American Horror Stories season 3 episode 5: Michael Imperioli’s arc
We knew entering American Horror Stories season 3 episode 5 that we were going to have a pretty unique story in “Backrooms.”
If you were watching for a potential twist in the story, there is a good chance you felt let down. After all, it felt pretty clear early on in the episode that Michael Imperioli’s Daniel likely was responsible for the death of his son. That’s not where this episode shined; instead, what we got here was a pretty poignant and haunting journey into corners of the mind, one where guilt and shame drives you further and further into isolated places — and that’s where the connection to the backrooms began.
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For those unaware, this entire episode was an homage-of-sorts to the backrooms phenomena online, which consists mostly of vacant and enormous spaces that are often used to convey an eerie sense of loneliness. There are many stories suggesting that monsters lurk around every corner; then again, at other points you are the monster instead.
Imperioli got a chance to play a unique character here as effectively, we saw him peel back the layers and go more and more into the innermost circle of Hell — which included learning more of the truth about his son, but also seeing his final fate come via a unique take on his last destination. This was effectively an empty waiting room, one where he had to take a number and then sit alone while millions of others are chosen first. He refused to set himself free with the truth, and now he must face his own afterlife madness — an endless wait to think about his past and what lies ahead on the other side of the next door.
Will this episode be polarizing? For sure, but we remain happy to see Imperioli take on a number of unique roles.
Related – Will there be an American Horror Stories season 4?
What did you think about Michael Imperioli’s performance on American Horror Stories season 4 sooner rather than later?
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This article was written by Jessica BunBun.