Now my thoughts are clearer.
The things that I like the most about this new series (for now) is that it heavily hints, both with the style and the plot, to the first season Murder House. The stripped down ambient, the tension, the dark atmosphere, the suspance rather than the gore, but also the couple that just lost a baby, the hunted house, the targeted wife... It could have been boring but I found that the mockumentary approach makes this similarities more interesting and lays the ground for eventual insights on season 1.
The Roanoke story that is recounted by Sarah Paulson/Billie Dean Howard in the 11th episode of Murder House gives us the incipit of all:
"It’s difficult to banish a spirit, but not impossible. The most successful attempt I know of happened when America was known as the new world.
In 1590, on the coast of what we now know as North Carolina, the entire colony of Roanoke—all 117 men, women, and children—died inexplicably. It became known as the ghost colony because the spirits remained. They haunted the native tribes living in the surrounding areas. Killing indiscriminately.
The elder knew he had to act. He cast a banishment curse. First he collected the personal belongings of all the dead colonists. Then they burned them. The ghosts appeared, summoned by their talismans. But before the spirits could cause them any more harm, the elder completed the curse that would banish the ghosts forever.
By uttering a single word. The same word found carved on a post at the abandoned colony. “Croatoan.”"
And also the pigheaded man we see made me think of "Piggy Man" from the the 6th episode of Murder House.
While the acting is superb like always, one of the few nitpicks that I have is the fact that the main couple isn't very interesting for now, but I particularly loved Angela Bassett, her character for now is the most well-rounded. However I appreciated that Sarah Paulson's character ran away, it's the first time in this series that a character doesn't do what is most expected to an horror movie character.
I also like Kathy Bates, this kind of evil, ominous character suits her better than those previously given to her, but I need to see more of her to know.
The closing scene was a bit strange to me, even if not necessarily in a bad way, but it reminded me of some 80s horror movie, maybe The Evil Dead or something by David Cronenberg.
As always, I miss Jessica Lange but in this series there isn't really a role for her, at least for now. If Ryan Murphy had set up the fifth season like this one, we wouldn't have lamented her departure so much.
I also miss a little the glorious theme titles but with this mockumentary style it works better without.
Now the things I ask myself: with this set-up it may look sure that the narrating protagonists are alive, but what if they are not? What if we discover, much like the first season again, that they are in fact tangible ghosts like those in the Murder House that are telling their stories?
And the redneck that wanted to buy the house and said that it was underpriced because of "hurricanes" knew more than they let it show and wanted to buy it for sinister reasons?
And about the promo for the next episode, I think I may have seen a glimpse of a dirty, frenzied Lady Gaga next to Kathy Bates during the ritual fragment:
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