Alice Rush reviews the third episode of American Horror Story: Coven…
As I stated in last week’s review I’m waiting and hoping for this run of American Horror Story to start echoing the drama and conflict of the previous seasons. Whilst the setting, characters and storyline is all there it just feels to be lacking the immediate sense of danger and, well, horror. I’m not saying I want to be scared for the sake of it, but the power of American Horror Story has always lied in its ability to produce fantastically beautiful but also frighteningly unnerving television, and Coven just seems to be falling short of this mark.
This week’s episode ‘The Replacements’ did dial up the pace of the show quite a bit, starting with pushing Fiona’s search for youth to breaking point. In a flashback scene to 1971, we see a young Fiona discovering her powers and murdering her Supreme mentor Anna Lee. Further flashbacks narrated retrospectively by the aged Fiona reveal her fiery youth and lust for power from a young age, which adds to the sense of tragedy surrounding the now old and dying Supreme we see in present day. Juxtaposed against her is Madison, who Fiona suspects to be the next Supreme. Bringing in a mentor/student relationship added a nice dynamic to the show, as previously characters had felt too disparate, but seeing Fiona and Madison tearing up bars and practicing their spells together gave a sense of comradeship among the warring witches. This however ended up being short lived as Fiona repeated the past and slit Madison’s throat to ensure she did not take Fiona’s place. However, if the past few episodes are any kind of precursor I doubt she’ll be staying in the ground for long.
Speaking of the dead being brought back to life, reanimated Kyle is given much more screen time this week, with Zoe taking from away from Misty’s shack and bringing him back to his mother. This turns out to not be the greatest of plans, as it is then revealed that Kyle’s mother has been sexually molesting him. Watching these scenes unfold before us proves to be uncomfortable and frustrating viewing, with Kyle unable to coordinate his new body to stop her, until he explodes in a fit of rage and beats his mother to death. There are hints throughout this episode, including this storyline, of a real chance for danger and conflict within the series, but so far it seems that this immediate drama is always short lived, given over instead for a more fragmented narrative style. This proves to be even more frustrating for the viewer, as we are given only wisps and droplets of any real kind of spectacle, instead having to settle for the promise of danger to come.
Another narrative strand that seems to be going nowhere is the case of LaLaurie, who Fiona makes rather comically into the new house maid, a position which she does not take kindly too, especially when she is made Queenie’s personal slave. The episode then takes a turn for the creepy, as Marie Laveaux’s minotaur tracks down LaLaurie, but is instead led away by Queenie who begins to pour her heart out to the beast, sexually touching herself in the process until he viciously grabs her from behind. This sense of creepiness mixed with the threat of impending danger is much more what we’ve grown to expect from American Horror Story, it was just a shame it was so short lived.
Delia’s side story of trying for a baby also reached a new level this week as she approached Laveaux with the hopes of using her voodoo magic to conceive. We were then treated to a delicious and rich scene of voodoo ritual which actually was shown not to have happened, as Laveaux denied Delia’s request based on her witch status. The tension between the witches and the voodoo priestesses is bubbling away nicely and will hopefully physically surface soon.
Though it still feels rather slow at the moment, I think there was enough in ‘The Replacements’ to keep people tuning in for the next few weeks. The promise of more drama to come between the witches and the priestesses, as well as the sudden death of Madison and the reanimation of Kyle is definitely providing enough drama, for now. Hopefully the sense of impending danger and urgency that characterised the first two seasons will arrive soon for Coven.
Alice Rush
Originally published October 24, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
