Ray's experiment as well. We got to briefly meet Byron's contemporaries Axel Zufo (Peter Gallagher), Waylon Lemming (Billy Eichner), Roland Wylde (David Pittu) and Kitty Munson (Julie Halston). I say briefly because it didn't end well for them.

All of these billionaires took the poke. All of them suddenly became a lot younger but only Byron lived to tell the tale. Why did Byron survive and not the others? Oh, because Byron killed all the other billionaires. Byron's a man who didn't want to share.

I mean he's been pretty vile so far on the show. His lack of concern over his son alienated his wife, Franny. He's also been cheating on her and called her bluff when she wanted to burn everything down. Surely, Franny's going to kill Byron before the season ends, right?

Then there's Cooper and Jordan. It didn't take too long for Jordan to convince Cooper who she was or to fill in the gaps since the last time they saw each other. I'll give Jessica Alexander her due because she's doing a great job matching Rebecca Hall's performance but I still miss the latter as well. Cooper also made the sensible decision to not sleep with Jordan for the time being.

As for The Assassin and Jeremy, well they spent the episode hunting Nate (Matthew Laureano). Eventually they caught up with him. Under Byron's instructions, Nate's corpse was left in Cooper's apartment with that symbol smeared on the wall. I'm not sure why Byron thought that was a bright idea.

- The other billionaires made their money through mining/fossil fuels, cryptocurrency, banking and multinational retail.

- Byron referenced having two sons. Tig is played by Ray Nicholson. Jordan had dodgy contacts get her back into the US.

- Standout music: Christopher Cross's Ride Like The Wind. The Assassin really did convert Jeremy into a fan.

- Chronology: Byron has been transformed for the last few years. Half the episode was his villain origin story.

Beautiful Billionaires filled in some needed blanks about the origin of the Beauty itself. Yup, Byron's horrible as hell and definitely needs to get one massive comeuppance. I would've liked more of Cooper/Jordan but there's always next week.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Beauty: "Beautiful Chimp Face"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Matthew Hodgson 

Directed by Alexis Martin Woodall 

Cooper: "Do I know you?"

Jordan: "It's me. It's Jordan."

When this episode opened with a flashback with Cooper and Jordan in Rome, I had a feeling it was going to end with Cooper meeting the newer version of Jordan. Suffice to say that I wasn't wrong here.

In flashbacks, Jordan quizzed Cooper on how well he actually knew her and Cooper passed. At a fountain, Cooper was hoping and praying that Jordan wouldn't fall in love with him. Somehow I don't think his wish came true.

Back into the present day, Cooper talked to a former partner of Harper Rose's named Ashley and it appeared that he was possibly infected. More time however was spent on Manny (Ben Platt), who worried about his dogs/mother/boyfriend before he broke free and changed into Isaac Powell halfway through the episode. This led to quite a scuffle between Manny and Cooper.

Between Jordan's transformation, Manny nearly beating the crap out of him and a discovery of some mad scientist antics, Cooper had enough. On top of that, his cat Nine Lives (unfortunate name choice) had been dead for two months. It really wasn't his day.

As for the baddies of the piece, while they didn't have as much screentime as the previous episode, The Assassin and Jeremy still make for a good team. The Assassin taught Jeremy how to navigate sex now that he's been transformed while also upgrading his wardrobe.

Last but not least, Byron Forst wanted to move up official release of his product on World Beauty Day (September 9th). This also meant him ignoring the advice of lead scientist, Ray (Rob Yang) and generally being obnoxious. I'm so hoping for Byron to get the worst comeuppance before the end of this season.

- Jordan liked Dr Seuss and Simone de Beavoir as well as movies such as Last Tango and Conformists.

- Manny had a labradoodle and a terrier. Cooper mentioned having a Jack Russell when he was younger.

- Standout music: Nice use of opera music during one scene with The Assassin and Jeremy.

- Chronology: It's been 1238 days since Byron started this whole beauty mess.

Beautiful Chimp Face was weaker compared to the first three episodes. It's not a bad episode but it did feel like it was plodding in parts. Hopefully things move a bit faster from next week onwards.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of The Beauty: "Beautiful Christopher Cross"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Matthew Hodgson 

Directed by Ryan Murphy 

Jeremy: "What do you need?"

The Assassin: "A protégé. A killer."

Oh now this was quite an episode. The decision to pair Anthony Ramos and Jeremy Pope as actors. Brilliant. These two work so well together. They're easily the highlight of the whole episode. I'm not kidding.

The Assassin started his day by killing the guy that infected Jordan before being ordered by Byron to clear up another mess caused by Dr. Dilegre. Yes, that pesky surgeon came afoul of The Assassin by not before tricking Jeremy into revealing his location.

Jeremy apparently didn't bother going home. Instead he stayed in that hotel and continued to sleep with and kill women. Then Jeremy found himself coming face to face with The Assassin and he was forced to bring the latter to the home of the last woman he slept with.

Needless to say the newly infected woman ended up being dead and Jeremy's lack of concern for his own life softened The Assassin's stance towards him. In fact, both The Assassin and Jeremy had riblets at Applebee's and by the end of the episode, the latter became a new protégé for the former.

As for The Corporation aka Byron Forst, well he's such an obnoxious jerk that even his wife, Franny (Isabella Rossellini) prayed for his demise. The woman had one scene and she already made me want to root for her. I do hope she gets to see Byron die in such a horrible manner.

Last but not least, the incident that was supposed to bring Cooper and Jordan back to New York was shown at the start of the episode. If you wanted to see someone going feral on Ben Platt and Meghan Trainor, then the character of Harper Rose (Amelia Gray Hamlin) more than sufficed in that regard. It's a comically violent opening scene that's capped off with Cooper back in New York to face the survivors of that incident.

- Jordan was a no show this episode, while Meyer advised Cooper to detach himself from her. Meyer also had some backstory about his brother.

- The Assassin's name was revealed to be Antonio, he had a son and he's 65. Jeremy's father abandoned him and Byron/Franny also have a son.

- Standout music: Phil Collins Easy Lover and Christopher Cross's Sailaway. The Assassin's a massive fan of the latter.

- Chronology: Venice, Croatia, New York and Indianapolis.

Beautiful Christopher Cross brought about a great double act with Anthony Ramos and Jeremy Pope. They're a brilliant pair to watch and got the best scenes of the episode. Everything else was pretty good too.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Beauty: "Beautiful Jordan"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Matthew Hodgson 

Directed by Alexis Martin Woodall 

Byron: "Beautiful people seem to think that the rules don't apply to them."

If we needed a face/villain for The Beauty, then low and behold, we've got Ashton Kutcher. I mean the guy's not the most likable of people in real life, so he's aptly cast as The Corporation here. He's also known as Byron Forst.

He's only given one scene in this episode and it's a scene where he's instructing his henchmen, known as The Assassin (Anthony Ramos) to dispose of a traitorous former partner named Mike (Joey Pollari). The Assassin's too good at his job because we don't get a chance to get to know Mike before he's promptly killed off.

With the bad guys making their presence known, we also had both Cooper and Jordan hitting up Venice before being ordered to go back to New York. I said in my review for the first episode that Cooper was more into Jordan than she was into him. This episode proved me right.

Jordan even took Cooper to task when his clear jealousy of her sleeping with other men reared it's head. Of course, Cooper also downplayed by pointing out how their job was incompatible with a relationship but Jordan didn't seem entirely convinced. However, the exciting stuff with them happened away from each other.

For Cooper, he was nearly killed by two men in black types in an action packed sequence that I didn't think Ryan Murphy had it in him to write. Nor did I expect Evan Peters to deliver quite the action man performance he did. Cooper got to be something of a bad ass in distress. Someone sign Evan Peters up for another action role now.

As for Jordan, she got the biggest shocker of the episode. She hooked up with a hot Italian guy, only for the episode to end with her being the latest recipient of that transformation. I guess it's goodbye Rebecca Hall and hello Jessica Alexander moving forward with the show. I'm surprised the show did this so early.

- The Assassin really did look like a Bond villain with a silver eye patch.

- How many people other than Byron are dispensing this miracle drug? Mike surely wasn't the only one. 

- Standout music: Massive Attack's Teardrop.

- Chronology: Mostly Venice bound for the whole episode. 

Beautiful Jordan was shorter than the opening episode (and likely won't be the only short episode this season) but the fact that it'd switch up actors this quickly, that genuinely surprised me. How will Cooper react to Jordan's new look when they meet again?

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Beauty: "Beautiful Pilot"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Matthew Hodgson

Directed by Ryan Murphy 

Jordan (to Cooper): "Beauty is pain, my friend."

What would happen if Ryan Murphy decided to go into the sphere of comic books? Well, he'd picked up an obscure title like this one and the results would be if Nip/Tuck and American Horror Story had a love child.

This ambitious, globetrotting show opened at the Balenciaga show in Paris where a model named Ruby (Bella Hadid) went feral on the crowd in order to quench her insatiable thirst. Spoiler alert: the thirst didn't quench, people died and she spontaneously combusted.

Ruby's violent death led to our protagonists - an FBI pairing of Cooper Madsen (Evan Peters) and Jordan Bennett (Rebecca Hall). They're a likeable and seemingly competent pair who are also sleeping with each other on the side. Already, there's strong chemistry between Evan Peters and Rebecca Hall.

I can't believe how quickly I liked Cooper and Jordan. They genuinely had some funny banter between them and while I get the feeling that Cooper's feelings run deeper than Jordan's, both of them spark off each other so well. I guess this means that they're clearly doomed as the show will progress.

For the duration of this episode, they're in Paris and deep into trying to figure out what happened to make Ruby combust. This resulted in learning that Ruby along with other models that went the same way looked very different beforehand and their gorgeous features weren't plastic surgery related.

As the premise for the show made it clear, it's an STD that's caused this transformation. Cooper and Jordan's superior, Meyer (John Carroll Lynch) likened it to a cross between HIV and rabies but not quite. This episode also focused on another recepient of this treatment.

That recepient being an incel named Jeremy (Jaquel Spivry/Jeremy Pope). He was as stereotypical as you could get with his desperation making him a target for an exploitative surgeon, Dr. Dilegre (Jon Jon Briones) and some party girls. Eventually an encounter with a woman named Claire turned things around for him for the better. Jeremy became a Chad in almost no time whatsoever. 

- I had to laugh when the consultant referred to Glen Powell as a Chad seeing as that was the character the latter played in Scream Queens (2015-2016).

- We learned that Cooper's a former Navy SEAL, Jordan had a boob job and there seems to be a two year limit on the recipients of the Beauty.

- The show opened with a triple bill for FX. Half the regulars appeared in this first one.

- I know Cooper was likely joking about Grindr but if he hooks up with a man in a later episode, I won't complain.

- Standout music: The Prodigy's Firestarter and Modjo's Lady (Hear Me Tonight).

- Chronology: Current day Paris. Cooper and Jordan also left for Venice, Jeremy was from Jersey but travelled to Indianapolis and there were similar incidents in London and Berlin.

For an opening episode, Beautiful Pilot managed to have the right amount of everything needed. It wasn't too shocking or exploitative, set up the general premise well enough and gave us two likable leads in Cooper and Jordan. I'll catch up with the next two episodes within the next day.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

The Future Of Ryan Murphy Shows - Part 3

Last year, I did two blogs (months apart) on the future of Ryan Murphy shows and I thought I'd do another one. Buckle in.

9-1-1/9-1-1: Nashville will form a double bill for ABC on Thursdays during the 2025-2026 TV season. I expected this to be honest. ABC have made it clear that the former show won't end with it's upcoming ninth season while the latter not only has Chris O'Donnell and Jessica Capshaw as series regulars but joining them will include LeAnn Rimes and Kimberly Williams-Paisley.

Although it was announced ages ago as a series, it's only been in recent weeks that actual progress for FX's upcoming anthology series, American Love Story has been made. The casting so far includes Naomi Watts, Paul Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon as Jackie Kennedy, JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette respectively. No release date has been given, so I'm assuming it'll likely be a 2026 release.

Given the biggest push during Disney's upfronts this week was upcoming Hulu legal drama, All's Fair. The series which has Kim Kardashian, Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts, Niecy Nash-Betts, Teyana Taylor and Glenn Close certainly delivered a very camp trailer. It's uber glossy, focusing on a group of women lawyers working only to represent women while dealing with the men in the lives. It'll premiere during the Fall and it certainly looks like it could be a lot of fun. Sarah Paulson in particular seems to be playing a more antagonistic role.

Then there's the imminent arrival of FX's upcoming comic book series adaptation The Beauty. You've got the four main leads with Evan Peters, Anthony Ramos, Jeremy Pope and Ashton Kutcher. There's also Rebecca Hall, Vincent D'Onofrio, Isabella Rossellini, Ben Platt and Bella Hadid. It's getting comparisons to The Substance (which may or may not be a good thing) and while a trailer played at the upfronts, it has yet to be released. An airdate has yet to be confirmed.

Then there's everything else. Ryan Murphy has a lot of shows on his plate, has been spreading himself too thin for too long and it's starting to become noticeable that it's almost too much.

Plus side, Monster: The Original Monster with Charlie Hunnam as Ed Gein should release on Netflix later this year. However once that's released, it'll mark the end of Murphy's collaboration with the popular streamer.

As for everything else, both Doctor Odyssey (airing it's last episode tonight on ABC) and American Horror Story (FX) are down to Ryan Murphy in terms of getting future seasons, though it wouldn't surprise me if the former has been cancelled.

Then there's American Crime Story, American Sports Story, American Horror Stories, Feud, Grotesquerie and Mid-Century Modern. None of these shows as of now have been confirmed for further seasons. I'll admit that's a lot of shows to have up in the air in terms of future seasons. I can see some of them being quietly cancelled with others eventually brought back. 

Which Ryan Murphy shows should return and which should be cancelled? Which upcoming ones are you looking forward to?

The Future Of Ryan Murphy Shows Part 2

I didn't think I'd be writing this again so soon but that Ryan Murphy just went and did some interviews and a lot of stuff came trickling out. Let's do this.

9-1-1/9-1-1: Lone Star: Both shows continue to be the highest rated scripted shows on ABC and FOX respectively with their premieres scoring big for both networks. The former show going through a Beenado and the latter about to go through some poison air. With the latter also ending this season (why, FOX, why?), Ryan Murphy has confirmed that both him and Tim Minear will be crafting a new spin off aimed to air for ABC for the Fall 2025 season. I got to be honest, I saw this one coming.

All's Fair: In less than a year, Jon Robin Baitz has immersed himself in the Ryan Murphy world and filming for this legal drama has gotten underway. The show will air on Hulu in 2025 and will star Kim Kardashian, Glenn Close, Niecy Nash-Betts, Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts, Teyana Taylor, Ed O'Neill and Matthew Noszka. It's being described as Murphy's take on a legal drama and will be sexy.

American Horror Story/American Horror Stories: It looks we might finally be getting information on the main show's upcoming thirteenth season very soon with Ryan Murphy implying that Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters could be returning for the FX stalwart. Meanwhile the second half of Season 3 of the spin off show will be released on FX on Hulu from October 15th. The episodes are titled Backwoods, The Thing Under The Bed, Clone, Leprechaun and X. Henry Winkler, Victor Garber, Michael Imperioli, Jeff Hiller, Debby Ryan and Jessica Barden are among the guest cast.

American Love Story: Expect this show to start filming in Spring with casting for both JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy to be announced over the next few months. Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson will executive produce this upcoming series for FX.

American Sports Story: Currently airing on FX and while it's decent, it seems to have gotten a bit lost in the sea of Ryan Murphy shows at the moment. Ratings seem to be good though the online chatter for the show is virtually nonexistent.

Doctor Odyssey: The opening episode pulled in 4.23 million viewers on ABC upon it's Thursday night premiere and mixed reviews. It's definitely getting a second season while this first one will have a total of 18 episodes. Joshua Jackson definitely seems to be a high attraction for this show along with Don Johnson, Philippa Soo and Sean Teale. UK viewers will get it on Disney+ from October 24th. Upcoming episodes will have Chord Overstreet, Shania Twain, Gina Gershon, John Stamos and Cheyenne Jackson to name a few.

Grotesquerie: Another hit for FX with Ryan Murphy admitting that he had a five season plan for this horror/crime drama. Niecy Nash-Betts has been great as weary detective Lois Tryon but I'm not sure if the title villain can be sustained for multiple seasons. The finale will now air on October 30th.

Mid-Century Modern: Yes, this Ryan Murphy/James Burrows collaboration is still happening with three older gay men (Matt Bomer, Nathan Lane and Nathan Lee Graham) and the mother figure (Linda Lavin), who are basically doing The Golden Girls for a 2025 audience on Hulu for a ten part series. My hype for this one is nonexistent but I'm willing to be proven wrong.

Monster/s: While Ryan Murphy has not handled the discourse surrounding The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story particularly well, Netflix have seen a lot of people tuning in and both Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch have been social media favourites overnight. Meanwhile Charlie Hunnam has signed up to play Ed Gein for the third season, due to go into production soon.

The Beauty: Based on an Image comic book series by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley, this one will be a sci-fi, medical and detective drama. Evan Peters will be a detective trying to crack a case involving an STD that brings out beauty while Ashton Kutcher will be a tech billionaire. Jeremy Pope and Anthony Ramos also make up the main cast. The show will air on FX, filming will begin in both New York and Europe from November onwards and will contain eleven episodes. The show was created by Ryan Murphy And Matthew Hodgson.

Currently up in the air are future seasons of American Crime Story, Feud, The Politician and The Watcher while a second season of Ratched was cancelled months ago. Saying that, there's a ridiculous amount of shows from one man for the foreseeable future.