'The Sacred Taking' begins with Queenie walking through an unsavory area of town after dark. She passes homeless men left and right and suddenly a man approaches her with a hammer in hand, threatening the girl. Queenie picks up a long board that has nails in the end. Before the man can realize it, she swings the end with the nails onto her own hand, causing the injuries to immediately appear on the man. She then cracks him in the head with the board and as the man falls to the ground, Zoe and Madison appear to ask what she's doing. The girls try to persuade Queenie to come back to the Salem witches. Queenie stabs the man on the ground and then reaches into his chest cavity and rips his heart out. She tells the girls that Marie needs a dark heart and that she's going to give it to her. She tells the girls how the man is a rapist and that the heart is needed for a potion to help give her more powers. Queenie, with the bleeding heart in hand, tells the girls that their town isn't big enough for the two groups of witches and that war is coming and they will lose.
Fiona is starting to feel the effects of the cancer that is attacking her body. She's losing her hair in clumps, in pain, and getting sick. She feels that her body doesn't belong to her anymore. There's a clever little 'Bewitched' reference, as she's looking at herself in the mirror, she states that she's looking less like Samantha and more like Endora. We see the moment where she tells Cordelia her prognosis and how Cordelia tells her to die before Thanksgiving so they don't have to endure her stuffing. We then see Fiona in bed with the Axeman. He tries to talk her into going away with him and she denies him, telling him that she doesn't want him to have to watch her decay.
Joan is treating the gash on Luke's back, as she chastises him for being with the girls at the academy. Luke tries to tell her that the girls saved his life and she promptly smacks him across the face. She tells him that only Jesus can save him, if he repents and cleanses himself of the impurities. She tells him he's unclean from the inside out, but that they're going to fix it. Joan then goes and gets what I believe to be some sort of bleach or Ajax type of product. She mixes the product with water and puts it into an old hot water bottle. What ensues next is truly disturbing, as Joan has her son undress and climb into the tub. She then administers the sick enema to her son.
Cordelia is having a meeting with the girls of the academy. She tells the girls it's a failure that they've lost Queenie, but she's dead to them now and they won't lose anyone else. The witches begin to plan their attack on Fiona. The doorbell rings several times and Cordelia calls for the staff, but neither Delphine or Spalding are around. Zoe finally goes to answer the door and finds Misty standing there, pleading Zoe to save her. Misty tells Zoe that she has been found. Misty is shown sleeping in her bed and is startled awake by Myrtle standing before her. Myrtle tells Misty that there's a man in the woods walking around the shack with a gun. Misty notices that the cicadas have stopped singing and suddenly she hears a creak. Just as the man barges in and bucks off a shot right at Misty's bed, the women have disappeared. Cordelia finally comes down to ask who it was at the door. When she realizes that it's Misty, the girl burned at the stake, Cordelia tells Misty that whatever troubles she has, they are now all their troubles and that she's under the protection of the Coven. Misty asks if her friend can stay too, and all the witches head to the greenhouse to meet Misty's friend. The witches are surprised to see Myrtle turn and face them once in the greenhouse. Cordelia catches Myrtle up on what has been happening with the Coven. Myrtle then talks about all the people that Misty has resurrected and then announces that she is the next Supreme. Seems too easy right? Yeah I thought so too.
Zoe has given Kyle some learning games to try to get him to be able to communicate again. Kyle tries to kiss Zoe but she backs away and tells him that they can't now because there's a meeting going on downstairs. Zoe tells Kyle to stay there and get real smart. Madison walks in and immediately lays a big one on Kyle. When Madison sees what Kyle has up on the screen, she asks what it is. After Zoe tells her it's so he can keep busy and learn while they're taking care of business. She asks why Kyle can't just watch porn and get off and Zoe responds by telling Madison that it's so he can learn again and rejoin society and have a life. The girls go to leave and Zoe goes back into the room to plug headphones into the laptop. Kyle's reaction to the headphones is probably my favorite part of this entire episode because it's just so darn cute.
All the witches are donning red cloaks in preparation of a ritual called 'The Sacred Taking.' The ritual is performed to allow the next Supreme to rise to power. When asked if she's sure Misty is the next Supreme, Myrtle responds by saying that Misty has brought more people back to life than Jesus. Misty tells the witches around her that she doesn't want to be the Supreme. Cordelia tells her that no one gets to choose and when Fiona dies, whoever it is, will be. 'The Sacred Taking' is a ritual used in times of crisis to ensure the survival of the Coven. The ritual has only been performed three times, the first being during the Salem Witch Trials. The Supreme is required to kill themselves in order for the new Supreme to rise to power. Madison asks the witches if they really believe that Fiona will kill herself for the Coven and Cordelia coldly states, "Not without a push."
Fiona is upstairs in her bathroom, throwing up into the toilet. At the stroke of twelve, music begins to play and Fiona slowly makes her way out to her bedroom. She opens the bathroom door to see Madison dancing around in a red dress. Madison tells Fiona, "Surprise bitch. I bet you thought you'd seen the last of me." As Madison is walking about the room, talking of where her Warhol will go and how she can't wait to break in the bed, Fiona asks what Madison is and who brought her back. Madison coldly asks if she's deaf and then lies and tells her that she's the next Supreme and that she brought herself back. Madison breaks it down for Fiona and delivers an ultimatum. Madison grabs a handful of pills and tells Fiona that she can either burn at the stake for all that she's done or she can take the pills and end her and their suffering and then leaves the room. Fiona throws the pills on her bed and grabs a suitcase to pack her things and suddenly Myrtle appears to her. Fiona asks if everyone is back from the dead or if she's already dead and in Heaven. Myrtle tells Fiona that leaving isn't an option and her only choices are the pills or to burn. Fiona confesses that she's finally found love and isn't going to last long. She continues trying to persuade Myrtle to let her leave by telling her that she won't last long and that her man wants to take care of her. Myrtle tells Fiona that he won't stay, that they never do no matter what they say.
We see a glimpse of the future, of Fiona on her death bed with the Axeman sitting by her bedside. Fiona has no hair and looks like a shell of her former self. During the scene, Myrtle tells Fiona that she will die as she had lived her life...alone and disappointed by everyone and that her great love won't stay for the end. Then the Axeman begins to pack up his belongings. Fiona takes off her oxygen mask and asks him where he's going. He tells her that it's taking too long for her to die and that the smells make him sick. Fiona sits up and tells him that she'll die quicker, as he walks out the door. She tries to get out of bed to go after him, but falls to the floor instead.
Meanwhile, on the staircase, the other women are waiting as Myrtle continues to push Fiona to the edge. Nan asks the girls why she couldn't be the next Supreme and Madison tells her she has no style and her armpits smell like fish sticks. Nan tells them that they suck balls and flees out the front door. Hank is sitting in a car on the street. Nan runs next door to Luke's home and opens the door telekinetically. She makes her way upstairs only to find Luke trapped in a closet bound and gagged.
Fiona has accepted her fate and is doing her make up so that when her body is found, she'll look up to par. She tells Myrtle that life is a carnival. Some play it safe on the merry go round while others go for the thrills on the rollercoaster. Fiona finishes her make up and has Myrtle help her shrug on her finest fur coat. She gathers up the handful of pills and swallows them down with a glass of water. Fiona instructs Myrtle to make sure her portrait is hung in the spot she has chosen and then lies down in her bed. Myrtle waits until Fiona's eyes have closed and steals her jewelry. A voice is suddenly telling Fiona to wake up and as she opens her eyes, she sees that it is Spalding.
Fiona is shocked that Spalding can speak and he tells her that he was murdered and how the girls thought they could silence him for good but how they've only given him a voice in the spirit world. He has a spoonful of ipecac and tells her to take it. She refuses and tells him that she's trying to do something right by the Coven. He scoffs and tells her that she's making herself a martyr by giving up. He tells her that he won't permit it and that the witches are trying to fool Fiona. He tells her that Madison isn't the next Supreme and that the swamp witch is who has brought everyone back. He offers her the ipecac again and this time she accepts the spoon into her mouth.
At Marie's, Queenie has brought Delphine a burger from Jump N Jack. Queenie passes the burger through the bars of the cage and asks if they're feeding her. Delphine relishes in the taste of her meal and tells Queenie that all they ever do is bleed her for her poultice. Delphine asks Queenie what she did to deserve such a betrayal and asks if she didn't like the treats that she had made. She tells Queenie that she learned to make some of those recipes just for her. The sadist begs Queenie to let her out for just a moment so she can stretch her legs and that the cage they have her in is unfit for a human. From behind Queenie, Marie appears and tells Delphine that is exactly why it's perfect for her. Queenie bolts up from where she was and Marie asks the girl what she told her about feeding the animals. Queenie apologizes and Marie motions for her to leave. Delphine makes a big mistake here. Marie speaks of how she had so many ideas of how she could destroy Delphine but locking her up in a cage gives her much more pleasure. Delphine then talks back to Marie, calling her a negress, telling her to shut her mouth, and demanding a drink. Marie hisses that she is not Delphine's maid and she shouldn't show her arrogance from that side of the cage. Delphine laughs and foolishly states that she can't be die and tells Marie to put her back in the box and then continues to make racist comments. Marie fetches a large knife and asks if Delphine thinks she only has those two choices and that her problem is lack of imagination. Delphine tells Marie that she isn't scared of her and that she wouldn't give her the satisfaction. Right then and there, Marie grabs a hold of one of Delphine's hands and swings the blade down and through her wrist, chopping off her entire hand. Delphine screams and cries out in pain and Marie tells the sadist that she was right, she got no satisfaction from doing so but that they've only just begun. Marie walks away tossing Delphine's hand over her shoulder behind her.
Nan and Luke are going down the stairs together and Luke says they have to find somewhere to go besides Robichaux's because that's the first place his mother will look. At the bottom of the stairs, Nan is happy that Luke seems to want to stay with her and she kisses him on the cheek. Suddenly, Joan's voice is heard saying that there is an intruder in her house right now and that she's armed and dangerous. Luke yells that it's a lie and Joan asks how she could dare come into her house after what she's done. Luke demands Joan stay away from Nan and pushes his mother away. He tells his mother that they're leaving and there's nothing she can do to stop them. Joan tells Luke that she's his mother and that she made him and she can un-make him. Suddenly, a gun is fired and two shots go right through Joan. She collapses to the floor and another shot is fired towards Nan. Luke quickly moves to push Nan out of the way of the bullet and ends up taking the shot himself.
The witches of the academy are sitting around waiting for Fiona to perish. Myrtle is playing a song on the piano, as the others are discussing how the next will feel as she becomes the Supreme. Cordelia tells Misty her feet should be getting warmer and Myrtle says that she has heard it starts as a tingle in the cooch. Out of nowhere, Fiona is heard saying that for her, it started out as a migraine. Fiona pulls out a cigarette and lights it with her mind, showing that they haven't beaten her yet. Fiona then asks where the gifted swamp witch is that everyone is talking about.
Misty is next door at the Ramseys' taking in the scene. Joan has died on the scene and Luke is being taken away, with Nan following right behind. Fiona walks into the neighbors home and sees Misty for the first time. Fiona tells Misty that it isn't every day that they see a witch with he power of resurgence. Fiona tells Misty that it's a power fit for a Supreme. A couple of cops approach the ladies and begin to tell them that they can't be in there and Fiona says that they can and that they're going to tell them what happened here. The cop tells the women that it was a shooting, possibly a robbery gone wrong. He tells then that the boy has a grievous head wound and is en route to the hospital and that the mother is dead. Fiona looks down at Joan's body, says perfect and then tells Misty that she can use her talent on this body.
The witches of the academy are outside trying to figure out what is going on. Misty then does her magic and brings Joan back from the dead. Cordelia finds a bullet and gets a vision from it. As Joan comes back, Misty passes out. Cordelia tells the girls that this was no robbery and that the killer was after them, the witches. Zoe goes up to her room and Kyle greets her with a hug. He tries to kiss her but she pulls away and tells him about the attack. Zoe tells him that she has to get him out of there and he says no. He then struggles to say it, but tells Zoe, "This road goes two ways." Zoe asks Kyle what that means and he slowly tells her that he loves her. Zoe tells Kyle that she loves him too. As the couple hugs, we see that Madison is just outside the door and has heard everything they just said to each other.
Downstairs the next morning, Fiona and Cordelia are down in the kitchen having coffee. The two women talk about how Cordelia tried to arrange Fiona's death the night before. Fiona is impressed and not mad with her daughter. She even tells Cordelia that she's proud of her and that she really is her daughter. Cordelia tears up and tells her mother that if she knew how easy it was to win her approval, she would have tried to kill her sooner. As the women are discussing the blessed bullet that Cordelia found, the doorbell rings over and over again. The women wonder where the servants are and Fiona rises to go answer the door. A box has been placed on the front porch and Fiona waves a hand over the package to see if she can sense anything from the box. Fiona carries it to the table and slowly opens the box to reveal the head of the sadist. Delphine looks at Fiona and Cordelia and in a raspy low voice, Delphine says, "Help."
'The Sacred Taking' was better than the past couple episodes, in my opinion. This episode had a lot of action and moved the story along well. I loved seeing the actual ritual of 'The Sacred Taking.' I also had to refrain myself from squealing like a fifteen year old when Kyle told Zoe that he loved her. I'm just so afraid that now that Madison has overheard that exchange, that Kyle is a goner. I think it was too easy for Myrtle to say that Misty is the next Supreme. I feel like it can't be that cut and dry, but I've been wrong before. I am, however, completely over the Axeman. I sincerely hope, that when he walked out on dying Fiona, that was the last we'll see of him. What a huge disappointment! How do you bring on a character with such history, and then waste him by pining after Fiona? I felt and still feel that Queenie was wrong for turning Delphine over to Marie. However, Delphine did get exactly what she deserved after mouthing off to Marie like that. As Delphine was spouting off, I was shaking my head and internally screaming for her to knock it off. I also have to wonder why Fiona insisted that Joan of all people be brought back. I'm sure it was to make sure that Misty does have the gift of resurgence, but I still don't feel that's it. Quite honestly, I feel that Joan Ramsey is the scariest character in the entire Coven story. In the next episode, 'Head', Cordelia's sight returns, Fiona attempts to form an alliance with Marie and Hank is found out to be a witch hunter.
As always, please feel free to leave your comments, questions and concerns in the comments section below!
I agree this episode was a bit better than the last two, but I still think the first 5 were much better overall. Things look to be getting much more interesting in the rest of the season, though.
ReplyDeleteOne thing about Queenie - it bothers me that she so suddenly turned on the Coven, not so much because it was so unexpected - sudden character turns are common in AHS - but that it would have been SO much more interesting in my opinion if we'd seen Queenie actually struggling with the decision to turn her back on the coven a bit more, over a few more episodes. Maybe if Marie Laveau had approached her in episode 2 or 3 it would have had more impact.
I agree Joan Ramsey could be the scariest character in the show, I really hope we see a lot more of her too. Love the Margaret White-esque craziness to her, and Patti LuPone brings so much to the role, shining in a show already full of amazing actresses.