 American Horror Stories has always been a bit of a mixed bag for me and so far each season of this spinoff seems to have an entirely different tone and feeling to the season that came before it. While season one was full of some cringy, rapidly paced episodes with three that featured a sloppy connection to the murderhouse, season two was a more balanced and mature take on the spinoff with still a few episodes that remind us of those sloppier moments in season one. Well now the first half of season three has premiered and I'll just come out and say it. I think this string of four episodes may be the strongest run of episodes that this spinoff has ever experienced, however this season does have its own unique set of drawbacks. Overall these episodes had strong writing, better pacing than most horror stories episodes and strong visuals and performances. One main issue I have with these episodes though is that they feel like they've strayed a bit too far from the brand of American Horror Story. Not only does this season feature very few alums of American Horror Story but it also has no connections or references to the main series either. Season one of course had a stacked cast of alums including Billy Lord, Cody Fern, Matt Boomer, Naomi Grossman, John Carroll Lynch, Dylan McDermott and Jamie Brewer. Season two had a notable decrease in these stars with a still impressive lineup of Dennis O'Hare, Gabri Sidibe, Cody Fern as well as some other memorable stars like Dominique Jackson, Judith Light and Bella Thorne and of course season one connected to Murderhouse and season two connected to Coven. But for this half of the third season the only AHS stars we have are Jeff Hiller from NYC, Seth Gable who had a small role as Jeffrey Dahmer in Hotel but he did have a memorable role in the season two episode of Horror Stories entitled Milkmaids and then the last alum that appears in this season is Cameron Cooper-Waith who played Speedwagon in Colt and he was also in an episode of American Horror Story season two. While I do like all of these actors and I'm completely fine with them appearing in this season I just feel like if you're going to stray away from connecting to the main series and you're also refraining from casting those AHS mainstays that people would expect from the spin-off then what exactly differentiates this horror anthology from all of the others? I have some thoughts and ideas on how the spin-off can still stand on its own without having to rely on the main show's cast or characters but more on that later. Now let's just take it episode by episode as I let you know all of the things that I loved and didn't love this season and be sure to tell me all of your thoughts in the comments below to keep the discussion going. And while you're at it go ahead and hit that subscribe button if you haven't already but starting with episode one Bestie which was written by Joseph Cole Bacon a newcomer to the series and was directed by Max Winkler who has directed two episodes of the spin-off in the past The Naughty List and Aura. Bestie stars Emma Halleen, Seth Gable and Jessica Barden who all did a great job in this episode. Emma Halleen who played Shelby is the true standout for me. She managed to make a character that could have easily been just another annoying teenaged character that this show loves to write but she brought a believable level of humanity and vulnerability to the role. Jessica Barden as Bestie was also great in large part due to the incredible hair, makeup, and prosthetic work in this episode. The episode also has Jeff Hiller who plays the Mr. Shoe in this week's fucked up episode of Glee. Overall this episode has some really strong visuals, characters, performances, and the pacing felt like a normal TV episode unlike the usual rapid fire pacing of most American Horror Stories episodes that try to fit an entire film plot into 36 minutes. The twist itself in this episode I think would have worked a lot better if the episode was just given 10 more minutes of runtime to really develop the motivations of the characters of River and Bestie and then I really think this episode would have completely stuck its landing. Also one thing that bothered me was that it wasn't entirely convincing how the character Shelby is so reluctant to wear drag makeup to school but then five minutes later in the episode Bestie is able to convince her to go to school in full dead baby drag to mock her nice choir teacher. But aside from those couple notes, Bestie was a surprisingly strong Horror Stories episode. The next episode this season is Daphne, the story of a man who becomes emotionally and criminally entangled with his AI assistant during a worldwide pandemic. The episode is written by Brad Falchuk and Manny Cotto, may he rest in peace, and it was directed by Elegance Bratton who is a newcomer to the franchise but you may know him from directing the 2022 film The Inspection. Now is this premise the most original idea? No, but the isolated pandemic angle and strong performances by Reed Scott and Annie Hamilton made Daphne an engaging and well-paced horror story in my opinion. I really like the open ending. You can really interpret it either way. You would like to Daphne manipulate all the footage and set Will up or was she truly always defective and Will was actually responsible for all he's done. Maybe there was a missed opportunity to play that up a bit more but nonetheless I thought it was a good and satisfying ending. The episode did a good job at raising the stakes amid a story set during a pandemic which turned out to add a lot to this specific story. In contrast, this year's Sick which was still a fun and enjoyable slasher I think was weighed down due to how much it relied on the pandemic in its story but Daphne on the other hand does not fall into those same pitfalls and the only issue I had with this episode is it feels especially unlike American Horror Story. There are no AHS cast members and the episode just doesn't look or feel like it's in any adjacent universe to AHS. The episode gets slightly slow in the middle and while there are hints that this could be all in Will's mind, maybe making those hints more overt and walking the line a bit earlier in the story would have made it slightly more engaging in the middle. But those are just really small things and the episode itself was another really entertaining one but with its unoriginal premise and no super memorable visual moments, this episode is certainly more forgettable than bestie. Next up we have episode 3, Tapeworm which was written by Joseph Cole Bacon and was directed by longtime AHS mega producer Alexis Martin Woodall in what is as far as I can tell her directorial debut. And as far as direction goes she did a great job with this episode. The strongest parts of this episode for me are the performances, the costumes, hair and makeup, production design, and just overall visually this episode looked really great. I'm not the biggest fan of the subject matter of this episode which again is not the most original for a horror story and all the eating, puking, and body horror was a little too gross for my taste but that's again just me. Laura Kariuki as Vivian was great in this episode. I've never seen her in anything before but I hope that changes. And I'm not super familiar with Lisa Rinna and this is the first time I've seen her act and not that this role demands too much but she was good. The episode ends with a nasty looking tapeworm which seems to be largely CGI but there are definitely a couple of shots that look practical but either way the tapeworm itself looked disgusting so great work to all involved in how that turned out. Tapeworm was nasty but it had strong and memorable visuals and even greater performances specifically by Laura Kariuki. The final episode of this half season is Oregon written by Manny Koto and directed by Petra Collins who I know as a director of some cool ass music videos including Boy Problems by Carly Rae Jepsen as well as Good for You and Vampire by Olivia Rodrigo. This episode stars Raul Castillo, Emily Browning, Havana Rose Lu, Cameron Cooperwaith, and Layla Robbins. And let me just say this I think the side characters of this episode really should have been the main characters because Havana Rose Lu, Emily Browning, and Layla Robbins all steal every scene that they're in however they don't get that many and all three of them are criminally underutilized in this episode. That isn't to say that Raul Castillo isn't great he does a really good job playing this jerk of a character but there lies one of my problems the main character of Toby was almost too much of an asshole to care about when bad things start to happen to him. The episode itself feels like it has too many characters and the dialogue brings up a lot of little dangling pieces that I wish were explored a bit more. I also didn't love how the cult looked visually I think they could have amped up those ending scenes but to me this episode felt really similar to the season 2 episode called Facelift. They're both episodes about cults written by Manny Koto and along with a lot of other Manny Koto episodes they have a lot of threads that are left dangling that I can't help but wonder if Manny Koto ever intended on building upon which brings me back to my point earlier if the show wants to not rely on connections to the main series then why not start to have some connections between some of these stories whether they are large or small but I digress this episode has a lot of fun world building standout performances by Havana Rose Lu and Layla Robbins but an underwhelming protagonist and an underdeveloped cult left me wanting just a little bit more out of this episode. Oregon definitely could have benefited from another 15 or 20 minutes of runtime to make that twist more satisfying and to give Havana and Layla more screen time but there's still a lot to love about this episode and please let's get Layla Robbins on American Horror Story she seems like a perfect addition to a main ensemble for an upcoming season. In conclusion this four episode Huluin event was a group of fun and entertaining stories with stellar cast members despite lacking any true AHS regulars. The episodes where a consistent half season even if episodes like Daphne or Oregon may be a little bit forgettable. Like I mentioned I wish a lot of these episodes had a longer runtime so that these stories and characters could have enough time for satisfying arcs and conclusions. I would have loved if characters like River or Bestie could have had more development or if the conclusion in that episode felt more earned. Sasha, Natesa and Lee were all really interesting characters in Oregon but they were given very little screen time. This half season may not be perfect but with some promising episode titles for part two of the season and with this solid foundation this third season could turn out to be the Spinoff's strongest. And there you have it those are my thoughts on the four episodes of American Horror Story season three that we have so far. Don't forget to let me know all of your thoughts on this season as well as your ranking of the episodes. For me my favorite was definitely Bestie and then Daphne then Tapeworm and then I would rank Oregon last only for its missed opportunities. Give this video a like if you made it this far subscribe for more horror content and I will see you guys next time.