I don't know about you guys, but I am sick of websites and fans throwing out theories on what would sound cool rather than what the creators have been pointing us towards. So, in antithesis to that, I wish to present a rational, clear theory on what season 4 of AHS will be, given the details we've been given (which offer a lot more than any news site will bother to dig through).
I'm rather tired at the moment. So, let's begin.
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Take what we know about what Ryan Murphy, Sarah Paulson, and Brad Fulchuck have said about Season 4.
RM has stated that no one has "completely" guessed it, though he doesn't outright deny the possibility of a circus (which I'm against for logical reasons). Sarah Paulson has confirmed that a clue was present a "couple of episodes" before the finale, which would place it at episode 10 or 11. Brad Fulchuck most recently stated that the internet did not spot a clue in episode 13.
Now, let's look at what RM has confirmed about season 4 in general.
It is going to be set in the 1950's and another time period Many websites are pushing that the second timeline will be present-day, yet that's likely false assuming that RM has said it will not be "contemporary" (I'm looking at you, IBTimes, and your horrible "articles".)
It will also be "bizarre, crazy, and gothic."
Let's repeat that:
"Bizarre, crazy and gothic."
Gothic is the key word here. I'm surprised no entertainment site has picked up on that. Gothic horror tropes are plain and simple to identify. TV Tropes has a good list of examples. Included are the following:
-Cosmic Horror Story (horror on a mystical, universal scale such as Lovecraftian horror)
-Dark Fantasy (Darker and edgier fantasy, Magic Is Evil and often The Corruption, Magic Eats at Humanity, etc.)
-Gaslamp Fantasy (19th or very early 20th century setting, Masquerade-style where magic exists openly, think Steampunk but more fantastical)
-Ghost Fiction (self-explanatory)
-Fairy Tale (Goblins, witches, dragons, etc.)
-Mystery Fiction (Investigation, Twin Peaks, etc.)
-Punk Punk (Gothic Punk, Myth Punk, Steam Punk: Cyber punk, supernatural creatures control the world dominating humans, classical folklore and tales get modern makeovers)
-Supernatural Fiction
-Urban Fantasy (Genre that takes place in a large city, easy for fantasy to hide in)
-Vampire Fiction
-Weird West (Meeting of civilization and the unknown, Magical Native American cliches, ghosts zombies vampires werewolves)
-Werewolf Works
That gives leeway to a bunch of possibilities. So what? you ask. Well, read under that list on TV Tropes and see the list of "Public Domain Characters" common in Gothic horror.
-Archangel Gabriel
-Carmilla
-Dracula
-Faust
-Frankenstein's Monster
-Grim Reaper
-Headless Horseman
-Jack the Ripper
-Mummy
-Sastan
-Sweeny Todd
-Wolf Man
Hm. That sure gives some ideas. Now, let's take into consideration RM's comment that "If you like season 3, you'll like season 4." Perhaps he wasn't just referring to the use of humor. Perhaps Murphy was commenting on the fantastical element of both seasons: Coven had witches and pagan mythology... could Season 4 have monsters and supernatural mythos?
That's not a hard thing to wrap your head around. Each season is often different from the last, from Murder House's realism to Asylum's religious/scientific whatthefuckery, to Coven's fantasy, maybe even to Season 4's monsters.
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Let's apply this to the planned setting of 1950. RM shows deal inexplicably with social issues and themes. What problems arose in the 50's?
Hm. Well, as often theorized, the Second Red Scare was one. McCarthy abused his power and accused others of being Communists to advance his own goals.
But that's too easy, and it's ignoring the very image of the 50's itself: polka-dot-dressed housewives, working white-collar fathers, all-American neighborhood boys and girls, the rise of the suburbs. Conformity, I'm saying. The 50's were a decade of political and ideological stability that led its way to appeasement and structure. The backlash against this of the freer 60's (go Asylum!) combatted this bland lifestyle.
From McCarthy pushing people to look "normal" by pointing fingers at Communists to the standardized roles of family, everything in 1950 can be summed up by one song in typical AHS fashion. Murder House had "Tainted Love". Asylum had "Que Sera Sera". Coven had "House of the Rising Sun". If we apply Asylum and Coven's song usage that connect to each season's theme, could Season 4 be set to the music of "Little Boxes" by Malvina Reynolds, a song criticizing the manufactured, docile, typical American of 1950?
Using that alone can definitely lead to a season about Communists in the State Department (as Hank said, Episode 10) or a Circus. Both would deal with conformity vs. nonconformity, a theme RM has dealt with in each season of AHS.
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But still, no one has "completely guessed it." That may be due to the clue Brad Fulchuck confirmed in The Seven Wonders, one that no one spot.
But wait--how could no one spot the clue?! I thought Tumblr and Reddit and YouTube were peeling away each layer to each episode, analayzing dialogue, paintings of Siamese twins, elephant earrings, names of German fashion hauses?!
Here's what I think the fandom missed: Ryan Murphy's plan to have "the last image of Coven" tell you what Season 4 will be.
Unless you kept up with Coven before it even aired, you would have missed that little bit of news. I think it actually made its way to Wikipedia for a bit, before being edited out. To put it simply, RM's original plan was to have the last scene of Coven be the biggest clue to what season 4 would be about. Whether or not he successfully allowed to execute this is questionable, until you realize that Ryan Murphy pretty much does whatever the fuck he wants to. FX producers give him the white card to try anything, as said by a producer a couple months back in regards to Murphy's success with AHS, Glee, and other shows. So it's bit questionable to think that Murphy did not go through with his original plan.
So, let's look at the last image of Coven. The one clue Fulchuck knew, but the fandom missed.I dunno about you, but the sheer beauty of that image is a bit hard not to miss.
Let's simplify it: A bunch of optimistic people gathered around their central leader, waiting to be told what to do and what to become. In this case, witches. But in season 4's case... maybe something else?
If the last-image plan wasn't ditched, then this is a huge clue itself. It could refer to a Cult or Order of some sort (a Silent Hill-ish AHS, with monsters and a mysterious religious organization)? We even get the interviewer Bill naming the Academy as a "cult" that "sparked a lot of brujaja in the media." Cordelia makes it heavily clear to her interviewer: "We are not a cult. We don't proselatized, we have no agenda, we're not recruiting."
Or it could even add on to the pile of Hollywood! references we got in The Seven Wonders, with Madison's "I'm going back to Hollywood where people are normal!" Hm, come to think of it, that's an interesting turn-of-phrase, "where people are normal". That points to 50's conformity and even the use of Lange playing a character "like Marlene Dietrich" who was, as we all know by the point, a successful, German-American Hollywood actress during the 50's.
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Well, what else do we know? Lange is practicing her German accent. Paulson is practicing a "very special skill". The year 1950 has a lot of clues itself, including the development of the all-powerful, never-used H-bomb. A nuclear apocalypse could very much mutate people into the monsters listed underneath Gothic Horror Tropes. A Cult could lend its way to the same monsters, and the last image we got of Coven. Hollywood in the 50's as well as a Circus could very much deal with conformity. Actually, all of these ideas could lead to the power of individualism in one way or another.
Let's take a final glance at the execution of hints, though. Asylums hints were revealed in two bits of dialogue from Murder House: Billie Dean and Vivien Harmon speaking about asylums. Covens hints were revealed in jukebox songs thanks to Sister Mary Eunice (I Put a Spell on You and Love Potion No. 9). If we take this into consideration, Season 4's hints should be executed in a similar manner, with one unifying thing among them (whether it be dialogue, songs, or something else).
If we look at Hank's father speaking about McCarthysim, season 4 clues could have came in insults and backtalk. That includes "Getting rid of Communists," "I'm going back to Hollywood," and "We are not a cult."
Or maybe it all comes from Myrtle Snow. A utopian 50's conformist suburb like Epcott, a fashion designing house like Balenciaga...
Hey, it could very well be Queenie commenting about a circus, way earlier in the season. Also the elephant earrings and the siamese twin painting people have glued their eyes to.
There have been no hints to suggest anything of aliens, other than a non-American event that passed in the 1950's, but not in 1950 as RM specified.
So: Suburbs, circus, monsters, government, Hollywood, utopia, nuclear wasteland, cult--whatever it is, you decide, but from my perspective, these are what the episodes and comments have been pointing to. It's only a matter of time until it's annnounced. RM has stated that he plans to reveal it earlier than Coven was. Seeing as how Paleyfest is in less than 20 days, that could very much be where it's announced (Paleyfest was were the team announced Coven. It also has a slot for a Coven Q&A, same as last year with Asylum. A coincedence of date and locale? I think not).
If anything, the season we should REALLY worry about is Season 5. Apparently it will "take a lot of playing" to push through the executives. Hm. Also, with our beloved Emmy-adored Lange retiring, we could be seeing a fall in viewership and ratings. If anything, RM's tough idea will probably need to be special and attention-grabbing so that it compensates for Lange's absence.
Animated American Horror Story? American Horror Story / Glee crossover? American Horror Story: Twin Peaks Season '3? Whatever Season 5 is, I'm sure it'll be spectacular.
That's all, folks. Good night. Or, as Myrtle Snow would say,
BALLENCIIAAAAAGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!