The newest brainchild of producer Ryan Murphy, “Grotesquerie,” premiered on FX on Sept. 25. Similar to one of his most popular shows, “American Horror Story,” the new series delves into gruesome and dramatic themes, with all of the signature darkness and exploration of taboos typical of a Murphy production. However, Murphy is quick to establish that “Grotesquerie” ventures into new territory and should not be tied to his previous work.
“It’s a much different animal,” said Murphy in an interview with Deadline. “I think the thing that does overlap is my interest in my tone and my casting and the world building and all that stuff.”
The show’s release schedule is unconventional, with two episodes released through FX every Wednesday — one at 10 p.m. and the next at 11 p.m. The only solo-airing episodes are episodes seven and 10.
For the past four weeks, audiences have tuned in every Wednesday night to follow gunslinging detective Lois Tryon (Niecy Nash) as she unravels the mystery behind the gruesome murders in her town — murders that are rife with perversions of religious symbolism and seem to convey messages from the killer that personally taunt her. At her side is Sister Megan Duval (Micaela Diamond), a worldly reporter nun with a flair for out-of-the-box theorization.
At a surface level, the cat-and-mouse mystery aspect of the show is reminiscent of other thriller TV series like “Hannibal (2013)” and “Killing Eve.” All three series feature killers with a penchant for the ostentatious. However, while the former two shows function as character studies of the odd intimacy, desire and all-consuming nature of the relationship and game of wits played between the hunter and hunted, “Grotesquerie” takes a different direction. In fact, the most popular “romance” on the show is between Duval and the oddly secular priest, played by Nicholas Chavez. The forbidden-by-vows-of-clerical-celibacy aspect of their trysts is reminiscent of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s “Fleabag.”
However, nothing is truly as it seems. This rings especially true in recent episodes, where the already floating narrative begins to unravel. For the past few episodes, audiences have been confused by off-putting dreamlike sequences and the inclusion of randomly liminal characters like Ed Lachlan, played by Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Whenever the show — haunted by a feeling of something-is-off-but-you-can’t-quite-put-your-finger-on-it — starts to make sense, new twists are hurled at the audience at breakneck speed.
The incoherence of the narrative, combined with the eccentricity of the characters, had the potential to offset the depth of the show, but scenes remain remarkably human. For instance, Tryon’s family is complicated, with each member grappling with their own vice, whether it be alcohol, adultery or food. Their love for each other is put to the test with each hurl of verbal venom across the dinner table. Tryon herself is very multifaceted: cruel yet caring, drunk yet diligent. While the show navigates these themes of familial love, it also explores humanity’s fascination with fear and the grotesque, alongside a desire for the divine.
“I have never really done anything like this before,” Murphy said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “I haven’t ever written a season of television just on my own or for fun, just to do it, right? So I was interested in writing about something that I was feeling, which is this sort of existential crisis of: Is this all happening? Why do I feel every day that I’m in sort of a nightmare we can’t wake up from? And even more than that, as you’ll see, that love is really the only thing that gets us through.”
The final episode of “Grotesquerie” will air on Oct. 30, a day before Halloween. Until then, audiences are promised more killer twists and joyrides through dreamy hellscapes.
Tessa Kang is an Arts & Entertainment intern for the fall 2024 quarter. She can be reached at tokang@uci.edu.
Edited by June Min and Bianca Marroquin.