American Horror Story Coven - 03.11 – Protect the Coven - Review : "Delphine Loveable La Laurie"

   This week new American Horror Story Coven, cleverly titled “Protect the Coven”, was a good installment, before the season finale coming in 2 weeks, but I was a bit disappointed, feeling like things are not moving forward but in circle. I’ll get on that later…
   A lot happened in this episode : two characters returned from the dead again ! Can’t someone stay dead on this show ?), several deaths, a painful fall in the stairs, a disturbing self mutilating scene and a shit soup.

   This week, Fiona and Marie continued their friendship and decided to take down the Corporation. They played it nicely, and I must say I was surprised by their plan. Hank’s father (I’m terrible at remembering names) called them for a meeting, the witches came and so the heads of each different companies of the Corporation. Negotiations begun, they asked for a truce and their money back.
   But the negotiations were cut short when Fiona said they had to stop witch hunting forever or she could just kill them all.. And that what she did, with the help of her lover : Axeman. He posed as a waiter, serving a dirty Martini to Fiona and a Diet Sprite to Marie. Of course, he brought his axe and the meeting room turned into a messy bloody kill room.
   I don’t know which scene is my favorite from Marie taking pictures of the dead bodies (and posting them on instagram ? Twitter ?):

   Or Fiona killing the father of her daughter’s husband, with her lover’s axe !:

   Or Axeman, taking the hand holding a gun he just chopped to shoot another hunter ! :

   I can’t pick a favorite, but the scene was great. Hank’s father threatened the witches before dying, apparently war won’t be over but t ha just begun. What did he mean ? They killed The Witch Hunting Corporation, right ? What’s coming next for them ? Anyways I’m glad this storyline is over, it didn’t last much but it always felt a bit stupid and out of place. Witch hunters never were a great threat against the witches. Their deaths were quick.

   “Protect the Coven” was mostly about Delphine LaLaurie. Casting Kathy Bates was a brilliant idea. Ryan Murphy previously stated they did not think of Madame LaLaurie’s humanity before they watched Kathy Bates acted. Delphine is a monster, a psychopath and a racist. But, Kathy Bates brought some many layers to Delphine, I really care for her and she has grown on me. She is a racist but she is from another time and she can change. Actually, from the last episodes, Delphine shown some remorse about what she did.
   At first, I really enjoyed Delphine’s parts. Her flashback when she just arrived in New Orleans, she was alone, bored and far from home. Cutting a chicken’s head made her happy and so when one of her slaves hurt himself, seeing all that blood made her feel good too. She tied him up and played with him. She was horrible and crazy, we get the point. Now, she has become the maid of the Academy, forced to serve Marie and Fiona. Delphine's monologue was excellent, very powerful and intriguing. We learnt more about her past, discovering she had always been a psychopath, killing animals when she was a child and taking comfort in hearing people screams of pain now. She is deranged.
   Watching her being disgusted by her mistresses : the teens sleeping together, Marie playing with a baby, Fiona having seex every night with Axeman, was great and I was disgusted myself when she served them Madison’ shit for dinner. Myrtle’s reaction to Delphine’s soup was priceless. That girl is crazy ! So, when Delphine saw Fiona’s gardener with his hand hurt and bloody, it brought back memories to her. She tied him up and playing with him. By the way, her game of "little piggy" made me think of season 1, that was nice. But I really did not enjoy that part. It’s a real pity for Delphine’ storyline. I guess I really wanted her to redeem herself and find a way to make amends. I honestly believe Delphine can evolve and embrace the new world she is living in now. But apparently, the writers did not and so she went back to torturing a black man.
   After that, Delphine found a new ally : Spading ! He is not back from the dead, he’s just a ghost. He has a deal for Madame LaLaurie : he can help her kill Marie and stop her curse if she does something for him. First thing, she gave him an expensive and old doll. Spading is so weird with those dolls, it always gives me the creeps. Anyways he knows Marie’s weakness : …. Benadryl… Yes, that’s her biggest weakness… I was actually laughing watching it. Delphine really believed in it and so, after Fiona left the Coven to get laid with Axeman, Delphine put some Benadryl in Marie’s glass and then tried to stab her, in her heart. Nasty bitch, Delphine !
   Of course, Marie did not die (that would have been so easy) but as she ran towards Delphine, Spading came behind her and hit her with his doll. She fell down the stairs, in slow motion, the best fall in the stairs I've watched. Apparently, Marie is really allergic to Benadryl and she is out. She can not die, despite Spading promised to Delphine, but she canfind a way to bury her permanently… And Marie gave her some nice ideas before in the episode. Marie, wake up or you will be trapped foreveeeeer… (I don’t think so). Oh, and Spading wanted Delphine to give him Marie’s baby so now he has a living doll to play with…. That’s just beyond words.

   So, Delphine was brought back, her head sew up on her body, with no scars and you can all thank Queenie for that ! Yay Queenie is back ! (with Delphine on a leach in the cemetery . I’m glad she is not dead, she is my favorite with Nan. But now Nan is dead and buried, no Misty Day to revive her. 
   Queenie’s comeback did not touch the witches much actually. Only Cordelia, always the sensitive one, tried to talk to Queenie. The girl betrayed the Coven for their sworn enemy, she shot herself in the head, left for dead and now she is back, Marie is friend with Fiona ! Of course, she was angry at Cordelia and harsh on her. Queenie pointed Cordelia's weakness and mistakes.
   The spiral continues for Delia. Cordelia is weak. Cordelia is useless. Cordelia is stupid. Poor girl, only when she had her visions people were nice to her. So, after attempting some potions to help her regain her power, Cordelia had no other choic, as I predicted, but to cut her own eyes. How disgusting and disgustingthis scene was ! Terrific job Sarah Paulson. I’m sorry but this deserved a screencap !

   Ewww… And now, the left one :

    Disgusting !

   Cordelia is doing anything to protect the Coven, she is a good witch, too bad she is surrounding with bad witches. Luckily, she’ll always have Myrtle ! And how good was Frances Conroy this week ? I have no words. Honestly, she is the highlight of the season. I love Myrtle Snow, almost as I admire Constance in season 1. She is fabulous, funny, smart and her French is exquisite. Tu es parfaite ma chérie ! Two of her scenes were the best parts of the episode.
   First, when Fiona arrived to see Cordelia after her mutilation, Myrtle was waiting at the door. Myrtle saw through Fiona and she called on her lies and manipulations. I loved the way she talked down to her and made her go back. Myrtle is the best ennemy against Fiona. I love their relationship and watching Jessica Lange and Frances Conroy is always a great pleasure.
   And then Myrtle had a talk with Zoe. I really like Myrtle’s character, her scenes face to face with another character. She is so crazy and it seems like there is more than one people in her head, it’s quite funny. Myrtle told Zoe to go away with her lover, because she was lucky to find love, Myrtle almost had it once but she lost the man. She offered her a beautiful piece of jewelry, so beautiful Zoe can’t look at it now and also two tickets. Myrtle is a good witch too, as Cordelia. She would have made a better Supreme than Fiona but she is not the one. Just like Madison and Zoe, their rivalry is here and they are both possible next Supreme. But Zoe is good, she found out about Fiona and Marie drowing Nan and she was sad, she cared. Madison did not, the girl can only care for herself. Just like Fiona... Does this mean Madison is the next Supreme ?

   I hope she is not… And I hope Zoe is not either. I’m seriously bored with their storylines with FrankenKyle. So, Kyle and Zoe are now in love and Madison is jealous. She attacked Zoe, that’s why Myrtle ordonned Zoe and Kyle to go. And they chose to go. The ending was terrible, watching them smiling and running. Okay they are happy but I don’t want them happy, it’s American Horror Story for God’ sake !
  I hope the whole point was just to show Orlando, their destination, as a clue for next year ! We know from the promo for next week that Zoe and Kyle are not going to stay happy and away for a while. As I’ve said before, I’m quite bored with this storyline. It really feels like it’s going nowhere. Okay, Zoe is a black widow, Kyle is dead so they are the perfect match for each other. Madison is the jealous bitch, but Kyle doesn’t even love her. They can be happy couple, a weird couple but their relation is okay. So, what’s the deal ? If Madison tries to kill Zoe for Kyle, it’d be so stupid. I like Fiona and Myrtle rivalry better, at least it’s not over a dead man.
    I also had problems with some stuffs in this episode. I enjoyed it overall, I loved the Corporation attack, even if that could have happened last week and Delphine parts were great, expect when she tortured a black man –she could have tried on a white one for a change ; but it’s really starting to feel like the story is not going forward but in circle. Everybody dies and then they come back. It was fun at first but now it feels overdone and there is no surprises. Nan will stay dead apparently, being buried and away with Legba, but we can never be sure. Misty will be back, I’m quite certain about it. She is probably the next Supreme, but we can’t be certain because they all are showing signs, their powers are stronger and not one of them looked stronger than another. This question of the next Supreme has been going on for too long, I wish we could have some real clues. Each week, two of them act like next Supreme.
   Each week as well, the witches are changing enemies. One week, they are plotting to kill Fiona and the week after they are attacking each other. Again, it feels like the same pattern happening all over again. It can be interesting, but now I think I had enough and I want something more. I want Fiona to rise and kill everyone or for the Next Supreme to reveal herself and kick Fiona’s ass !
   My guess is next week, Fiona won’t survive and a new Supreme will rise so the season finale will be all about the New Supreme and her generation. Those girls better find boys to make babies otherwise, it’s the end of the witches !

Spells Notes :

• I missed my Papa Legba :(
• Who’s the next Supreme ? I’m not sure the writers have set their minds actually. I'll say Queenie.
• What will happen to Marie ? Buried in cement ?
• Will Fiona survive next week episode ?

What did you think of “Protect the Coven” ? Did you totally enjoyed it or did you feel as I did ? Hit the comments and let’s discuss !

About the Author - Romain Ossust

I'm 27 from France, living near Paris. I love a lot of TV shows, I can not name them all but here the ones that came to my mind : Orphan Black, True Blood, Dexter, Weeds, Person of Interest, Criminal Minds, 24, Ab Fab, Carnivale, Lost, The Americans, American Horror Story, Once Upon A Time, Desperate Housewives, Glee, Ugly Betty, Scandal, The Walking Dead, Raising Hope, Orange is the New Black, Grey’s Anatomy .... Otherwise, I’m also very fond of cats, I own 5 of them. I work as an administrative assistant, in one of the greatest place to work in France. I also enjoy sunbathing, reading and having fun ! I hate doing sports !