Watching the newest episode of American Horror Story: Coven filled me with absolute glee. I’ll let that pun sink in for a while, because it’s a winner, but allow me to explain myself. We’re only two episodes into Coven, and it’s already become apparent that many of the problems the show faced in the previous seasons have been ironed out and fixed up properly. They say the third time’s the charm, and Coven is proof of that.
The first minute of the “Boy Parts” was enough to have me giggling demonically, because watching a revived alligator drag its killer into a swamp with his head in its mouth is just plain satisfying. Yet despite its name, American Horror Story has always been about more than horror, and the stories that are being told this year seem more focused and developed. Twists and turns are doled out more appropriately, and surprisingly, nothing absolutely outlandish has happened yet.
Well, that all depends on how weird you consider the resurrection of a dead frat boy to be. Madison, hoping to cheer up Zoe, helps her cast a spell to bring the dismembered pretty boy back to life, complete with pieced together body parts from his frat brothers. “Build a better boyfriend,” indeed. Although Kyle lives again, his mind is a bit more savage than it used to be, making him more of a neanderthal than anything else at the moment.
Luckily, Misty Day (Lily Rabe) was drawn to the morgue by the spell, finally giving us a proper introduction to a character we last saw getting burned at the stake. Apparently it’s hard to kill a necromancer. She offers to help bring Kyle back to his senses while also outing Stevie Nicks as a witch. I’m a sucker for name dropping, so if they reveal that Hilary Clinton or the Cheetah Girls are witches too, I can die happy.
Meanwhile, Fiona plans on using the recently dug up Madame LaLaurie as a bargaining chip to obtain infinite youth from the leader of the local voodoo clan. Another piece of the Madame’s story is revealed tonight, and it’s as deliciously dark as you could hope. Remember the minotaur from the season premiere? Apparently he’s going to be a recurring character as well. You can never go wrong with mythological creatures.
Cordelia, who is having issues having a kid, decides to cast a fertility spell so that her and her husband (Josh Hamilton) can finally be parents. It seems like common sense that she would do that in the first place, eschewing medicine since she’s a witch and all. But she nicely explains her hesitation to use magic as a fear that she will become reliant on her powers for everything. It’s noble to use her powers sparingly, but let’s be real: if you were a witch, would you still go to a doctor? As Fiona says, even the weakest witch is stronger than someone normal.