American Gothic: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''I don't actually give; I deal. Are you ready to make a deal?''|'''Sheriff Lucas Buck''' }}

''American Gothic'' was a horror television series, which lasted for 1 season, from September 1995 to July 1996. A unique, outstanding series [[Screwed Byby the Network|never given a chance by its network (CBS, in this case)]], '''''American Gothic''''' was also one of the most chilling and disturbing series ever to air, a stark morality tale with Gary Cole as the [[Devil in Plain Sight|Devil incarnate]] (or a close kin), disguised as Sheriff Lucas Buck of the small town of Trinity, SC. Buck rules over his little kingdom with morbid humor and playfulness, setting up moral pitfalls and dilemmas for the town's inhabitants, and dispensing his own brand of justice or vengeance or just plain meanness--which often involves ruin, insanity, dismemberment, or death.

Opposing Buck is young Caleb Temple (played by Lucas Black), an orphan who [[Dead Person Conversation|talks regularly]] to his [[Spirit Advisor|dead sister Merlyn]] and who has powers of his own--and who may or may not be Buck's son. Buck wants Caleb to follow him; Merlyn wants Caleb to resist; and the rest of Trinity gets caught in the crossfire, so to speak. [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic]]?

The writing, acting, and directing arewere all outstanding, with the cast rounded out by skeptical [[Deadpan Snarker|Dr. Matt Crower]] and [[Cool Big Sis|Caleb's cousin]], [[Plucky Girl|Gail Emory]]. You'll never look at Gary Cole the same way again. Or, for that matter, Shaun Cassidy--yes, the "Hardy Boys" teen heart-throb--who conceived and produced the show, along with Sam Raimi. The effects, though good for their time, aren't always the best, sometimes the plot developments were a little too predictable, and later on in the series there were quite a few [[Out -of -Character Moment|Out Of Character Moments]], but this is most likely due to [[Executive Meddling]] and the show being [[Too Good to Last]], not [[Creator Breakdown|any problems with the writer]].

Not to be confused with Grant Wood's [[American Gothic Couple|famous painting]] or [[Robert Bloch]]'s 1974 novel.

* [[Achilles' Heel]] - Sheriff Lucas Buck's vulnerability is {{spoiler|his third eye--if stabbed there, he could be killed}}.

* [[Anti -Anti -Christ]]

* [[Affably Evil]] - Buck didn't get a sterling reputation in Trinity for nothing.

* [[Back Fromfrom the Dead]] - Averted three times, with three of the principal characters: in the very first episode, Merlyn Temple is murdered by Sheriff Lucas Buck--but we see her as a ghost immediately in the very same episode and she remains around as Caleb's [[Spirit Advisor]] for the rest of the series; {{spoiler|Caleb himself}} later dies after an electrocution accident, but is immediately resuscitated {{spoiler|by Sheriff Buck's powers}}; and in the penultimate episode of the series, {{spoiler|Buck is seemingly killed and buried (after being stabbed in the third eye}}, only to see {{spoiler|[[Eye Awaken|his eyes pop open in the coffin]]}} just before the credits roll.

* [[Badass Longcoat]]: Guess who?

* [[Beauty Equals Goodness]] - The major subplot of the episode "Eye of the Beholder" plays with and then toes the line of this trope from the [[A Day in Thethe Limelight|heroic perspective of a minor character]]. In order to obtain custody of his 'son' Caleb, [[Manipulative Bastard|Sheriff Buck]] tries to discredit Dr. Crower as a potential legal guardian by [[Backstory|revealing his past difficulties with alcohol]]. To attest to this, he needs the aid of an orderly at the hospital who worked with Matt before he came to Trinity. When the orderly refuses, Buck sends his wife a magic mirror which swiftly turns her into a [[Sex Is Evil|tempting]] [[The Vamp|seductress]]. The orderly breaks the mirror... which also horribly disfigures his wife. Freed from the spell, she urges him to refuse Buck's deal and stand by his friend Matt instead, and he professes to [[Aesop|love her no matter what she looks like]]. Despite this and the name of the episode, the orderly inexplicably does Buck's bidding--and even though his testimony is as unbiased as possible, and Buck doesn't get his hands on Caleb due to a delicious [[Bait and Switch]] [[Chekhov's Gun]] from earlier in the episode, the sheriff still keeps his end of the deal by rewarding the orderly, restoring his wife's beauty so they can leave town in peace and good conscience. [[Broken Aesop|Sigh]].

* [[Chickification]] - Sadly, this happened to [[Plucky Girl|Gail Emory]]. At the start of the show, while not exactly an [[Action Girl]], she was certainly a female [[Determinator]] who, as an [[Intrepid Reporter]], was determined to find out the truth of her parents' deaths and bring their murderer to justice. But as soon as she learned her parents were not {{spoiler|[[Broken Pedestal|the paragons of virtue she thought them to be]]}}, her [[Belated Backstory]] was dropped and she seemed to flounder about with nothing to do. By the end of the series, she's morphed almost completely into a [[Distressed Damsel in Distress]], having to rely on Buck himself for protection, and in her last scene is left in a hospital bed, crying piteously over the baby she's lost--even though she didn't want it in the first place, seeing as it was the son of Satan (as depicted graphically via ultrasound--or maybe not). At least some of this may be due to [[Executive Meddling]] in order to pair up the major male and female leads, or a result of the show being [[Screwed Byby the Network]] so that Shaun Cassidy had to wrap everything up far too quickly and nonsensically. But some surely isn't.

* [[Children Are Innocent]] - Played Straight and then disturbingly averted. [[Moral Event Horizon|Buck is proven to be absolutely evil]] by <s>murdering</s> [[Mercy Kill|mercy-killing]] Merlyn in the first episode, and most of the first half to three-quarters of the series is devoted to protecting the innocent Caleb from the sheriff's vile influence. But then, as Caleb [[Start of Darkness|gradually falls deeper and deeper under his father's thrall]], starts taking lessons from him, and even absorbs some of his powers, he becomes more disturbingly amoral, wicked, and heartless. By the end of the series, Caleb is practically a carbon copy of ''[[The Omen]]'' and it is {{spoiler|Buck}} who must actually {{spoiler|save Trinity from ''him''}}. All the more chilling because of how artfully it is done.

* [[Colour Color-Coded for Your Convenience]] - [[Spirit Advisor]]/angel Merlyn is always depicted dressed in white, while Sheriff Lucas Buck (the Devil Incarnate) is quite often dressed in black. [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic]]?

* [[Cut His Heart Out Withwith a Spoon]] - Sheriff Buck's girlfriend falls victim to a mysterious illness and is being treated by the local doctor, one of the few people not intimidated by him.

{{quote| Buck: You better cure her or I'll...<br />

Doctor: Or you'll what?<br />

* [[Deal Withwith the Devil]] - Quite literally. There are far too many of these to list, but one of the earliest and most representative is Carter's deal with Buck in the episode "Damned If You Don't."

* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]] - Buck and Selena are the freakin' masters of this trope.

* [[Good Is Impotent]] - No matter how hard Dr. Crower and Gail fight for Caleb's rights, and no matter how much Merlyn uses her angelic powers to protect him, Caleb is inexorably drawn into Buck's orbit and everyone seems helpless to prevent it, or even expose Buck's evil. It doesn't help that the sheriff is a [[Villain Withwith Good Publicity]] and that both Matt and Gail are hardly immune to mind games or [[Evil Is Sexy|temptation]], but even Merlyn is made out to be decidedly weaker than her adversary--and gaining more power to face him [[Not So Different|almost pushes her too far]].

* [[Hey, ItsIt's That Voice!|Hey it's that tune]]: The first episode opens with a tune many may recognize from Twin Peaks... or something remarkably similar

* [[I Have You Now, My Pretty]] - A disturbing inversion. Not only is there no hero in sight to show up and save [[Plucky Girl|Gail]] from sexual ravishment by [[Magnificent Bastard]] Sheriff Buck -- since Dr. Crower a) is absolutely clueless about what is developing between them b) has his own problems and c) is never even implied to have any interest in Gail other than as a friend -- but Gail ''actually wants it.'' (Because, of course, [[Evil Is Sexy]] and [[Evil Feels Good]].) The fact she is willing, overcome by her desires, and unable to resist Buck, however, does not stop the scene in question from being depraved: it [[Double Entendre|takes place in a garden]] replete with unsettling statuary, and the [[Discretion Shot]] used throughout is downright surreal, with imagery that switched from [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic]] to [[Mind Screw]] territory.

* [[Karma Houdini]] - Unsurprisingly, [[Satan|Sheriff Buck]] is a [[Karma Houdini]] for the entire run of the series. Among the most notable things he gets away with are: killing Merlyn Temple ''in the very first episode'' and blackmailing his failed [[Bastard Understudy]] Ben Healy to keep quiet about it; imprisoning, torturing, and eventually causing the death by neglect of an out-of-town reporter (complete with {{spoiler|removing from his belongings the evidence that might convict Buck of various crimes}}, [[Good Is Impotent|all while Dr. Matt and Gail look on helplessly]]); tormenting Dr. Matt about his alcoholism, nearly getting him expelled at the hospital due to his tragic past, and eventually {{spoiler|setting him up to look like an insane vigilante so he could be locked up in a mental ward}}; manipulating Gage Temple into {{spoiler|killing Gail's parents (from which he escapes only by [[Broken Pedestal|revealing to her how awful her parents really were]]}}); and summoning the spirit of the Boston Strangler to kill Merlyn ([[Idiot Ball|only to have him go after Gail as well]]). He even seems to win at the end of the series. This would be enough to constitute a [[Downer Ending]] and a reason to wash your hands of the show, if not for the suitably vague ending, [[The End - or Is It?|which implies the victory might not be all it seems]], and how deliciously this [[Magnificent Bastard]] pulls most of this off.

* [[Light Is Not Good]] - Merlyn's proactive, [[Badass]] attack on Buck in the church swiftly turns her down the path of the [[Well -Intentioned Extremist]] when she creates a plague to punish the people of Trinity for not stopping or getting rid of the sheriff.

* [[Luke, I Am Your Father]] - Caleb and Sheriff Buck. Unique in that it is revealed ''in the pilot of the series'', and that while Caleb reacts in disgust and anger at the notion, he never has a [[Heroic BSOD]] or otherwise freaks out over the revelation. In fact the more time passes, the less issue he seems to take with it, even {{spoiler|welcoming and embracing the relationship by the end of the series}}. This could be due to being orphaned and having no one else to turn to except an increasingly unstable doctor and a <s>[[Cool Big Sis]]</s> cool cousin [[Evil Is Sexy|who is also being drawn into Buck's orbit]], but [[Demonic Possession|all things]] [[In the Blood|considered]], [[Start of Darkness|probably not]].

* [[Magical Negro]] - Although Mrs. Holt is certainly mysterious, wise, and spiritual enough to be a Magical Negro, the extent of her 'magic spell' to help sway the judge in Caleb's custody hearing is...a nice big bowl of homemade chicken soup. Aside from some hints at African tribalism in her ancestry, a bit of voodoo, and some understanding of how the Afterlife works, she dispenses only common sense advice.

** In one episode her [[Good Is Impotent|ineffectiveness in protecting Caleb from evil]] is [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] when Buck, after being thwarted by her interference, apparently makes her verge on choking to death--presumably he does not kill her because [[Not Worth Killing|she's that small a blip on his radar]] (or such a petty thing would be beneath him). And the advice she gives Caleb regarding Merlyn's spirit being laid to rest is quite sound, namely "don't mess with the dead." Too bad Caleb doesn't listen, and in trying to help her move on instead brings her back...with [[Well -Intentioned Extremist|unfortunate]] [[Light Is Not Good|results]].

* [[Not So Different]] - In "The Plague Sower", [[Well -Intentioned Extremist|having gone too far in her desire for vengeance and justice]], Merlyn uses her [[Light Is Not Good|angelic powers]] to curse Trinity with an almost Biblical plague, only relenting when she is made to see how her either-or mentality and harsh, murderous methods make her no better than Buck.

* [[Not What It Looks Like]] - A particularly horrific subversion of this trope: Sutpen, a convicted killer now released from prison for good behavior, is taken in by Carter as fulfillment of a debt to Buck...after which he begins, quite unsubtly, to [[Dirty Old Man|put the moves on Carter's daughter]]. ([[Does This Remind You of Anything?|The popsicle-suckling scene]] is particularly over-the-top.) After catching Sutpen and his apparently willing daughter practically skinny-dipping together, then giggling and tickling each other under the sheets, Carter forbids them from having any more contact. The very next night, he hears giggling again, grabs his rifle, bursts into his daughter's room, and fires...{{spoiler|only to discover it was his daughter and wife playing together, and he had just killed his wife.}} The fact this is apparently a repeat of history and the reason Sutpen was locked up in the first place, {{spoiler|as it's strongly implied Sutpen accidentally killed the wrong man for sleeping with his wife, when it was ''Carter'' who had done the deed}}, [[Laser -Guided Karma|only puts the icing on the cake]].

* [[Outside Context Villain]]: The ghost of the Boston Strangler suddenly appears with no warning in one episode.

* [[Pineal Weirdness]] - Lucas mentions the supposed importance of the pineal gland/third eye. Yancy then stabs him in the area in an attempt to kill him.

* [[Psychic Dreams for Everyone]] - Starting in the pilot, and continuing on to about the twelfth episode, Gail Emory proves to possess some form of this ability, since she continually relives or witnesses the fire which claimed the lives of her parents, even though she wasn't actually there to see the tragedy the first time. Once Buck [[Manipulative Bastard|has revealed to her the truth about how and why her parents died]] and she realizes they [[Broken Pedestal|weren't as wonderful as she thought they were]], this ability seems to disappear... which [[Evil Is Sexy|considering the trouble]] [[Virginity Makes You Stupid|she gets into later]], is rather unfortunate.

* [[Psychic Powers]] - Although Buck, Caleb, and Merlyn are all shown to have varying examples of such powers (the latter never hinted at in life but [[Our Angels Are Different|justified by her new position]]), in the very first episode, Gail Emory is also implied to have some form of a [[Psychic Link]] with her cousin. After he has vanished from the hospital to answer his sister's summons to their old house, Gail somehow 'feels' a connection to him, even seems to indulge in a bit of Psychometry when she touches the door, and then instantly 'knows' where Caleb has gone. Even the [[Word of God|writers, when speaking in the commentary]], noted that [[Lampshade Hanging|they didn't really know how she did it]], that it was only introduced [[New Powers Asas the Plot Demands|as a way to get all the characters together for the climax]], and the ability is never shown again.

* [[Put Onon a Bus]] ({{spoiler|Dr. Crower}})

* [[Rape Asas Drama]] - Meryln's traumatized state was caused by watching Buck rape her mother.

** In case we didn't already know that Buck was evil.

* [[Screwed Byby the Network]] - The show premiered at 10 PM EST on Friday nights, a fairly good time slot. There was plenty of press, promotions, a lot of hype. The show airs, gets rave reviews from critics and fans alike...and then, for no apparent reason, scheduling issues begin cropping up. Whether the executives in charge at CBS changed and wished to do away with the success of their predecessors (though CBS was transitioning from the disastrous cheapskate Tisch era of the network to Westinghouse ownership; the final year Tisch era had left a Fox lite schedule with post-NFL transition disasters such as an Andrew Dice Clay sitcom and ''Central Park West'' with the new owners), didn't understand how good a thing they had, or didn't understand the show at all, all sorts of problems began plaguing the show. It would be preempted; there would be no episode shown, something else randomly stuck on in its place with no explanation; there would be gaps of several weeks in between new episodes, sometimes filled by reruns but usually not; episodes were shown out of order, or never aired at all. Then, without warning, the show was completely yanked from the line-up and vanished for many months. Granted, the show was unusual, not for everyone, and very different from most of CBS's usual fare, but with so many praising it for its daring and disturbing nature, you'd think they'd have gotten a clue. It was certainly [[Too Good to Last]]. Luckily the creators knew long enough ahead of time that the plug was being pulled, and managed to wrap up the main plot points ([[Cut Short|well]], sort of...). But even these final episodes were withheld for a long time, then suddenly plunked on TV one right after another as a three-hour movie 'event'.

* [[Seeking Sanctuary]] - Subverted with a vengeance in the episode "Inhumanitas," Caleb believes he will be safe from Buck's evil influence by taking shelter in the church, but the sheriff not only has no issues whatsoever stepping into the sanctuary and relentlessly pursuing his attempts to corrupt the boy, but he is even able to {{spoiler|exert [[Demonic Possession]] on him}}, proving [[Good Is Impotent|how little the forces of holiness can touch him]]...until Merlyn [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|lays a delicious smackdown on him]]. Of course, the fact that the parish priest had [[Deal Withwith the Devil|sold his soul]] and was attempting to break free of the deal may have had something to do with why Buck was first untouchable, then vulnerable.

* [[Sex Is Evil]] -This would seem to be the overall 'moral' being raised, unsurprising for a show where the [[Big Bad]] is essentially [[Satan]], known for using lust as his primary weapon. Not only does Selena spread her legs at the drop of a hat for Buck (or to corrupt Ben, or Dr. Peele, or...), but Buck himself seduces Gail into a cringing [[Distressed Damsel in Distress]], it was his rape of Mrs. Temple [[In the Blood|that started everything]], and even Merlyn's [[I Just Want to Be Normal|desire for a normal life]] (complete with a love interest) almost costs an innocent baby its life and leads her to suicide and a return as an [[Well -Intentioned Extremist|avenging angel]]. Oh, and when Buck corrupts the wife of a hospital orderly with a magic mirror, what's the first thing she does? [[The Vamp|Turn on the seductive charm]].

* [[Town Withwith a Dark Secret]] - Subversion: Trinity, SC, is a town whose dark secret is that its sheriff is the Devil Incarnate. But no one knows this fact at all (except [[Spirit Advisor|Merlyn]], it seems), while only the few who run afoul of Buck's wrath, dare to cross him, or refuse to obey him ever even discover what a [[Magnificent Bastard]] he truly is. On the other hand, there are quite a lot of people in town keeping their own secrets: Dr. Crower, Gail, the coroner, the priest, Ben, Selena...

* [[Villain Withwith Good Publicity]] - Sheriff Lucas Buck. Men tip their hats and women hand him flowers, little old men and women thank him for the charity work that has enabled them to afford their medicines, children smile and wave, and so on. No one in Trinity could possibly believe good ol' boy Buck could have a mean bone in his body.

* [[Virginity Makes You Stupid]] - Disappointingly inverted: while this trope might be upsetting to feminists or anyone who believes in equality, the character arc Gail suffers from is just as misogynistic. At the start of the show, she is an [[Action Girl]], an [[Intrepid Reporter]], a [[Determinator]], a [[Mama Bear]], and a [[Cool Big Sis]]. But because she's [[Forbidden Fruit]], Sheriff Buck [[I Have You Now, My Pretty|pursues her relentlessly]]. And the minute he succeeds in bedding her, all of her previous characterization goes out the window and she becomes weak, ineffectual, dumb, and clueless--a real [[Distressed Damsel in Distress]]. Yes, ''having sex makes you stupid''.

* [[Well -Intentioned Extremist]] - After she {{spoiler|kills her new body to save the soul of a baby}} and is sent briefly to Hell, Caleb resurrects the spirit of his sister Merlyn. Apparently this brush with darkness changed her usually angelic personality into one that was vengeful, ruthless, and downright disturbing. Completely aside from the horror (or [[Narm]]) when she {{spoiler|briefly speaks with a deep, demonic voice}}, she declares war on Buck right in the middle of a church (a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] for a character who rarely gets any). And when Buck {{spoiler|possesses Caleb and dares her to kill her own brother}}, she goes completely too far, [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|deciding that since everyone in the town is either aiding Buck or looking the other way, they are all evil too]]...{{spoiler|so she sends a plague to slaughter the town}}. And all of this while [[Colour Color-Coded for Your Convenience|still wearing white]]!

** Dr. Crower ends up becoming one of these in "Doctor Death Takes a Holiday", and this is the ostensible justification for Buck [[Put Onon a Bus|sending him out of town to the loony bin]]. On the one hand, [[Room Full of Crazy|plastering the walls of your room with newspaper clippings, death threats, photos, and a big red gun-sight target]] would definitely suggest someone is a danger to himself and others. On the other hand, considering Buck is the Devil Incarnate, being an extremist, well-intentioned or not, [[I Did What I Had to Do|may be the only way]] ''[[I Did What I Had to Do|to]]'' [[I Did What I Had to Do|get rid of him]]. Which, [[Gambit Roulette|since the whole thing was orchestrated by Buck anyway]] to get rid of who he thought was his biggest obstacle to claiming Caleb, really underscores how in Trinity, [[Good Is Impotent]].

* [[Your Princess Is in Another Castle]] - Happened on quite a number of occasions. The two most memorable would have to be "Resurrector", when after a morality tale of a radio talk-show host, his {{spoiler|seemingly}} murdered wife, and Buck in one of his most despicable acts of [[Magnificent Bastard|Magnificent Bastardry]], the interspersed attempts of Caleb to bring Merlyn's spirit back to him results in {{spoiler|[[Well -Intentioned Extremist|decidedly mixed]] [[Light Is Not Good|results]]}}; and "The Buck Stops Here", where after the sheriff is killed and Caleb {{spoiler|becomes a regular little Damien, nearly killing Gail and bringing the whole town, even Selena, under his thrall}}, we are treated to the last shot of {{spoiler|[[Eye Awaken|Buck's eyes opening in his grave]]}}.

[[Category:HorrorSupernatural LiteratureFiction]]

[[Category:AmericanTV GothicSeries]]

[[Category:TropeLive-Action TV of the 1990s]]