Alice Rush reviews the tenth episode of American Horror Story: Coven….
After its near month break Coven is back on our screen once again. The prior episode left many questions hanging, the most pertinent being what will Marie Laveau do now her entire tribe is wiped out? Well this week’s episode titled ‘The Magical Delights of Stevie Nicks’ (yes, we’ll get to that long awaited cameo later) picked straight up where it had been left off.
With her tribe all but depleted by Hank, Marie arrived at the Academy in search of help from Fiona, an uneasy truce to say the least. Whilst it seems each witch may have ulterior motives at play, the uniting force of protecting the sisterhood of witches is strong enough to overcome their differences, for now, and they hastily get to work. Cordelia discovers who Hank’s real father is, as well as his multi-billion dollar company though she is soon shunned by Fiona who considers her incompetent for bringing Hank into the coven in the first place. Marie and Fiona get to work destroying the Delphi Trust, using their combined power to halt all trade within the company and hitting them where it hurts: their money. Seeing the head witches act together rather than against each other is certainly a treat, not the least because of the power house performances from Basset and Lange. It’s also refreshing that in this latter part of the season the witches are banding together, as it is through their unification that their real power shines through.
However, this being American Horror Story, nothing good can last. Tensions are riding high within the Academy as the hunt for the next Supreme is still on. Hoping to out who it is, Fiona sets up a meeting that has been begging to happen since we first met Misty Day, and she drafts in an old friend in the form of veteran rock star Stevie Nicks. It’s the moment both the audience and the writers have been waiting for, arguably more so than Misty herself, and it’s a fantastic cameo played beautifully by Nicks who accompanies her part with haunting renditions of ‘Rhiannon’ and ‘Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You?’. Her part also serves another purpose as Fiona wants to test the girls to see whose power will come forth next. In steps Madison, jealous of Misty and adamant that she is just as powerful. In true Coven style she proves this by taking Misty to a funeral service and raising a man from the dead, before bashing Misty over the head with a brick and sealing her in the now free coffin. It’s brutal, it’s dark, it’s utter betrayal and it’s totally brilliant.
Speaking of betrayal, this episode is laced with it as we learn the secrets of Marie’s immortality. She explains to Fiona that when she nearly died in childbirth she summoned the Haitian voodoo spirit Papa Legba to ensure her and her child survived. Her prayers were answered but his terms were to have an innocent soul sacrificed to him each year, starting with her new born baby. This tale of horror doesn’t stop Fiona however, who summons him herself, desperate for a new lease of life. However no deal is signed as Legba informs her she does not have a soul to give him. Though Fiona’s actions throughout the series have been shocking, her sense of vulnerability and humanity has never been far away, however now reliably informed she is soulless she comes to the conclusion that nothing is standing in her way of wiping out her competition.
And competition in this sense presents itself in the form of Nan, who upon finding out that not only is Luke dead, but that his mother killed him and cremated him explodes in a fit of anger and possess her mind, forcing her to kill herself by drinking bleach. It’s great to see her change as a character as she had previously been quite two dimensional throughout the earlier episodes, however this pleasure is short lived. She finds the new born baby Marie intends to sacrifice to Papa Legba and Fiona decides to take advantage of this opportunity. Her and Marie drown Nan and offer her to Legba instead of the infant, who accepts though not before expressing surprise at this evil union.
The whole episode is decidedly dark and evil, seeing characters being pushed to their extremes. The haunting accompaniment of Nicks voice perfectly mirrored the haunting scenes that were depicted, and whilst there are still questions to be answered (is Queenie really dead? Will Nan return? How will Delphi act back against the witches?) it feels great to have Coven back on our screens.
Alice Rush
Originally published January 10, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
