Grotesquerie

This psychological thriller assembles a stellar cast to tell a story that sometimes feels uncertain about its direction. At times, the show evokes Silence of the Lambs, with Niecy Nash delivering an impressive performance as a flawed investigator who excels at her job yet is haunted by her own demons. The show's artistic scenes, the hyper-sexualized Catholic priest, and the surreal, exaggerated events create the sense of watching a fever dream.

As the episodes progress, the main protagonist often appears to drift through life in ways that feel unexplained. In the last quarter of the season, this approach finally begins to make sense-but then the plot takes yet another convoluted turn that may leave the audience perplexed. Despite the stellar cast, top-notch acting, and several iconic scenes, it often feels like the story itself was secondary to these other elements.

I am almost done with episode four and I feel like I am watching a Mashup of Someone's Mid Life Crisis who is aware of their Neurodivergent Storytelling (but doesn't care what we think about that adhd method) and then added some fetishist borderline schizophrenia and then got lost telling the original story.

And yes, I am aware of how horribly structured that sentence is. It is me emulating the rhythm and tone plus general confusion as to what in the world I am watching. Who is this about? Who do I care about here? And please tell me why (for the love of storytelling just let me in on why I am watching this, please).

It's so all over the place that I welcomed Taylor's boyfriend in the chaotic mix of a cast. I am not even a fan. Meaning there's zero fangirling - just me being happy to have something to relate to or even be remotely interested in. He's got a solid vibe - I see the appeal.

But lets talk about Niecy Nash - I want to have a small talk with her agent because she is getting undersold and underused. Stop putting her in these ridiculous detective roles that it doesn't even seem she is interested in. She is better than those roles and it's not helping to keep trying. She is wise and beautiful and talented. Find her the roles that have the range and she will shine. (Sorry but these roles give us time to think about her wasted talent).

All the Actors are also quite good - but there is a very unnatural chaotic viewpoint that hurts to try to follow. I mean random singing and fires and being preached to about life and watching the weird metaphoric portrayal of some outdated religious stuff - but I guess that's okay because you throw in some online activity lines and it's suddenly not the same thing we have seen over and over? Ick.

I gave it a six because the Actors showed up and still stayed in the scenes. Maybe they were as confused as I am because I care more about that then the plot.

Is there a plot?

The problem with Ryan Murphy is the way things get stretched out. After a few episodes (or seasons), the story gets overextended, deflates, and drags on without any real substance.

That's exactly what happens here, in this series. After a strong start with a very unique idea, well-written characters, and a sense of freshness, Murphy's need for shocking twists and flashy narrative choices once again leads to an overstuffed world where the balance between content and flashy presentation is lost.

I truly admire the innovative ideas of the talented Ryan Murphy, but once again, he squanders his talent on unnecessarily drawn-out stories.

Ryan Murphy usually starts out strong with an intriguing story angle and then something gets lost in the sauce. Niecey Nash would not have been my first choice for the lead detective and yet somehow it worked for me for awhile. It's understandable with everything she's dealing with that she'd spiral with the storyline, but it's unrealistic that she'd be allowed to continue working in her state. When "the incident" occurs the editing makes me believe she's dreaming because the dialogue and scenery when she meets the orderly looks like a dream sequence. When I see he is in fact real is what truly made the story spiral for me. The long drawn out scenes visiting her husband are not necessary. The head nurse makes those scenes very uncomfortable. Episodes 1-2 good, 3-4 okay, and 5-6 terrible. Theory they seem to be trying push at us is that the priest is the serial killer. The doctor met at the fire pit is my choice and I'd like the show to be wrapped up now. Not sure why they needed 10 episodes for this mostly filler show. Sadly the crime scenes are the most interesting part of this show and reminds me of what our human nature can succumb to : overindulgence and cruelty.

All I have to say is this right here... If Niecy Nash (I don't have time to worry about a hyphenated add-on to her name) doesn't win some kind of award for these performances in these 10 episodes, there is something wrong with the Hollywood system. Forget about what the show is about, whether you like the show or not, whether the other actors are good, or the direction is good, just watch the show because Ms. Nash is nothing short of interesting as f!*k. Now, I'm going to add this so my required minimum is met for this review. These shows are getting more and more demented because Hollywood is mostly demented.