At this point, we’ve resigned ourselves to what this season of American Horror Story has become: mostly flashbacks to build up and fill in the gaps to when the Coven infiltrates Outpost 3. We aren’t complaining–seeing the antichrist’s rise to power and a slightly unimportant, red herring opening has been an enjoyable spooky ride. Also, in case you’ve forgotten in the last 3 episodes, the survivor mass-murders and the arrival of Cordelia was all on Halloween, and that timeline hasn’t progressed, so we are still in full Halloween mode at the “present day” storyline!

So the big showdown could happen on Halloween…so where is the rest of Cordelia’s coven? Our theory revolves around the power Michael Langdon demonstrated in the Murder House flashbacks. When he murdered a nice pair of home buyers in their first day of moving into his Murder House, he not only killed their physical bodies but also incinerated their souls. He tried this again on Vivien when she attempts to murder him in his sleep, but she is saved by Tate. So….maybe Michael also destroyed the souls of the rest of Cordelia’s Coven so she couldn’t revive them. Hopefully, we’re wrong and they’re holding down a safe house elsewhere, but right now we’re thinking the worst has happened to Zoe and Queenie.

As for the events of the actual episode, we thought Sarah did a fabulous job directing and we can’t express our overwhelming joy to see Jessica Lange back on the series. It was a highly satisfying episode and we were pleasantly surprised at the dynamic between Madison and Behold that has already spawned multiple gifs and memes on social media.

American Horror Story: Apocalypse – FX

While we aren’t in love with the problematic happy ending given to Tate or the poorly executed character writing for Violet (they robbed us of a strong female character and we’re salty), we appreciate the character growth it showed for Madison that she tried to help in her own way — it creates continuity and intrigue into the developing timeline that leads her to the side of light. Also, giving Moira and her mother a happy ending was the cherry on top. Knowing the Apocalypse came regardless of the peace they helped bring to the murder house was a downer, but seeing the introduction of Ms. Meade and the Satanists filled in a lot of gaps, and we laughed at the explanation that anyone missing the signs of his coming is an idiot because they’re right and the implications at Cordelia and everyone nearby not noticing is hilarious.

American Horror Story: Apocalypse – FX

Seeing Papa Legbal in next week’s teaser has fans in an excited tizzy, not to mention Ariel’s poisoning of Cordelia’s students — we have a hunch that Coco’s ability to sense danger is what saves her and Mallory, and the murders of her students are what leads her to put them into hiding. Our only hope is that we get to see Cordelia lay a whooping on Ariel and any other Warlock that is knowingly siding with the antichrist (and hopefully our theories are wrong and our girls are alive).