[neverending]

What most impressed me about the first episode was the sense of time and place. The production staff has done a marvelous job of recreating the past. It's set a mere four years before I was born, but every detail seems spot on - the look of buildings that were made to last, the clothing styles, and everything else.

Kathy Bates is already my favorite character. Her accent did throw me off, because it didn't come out till she was on stage, but I think they might be hinting at further developments to her character. There seems to be some ambiguity about the sexuality of her character and I hope they explore that further.

Jessica Lange is channeling Greta Garbo, plain and simple. I half expected to hear her say "I vant to be alone..." at some point. The double character is a great mystery to keep us all interested. Like others, even though I really loved the musical number, it did bother me that it was a David Bowie. It broke the illusion of the past they had so painstakingly built up- but I guess throwing those twists in is what this show is all about.

There was also some overly obvious writing that bothered me- the scene between Bates and Lange toward the end explained far too much about Lange's character. It didn't need to be said so blatantly.

I give it a 90 out of 100.