In a not-so-shocking twist that everyone saw coming, Cordelia Foxx (Sarah Paulson), daughter of former Supreme Fiona Goode (Jessica Lange), was crowned the new ruler of the Coven in Wednesday night’s season finale of “American Horror Story: Coven.”
The premise of the finale was a good one — the remaining witches battling it out in a duel to the death, competing in the “Seven Wonders” to identify which witch is the mightiest of them all. The competition included telekinesis (the ability to manipulate objects with the power of the mind), concilium (mind control), pyrokinesis (the ability to control and conjure fire with the power of the mind), divination (extra-sensory awareness of things, including objects and people), transmutation (the ability to move instantaneously from one location to another), descensum (spiritual descent into the netherworld) and resurgence (reanimation of once living things).
But in the end, it was simply yawn-inducing.
Only two deaths occurred during the competition (though one was later brought back to life). Wasn’t the entire premise of the episode that if you attempt the “Seven Wonders” but are unable to complete them, you die? Not sure what happened there. Misty Day’s (Lily Rabe) soul was unable to return from hell (where she was forced to repeatedly dissect a frog — child’s play compared to what Madame LaLaurie (Kathy Bates) and Marie Laveau (Angela Bassett) are experiencing for the rest of eternity), resulting in her body disintegrating into dust, which was hands down the best part of the night.
Zoe (Taissa Farmiga) also found a tragic end while playing “transmutation tag,” though I’m still convinced Madison Montgomery (Emma Roberts) was somehow responsible for that too — why else would she refuse to bring her back to life during the resurgence test?
Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, the show’s creators, attempted to misdirect fans by initially leaving Cordelia out of the competition, only to have her throw her hat into the ring when it looked like Madison might be crowned the next Supreme (the horror!). It made sense from the beginning — she has Supreme blood running through her veins, she suffered the most for the Coven and she was responsible for the education of one of the strongest generations of witches the Coven had ever seen.
Fiona Goode made an unexpected appearance, surprisingly still in one piece after what we thought happened between her and the Axeman (Danny Huston) last week. Stevie Nicks returned to serenade the girls with “Seven Wonders” while they trained for the test, and Madison Montgomery finally got her just desserts when Kyle (Evan Peters) strangled her to death. Though it wasn’t graphic by “AHS” standards, it was a surprising move, considering the recently engaged couple’s history with domestic violence.
Though it was a fine episode, it didn’t pack the punch of a typical “AHS” finale. Continuity isn’t the show’s strongest point, and when the closing credits rolled, I was left with more questions than answers.
Does no one notice, or care, that Madison Montgomery is dead?
What’s the deal with Spalding? Is he just going to live in the attic forever? And what about that baby he stole from Marie Laveau?
Are there any remaining Voodoo witches now that Marie Laveau is dead? Will Queenie be keeping their legacy alive?
Why is Nan the only witch that was never brought back to life?
Most importantly, why is Zoe even in love with Kyle? They barely knew each other before Madison killed him, and he’s hardly been able to string enough words together to complete a full sentence since being brought back to life. Oh, and he kills people for no reason. How sexy.