American Horror Story Coven – Episode 3.04 – Fearful Pranks Ensue – review : Happy Halloween Witches !

   Wow. That was a terrific episode of AHS Coven ! I’m really liking this franchise. They have created complex and still light characters, and the plotlines keep getting interesting. It was well written and acted, as usual. There was lot of actions, character developments and gore. That was clearly the goriest episode yet. The first zombie attack (yes there are zombies now on that show !) was disgusting. Boody parts being tore off, blood everywhere. So, in a word, that was an excellent Halloween episode.
   A lot happened in “Fearful Pranks Ensue”, so let’s discuss first what really matters : The Council ! First, before they arrived, Fiona found poor Queenie lying on the floor and bleeding out.She lost her fight against the Minotaur, as predicted. Minotaur 1 - Witches 0. Then, the Minotaur tried to attack Fiona…. And we got to know the winner of the fight when Marie Laveaux received a big package, with the Minotaur’s head in it. That’s not nice Fiona, so war is on… really on.

   Fiona reached Cordelia’s help to cure Queenie. Of course, they fought and revealed that they both went to see Marie Laveaux. Cordelia is really weak, the total opposite of her mother, Fiona showed strength to Marie Laveau but Cordelia came asking for help. She is their mortal enemy, what did she expect ? She can be a little stupid sometimes. And suddenly, in the middle of usual mother/daughter relationship, Queenie died. I was afraid for a moment but Supreme Fiona proved us how perwerful she is : she brought Queenie back ! O M G. She is that powerful, yes.
   So Council is back… or showing its face for the first time. They are only three faces actually (I expected a bigger Council I admit) but only one matters : Myrtle ! Frances Conroy is amazing. She has such a great chemistry with Jessica Lange. It was such a delight to watch them interact with each other. It’s even funnier when they hate each other that much. It kinda reminds me of the first season when she was the maid and Constance was… Constance. We know why they hate each other so much. Myrtle is a jealous bitch. She knew Fiona killed Anna Leigh, even though Fiona was pretty damn convincing in front the Council. She’s a terrific liar. Myrtle tried to make Splading talk with magic but, as we know it, someone cut his tongue. Of course, I assumed it was Fiona. She is so cold. It was quite a surprise to see Splading did it to himself, because he is in love with Fiona. It was cute and creepy at the same time… then horrible when they showed how he actually cut it.

   Nan summoned the Council because she can't hear Madison anymore. The Council investigated. I loved the way Queenie talked to them. That girl is so damn funny. Fiona was made suspect number one when Nan revealed Madison developped a new power (fire burning ) the ight before disappearing/dying.
  Myrtle tried to use Splading (again) against Fiona. He just had to write the name of the person who cut his tongue, of course he wouldn't writer his name or Fiona's, so he wrote Myrtle's name ! That put her in a crazy mood. Frances Conroy was amazing in that scene. I loved her, how she was screaming and moving every arms. Everything about her is great. She is even a better enemy to Fiona than Marie. Surprisingly, Cordelia saved her mother from the Council with a shocker revelation for everyone : Madison was not the new Supreme, she had a heart default and Supreme can't have health default apparently ! Too bad Fiona, you killed the wrong witch. Better luck next tim I guess.
  I liked the mother and daughter scene at the bar. They tried to bond but Fiona is such a terrific liar again ! She can’t tell she killed Madison but she lied that easily. She hates Hank and she is obsessed with finding the new supreme. Cordelia was delighted to know her mother powers are fading but when she realized she drunk too much and threw up in the toilet, someone (Mother ?) came behind her and attack her with acid (?) to her face ? Poor Delia! That looked painful.

   Now, let’s focus on the voodoo magic. They are continuing to explore witches mythology and history. We learnt that Marie Laveau and Anna Leigh made a truce to keep both parties safe and sound. Since Fiona paid a little visit and burn those wigs, Marie has declared war back on white witches. She sent the Minotaur, it did its damages (Queenie) but Fiona replicated and cut its head. Of course, Marie was outraged when she received her package. We got see in the opening using her deadly powers to revenge the death of a young black boy. She used zombies ! Great plotline. I love zombies and they were missing in AHS. They couldn’t do a new walking dead, so using zombies in the witchcraft world is a brilliant idea. They were disgusting and quite strong for zombies. I saw one of them getting shot in the head but still moving. Or did the guy miss ?
   So, Marie is sending new zombies to the Academy. Madame Delphine LaLaurie opened the door to find three zombies. First, I did not recongnize them but they were actually her three daughters ! That is pretty devasting, even she is a terrible person. And sure there are a lot more zombies coming for the girls and the hot neighbour, who had the bad idea to come over to the Academy right before. Poor guy.

Speaking of guy, FrankenKyle appeared some minutes on screen. He is still wacked and kind of useless. He got away in the street, but being Halloween, he will pass as a disguise. I’m not very fond of this storyline actually. I don’t really the point yet. Okay, it’s a complicated love story but they just met and he died. Now, he is a monster. I expect more from AHS, something more surprising so I have to wait.
   Another guy is becoming quite interesting : Hank, aka Delia’s husband. He is a cheater, in a motel room not very orginal. I guess it’s a bad idea to cheat on a witch but we will see. Something felt off about him and his monster remarks. He soon showed his true face : a cold killer. Poor red hair falling in love, she did not want her heart to be broken so he shot her in the head, in a second. She didn’t even see it coming. I can’t wait for him to meet Nan and wait for Cordelia's reaction. I want her to get crazy and super powerful.
   And finally, another guy (God, this week, men are starting to get more important in the witch story), Spalding has a strange obsession for dolls… Which makes him even creppier. But he also kept Madison’s body and dressed her up… Don’t wana know what he’ll do to her…

Spell Sheets :

*Are looking forward the zombies attack next week ?
*What will happen to Cordelia and her face ? Who attacked her ?
*Vodoo rituals : every week, I lie them. It’s always nicely done.
*Fiona’s best lies : when she lied to the Council about Anna Leigh’s death or when she lied to Cordelia about killing Madison ? For me, Jessica Lange is always the best.
*So, who do you think is the new Supreme ? I’m rooting for Nan ! …. Or Misty Day.
*BTW, did you miss Misty ? I kinda did. Next week, she’ll find her FrankenKyle probably.
*Fiona’s disguise : a witch. She is just perfect. No comment.

 Hit the comment witches ! I have to get ready for Halloween (and guess what, I’m a zombie this year)

Romain Ossust(aka Julian Denton) Writer