FX Wednesdays @ 10pm ET
"American Horror Story; Coven" tells the secret history of witches and witchcraft in America. Over three hundred years have passed since the turbulent days of Salem and those who managed to escape are now facing extinction. Mysterious attacks have been escalating against their kind and young girls are being sent away to a special school in New Orleans to learn how to protect themselves. Wrapped up in the turmoil is new arrival, Zoe, who is harboring a terrifying secret of her own. Alarmed by the recent aggression, Fiona, the long-absent Supreme, sweeps back into town, determined to protect the Coven and hell-bent on decimating anyone who gets in her way.
It's true that this is technically the third season of the series entitled "American Horror Story" -- but since it's an anthology series, with each season having no relation plot- or character-wise to the seasons that have come before, it's easy to review it as a completely new show.
This season dispenses with haunted houses and creepy insane asylums and moves the action to New Orleans. The setting is perfect: the streets with their French architecture and the bayous with their low-hanging moss give the city an inherently gothic atmosphere. Which of the first two seasons was best depends on who you talk to, but everyone is agreed that they were both difficult to sit through at times -- particularly last year, subtitled "Asylum", which featured dismemberments and electroshock therapy and deranged serial killers. So creator Ryan Murphy intentionally aimed for a lighter tone this year. And aside from a skin-crawling opening and a scene involving newcomer Emma Roberts ("Scream 4") that is among the most horrifying sequences ever filmed for this show, the premiere of "Coven" is indeed a deliciously campy affair.
AHS mainstay Jessica Lange returns this season as Fiona, Supreme of the witches. You can see her relishing the opportunity to play a powerful and devious witch after a year spent portraying a vicious, deranged nun. She burns through the screen with a glamorous, playful presence. Other AHS returnees include Sarah Paulson (Lana from "Asylum") as Fiona's estranged daughter Cordelia, who is the headmistress of Miss Robichaux's Academy For Exceptional Young Ladies (a sort of all-girls Hogwarts). Taissa Farmiga (Violet from "Murder House") is Zoe, the newest student at the school, who has the thematically-rich power of sexuality that kills -- literally. Evan Peters (Tate from "Murder House", Kit from "Asylum") returns as Kyle, the object of Zoe's impossible affection. These stellar actors and more are joined by AHS newcomers including Roberts, Kathy Bates ("Misery"), Angela Bassett ("ER"), Patti LuPone ("Oz") and Gabourey Sidibe ("Precious"). Of all the newcomers, Kathy Bates makes the biggest impression in the first hour. She plays Madame Delphine LaLaurie, a real woman who is infamous for torturing, mutilating and murdering slaves in New Orleans during the early 1800s. Ms. Bates chews the scenery with aplomb, and her character arc promises to be one of the most interesting of the season.
Each edition of "American Horror Story" has been a tale of people hopelessly trapped by their circumstances. In "Murder House", the characters were trapped figuratively by a crumbling marriage and literally by a vengeful piece of real estate. In "Asylum", the characters were trapped figuratively by society, whether due to their sexuality or gender, and literally by an oppressive prison. Now in "Coven", the characters are trapped by their otherness -- like the mutants in the "X-Men" series, they must repress their abilities in order to blend in, for fear of being persecuted. Throw in some motifs of slavery and rape, and you've got a potent cocktail of themes ripe for exploring.
Fortunately Ryan Murphy & Co. are not known for their restraint, and you can rest assured that all of these controversial themes will be pushed to their limits. "American Horror Story" has never been for the faint of heart, and despite a tone that's decidedly less grim than last season, "Coven" is looking to be just as delightfully twisted as its predecessors.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGCaivJ4Us4[/youtube]
