American Horror Story: Coven – Episode 11

A lot has happened since Zoe (and ourselves) first arrived at Miss Robichaux’s, and my strong inkling that Nan would be crowned the Supreme has sadly been thwarted. Last week, the scheming Fiona and her new accomplice Marie drowned Nan in a bathtub. Clearly they must have read our Roobla predictions…

The pair found Nan’s power to be a bit of hindrance and for that reason, she had to go. In turn Papa Legba took Nan’s soul as part of Marie’s annual sacrifice with Nan’s spirit telling them from beyond the grave; “I would have been a kind Supreme”.

With Misty buried alive in the cemetary somewhere, it looks like Nan won’t be being resurrected any time soon, and with Nan gone, Stevie Nicks’ fan Misty will remain – quite ironically – underground.

It seems Marie and Fiona are trouble together indeed and their lack of remorse indicates that they’re not quite done with their evil hijinks just yet. There is still the issue of a potential Supreme lurking in their midst which serves as a threat to them both. Yet when one witch falls, another makes an untimely return. This week we see Queenie and a re-assembled Madame LaLaurie appear at Nan’s funeral alive and well. As I say, no one is ever dead (or alive for that matter) for very long on this show…

Queenie’s ability to return from the brink of death and put ‘Humpty back together again’ so to speak has a huge impact on Fiona who it appears will have her work cut out for her as the power of resurgence is one of the most difficult of Seven Wonders to master. Picking these young witches off one by one just isn’t going to work as well as she might have hoped. It just so happens Fiona has bigger fish to fry in the form of the Witch Hunters working under Delphi Trust. Fiona’s relationship with the Axe-man has been particularly interesting to watch and its good to see Jessica Lange with a matchable love interest for once on the show. With the promise that the two can be alone together one day hanging in the air, the Axe-Man shows his ultimate devotion by helping Fiona take care of the Witch Hunters in a surprise attack.

Staging a negotiation, the CEO of Delphi Trust and Hanks’ father Harrison Renard, makes a proposal to Marie and Fiona that would see a 100 year truce between the two parties. Alas, Fiona and Marie aren’t here to play games… Instead they order Harrison to dismantle their organisation, leaving witches to go free – not to mention the thrown in extras of his holiday home and a private jet. These are ladies are know how to make a deal, as we all know! Obviously Harrison refuses and the Axe-Man slaughters each of them leaving Fiona the duty of gleefully planting his axe into Harrison’s neck – much to our viewing pleasure! Fiona and Marie don’t get to have all the fun however…

Madame LaLaurie really seemed to be forming a bond with Queenie in spite of her racism, and before Hank infiltrated the House of Voodoo, it looked as if she may be reforming into a normal, empathetic human being. Unfortunately, the writing this season has been a little shoddy in my opinion, and a great example of this is the way Madame LaLaurie goes right back to her murderous blood-thirsty ways in this episode. Delphine recalls her first experience with blood on her hands; killing a chicken in her yard before developing a peculiar fascination with human anatomy. Before you know it, Delphine is chopping up a gardener and Kathy Bates falls straight back into ‘Misery’ mode; which although much more fun to watch, felt extremely disjointed from the story. LaLaurie is caught performing her rather disgusting ritual, spirit by Spaulding’s spirit which appears to her saying that he also wishes to rid the house of Marie. With the Witch Hunters out of the way, Marie is once again a threat to the Coven.

He presents her with the promise of a magic elixir in exhange for a rare doll to add to his collection. Madame LaLaurie obliges and returns with the gift only to be presented with a box of Benadryl. Poor Delphine just can’t keep up with these modern times..
Yet anti-histamines really do the trick and with Laveau incapacitated in a drowsy sleep, LaLaurie is free to do as she pleases with the unconcious body of the Voodoo Queen; her sworn enemy.

With so much going on in this episode, it is clear the end is nigh (and clues for next season have already been littered throughout the final three episodes) but with things getting heated, the tension between the women in the Coven is all getting a bit much for Cordelia. Myrtle Snow begs Zoe to flee to Florida with Kyle as she feels Zoe may indeed be the Supreme, but Madison is hot on her heels and following her rejection by Kyle, is baying for Zoe’s blood.

Meanwhile Cordelia, having regained her actual vision, she lost her power of ‘Sight’ which is worsened by the fact that she gets a royal dressing down from Queenie. If we recall correctly, Queenie was the one who abandoned the Coven but now with Marie Laveau inside the walls, Queenie’s rant seems a little redundant.

Sarah Paulson, who plays Cordelia, had such a battering in Asylum I had hoped she’d be spared in Coven, but after having acid thrown in her face, her only way to regain her magical Second Sight is to pluck out her eyes with a garden shear. The entire sequence is gruesome and just plain nasty.

Episode 11 was an episode with plenty of action, lots of magic and a few choice moments which were weird and wonderful but the plot holes are beginning to be a huge distraction from the bigger picture. Nice try Coven, but you’ll have to do better than that for a rip-roaring finale.