American Horror Story: Coven: Spoiler-Free Season Review

FX anthology series American Horror Story wrapped up its third season Coven on Wednesday January 29^th with a satisfying climax to another insane, unpredictable season.

Coven focuses on a group of witches based in New Orleans with roots that date back to the original Salem witches of 1692. Cordelia Goode (Sarah Paulson) runs a school for young witches as a sanctuary for them to hone their skills away from the struggles of normal society. Cordelia’s world comes crashing down around her as her estranged mother and leader of the coven Fiona (Jessica Lange) to scout out the schools’ young witches and kill anyone who threatens her title of Supreme. Further complicating matters is the end of a long-standing truce between the coven and an immortal voodoo priestess (Angela Bassett), a group of witch hunters threatening to take out this dying breed of witches once and for all and Fiona's declining health making the emergence of a new Supreme inevitable.

The most dynamic aspect of Coven compared to the previous seasons was the implantation of dark humor into the fold. The previous season, Asylum, was stone-serious in tone and with subject matter that included the Holocaust and corruption in the Catholic Church; there clearly wasn’t any room for comedy. Coven is completely different as the atmosphere of a witch coven allows ample opportunities for dark comedy. Between the use of magic, the in-fighting between witches and Fiona’s perpetually miserable nature, laughs regularly seep their way into the plot. The humor of Coven serves as a nice departure from the typical onslaught of brutality and eeriness this show offers up.

Not all of the barrage of story arcs worked this season, but the acting was so consistently great that it overshadowed the sometimes sloppy narratives. Creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuck have a knack to find actors that are extremely committed to their roles and are game for anything that unfolds on the show. Series regulars including Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe and Frances Conroy are now very familiar with the way things work and have the chops to dive into whatever character Murphy and Falchuck throw their way. Lange serves as the focal point once again as Fiona Goode, the devious Supreme of the coven. It would be great to see Lange branch out and play a character you can sympathize with, but when you play evil as well as she does, it’s completely understandable that she’s continuously given parts of despicable people that make it a priority to wreck as many lives as possible.

On the other hand, Rabe and Conroy, are allowed to have fun with their roles after playing such solemn characters in past seasons. Rabe is wickedly funny as Misty Day- a hippie witch obsessed with Stevie Nicks-while Conroy gives the best performance of the season as Myrtle Snow, an eccentric elder witch in the coven who serves as the lifelong rival to Fiona and mother figure to Cordelia. It truly is a shame that both Rabe and Conroy were secondary characters; Coven was at its most entertaining when the two of them were on-screen.

The returning actors aren’t the only ones who shine as newcomers to the series as Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett and Emma Roberts all delivered the goods in their initial “American Horror Story” outings. The quality performances of accomplished actresses like Bates and Bassett is to be expected, but the work of Roberts here as Madison Montgomery, former Hollywood actress and antagonist amongst the young witches, was a delightful surprise. Between her work here and the 2013 film We’re the Millers, Roberts has shown true talent as both a comedic and dramatic actor.

I haven’t the slightest clue what the setting, time period or subject matter of the fourth season will be, but I have full faith that Murphy and Falchuck will keep up the quality you’ve come to expect with American Horror Story. The anthology format really allows for a lot of experimentation in terms of tone and story arcs and that keeps this show consistently fresh and exciting. With Murphy and Falchuck 's other television series Glee ending its run in May, I would not be at all surprised if the next American Horror Story outing was the most focused, complex and satisfying entry to-date.