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“AHS: NYC” Review – “Bad Fortune” and “The Body” Are This Season’s Best Episodes So Far

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AHS: NYC delivers its best episodes of the season through clever plotting and supernatural turns that set up the ensuing bloodshed.

“This is entertainment, honey.”

There’s some natural level of understanding and showmanship when it comes to psychics and tarot readers. By and large, customers understand that these practices aren’t genuinely supernatural, but they continue to engage with them because of the implicit relationship of entertainment. This whole routine isn’t dissimilar to the song and dance that’s perpetually put on by American Horror Story and Ryan Murphy productions for their audiences. They’re meant to be frivolous larks and playful entertainment, but anyone who expects to witness true magic is destined to be disappointed. And yet, very carefully, AHS: NYC has pulled off an impossible magic trick that’s once again turned skeptics into believers. “Bad Fortune” and “The Body” are two excellent installments that paint an even better picture of what this season hopes to say and do. 

It’s truly remarkable that American Horror Story: NYC remains engaging television after six episodes. No season since Asylum has been this consistent past the half-way mark. It honestly feels like Ryan Murphy and the American Horror Story writers’ room must have collectively binged on the potential-unlocking black pills from AHS: Red Tide. Not only is AHS: NYC legitimately good, but it’s on track to end this year as one of the series’ best seasons yet.

Psychic readings are a crucial component to this pair of episodes and AHS: NYC presents the value of this practice as a way to receive answers, but also closure. All of the tarot cards turning into Death cards is a simple touch, but one that’s highly effective and begins to tease more supernatural elements into what’s otherwise been a fairly grounded season. “Bad Fortune” also finds a great opportunity for Frances Conroy’s Angel of Death to make a quick cameo, but alas, it’s not in the cards. However, on the topic of supernatural disturbances, the origins of Big Daddy take a paranormal turn after Gino engages in a dark psychic night of the soul.

American Horror Story’s ongoing “Gino Death Watch” is still in overdrive and even the mystical tarot cards can’t sugarcoat his impending doom. Gino manages to narrowly survive again from another serial killer skirmish, but not everyone else in these episodes is as fortunate. It’s slightly troubling that all of the work that Patrick and Gino have done on their Mai Tai Killer investigation has been completely off the books. They’re liable to implicate themselves and have all of this blow up in their faces if something goes wrong or either of their luck runs out. There’s already tension brewing over how their important crusade might become their own undoing. Gino’s jealous lover routine gets a little repetitive in “The Body,” even if it’s not exactly unwarranted considering all of Patrick’s secrets. This is thankfully not too overbearing of a presence in these episodes, especially after Gino reaches Fire Island and accepts his fate.

“The Body,” which is the strongest episode of AHS: NYC, reaches an electric head that simultaneously ties together multiple characters. Gino, Patrick, Sam, and Henry all congregate over a corpse that becomes a catalyst to the season’s final episodes and pushes AHS: NYC into I Know What You Did Last Summer territory. These developments play out very naturally and come across as a plausible explanation for the anxiety and mystery that’s surrounded so many of this season’s relationships. Whitely’s role in all of this is the most heartbreaking and fascinating, yet American Horror Story never goes too far into his history so that it functions like egregious exposition. It’s some of the series’ most effortless plotting. What’s just as interesting are the circumstances that surround Big Daddy’s supposed origins. At this point it’s fair to wonder if he actually exists, if he’s a figment of his victim’s erratic imaginations, or a vengeful spirit who died on Fire Island and has returned to balance the karmic scales. He too may just want to be a part of something bigger and receive closure.

American Horror Story has featured plenty of entertaining villains, but “Bad Fortune” and “The Body” properly elevate Jeff Hiller’s Mr. Whitely into a top tier antagonist. Whitely is deeply creepy in every context and he doesn’t even wear a mask. There’s a simple matter-of-factly nature to Whitely’s mania. It’s the perfect affectation that never turns this villain into a caricature and, if anything, it makes him feel more ripped out of reality. He’s a disenfranchised, lonely outcast who’s just as desperate to be seen, appreciated, and have a sense of community as everyone else from this season.

Every second that’s spent with Whitely during “Bad Fortune” and “The Body” are eerily uncomfortable. The audience will want to scrub their skin as much as any of New York City’s infected residents. Whitely’s master plan that’s set to culminate at NYC’s Pride Parade, and seems to involve a human jigsaw puzzle piñata of persecution (think Pieces, but yassified), is pure Ryan Murphy. It’s exactly the campy, ultra-extreme ingredient that’s been missing from this season. It should be fascinating to watch the final stages of Whitely’s plan either come together or horribly fall apart. After all, New Yorkers can seemingly wash away the bacteria, but not the shame that’s behind it all.

“Bad Fortune” and “The Body” maintain American Horror Story: NYC’s momentum with episodes that provide genuine answers rather than needlessly toy with the audience. Most seasons of American Horror Story have fatigue set in at this point, but there’s such exciting energy present as AHS: NYC heads into its final four episodes. Patient plotting and relationship reveals continue to bear fruit as more of the series’ standard supernatural stereotypes begin to invade the procedural crime framework. Big Daddy, the Mai Tai Killer, and the rogue virus are all compelling storylines that only continue to gain depth. It might be a little premature to celebrate the successes of American Horror Story: NYC. Then again, it’s perhaps not the worst idea to adopt the “no bad news” mentality of psychic mediums rather than further add to the world’s growing nihilism. American Horror Story: NYC is absolutely nailing this season and why try to fight that?

Daniel Kurland is a freelance writer, comedian, and critic, whose work can be read on Splitsider, Bloody Disgusting, Den of Geek, ScreenRant, and across the Internet. Daniel knows that "Psycho II" is better than the original and that the last season of "The X-Files" doesn't deserve the bile that it conjures. If you want a drink thrown in your face, talk to him about "Silent Night, Deadly Night Part II," but he'll always happily talk about the "Puppet Master" franchise. The owls are not what they seem.

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‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’ Review – Latest Monster Mashup Goes Bigger and Sillier

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GODZILLA X KONG review

The heavyweight championship event that was Godzilla vs. Kong ended in a tenuous truce that saw Godzilla holding dominion over Earth while King Kong claimed Hollow Earth. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire introduces a new Titan-sized threat from the depths of Hollow Earth, one so dangerous that Kong and his human allies will need all the help they can get to defeat it. Director Adam Wingard continues the kaiju spectacle with the latest Legendary Monsterverse crossover event, this time injecting an even greater sense of adventure and silliness. It’s the type of epic-sized popcorn movie that unleashes nonstop monster brawls and tongue-in-cheek humor in equal measure.

Since the events of Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla spends his downtime curling up for naptime in Rome’s Colosseum when not snuffing out rogue Titans that emerge. The kaiju king’s activity is closely monitored by Monarch and Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall). Dr. Andrews also keeps a close eye on Kong through stations established around Hollow Earth access points, and poor Kong is lonely as he still searches for others like him. Then there’s Dr. Andrews’ adoptive daughter Jia (Kaylee Hottle), the sole survivor of the decimated Iwi tribe from Skull Island. Jia’s struggles to find her place in school and society at large get exacerbated by strange new visions that seem directly tied to Hollow Earth.

Dr. Andrews enlists Bernie (Brian Tyree Henry) to help her navigate Jia’s new plight. Once the new threat makes itself known, all three, along with wisecracking kaiju vet Trapper (Dan Stevens), descend into Hollow Earth for answers. Instead, they find a terrifying new battle heating up for kaiju sovereignty. 

Rebecca Hall and Dan Stevens in Godzilla x Kong

The Monsterverse franchise often struggles with its human characters and how they fit into the kaiju mayhem, but screenwriters Terry RossioSimon Barrett, and Jeremy Slater may have finally cleared this hurdle by trimming down the human cast and keeping it simple. Jia’s heritage creates an emotional conflict between her and her adoptive mother that injects a sweet earnestness, while Brian Tyree Henry’s Bernie brings levity. Then there’s the scene-chewing Dan Stevens, whose Trapper gets introduced in style as he performs a tooth extraction from an aircraft with infectious exuberance. Stevens plays the character with the bravado of an ’80s action star but one that’s fully aware of himself and the absurdity of his unique gig. Trapper’s boisterous personality goes far in demonstrating to audiences just how much we’re meant to be having fun and not take everything seriously, so much so that Godzilla x Kong could stand to see more of him.

Of course, the real stars are the monsters, and this, once again, is Kong’s show. Godzilla remains the undisputed heavyweight champion, but it’s Kong’s pursuit of finding his place in Hollow Earth that drives Godzilla x Kong. The required exposition delivery as Wingard corrals the converging plotlines into an action-heavy final act does slow the momentum in the first two-thirds, despite frequent action set pieces. But the main event delivers the promised team-up and then some, thanks to at least one pivotal surprise up Wingard’s sleeves that brings the wow factor to the final battle. That key surprise is pivotal, not just for fan service, but to offset how underwhelming the new enemy is, a generic mirrored inverse of Kong and his frenemy. 

Angry Kong

Wingard and crew seem fully aware of that and play up the cartoonish quality of the premise to maximize the fun factor. While it does indeed evoke the intended sense of fun, especially when Kong flings a smaller ape around as a weapon or dons a power glove, there’s a weightlessness to the whole thing. There’s no real impact to any of it, even though it often looks cool.

It all amounts to a visually polished Saturday morning cartoon filled with monster brawls and the humans who love them. Beyond the charming entertainment, though, Godzilla x Kong is more hollow than Hollow Earth.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire roars into theaters and IMAX on March 29, 2024.

2.5 out of 5 skulls

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