Can American Horror Story: Cult stop the bleeding?
It’s probably not fair to call Cult a disappointment, given that the vast majority of cable shows would be more than thrilled to put up some of the ratings that it has so far during its run. After all, it’s averaging a 1.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic and there are some other shows out there who aren’t even putting up this sort of number at the moment. They’d be thrilled to have it!
Yet, this is American Horror Story, and it’s a franchise that has become accustomed to a certain degree of runaway success. So far its average in the demo is down almost 13% from American Horror Story: Roanoke, and typically this is a show that sees ratings declines over the course of the season. With that, it’s almost sure to drop more as the show goes on. It recently posted a lower rating than it did at any point over last season, and there are still many more episodes still to air.
One of the bigger fears of ours going into this season of American Horror Story was that the subject matter may have been a little too raw for some people, and we do think that this is hurting the show. People really don’t love having to see so much politics, and there may be some out there hoping that the show was a complete takedown of Donald Trump who are upset that there is also some mockery of liberal hysteria, as well. Cult isn’t necessarily equal-opportunity, but it does seem interested in pointing out some of the flaws with multiple different political ideologies.
Do we at CarterMatt actually think that this is a better season than most? It’s a little garish and over-the-top, but we’d watch this over Hotel any day and probably over much of the second half of either Coven or Freak Show. We personally find Roanoke to be vastly underrated, and while this current season isn’t exactly the most stable or sensible in the world, at least it’s taking risks. We’d rather watch a show try to do something big rather than play it safe or hit the same notes time and time again. Just look at the Chaz Bono appearance recently for evidence that the show has little to no interest in playing it safe.
What do you think is going on with American Horror Story: Cult?
Do you think that the show is going to be able to turn some things around in the ratings? Be sure to share now in the attached comments!
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