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!
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.
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.