Following the terrible beginning of this show, this episode saved it. I still think it doesn't compare to the best of the main series but this was great. And Billie Lourd's performance slayed this entire episode.
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The ending wasn't my favorite but I genuinely enjoyed Billie Lourd's portrayal of her character and the genuine gradual insanity felt very real... until the very end of the episode.
I'm NOT a fan of the "twist" endings that don't make sense with the plot created, especially the attempts at Black Mirror endings by using technology as a backbone for the twists (such as live-streaming of Scarlett's personal talk, the publishing of Rabbit Rabbit, the filming of Liv's insanity). Why does the end of every episode feel like it's trying to fit turn upon turn upon turn on us? It's genuinely annoying when in the final 5 minutes of the episode- the endgame changes multiple separate times. -
screenwriterchick5 August 2021All of the other reviews are SO accurate. Billie lourd (unsurprisingly) stole the show and saved the show. She's everything and more!!! The only good episode of this show so far, in large part thanks to billie. Would definitely watch just this episode again.
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landerdevos5 August 2021They did it. This is what American Horror Stories should've been. The episode is atmospheric, the acting is GREAT. It's well written and my god...that intro. This one gets a 10/10 for me.
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ruffler6 August 2021...which isn't a high bar, sure, but this was actually a really enjoyable episode. The only issue I really had with it is the twist(s) feel very tagged on to the ending. The "but this happened, and this happened, plus this happened" which could have been made much better if they didn't feel attached on to satisfy people's expectation of a twist.
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iamirtazabukhari5 August 2021Giving this a 10/10 because it was worth it. As the show started with very poor episodes, this one is definitely a charming one to watch.
This is a true AHS feeling, definitely not THE BEST, but upto the mark. So giving it a high rank to save this series & yes I expect so much from EP 6 now.
BA'AL you got my heart. -
lentogiovanni5 August 2021Better episode that the others but still I feel there is something missing. And I do not know why the acting is so bad.
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kzwnthc5 August 2021This episode was amazing! It was scary, well-acted and interesting. I'm hopeful for the next episode with Cody Fern!
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dudewholikesthepits27 August 2021Just enough creep factor to make it a good episode. The ending is good as well. I don't want to give too much away, so I'll just say skip the other episodes and watch this one and Feral.
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Like I said, This is just plain dumb. I am religiously devoted to Good Horror/Sci-Fi episodic/Anthologies. And Sturgeons law of 90% being B. S. certainly and to my great sadness, applies to these genres.
I seek out and find the good ones(it's not easy, most aren't worth watching) So i pay attention to positive to negative reviews. Often times I am shocked how right IMDB is. I can almost always guess to a tenth, what the Rating is going to be, after I watch a film and go here to rate it. (Comedies being so subjective that you really can't tell what the public rating will be).
But most times a bad film/show is given a appropriate rating(I'd say 90% of the time).
Sadly AHS fans must be used to mediocre as this was just a avg(Worthless) episode of familiar shoes such as "Master of Horror". And that shoe, with all the pooled talent, could only must 3 good episodes in two season.
This was supposed to be the good One episode of the first season. I'd hate to watch those others. -
cartervanh5 August 2021This episode was really well acted and written. The twist was definitely surprising and the ending was great! Billie Lourd showed off her acting ability in this episode and definitely carried the show. Wish we could've seen more Virginia Gardner and less Ronen Rubinstein. 9/10.
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kyleallencole99 August 2021This episode was excellent, definitely enjoyed it better than the previous one so far.
The twist at the end was unexpected and neat.
I also was completely blown away at how well Billie Lourd carried this episode! Also stars Ronen Rubinstein (911 Lonestar), Virginia Gardner (Halloween) and Vanessa Williams (Candyman) Great writing, acting and directing too!
The plot of the episode has been done in a similar fashion before in movies, but Billie Lourd plays a young married and wealthy woman who turns to a fertility totem in order to get pregnant and shortly after the baby is born, she is haunted by a sinister presence in her home. She researches the totem that is suppose to represent the God of fertility and discovers this God is actually a demon.
This one does a good job at leading you to possibly believe that she is losing her mind after having the baby and developing postpartum depression.
The witchcraft and bloody deaths at the end were a nice touch too.
The haunting atmosphere of this episode made it absolutely perfect!! -
olivertofthoejsorensen9 August 2021This is the only episode so far I have watched due to it's better reviews compared to the other episodes, which to me looked pretty awful from the trailers and the acting. One thing I can say about this episode is that the acting help the review I will give. However the story, pacing and jump scares in this episode does not live up to any of standards from American horror story, which I really hoped for. I get it's only an 1 hour episode, but I really felt like the story was too fast forwarding and felt rushed in a way. Not only the story but also Liv's character development. She went insane way to fast, and took some bizarre choices way to quick (to me). The jump scares were too predictable and they were really unnecessary multiple times in the episode.
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jackrlove316 August 2021The first two episodes were total fan service, but I didn't mind because Murder House is my favorite season so I'm always happy to revisit. The next two episodes were very disappointing.
Ba'al is better than all the predecessors. It's an original idea, and while you may be able to call the twist before it happens, it's still a refreshing departure from what to expect with the show. Billie Lourd is going to become as essential to the AHS franchises as Sarah Paulson and Jessica Lange, she's always good in her roles. -
Jessie_Enchanted6 August 2021Seriously. This is disgusting predictable. Not one original thought in this.
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setgetsiin7 August 2021...no wonder Billie Lourd chose this one to be a part of. (Do you really think it's an accident that "poor Carrie Fisher's daughter" got the best part?_ Come on, people...she's not responsible for the content. They let her have the part because of who her mother is.
That being said, I love Billie Lourd but I don't think she's the be all end all actress that "saved the series." The writing and content (and that opening title sequence ALONE was above and beyond) is what made the episode better.
Which leads me to the creep factor: This one was absolutely creepy, from opening to the statues to the items in that girl's apartment.
It was VERY obvious to me that the blond chick was going to be part of it. Once the creatures began to mutate...I got suspicious. However, giving the benefit of the doubt PLUS knowing how crazy things can get with AHS...I reserved my suspicions. (Then was validated. Yay Me, boo for the show...wouldn't it have been better if it wasn't a set up?) Yes I know it twists yet again, but at that point...? Predictable.
They needed to review legalities regarding inheritances a little better; no person with that kind of money would be allowed (yes, you read that correctly) to just hand it over to the husband in this case. If she kept the money in a separate account--which would have been an advisory long before she inherited it--he'd get nothing, it would skip to the child. I had an ex whose mother thought she (and her son) were going to live on easy street once we got married...and this VERY THING had come up, that I was unwell or unfit, etc., just to get my inheritance. Took them three attorneys (after I divorced him) telling them that they were not 'entitled' to anything that was left to me. I kept everything separate--ESPECIALLY the inheritance which happened during the marriage--and my Wills and Codicils were all in line during the marriage and after regarding our children. They literally hired three attorneys to try and get their hands on my money.
So AHStories needs better consultants IF they are going to run on a budget. This series has fallen short of that, but we'll forgive them, as AHS original will be here in less than 20d.
I hope all the other episodes are as good as this one, no matter what I did or did not like about this one.
Thank you for reading dear family of AHS, if you got this far.
Peace. -
leozeroufo5 August 2021I didnt mind the other episodes as much as some other people did but this was like a cool bigger budget episode of Monsters or Tales From The Crypt. Definitely more what i was expecting from this show.
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sugarmarilyn7 October 2021This episode was much better than the previous "teen" type ones. Felt more like how AHS is supposed to feel.
On a negative note, it was predictable and the jump scares were pointless, the ending had a nice twist though. The script is still terrible. GET NEW WRITERS!!! -
pskachova7 October 2021This episode was one of the few that can have the right to be connected with the sacred AHS franchise. The previous ones - nope.
Also, Billie Lourd saved that, more than any other actor present in this episode. I actually enjoyed very much this episode and was happy that enduring in watchingn this series paid of it´s price. Although I admit that some parts of the plot were pretty predictable, like from the very start. You know what I mean, I don´t want to write spoilers so I will just say - the blonde girl :-) -
I had incredibly low expectations going into this episode considering this spin-off season has been trash so far but this episode/story was a surprise.
First off, Billie Lourd gave a really good performance which made the episode better than what it was. Secondly, this episode was good in the sense that it had fresh twists (some better than others) and turns that you didn't see coming especially the last couple minutes of the episode. The premise of the story was good and interesting and I thought was executed well for the most part.
Of course it had it's cliques. Super cheap jump scares. The way some characters acted as if they knew they were in a horror show instead of acting in a realistic and natural way, even though the twist ending would contradict that flaw. The ratio is totally off when they get bad actors to play these terrible characters and bring back a good actress/actor to either have the lead role or the villain. It turns me off these episodes because Matt Bomer (Rubber Woman) John Carroll Lynch (Drive in) Danny Trejo (the Christmas one) and now Billie Lourd can only do so much. That being said...it was a fine episode and anything else said about it would just be me nitpicking. -
chammouth5 August 2021This episode went beyond my expectations, and Billie's acting skills blow me away every time! The character development throughout this episode blew me up! I'm so proud of her and Ronen Rubinstein. The story's twists came out of NOWHERE, and this episode scared the heck out of me! Overall, amazing episode, THIS is how every episode should leave us fans feeling...terrified yet satisfied!
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bobcobb30129 December 2022Billie Lourd did a solid job in the lead role for this episode, as a wife desperate to have a baby and then faced with some severe consequences upon that birth. I did not fully expect the odd twist of the husband being an actor, but I did expect to see him turn to the other woman.
Having the satanic figure be real in the end was a bit odd, but it seemed to fit the tone we have gotten so far from this series.
Billie was solid here, and overall this felt like a better script than some past episodes. Still, this series appears to just be missing something. Not quite must-see television at this point. -
cristinav-698427 August 2021Every single time, the story feels so rushed and the plot becomes so predictable because of this. There's no atmosphere and no suspense at all. Everything is thrown at you right from the beginning. Here's a cursed object, here's the demon that comes with it as well.
Not even the double twist could save this episode. Because it was all so predictable. -
JoshuaMercott6 August 2021Recurring AHS star Billie Lourd (playing Liv Whitley) features prominently in "American Horror Stories: Ba'al" episode 5. The granddaughter of the late great Carrie Fisher, Billie brought some amazing energy to this episode. Her character's qualms and misgivings around childbirth were well-executed without also sacrificing her humanity. She owned every scene she was in.
Performances were on point all round. From Chad James Buchanan's Rory and Virginia Gardner's Bernadette to Ronen Rubinstein's Matt Webb and Vanessa Williams's (not the singer) Dr. Eleanor Berger.
Along with Ali Adler this time round, it looks like Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy have written another winner.
Sanaa Hamri's direction felt at once cinematic and palpable. Music, though subtle, kept tensions taut.
The storyline for this episode was dark and fraught with ancient paganism. It was fantastic and ushered in 'balance', given the themes of episodes past in the "American Horror Stories" lineup. Even the opening sequence in this episode contained an almost 'fetal fluid' look, with definitely paranormal overtones.
Finally an episode that felt 'fleshed out', with a beautiful 50-minute run that packed all the right pacing and potential leading up to that killer ending. This was, by far, the best decision where anything 'AHS franchise' is concerned. More scene-time!
The entire concept of Ba'al, though not entirely true to the original lore, still served to scare. It was well-crafted, in more ways than one. The incantation sequences were genuinely chilling.
I was sure I'd find more than a few 'convenient' plot-points, but am glad to report that there weren't any. All reasons led back to sources, circumstances, and motives that made valid sense, which further shored up the credibility of the script for episode 5 "American Horror Stories".
That twist near the end... Unforeseeable, though I should've caught on. Good misdirection there.
Ba'al's actual entry was a treat for this horror-fan. Great costume-makeup-prosthetics, good gore, and noteworthy VFX.
Despite the sheer simplicity and cliché of some of the scene-elements, they somehow pulled off an entertaining episode, keeping "American Horror Stories: Ba'al" true to the spirit of 'AHS-style' horror.