Opinion
Page 2
The Entertainment Pulse
The Hutchinson Collegian Friday, November 17, 2017
Black Friday Madness
American Horror Story seasons 1-7 ranked least to greatest By Jack Greenwood Staff Writer
AHS fans were split this year, when show runner Ryan Murphy announced the new season was to be inspired by the 2016 Presidential election. On Tuesday, the new season concluded with an ending of true AHS fashion – lots of blood and death! But where does this new season rank amongst the others? Is AHS still able to deliver stellar seasons without the commanding performances of Jessica Lange? Here is where I believe every season ranks for now.
7. Murder House (1) Okay I’m probably in the minority for putting the opening season in the last slot but hear me out. This season was by no means bad – none of them are. The first season introduced us to the world of AHS and gave Jessica Lange a career resurgence. However, I have put the first season here because of its lack of development for its main two characters, Mr. & Mrs. Harmon. They remain the same type of characters throughout the whole series, the scarred heroes that we are led to root for. Aside from Lange’s character Constance and Evan Peters character, Tate, not a lot of characters evolve in this season.
6. Roanoke (6)
Roanoke introduced a brand new format to AHS fans. The series is told as if in a horror reenactment for the first half of the season before switching to reality-show-gone-wrong in the second half. While this season delivered plenty of gore and terror, I can’t help but see this season as all too similar to Murder House. A group of ghosts, trapped in a cursed house. I will admit, the format makes it original. But its similarity to the first season lands it here.
5. Asylum (2)
Again, another opinion of mine that is probably in the minority. Personally, I loved everything about Asylum. Sarah Paulson joined the main cast and gave us Lana Winters, a character that we remember years later. Zachary Quinto and James Cromwell also joined and gave us a spine tingling villains. Let’s not forget Jessica Lange giving us the steely eyed Sister Jude. But one thing caused this season to be tainted for me: Aliens. The alien concept seemed so thrown in there and so unnecessary that it’s almost the only thing I can remember from this season. None of these seasons are bad, but if there is one that could’ve been perfect, it was asylum. So close.
4. Hotel (5)
Some consider this season, the first without Jessica Lange, to be its worst. I humbly disagree. Global pop sensation, Lady Gaga joined the main cast and gifted us with vampire heiress, the countess. The gorgeous scenery, neon lighting, vampire concept, allusion to H. H. Holmes and top rate performances by Gaga, Paulson, Peters, Angela Bassett, Denis O’Hare and Kathy Bates made this season better than expected. The only issue I had with this season, was that too much of the attention was laid on Det. John Lowe, played by Wes Bently. The character should’ve been a supporting character, and his screen time reduced. But other than that, this season doesn’t get the credit it deserves.
3. Cult (7)
We finally reach our brand new season. This season brought in a plethora of newer faces including Billie Lourd and Alison Pill, both of which gave grade-A performances. But the one thing that made this season really work was the performance by veterans Paulson and Peters. These two have never been given a season the way Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates were, to have a story revolve around them. This season they finally got their turn and boy did they deliver. This season also was the first in which no supernatural creatures were introduced, a bold choice. It also gave stellar reenactments of several other cults including the Manson family and SCUM. Of course, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were also part of the plot, but done in small doses. Overall, this season was new and fresh and breathed new life into this series.
2. Freak Show (4)
The final season featuring Jessica Lange sent her out with a bang. No other season had this great of character development and storyline. There was not a weak cast member in the bunch, although newcomer Finn Wittrock as Dandy Mott was a standout, giving a nightmarishly brilliant performance. The season had plenty of twists and turns to keep you on the edge, all while giving great character back stories and even some song and dance numbers. This season is also one that is underrated and deserves to be at closer to the top. Aside from a finale that seemed rushed, this season was pretty close to perfect.
Kourtney Sweet/Collegian cartoonist
The unfortunate events of Brenna My Washington D.C. experience
So this past weekend I went to Las Vegas with my best friend to go to a Marine Ball. As I was there, I couldn’t help but think of the time I went to Washington D.C. my junior year of high school because that was the last time we had flown together. The history teacher at Little River, Mr. Keith Rains, takes students every year to Washington D.C. during the summer with a group from surrounding areas. I’m not sure how he has gone time and time again, but I think I’m good with not going for a while. Don’t get me wrong, I had a blast n the trip and loved the memorials, but since I am an Eller, and my two older sisters had been forgetful the years they went to Washington, I was just bound to forget something too. That being said, my oldest sister wandered away from the group a lot when she went, scaring Mr. Rains quite a bit, and my other sister left her phone under a bench on Capitol Hill. Luckily there was a guy in her group who was training for a marathon, so he ran back and got the phone for her. Me being the most irresponsible, unlucky, and clumsiest of the Ellers, just had to one-up them. I left much more than a cell phone. In fact, I didn’t lose my cell phone of all things. It was the first day of the trip, and I had to get up at 5:30 a.m. so we could get to the airport on time. My sister had informed Mr. Rains that I am way
Columnist
Brenna Eller
worse than they were and that he needed to keep an eye on me. When we got to D.C., I went to get my suitcase from the baggage claim. There were so many people, I felt claustrophobic. I tried to squeeze myself into the crowd and accidentally bumped into an older lady. I said, “Sorry, excuse me.” She just looked at me like I slapper her in the face or something and shoved me back. So, I just waited until people cleared out to get my bag and moved onto the metro platform. One of the leaders of our group told us to wait, because the metro that pulled up wasn’t the right one. So I decided to take my backpack that I had been lugging around off. Then the same leader said, “Never mind, this is us, everyone get on!” So I grabbed my suitcase and got on so I wouldn’t miss it. It had just started to rain when we got to our stop near the hotel we were staying at. One of the people in our group asked me
1. Coven (3)
Finally, we reach number one and to be honest no one should be surprised. Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates both won Emmy’s for this standout season about a Coven of witches in New Orleans. The season also brought in newcomers Angela Bassett, Emma Roberts and Gabourey Sidibe and gave us as supernaturally good a storyline as a true AHS fan can hope for. From the fight for power to be the supreme, to the crazy romances and witchcraft, Coven is never without surprises and plot twists. Not to mention, Frances Conroy and Lily Rabe also gave us their best characters in Myrtle Snow and Misty Day. This is the season that AHS came close to perfect.
The Hutchinson
Collegian
The Hutchinson Collegian is the official student newspaper of Hutchinson Community College. It is created by the Newspaper Production class each week during the academic year, except for when school is not in session, or during final exams.
Courtesy Photo There were only four juniors, soon to be seniors from Little River High School in the group and one graduated senior at Washington D.C. This picture was taken next to the White House in front of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
Staff
Editor: Merissa Anderson Campus editor: Emma Cox Opinion page editor: Brenna Eller Sports editor: Lucas Barlow Online editor: Amanda Carney Adviser: Brad Hallier Staff members: Cassidy Crites, Jack Greenwood, Allie Schweizer, Kourtney Sweet.
if she could use my umbrella that I was so happy I brought before. I said, “Sure!” As I reached behind me, I already knew the inevitable. It was like my heart dropped not only to my stomach, but to my feet. I started having a mini panic attack and laughed hysterically. I just could not believe I would lose my backpack that had my camera in it, my purse, money, social security card, and umbrella. I ran to Mr. Rains and he could tell by the horrified look on my face that I had lost something. He said, “What was it?” And I told him where I last saw it. It was at the airport metro platform. So, we left our group and ran to catch a metro going back to the airport. We finally found the right one and hopped on. When we got to the platform, it was a ghost town. There were zero security guards in sight. I thought I was losing my mind. I was so scared. Finally, we got to a booth where four or five security guards were standing bent over rummaging through something. Mr. Rains asked if they had found a blue bag with elephants on it and one lady looked at me and said, “What’s your name?” I answered her and she looked at an I.D, then said, “It’s her.” I was just thinking to myself, Oh crap! I’m in a lot of trouble, they think I’m a bomb terrorist, I can’t be seen in this place ever again. Then I had to sign a paper that stated that everything I had was in the bag. I was so relieved I think I may have teared up a bit. As we were getting to the hotel area, it started to just downpour. So I got out my umbrella and we shared it walking to the hotel. As I was approaching the rest of our group, someone had started a slow clap and all of a sudden everyone was slow clapping for me. I was so embarrassed I couldn’t even look at anyone. On the bright side, I took a lot of great pictures and the rest of the week went smoothly even though I had people asking me if I had my bag everyday.
Letters to the editor: The Hutchinson Collegian welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must include the author’s signature, address and phone number. The Collegian reserves the right to edit letters for style, legality and length. Letters may not exceed 300 words. Send letters to hallierb@hutchcc.edu.