Five minutes into Ryan Murphy's Grotesquerie, I already feel a sense of impending doom. After Lois Tryon (Niecy Nash-Betts), a seasoned detective, is jolted awake from a nightmare, she heads off to a crime scene that makes her other cases look like child's play. (Think headless corpses and cooked body parts.)
All the gore and gruesome imagery are enough to make me wince—so much so that I'm tempted to stop watching. (Fun fact: I am a wimp when it comes to disturbing, bone-chilling content.) But at the same time, Nash-Betts has totally captured my attention, and my morbid curiosity isn't even close to satisfied. I need to know what could possibly drive someone to commit such a heinous crime. And better yet, how Detective Lois will handle this case.
For those who haven't seen it, the FX series revolves around Lois, who takes on an unsettling new case where the crimes feel personal. On top of that, her husband's comatose state and her strained relationship with her daughter take a huge mental and emotional toll. Fortunately, an unconventional nun offers to help her get to the bottom of the case.
The overall tone of this series is quite dark, and I suspect it will appeal to fans of American Horror Story—although it's arguably even more terrifying than the series. Still, as someone who typically steers clear of gory horror, I actually made it through the first episode in one piece...while covering my eyes a few times. (Seriously though, the crime scenes are a lot.) As for what kept me watching? The suspense and, of course, Nash-Betts's stellar performance.
