American Horror Story: Coven - Chapter 12, "Go To Hell" - Early Review

“Every generation needs its leader, The Supreme.
No simple test could ever determine the sovereign among us.
We rely on seven...”

Since returning from its winter hiatus with a string of darker and more engrossing episodes, American Horror Story has been on a roll. By honing in on the most exciting storylines (cutting out the larger-than-average amount of deadweight from the season) and stringing together several loose ends, Coven has found a pulse that I wish it hit much earlier in the year. Tonights episode, “Go To Hell”, is not only easily the strongest of the Coven arc but also stands up with the best that Horror Story has had to offer in it’s three-year run. It’s certainly not a coincidence that Alfonso Gomez-Rejon has directed many of my favorite episodes of the series, as he does tonight. Once again his wickedly weird blend of classic horror film uneasiness and more modern slasher style is what truly makes the episode great. But beyond that the script is awesomely paced and full of twists (and deaths!) and some truly great character moments and insights which have been missing for so much of this season. We go to hell and back in tonight's episode, and the ride is well worth it.

The episode opens with a run-through of the seven wonders that a witch must perform in order to be identified as the Supreme, just as in present day Fiona tells Queenie that she will perform the tests in less than a week. Uneasy with Marie missing, Queenie summons Papa Legba and demands answers. Her quest takes her to her own personal hell, a time when she was working fast-food and saw no light ahead of her, no way out. Papa Legba should have been around much earlier in the season, not only because the entire voodoo story felt unexplored and back-burnered, but because the dude is creepy as hell. A huge gripe of mine this year is the outright lack of anything scary in exchange for b-movie horror/comedy. That’s mostly done away with tonight as the urgency picks up pace. Queenie strikes her own deal with Legba that involves both Marie and Delphine, and the results are fantastic -- the last few scenes will leave you totally uneasy.

Delphine has escaped the Academy and taken up as the tour guide at her former manor. Again, the story gets so good that I can’t help but wish that all of these plots kicked into gear much earlier in the season (I’ll never forgive the characters Nan, Luke and Joan for existing). Lalaurie never worked for me as a sympathetic figure, and trying to humanize her or get her to change was nothing but audience pandering and filler. This is the Delphine Lalaurie we should have been presented all season, every week - a chilling, charismatic, unapologetic sociopath, unburdened by any type of conscience. While I didn’t get to preview last weeks episode, Delphine’s story really started to get great then, as she rediscovered her blood lust and penchant for uncovering “what makes my negroes tick.”

Also benefiting from a full-on dance with the dark side is Fiona. She won some major points in my book when she drowned Nan two weeks ago, but tonight Lange injects Fiona with the dramatic charge that made Constance and Sister Jude so unforgettable before her. Fiona’s story has been all over the place like much of the stories this season; from losing her powers, to having a surge; giving herself up for the Coven to trying to take it all down; her love story with the Axeman always just felt like an afterthought. Tonight, though, her path is made clear. During an emotional conversation with Cordelia, Fiona’s true intentions - against her will - finally and fully present themselves to her daughter. While not necessarily surprising, it was refreshing to see her as the all-out villain I was hoping she had been all season long. Likewise, Danny Huston is finally able to live up the great material he was given in his first appearance because The Axeman really shows some soul in this episode - and also gets to hack a lot of people up. Did I mention quite a few people get killed off tonight?

A single great episode can’t make up for all that has been lacking this season, and there are still some random tidbits that annoy me here. I already thought the Zoe and Kyle running away together thing was a ridiculous and anticlimactic ending when I saw it last week - add to it that literally no one was looking for them and they randomly just show up again this week and I just don’t get what the point was. Kyle is a zero-personality, mother-molested, frankenstein, dog-man and Zoe is supposed to be in love with him? This is the “Romeo and Juliet young-love story” that Murphy talked about as a follow up to season one’s Violet and Tate? Evan Peters’ talents were sorely underused this season and I truly hope that next year the cast is kept a bit tighter and the characters all have some type of relevance to one central plot. When we’re talking 22-episode shows that span 5 seasons, sure there’s time for sidetracking, but in a 13-episode mini series all of the random subplots just made Coven feel thrown together. I’ve let go of wondering if we’ll ever know why each witch acquired their powers or trying to make sense of some of the lingering plot holes. Either way, tonight is a solid piece of entertainment. It’s exciting, dark, full of twists, and totally uneasy. I definitely can’t wait to see some reactions tonight because the episode leaves a lot up in the air going into the finale. Feel free to ask some questions or share your thoughts and guesses in the comments, and check out a few more tidbits below.

Stuff You’ll Love:

- Cat fight! Misty Day is freed from her coffin and the confrontation that ensues with Madison is knock-down-drag-out good. I mean, really - Misty beats the shit out of her. It’s hilarious and painful and awesome. What breaks them up is perhaps even more exciting though...
- The Axeman + Papa Legba. Both of these guys should have been around a lot more this season and tonight makes that perfectly clear. The men add a great weight to the stories of Fiona Goode and Marie Laveau, respectively. They also bring a chilling presence to the screen that we certainly did not get enough of in Coven.
- The wrap-up. Things actually start to come together tonight; as I said, I’m not expecting everything to make sense, but the character shifts and story turns really feel organic for once this season. I’m much more excited than I thought I’d be so see how it all plays out.

American Horror Story: Coven concludes next Wednesday. “Go To Hell” premieres tonight at 10 on FX. Follow me on Twitter for more updates on Coven & all my SpoilerTV work.