How American Horror Story Ruined Murder House's Ending
American Horror Story is well known for its questionable and controversial storylines, yet its biggest sin is how it ruined Murder House's ending. Fans saw something of this nature on the horizon when it was revealed that season 8, Apocalypse, would revisit the titular Murder House, the primary setting of the FX anthology's debut season. While some favor Murder House's revised ending, others detest and rightfully reject it as part of the American Horror Story canon.
American Horror Story season 1 saw Vivien Harmon take up residence in the historical LA home, which doubles as a forsaken Hellmouth for unfortunate souls, with her unfaithful husband, Ben, and their emotionally unstable teenage daughter, Violet, who fell in love with the charming ghost of school shooter, Tate Langdon. Realizing that Tate was a bad person, owing to the fact that he also raped her mother (unknowingly impregnating Vivien with the Antichrist), Violet banished Tate from her presence, drawing a close to their forbidden, gothic romance. As expected, all three Harmons faced their own tragic demise by the end of the 12-episode run before they too became ghosts. Seven seasons later, American Horror Story: Apocalypse (connected to previous seasons) picked up where season 1 left off when the Coven witches came to call with questions about Michael Langdon, the aforementioned Antichrist birthed by Vivien. Although the Apocalypse finale reversed time (meaning that these events are ultimately erased), season 8, episode 6, "Return To Murder House," nevertheless saw the controversial reconciliation of Tate and Violet. The arrival of the witches also ushered in closure for other characters from Murder House.
Apocalypse's revised Murder House ending did not hold up. On the contrary, "Return To Murder House" totally butchered everything that the debut season set out to be: a self-contained tragedy that American Horror Story showrunner Ryan Murphy implied would never be revisited, or so audiences were led to believe. But when, for instance, the witches subsequently released the ghost of Moira O'Hara, the tragedy of the character's storyline in Murder House was effortlessly undermined. Moira being unable to leave the Murder House in season 1 to be with her mother in the afterlife was sad, but it was also powerful storytelling. Similarly, Violet's bold and brave decision to cast Tate out of her afterlife in Murder House was rendered meaningless when Coven character Madison Montgomery later used her powers to coerce the couple into reuniting. Thus, the poetic character arcs and conclusions established in Murder House were tarnished for the sake of retreating old ground for nostalgia's sake.
Some argue that because these events were undone via time travel in the Apocalypse (which also revived Coven characters) finale, "Return To Murder House," should be enjoyed as a fun experiment that ultimately held no consequence. While this claim was reasonable, the Apocalypse version of reality was still an in-universe reality at one point. The prospect of writers toying with past seasons for the sake of experimentation was arguably just as insulting to dedicated fans. Even to this day, the Murder House is still being revisited in American Horror Stories. These constant revisitations are destroying the legitimacy of Murder House's ending and fans may now even be less inclined to rewatch the first season of American Horror Story with the knowledge of what lies ahead in Apocalypse and Stories (which is returning for a season 2).
While revisiting past storylines and characters would be welcome on any other show, it's less acceptable on American Horror Story, which established itself early on as an anthology series. Revisiting closed chapters of the franchise can consequently destroy the legitimacy and poignancy of the chapters in question, as was the case with Murder House following Apocalypse and American Horror Stories. Ryan Murphy would therefore be wise to let the Murder House rest if he wishes to maintain the scraps of integrity that the original season still has left.