First Impressions: American Gothic

Premise: The members of a powerful family discover they might have a connection to a serial killer cold-case from 14 years ago.

Verdict: Interesting summer show

I am not entirely sure why, perhaps because of the title, but I was expecting this show to be very very dark. And yes, it has some darkness to it  [it’s about a serial killer after all], but there is also a lot of humour and a slightly surreal/melodramatic tone. I would have loved a dark, gritty show; but I don’t mind this lighter version.

American Gothic tells the story of a wealthy extended family. You have all the rich people archetypes: Recovering drug addict, politician with the picture-perfect family [“a living Norman Rockwell”], nice sister, possible psychopath, prodigal son. By chance, the members of this family discover a box full of silver bells, the memento of choice of a serial killer who was never caught (nicknamed the “Silver Bell Killer”). Could there be a murderer in their own house? If so… who is it? The model father? Or the rebel brother, who conspicuously disappeared around the same time the murders stopped?

This crime show didn’t impress me as much as others from the same genre like Broadchurch, The Killing or Fargo; nevertheless,I found the first episode enjoyable and intriguing enough [and much funnier than I was expecting]. I am going to go ahead and conclude that this show is not a “whodunit”, rather an exploration of the consequences of a crime [unless my assumption of who the killer is is wrong].

Should You Watch it? Yes, if nothing else you get to see a post-Banshee Anthony Starr [inspired casting] and pretend that he is Lucas Hood real identity [I know I am].

Fun trivia I discovered in a podcast: The episodes are all named after paintings [just like the show]