Alice Rush reviews the eleventh episode of American Horror Story: Coven…
With the end of the season in sight, this week’s episode of American Horror Story: Coven sees things starting to get a little more bloody, along with a few familiar faces reappearing (what’s new?). The witches still face the threat of witch hunters but with their numbers dropping after Misty’s entrapment and Nan’s murder it seems like the uniting power between them is fading.
It is during the funeral held for Nan at the beginning of the episode entitled ‘Protect the Coven’ that we see two old faces again, as Queenie arrives with Madame LaLaurie in tow, head firmly fixed on her body. The surprise of both of them being alive seems lost on the rest of the witches and Kyle, who actually makes an appearance this episode, though it was great to see Kathy Bates back as Delphine and she certainly makes up for her absence.
As she is accepted back as the maid to the academy, and through a flashback sequence to 1830 where we see her kill her first black slave, LaLaurie’s character is developed more as she admits to having felt lonely and displaced as a child and is now doomed to suffer for eternity. The audience almost feels sympathy towards her as she is tormented by Marie and bossed around by the other witches. However, any feelings of sadness for her predicament are robustly thrown out of the door as we see her back to her old sadistic ways and viciously mutilating the Academy’s gardener. She is caught in the act by Spaulding’s spirit who hatches a plan with her to kill Marie or so it seems, as he dupes her into thinking antihistamines are a powerful magic that will make her mortal.
The way the show plays around with the ideas of good and evil is very interesting, as no character is solely good or bad, thus allowing for certain degrees of empathy and revulsion at the same time. This ambiguous dichotomy is developed further as the dream team of Marie and Fiona, fresh from killing Nan last week, plan to rid themselves of the witch hunting Delphi Corporation. Enlisting Fiona’s axe-wielding, saxophone-playing boyfriend as help, they meet with the company under the pretence of starting a truce; however murder seen becomes the main agenda as the company members are slaughtered in a terrifically bloody mess. It seems Fiona and Marie are ruthless in their insistence on keeping the Coven safe, but there are questions are to whether their reckless actions will help or hinder their cause.
Back at the Academy, Cordelia exhibits a touching but gory moment of self-sacrifice as she gouges her eyes out in an attempt to get back her lost Second Sight. Sensing that tensions will run high after Delia’s old ability to read peoples thoughts and actions returns, Myrtle sends Zoe and Kyle away from the coven in order to protect them. With the jealous and powerful Madison also threatening the young lovers’ safety, the two take up Myrtle’s offer and flee the coven to an uncertain future. Though it would be nice to see some characters survive the inevitable, if the series is anything to go by they won’t be gone from danger for long. Marie’s fate is also questioned towards the end of the episode, as she is knocked unconscious by Spaulding who tells Delphine to bury her deep so she cannot fight her way out.
The end is increasingly nigh for this series, and this episode definitely felt like it was moving towards some conclusion, that conclusion being an internal fight between the witches. Whilst I am enjoying the quickened pace and the characters more ruthless actions as they must fight to survive, the tension and drama seems to be lacking ever so slightly and the emphasis on the gore seems to be taking centre place. However, the scene is definitely set for a deadly showdown between the coven, I just hope it redeems the lack of intensity that has characterised the rest of this season.
Alice Rush
Originally published January 16, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
