After 3 glorious months and 13 captivating hours of television, this season of AMERICAN HORROR STORY has come to an end. This year's incarnation, COVEN, was one that excited me from the get-go (see previous posts). I love the whole concept of witches, the South has always fascinated me, and of course the cast this year was stellar. As it was the previous two seasons, it's going to be a struggle to let go of this world and these characters--well, most of them--for good. But now that the doors to Miss Robichaux's School for Exceptional Young Ladies has closed for good, it's a great time for me as an avid fan to reflect on the season as a whole and share them with you.
As noted in the title, there are some mild spoilers, so if you haven't watched all of this season or plan to in the future, proceed with caution!!
Let me start off with "the bad". I put quotes around this subject because even what I thought was bad wasn't terrible. There were simply a few things I feel could've been handled better, or plot lines that I expected to go in different directions. First, the overarching plot as a whole. When the season first started, I got the impression that the main focus would be the Salem witches (Jessica Lange and her crew of misfits) versus the Voodoo witches (Queen Angela Bassett and Co.). After the first few episodes this proved not to be the case; without going into too much detail, the main storyline became the fight for the next Supreme in the coven. The Supreme, for those who don't know, is basically the HBIC of the entire coven, the most powerful witch and overall badass. When COVEN begins, Fiona (Jessica Lange) is the Supreme, and a nasty one at that. Most of the season focuses on her pursuit to weed out and kill her successor, so she can remain youthful and powerful. While I found this storyline interesting and Lange did an amazing job of portraying Fiona's desperation to remain Supreme, it wasn't the element I was expecting the show to most focus on. This may have made it not as appealing to watch unfold; while I was curious to see where the story would go and I thought the new Supreme was fitting from a character-development standpoint, it wasn't what I would've chosen to focus mainly on.
My other oppositions are pretty benign. I really wish we could've seen more magic! I get we don't need to see someone close a door with their mind or read someone's mind every two minutes, but I felt the magical element of the show was used a little too sparingly at times. These women are witches for crying out loud! Don't be afraid to show us!
There were also a few characters I didn't care for too much, mainly: Zoe and Kyle. I assumed Zoe (Taissa Farmiga) would be an important character when the season first started, since she was heavily featured in the commercials leading up to the premiere. I was even betting on her being one of my favorite characters. Nope! As the season progressed, so did Zoe's relevance (at least to me), and I soon became annoyed with her. The same goes for her "true love", Kyle (Evan Peters). I was initially excited for his Frankenstein storyline, but with the exception of the first few episodes, his character came to a complete creative standstill. I loved Evan and Taissa in the first season, back when we knew them as Tate and Violet, but this dynamic duo didn't do it for me this year. I wanted more from them, but I think the abundance of characters this year and lack of sufficient space to showcase them all equally was partly to blame for this creative hiccup.
Finally, I wish there had been more horror this year. The tone of COVEN was vastly different from the previous two years in that it was darkly comic. That isn't a bad thing, but when it gets too much in the way of the horror aspect one comes to expect of this show, it can be slightly frustrating. While there were some disturbing/gross/gory moments this year, I was never genuinely spooked like I've been before.
Okay, so now that I'm done griping....the good stuff!!
The characters and dialogue this year were on ANOTHER LEVEL. We got some amazing, rich characters such as Lange's Fiona and Kathy Bates' evil Madame LaLaurie, and some colorful surprises such as Madison (Emma Roberts), Queenie (the amazing Gabourey Sidibe), and Myrtle Snow (Frances Conroy).
OH. MY. GOD. MYRTLE. FREAKIN'. SNOW.
Guys, this character was amazing, and in a year of amazing characters and amazing one-liners, Myrtle might perhaps take the cake.
WE NOW INTERRUPT THIS POST FOR A VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM MYRTLE SNOW:
This woman is a trip, guys. Seriously. You may not know what she's talking about 95% of the time, but it's always gold.
Like I said before, COVEN was definitely more lighter in tone than years prior, and that showed through its illuminating characters and their snappy dialogue. I laughed and fell in love with these women more and more every week, thanks in part to the following (dare I say it?) iconic quotes from this year:
There are way more where those came from. In fact, go check out this link if sassy witches is your thing: http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariellecalderon/25-reasons-to-love-the-women-of-american-horror-story-coven
Overall, I did genuinely love COVEN. I have to say that ASYLUM still remains my ultimate favorite, but that's only by a slight margin and that's only if I had to choose one season to love more in some weird life-or-death situations. That's the beauty of this show: We get a new slate every year, a new story to follow, new characters to connect with, and more amazing moments to freak out/obsess over.
Okay, so maybe that last one only applies to me. But this show, particularly COVEN, was wicked fun and dammit, I'm going to miss these witches!
What did you all think of COVEN? Good? Bad? Any guesses for what's to come next year?
Until next time,
Dustin
No comments:
Post a Comment