American Horror Story - Afterbirth

Constance has been babysitting the new baby for Ben while Ben gets his affairs in order and prepares to move out of the Murder House. She cautions Ben to keep himself and the baby out of the house, because the house’s “forces” want to hurt the baby. Ben sees a picture of Tate and blames Constance for all of his family’s woes, tells her off, and peaces out.

Vivian and Moira are getting along as dead people. Moira tells Viv that Ben can’t see them unless Viv wants him to. Viv explains that this would be bad, because Ben would want to stay in the house with them, when he should really get out. Ben sits on the couch, in the house, that night and puts a gun to his head. Viv appears to Ben and tells him to live on and raise the baby. Even though it’s not his, it is Vivian’s (and Tate's), after all. Ben reconciles with Violet and makes out with Viv. The two disappear and Ben grabs the baby and walks toward the front door.

Sadly, and surprisingly, Hayden kills him, making it look like a suicide. Constance ends up with the baby, hiding him. Marcy sells the house to a new family, the Ramoses, who have one son, Gabe. He skateboards and he utters the words, “I don’t believe in ghosts,” so we are really surprised he lived. The Ramos family gets driven away by the Harmons and the rest of the good ghosts, who realize that the family shouldn’t stay in the house, especially since they are trying to have a baby. It’s sweet, in a morbid way. The good ghosts get their scary on and drive the family out, screaming.

Tate tries to apologize to Ben and own up to his sins. Ben counters with, “Therapy doesn’t really work. It’s just for people who can’t own up to their own problems.” We groaned, because we know plenty of people who NEED therapy who think this is the case. It’s not. It’s only if you see a crappy therapist like Ben that therapy is useless. If you’re not getting better, getting good tools, or getting good feedback in a reasonable amount of time, onto the next therapist. We don’t hate Ben, like lots of this show’s fans. We feel bad for him. He had demons and he was trying to fight them. But then he got a stalker and a haunted house. The guy couldn’t win.

Viv’s other baby took one breath outside the womb, so now he will live in the Murder House as a one-day-old infant forever. Wow, that’s really hard luck. Nora gives Viv the baby after realizing that she doesn’t have the patience for motherhood. Moira becomes the baby’s godmother and the Harmons decorate a Christmas tree. It’s a happy ending, while Tate and Hayden sulk outside, rejected. The Harmons have realized the importance of family and died loved. Tate and Hayden are being punished for being jerks. Three years later, Constance has a toddler (Vivian and Tate's demon spawn) who killed his babysitter.

We thought the finale was satisfying, conclusive, and set up a second season really well. We like this show. Ern still has the gripe that this show has never effectively scared, shocked, or creeped her out. They are going to have to try a little subtlety if they want to do that. However, the ratings are great, the show is a hit, and we were both entertained all season. We were glad that Constance didn’t die. We will absolutely be back for next season. This is an easy show to watch, and we want to see how Ryan Murphy thinks he can top this, content-wise.

Those curious about season two MUST read this: http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/12/22/american-horror-story-season-tw/. One of us is pretty upset.

Episode grade: A-

Season grade: B+