American Horror Story, Ep 2.13,“Madness Ends” – Documentary, Dancing and Death

American Horror Story Episode 13: “Madness Ends”
Written by: Tim Minear
Directed by: Madness Ends
Original airdate: 23 January 2013

The “Madness Ends” this week, as the season two finale brings the audience to present day with a somewhat rewarding sense of closure.

There is a huge contrast between last week’s and this week’s episode. Last week had three different stories taking place in multiple eras, which often included giant time jumps making it hard for the audience to catch everything at once. This week has a more focused narrative, making the episode extraordinarily captivating throughout.

With the emotional stakes much higher this season, another American Horror Story is completed with stunning visuals and the best script yet provided by Tim Minear. Audiences complained that the first season failed to wrap everything up, but this certainly isn’t the case this season. Minear’s script serves as a perfect capstone and features some of the best lines the season has seen.

American Horror Story, Ep 2.12,“Continuum” – Lies, Visual Tricks and Caged Heat

Each week I watch American Horror Story; I’m completely blown away and decide this is the best episode I’ve watched. Just when I thought it couldn’t possibly get any better cinematography wise, Continuum took the show in an entirely new direction with a new, extremely well done shift in style courtesy of director Craig Zisk, and that direction is upside down and hanging off a crane.

This week’s episode featured all the visual tricks we’ve grown to enjoy such as unusual shot framing, time-jumping match cuts and the classic Dutch tilt but this week’s not-so-simple crane shot is easily one of the most impressive shots of the season. Kit walks under the camera, gets into his truck and drives off where he is replaced by a smoking Johnny Thredson blasting an aggressive rock soundtrack whilst sitting in a car park.

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American Horror Story, Ep 2.11,“Spilt Milk” – Revenge, Mummy Issues and Suspense

This week’s episode of American Horror Story is the triumph of Lana and definitely the most visually interesting yet. Thanks to Sister Jude confessing to wrongly imprisoning Lana, she is released from the asylum with the help of Mother Claudia, a nun who wants to close Briarcliff. Cue the tensest scene the show has ever produced.

Each episode the cinematography and execution of scenes gets stronger and the scene that stood out most this week was Lana’s escape. Coming down the stairs in not the best disguise, Lana rises to the challenge of sneaking past Dr. Thredson and Kit at the bottom of the stairs. Halfway down the stairs, Kit notices her in “disguise”, and in possibly the tensest split screen ever the audience are left lingering for seconds waiting to see what Kit will do. Successfully exiting before Thredson notices, she gets into a waiting cab with all the evidence she could possibly need sending Thredson her regards after he chases after her (best moment from the entire episode).

After turning in the evidence from the police, she meets Bloody Face at his home and informs him of what is going to happen in another brilliantly tense scene. As he is talking to her and making himself drinks, Lana watches him closely, never taking her off of him. Even after he reveals he raped her dead lover and chopped her up, Lana stays strong and the audience fears for her life throughout. This scene also includes multiple time-jumping cuts to add to the tension and creepiness, another brilliant editing technique American Horror Story have employed. Just before the scene’s climax, Thredson informs her that instead of getting the chair, he will go to Briarcliff, as he is “clearly insane”. Finally Lana gets her revenge in what is the second most satisfying scene from this episode.

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American Horror Story, Ep 2.10, “The Name Game” – Death, Exorcism and Glee

This week’s episode of American Horror Story was easily the best yet. It had it all from pregnancy, a failed exorcism, a raping, multiple deaths and even a musical number. Creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk kicked off the New Year with a number of mind-blowing plot twists.

With Sister Jude now imprisoned in the asylum that she ran, a plot twist horror buffs will appreciate (The Cabinet of Dr Caligari there was also a Psycho reference in the previous episode too) Sister Mary Eunice is able to torture her. Upon finding a cucumber in her room, Sister Mary Eunice decides her punishment will be a heavy dose of electro-shock therapy.

This leaves Jude in a haze, finally feeling sorry for her; Lana approaches her and asks if she knows her own name. The audience are then treated to a twisted rendition of “The Name Game” like an even creepier version of Glee. Only twenty minutes into the episode, this definitely throws the audience off. At first it feels like instead of getting Jessica Lange for a guest spot on Glee, creator Ryan Murphy brought Glee to American Horror Story. It’s random and lengthy but then it cleverly cuts back to the exact shot of Lana that occurred before Jude broke out into song. Once the audience is thrown back into the warped reality of Briarcliff, then they can appreciate what they have just seen. The purpose of the scene is debatable but it is still very well done, the cinematography and choice of costume is spot on as always, it is amusing, unexpected and most importantly it is engaging.

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Sound on Sight’s Best TV Shows of 2012

Once again the SOS staff have voted on their favorite TV shows of the last 12 months. As per usual, the results reflect our staff’s geographical spread over North America and the UK, with severa key British series sneaking into reasonably prominent positions. Two one-season wonders made it in as well, along with at least one veteran series that isn’t likely to return. Competition was fiercer this year, as making it in required more votes than last year thanks to more contributor voting, but ultimately our #1 won out pretty soundly. For more 2012 retrospective talk, tune into The Televerse over the coming weeks.

24. Fringe

As it approaches its series finale, which will air mid-January, Fringe has remained a beacon of intelligent, character-based sci-fi at a time when sci-fi has all but disappeared from network television. Anna Torv, John Noble, and Joshua Jackson gave fantastic performances over the course of the year, bringing nuance and depth to characters we’ve come to love and yet still managing to surprise us. The final season jumped forward significantly, taking quite a risk in the process, yet this transition has gone far smoother than one might have expected, bringing new challenges, both physical and emotional, to our characters while still keeping true to the core of the series as a reflection on family and the choices we make to preserve the ones we love. (K.K.)

23. Bob’s Burgers

It may have taken some time to catch on, but Bob’s Burgers has finally started to get the accolades it deserves, at least among critics. 2012 saw all of season two as well as a significant chunk of season three, including the fantastic three-pack holiday specials “Full Bars” (Halloween), “An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal” (Thanksgiving), and “God Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins” (Christmas). With inventive voice casting and some of the most infectiously enthusiastic characters on television, the past year has solidified Bob’s Burgers as among the most reliable and entertaining network series going. (K.K.)

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AMERICAN HORROR STORY Season Two Poster

BEST TV SHOWS OF 2011 ARE….

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Opening titles sequences can indeed be viewed as an “after thought,” but they are in fact extremely important to a show’s success. The opening title sequence of a television series can easily attract or repel viewers, and effect their decision as to whether or not it will be worth their time to invest and watch, or instead change the channel. Most television series don’t last very long, and the higher the ratings in those first few episodes, the better chance the show has of sticking around. Titles serve as a first impression, and as we all know, first impressions are important, especially in this day and age when there are so many other television shows to choose from. The title sequence thus fulfills the role of outlining the show-runner’s intentions and sets up the expectations of those watching. A good opening sequence should also serve as a reminder for what you already know you are watching. The sequence should also reflect the tone of the show, and prepare you for what you are about to watch, week after week. It should have the ability to place you in the right mood and take your mind off any personal problems, and it should be easily recognizable, even when your eyes are offscreen with a catchy tune. These titles, to a large degree, are the afterthought of the movie production and truth be told, their budget comes usually from whatever is left over. Budgetary restraints naturally affect the title design, but as you will see below, sometimes the most economical and simplest approach can go a long way. In terms of their functional and aesthetic values, the title sequences have far more value than they have been credited for. I present to you the ten best title sequences of the newest television shows from 2011. Note: I didn’t want to include any show that has broadcast for more than one season, otherwise the list would be compiled with shows many are familiar with such as Mad Men and The Walking Dead.

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Weekly Reviews: American Horror Story Ep. 1.09, “Spooky Little Girl” – Keeps the ball rolling