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Pop Culture Notes: “Westworld,” “AHS”

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“Westworld” is a show that started off with loads of promise. It was a western! It was science fiction! It was two great tastes that taste great together! But as the show progresses, I find myself losing interest. I’m not entirely clear as to why. I suspect it’s because the show just flat-out resembles a western these days. There are long stretches of each episode dedicated to showing us one of “Westworld’s” “plots.” And even with The Man in Black causing chaos, it’s still plot…a western plot.

Honestly, the only thing that sold me on “Westworld”–aside from some of the lovely visuals–was the promise of a novel science fiction twist on the western genre. But as I said earlier, “Westworld” feels very much like a western now, not a psychological sci-fi drama. It’s entirely possible that “Westworld” is as fresh and innovative and interesting now as it was during its first episode. It’s entirely possible I’m just not its target audience. It’s possible I wanted “Ex-Machina Goes West” and it’s not the fault of the show that it’s not delivering that for me. It’s also possible that the show is setting us up for some spectacular things to come and I just need to hang in there. I don’t know.

I also pretty much have to turn my brain off to watch the show. Completely. Can’t think about the technology involved in creating robots that sophisticated. Can’t think about the liability involved in guests partaking of a world that violent, even if the violence is “controlled.” And after awhile the brain-muting gets a little exhausting.

What are your thoughts?

I’m enjoying “American Horror Story: My Roanoke Nightmare.” I think the cast–aside from Lady Gaga–is stellar, and it is–as always–an exemplary delivery system for genuine chills and thrills.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

An LGM once commented that it was difficult for him/her to watch the show because underlying all the horror was a deep sense of sadness. I find this to be missing in this particular iteration of the show, which is a shame, because I always felt it grounded the show…er, at least a little bit. Here I suppose the grounding element is the show’s commentary on reality TV culture–about how people will die to be famous, kill to be famous–literally. It’s about how the producers of these shows exploit that to horrible ends. It’s always been theory that someone some day was going to get killed or seriously injured on one of these awful shows.” Season 6 of “AHS” takes this to its logical, gory conclusion. The only problem is it took too long to get to this commentary, so this season feels a bit more hollow to me than past seasons.

I also confess to being confused by the Shelby and Matt’s love story. Perhaps that’s the point–perhaps this is an unreliable narrator thing. But at first Shelby needs a break from her true love, then Matt apparently secretly falls in love with some murderous, sexy Gaga-ghost, then Matt and Shelby seem destined for a reunion, then Matt is boinking his ghost-lover, then Shelby is murdering the “love of her life.” I feel like we’re missing some pieces here and unless the show is going to provide them later, I’m gonna feel cheated.

I also feel the show spent too much time indulging in “Polk Family Torture Porn.” It was at once boring and gross and unwatchable. Enough. The cannibalistic inbred family’s been done to death and done better.

AHS is a flawed show. The show flies too high to the sun most seasons and it gets burned every time. But I think it’s usually worth the ride and this year is no exception.

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