10 Unforgivable Mistakes That Ruined Great 2013 TV Shows

9. American Horror Story: Coven Lost Focus

Similarly, American Horror Story: Coven was a step down from previous seasons of Ryan Murphy's anthology series, and it all comes down to ambition. Thanks to the small commitment that comes with an anthology series (as opposed to ongoing series), several phenomenal actors have signed on for American Horror Story each year. Many of them enjoy the experience so much that they return for another season (eg. Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Dennis O'Hare), and this has resulted in a stable cache of talent for the show. However, this does not restrict even more great actors from signing on for a season: this previous season saw the arrival of Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Emma Roberts, and Gabourey Sidibe among others, and the effect this had on the show was a lack of focus, much like the problem with Arrested Development. In order to account for the large cast, Murphy and Falchuk had to create several story lines for several characters that had beginnings, middles, and appropriate endings before the conclusion of the 13-episode run. Because of this, many characters felt inconsequential: O'hare's and Evan Peters's characters went nowhere, and the historic LaLaurie-Laveau rivalry, which started the first scene of the series, wasn't even featured in the finale. Similarly, no prevalent themes emerged other than the cursory idea of female empowerment. Many other themes were dealt with, such as the struggle with mortality or marginalization, but only superficially; and they were lost in the subsequent chaos of the show. And so due to this large cast, not only were the shows characters inconsequential, but the themes and plot lines were not cohesive. The mistake is an easy one to make, however. How could Ryan Murphy refuse the presence of Bates and Bassett nonetheless reject a return from Paulson and O'Hare?