Review

Tate and Violet have gone on their date to surprisingly the beach, with Tate informing Violet just how bad the situation was at high school for him and what a comfort the beach was. Build a fracking bridge you Emo. Hampering Violet's decision to give it up is Tate's reluctance to play hide the sausage and five mangled teens, who arrive dripping blood to harass Tate. The couple leave but Tate will be forced to play track star later in the evening to protect Violet from some pissed off teen ghosts. Told ya there was a back story to Tate.

Meanwhile back at ghost central Vivien is convinced that the vengeance seeking Hayden is somewhere in the house and Ben finds her down in the basement. Larry appears and knocks Ben senseless, leaving him tied up allowing Hayden to confront Vivian. Both are surprised that Ben hasn't been shooting blanks and things look tense. Ben to the rescue, after being untied by Nora who urges him to save his unborn child, he has to admit to getting Hayden up the duff a month after Vivian confronted him with the affair, which is pretty much the last straw for Vivian, and out the door he went. Big breath, Constance drags Violet to her house and reveals not only that Addie is dead but that Tate is her Son! Anyone not see that coming? Tate has run his race and the five teen ghosts after giving him a bit of a kicking demand to know why he killed them, but Tate can't remember anything about murder most foul. Seems Tate might have been slightly naughty back in 1994 at Westview High, hmmm anyone not a ghost in this show?

There are a couple of scenes in this episode which will turn the part time viewer into an avid fan, at least one of which had me going "HELL YEAH!". At the end of the episode the various ghosts are trudging back to the house, after the one night of the year where they can get beyond its boundaries. There's a real feeling of "the end of summer" of having to go home from a particular good game in the park, the feeling of the ghosts dragging their heels as their night of nights comes to an end. The ghosts, one feels, aren't exactly the most enthusiastic to go back to the house and get back to the day to day haunting. Contrast this to Ben, who Vivian has finally had enough of, he's dragging his heels on not leaving the house and his family, Ben wants to stay but can't, the ghost want to go but can't. It's a real poignant moment that lifted season one up to the heavens and presented it as something more than I had been expecting during the first four episodes. Simply wow, if you don't dig this season, then you need to seek some professional help stat.

The episode that will turn a lot of viewers into fans of the show. One of the very best episodes ever released in horror genre television history

The other scene that rocked the house down involved one of those yappy little dogs, a revenant in the making, and the judicious use of a microwave oven. Join the dots there people I think I've spelt it out in pretty big letters. I was certainly rocking out to this scene as Director David Semel builds up the tension, has us wondering where something is going to come at us from in a poorly lit kitchen, and then wham, the microwave kicks in big time. Tim Minear has something of a twist in the tale coming at us after the scene, but man I loved what Semel had going down, when you see the scene I can guarantee you will be jumping up and down in your seat in excitement.

There's something wrong with the system when television shows are taking a hell of a lot more risks than feature length movies. American Horror Story, as this episode with the microwave indicates, isn't about playing it safe or giving a flying toss about test audiences, the Producers are simply telling the story over 12 episodes and breaking every taboo they can on the way to making that happen. If you want a nice safe horror outing then select something off the Boredwood conveyor belt of craptastic releases, there's no easy way out in Horror Story the envelope is being pressed hard. One of the strange things this Century is horror stretching the bounds on the small screen while being largely defanged and trying to gum people to death on the big screen. Which simply boils down to watch shows like American Horror Story, they are coming after you in a big way as opposed to the pussy cartoon efforts Boredwood pumps out like Drag Me to Hell.

I guess I really haven't been talking about the characters to any great extent thus far in this episode guide, mainly due to each episode's content taking the story deeper into forbidden lore and sending us on an express elevator ride to Shockville. So let's talk Tate, a rather disturbed young man played excellently by the talented Evan Peters. We learn in Halloween Part 2 that Tate is Constance's son and in a quick, blink and you'll miss it, flashback to his High School we find he turned up one day with full face paint, no prizes for guessing what went down that day. Peters is all over the character requirements, Tate is on the edge constantly, at any moment I'm expecting the character to lash out, there's a dark edge to Tate that Peters draws with remarkable ease. You expect Tate to be eyeing up the kitchen implement draw with dark intent one moment, while the next composing a love poem to Violet. I'm not quite sure where they will take the character this season, I guess everyone has picked the major twist coming at us in due course, but I am expecting some bloodshed. Tate is drawn to Violet, and has demonstrated he will protect the Harmons in the most brutal fashion possible if called on, let's hope his darker nature is kept in check.

Getting to the half way mark I'm not quite sure where they are taking the season to be honest, there doesn't at this stage seem to be a building toward any major confrontation or a major antagonist being thrown into the mix. Since a second season has been announced I guess we're in for some stormy weather in the second half of the season, but they really do need to give this show some direction for us to follow. I would imagine Vivian's baby might become more important as her pregnancy advances unnaturally fast, never a good sign in a horror flick. For sure the Doctor who did the ultrasound fainted at what she glimpsed and at least two of the ghosts are now showing real interest in what Vivian might issue forth. Whatever happens I'm expecting a bumpy ride and a heck of a lot more mayhem in getting to the season finale. This show rocks so I'm strapping in for the long haul. With the likelihood of increased spirit activity, Murder house appears to operate on the same principles as King's Rose Red, there could be a hell of lot more headed our way.

Halloween: Part 2 dropped off a bit to 2.74 million viewers on screening in North America. That's still a sizeable chunk of the viewing public for cable television, the show runs on FX, and shows there's a sold fan base backing that continues to dial in on a weekly basis.

Speeding up here, rocked on out to Halloween: Part 2, am now a confirmed fan of the show and can't wait to see what the next episode has for us. One of the best current shows on television, if you haven't dialled in yet then lock and load people, lock and load.

ScaryMinds Rates this episode as ...