For better or worse, there is no new season of American horror story this spooky season. But don’t think that’s because Ryan Murphy is out of ideas. Not at all. In addition to the second season of his true crime series Monster on Netflix and the upcoming fourth season of the micro-anthology American horror storiesMurphy has a new FX show. Called grotesqueis about a troubled detective investigating a series of disturbing murders, with each crime scene heavily staged and filled with increasing religious symbolism – so it’s basically Ryan Murphy’s take on David Fincher Seven.

Based on the first two episodes mostly Work. Sure, there are some embarrassing dialogues and a lot more Hmmm Storylines that, in typical Ryan Murphy fashion, are just thrown at the wall for fun and not really handled properly. But damned if the setup and characters aren’t fascinating. If there’s one thing Murphy does really well, it’s hooking you in just a few episodes.

(Ed. note: This post contains some spoilers for the first two episodes of Grotesque.)

grotesque The film begins with a hard-boiled detective named Lois (played by Niecy Nash) being called to a crime scene. And frankly, it’s not exactly promising when she and an official have this gem of a dialogue exchange:

“If this isn’t a hate crime, I don’t know what is,” the police officer says, all steely.
“Hate against what?” asks Lois.
“Everything.”

It’s over the top and over dramatic, but you know what? If the crime in question is feeding a dead man to his family and causing them to literally die of shock, maybe that makes sense. It immediately roots us in the genre: this is an exaggerated and overdramatic type of show, and the murders can be completely unrealistic (in a hugely entertaining way).

Lois has all the hallmarks of a troubled detective: she’s an alcoholic, her husband is in a coma (and her marriage was rocky before), and there’s obviously some tension between her and her daughter. It’s a standard archetype, but because she’s not a middle-aged white man, it’s already more compelling than watching the same kind of character juggle his raging alcoholism and sad dead wife over and over again. We don’t get to see such dysfunctional female characters often! But one thing remains true: she can’t quite solve this murder or put the pieces together, and even though it hurts her ego, she seeks the help of an unlikely partner.

Enter Sister Megan (Micaela Diamond), a nun who is also an investigative reporter and has a morbid fascination with true crime. There’s absolutely more going on with her – from her flirtatious banter with the new hot (and possibly sadomasochistic?) priest to her encyclopedic recall of the most disturbing Bible passages. And Diamond just nails the role of someone who is so wide-eyed and seemingly innocent, but is much more in tune with the macabre and darker side of human nature than her outward appearance suggests.

The first shocking murder scene is just the beginning. There are several more in the first two episodes, and each time Sister Megan notices a reference to some kind of Christian symbolism. That, coupled with the numerous references to the archetypal Seven Deadly Sins in Lois’ life (her husband’s extramarital affairs indicate lust, and the constant fixation on her daughter’s eating habits and her own alcoholism indicate gluttony), basically screams Scream Sevenwith all the promise that this case is getting much, much closer to reality than Lois is prepared for.

The funny thing is that Ryan Murphy tried that before in the fifth season of American horror story, subtitled hotel. This season was so full of extra schlock – ghosts, vampires, demons, oh my! – that it’s incredibly easy to forget that the central plot involved a detective solving the case of the Ten Commandments Killer (who, as the name suggests, brutally killed victims who violated the Ten Commandments). But AHS: Hotel was honestly a mess, and if there’s one thing Ryan Murphy likes to do, it’s try something he’s done before again (e.g. like the first few episodes of American horror stories was basically Murder House: The Redux).

grotesque gives him the chance to do this biblically inspired murder plot again. And by keeping the focus firmly on the crimes, he might be able to pull it off. Finally, the mystery is intriguing; The crime scenes are so overly elaborate and disturbing that I can’t look away; and as someone who influenced Dan Brown Angels and demons Even at a stupidly young age, religious orientation is incredibly compelling.

If there is one thing that I have taken to heart as a human being American horror story Fan, although the setup is almost always good, Murphy rarely manages to stick the landing. But man, I consider myself completely hooked grotesque currently. Let’s see where this fishing line will pull me.

New episodes of grotesque Premieres on FX Wednesday at 10:00 p.m. EDT and the next day on Hulu.