Now that season 3 has come to an end, I can finally give my spoiler filled opinion on everything that has happened on American Horror Story: Coven. I will admit that seeing the episodes in advance on Tuesday nights was fun but also very difficult. There were times when I had no one to watch them with so I was stuck, unable to discuss the craziness with anyone until Thursday mornings when everyone had already watched.
Now, I have all of you to discuss with!
You should know that the finale of Coven was the most watched finale of any season of American Horror Story with 5.8 million viewers, making it the supreme season. See what I did there?
I suppose that, if you haven’t finished the season or watched any of it at all, now is the time to stop reading as I am about to ramble on and ruin it all.
The Good: The casting was fantastic! I was very happy to see so many familiar faces from other seasons of American Horror Story. Taissa Farmiga, Lily Rabe, Sarah Paulson, Frances Conroy, Jamie Brewer, Denis O’Hare, Evan Peters and, of course, Jessica Lange all returned for another season. There was even an appearance by Alexandra Breckenridge, whom you might remember as the hot maid in season one. Where was she, you ask? She was the witch Hank (Josh Hamilton) slept with and then shot in the head in that hotel room.
Then we have the excellent new additions of Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett.
Bates was, hands down, my favorite part of the show. I expected The Trinity Killer from Dexter when I heard she was going to be on the show as a serial killer. I mean, we all saw Misery, right? Instead, they made her this absolutely hysterical racist psychopath that we hate to love. The scene where she starts sobbing over Obama being president had us in tears, we were laughing so hard.
Angela Bassett was the perfect Marie Laveau. I thought long and hard about whom they could have cast to play that character better and, short of Pam Grier back in Jackie Brown days, I don’t think anyone could.
Now, I wasn’t happy at the announcement of Emma Roberts joining the cast. I am a huge fan of the Scream franchise and I thought she was awful in the fourth installment. That being said, I was pleased with her portrayal of Madison Montgomery. For me, she was an excellent source of comic relief as the shallow bitch with no obvious sign of conscience.
The Bad: For me, it was Queenie (Gabourey Sidibe), most of the time. I was majorly turned off by her masturbatory show for the Minotaur and I was furious that she took off on the coven to join the voodoo crew. I did get a kick out of her racial torture of Madame LaLaurie though. I just didn’t like her arrogance and consistent whining.
I also saw no purpose for Luke (Alexander Dreymon) and Joan Ramsey (Patti Lupone) in the show at all. Other than Luke being the love interest of Nan (Jamie Brewer), the only reason they seemed to be there was to show that Christians are hypocrites being that Joan was a murderer and judging the witches for being sinners. I could’ve done without that story line ever being introduced.
The Awesome: How about that chainsaw scene with Zoe? She channeled her inner Ash Williams and went all Evil Dead on those zombies!
The blood level was very satisfying for me. Between Myrtle Snow (Frances Conroy) melon balling out eyeballs, the Axe Man (Danny Houston) and Cordelia (Sarah Paulson) pulling an Oedipus with the garden shears, there were plenty of “HOLY CRAP!” moments for me to grin at.
I also dug that Queenie was a human voodoo doll. I loved the opportunities she had to show off her skills but was disappointed that it stopped suddenly after she blew her own brains out to kill Hank.
The Supreme: I expected it to be Zoe. Fiona (Jessica Lange) had mentioned that the Supreme was the image of perfect health. If so, Madison (Emma Roberts) was out because of her heart problem, Nan (Jamie Brewer) had Downs Syndrome, Queenie was obese and Cordelia was unable to have children. Zoe was the only one who didn’t have a health issue. So, how was it that Cordelia reigned Supreme?
Cordelia was the only person willing to sacrifice everything for the coven. She held things together when her mother failed to do so. The revelation that she was next in line meant a new start for the coven. She was the light that defeated the darkness that shrouded them under the rule of Fiona. Besides, they put a lot of attention into the fact that she didn’t seem to serve a purpose in the coven. Fiona spent a long time bashing on her for her lack of powers and that purpose. Of course it would be her that would be unknowingly draining the life and power from Fiona. That, my friends, is what we call irony.
Overall, Coven has been my favorite season. There was a great balance of gore, drama and comedy and just enough weird to make me cringe (mostly the scenes with Dennis O’Hare). I am sad that it’s over but I am excited to start a new chapter this fall with season four. Until then, I will have to find something to do with my Tuesday nights. Whatever it is, it will be far less fun without Kathy Bates.
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