SPOILERS AHEAD!
I believe there is something out there for everyone. It doesn’t matter how crazy, twisted, and weird some content may appear: someone will be interested in watching it and will like it and cherish it. It’s funny to see how, sometimes, the most unexpected kind of content can make a group of people happy, moved, entertained, at least. I may dislike the content, but in the end, it's all about the target audience.
When it comes to American Horror Story, however, it can be hard for me, sometimes, to define who is expected to enjoy the show. A single season can shift from dark and scary to campy and over the top within minutes. Hopefully, unlike me, someone felt happy and moved after watching these last episodes of Double Feature. And I'm writing about episodes nine and ten, but also about Death Valley in general. What was the point of it? Four episodes, many main characters, two timelines, and to what purpose?
"This is what the future holds, gentlemen. Do you want it or not?" (I'm fine, Val, thanks!)
This part follows a story that is, intrinsically, a patchwork of every popular, crazy conspiracy theory related to aliens and the USA.
The Moon landing was fake. Amelia Earhart was captured by aliens. John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe died because of the government. The creation of Area 51 is related to weird human experiments. The Reptilians were among us all this time. And many others.
But the actual story is, in reality, simple. And I mean it, for real. Earhart, Monroe, Nixon, Mamie cheating on her husband with a robot, four students who are pregnant, and much more, they are all there, but none of this really matters in the end. As predicted, the perfect hybrid is born in 2021. Then, almost every character still alive is killed (only one human survives,) and the aliens' ultimate plan is revealed: they are about to destroy humanity, planning to repopulate the world. After all, humans are not taking good care of the planet, so the aliens deserve it — even though that's not the point, I feel. After all, humanity could be gentle and sweet, but it would still be in the way of the aliens’ survival. But they are willing to share the Earth with the reptilians anyway, so maybe I got it wrong.
It’s supposed to be a journey through time and American History: we get to see the aliens arriving, the first contact with the government, the first negotiations, and how everything unfolded after. But honestly, the aliens are so powerful, so mighty, so godly, that it makes no sense it took decades for them to have a chance to conquer humanity. Why did they try to make a deal with the president? They could have just possessed his body, no one would notice. I mean, they can explode heads only by using their minds, and they are also good at possessing human bodies, not to mention their high-level tech. Plus, they can predict the future. Okay, they can do anything, anytime, anywhere — especially when the plot needs to prove how helpless humanity is against them. It’s hard to believe they needed any help.
Also, what about letting some people go? Why was Earhart released before giving birth to the alien hybrid? And why in the present day the four students were abducted, impregnated, and brought back to the car, only to be kidnapped again a few days later? How does any of this fit their plan? Besides, my memory is not perfect, but these aliens can’t be the same as those from Asylum. While the ones from season 2 appear to be thoughtful and morally grey, the aliens from Death Valley are just like humans — they want to conquer, colonize, to rule everything. They want to survive and are willing to do anything to get it all, including destruction and killing.
"I guess when you live forever, you run out of stories."
Anyway, I can’t say I enjoyed this last part of Double Feature. Just like the Red Tide finale, this was a rushed, sometimes predictable story. I know it’s supposed to be campy, this time they were clear about it from the very beginning. But they still made a lot of questionable choices along the way. Maybe it would be better if it explored only a few conspiracy theories, working on each of them properly. Or if the aliens were not that evil and not so powerful, meaning an actual conflict between humanity and them could happen with some room for complexity. If we got some time to know each character and connect and root for them, this part would be much better as well.
The positive side of it all: I liked this cast a lot, especially Neal McDonough and Sarah Paulson as the Eisenhower couple, with an honorable mention to Leslie Grossman as Calico. The students' actors are also full of potential and deliver good scenes when needed, so I wouldn’t be mad if they returned in the future, hopefully with a better story to tell.
That's a wrap, folks. What about you? Did you like Death Valley? Do you think this Double Feature thing worked?
Thanks for reading, and see you soon.
