American Horror Story: Apocalypse / Episode 10: Apocalypse Then / FX
So, after the boredom that was last week’s episode, the end is nigh. Michael called together all the big wigs of “The Cooperative-Illuminati” and set his plan to end the world into motion. Supreme Cordelia and what’s left of the coven are at their figurative Alamo, about to make their last stand. Tonight, we will know if this is the end of the coven and the beginning of Michael’s reign.
Now then, shall we proceed…
*Spoilers coming like loose ends tied and new questions left open*
Like Boyz II Men
We’ve come to the end of the road and what a way for it to start. My girl Myrtle Snow comes through with the opening and is Thanos snapping and spelling-casting Ms. Venable, Jeff, and Mutt into submission and obedience. She is there to help secure a place for Coco and Mallory in the outpost after the apocalypse. (Side note: We also find out that it was Myrtle, while using a spell, that made Ms. Venable believe that she shouldn’t wear purple. Myrtle so petty, and I love it.)
*does last American Horror Story bop for the season*
Forgotten Lives for the Greater Good
Back at Misty’s swamp home, the remaining coven members are preparing for the end. Supreme Cordelia knows that Michael is too powerful to be stopped and rising Supreme Mallory is no where near strong enough to perform the time travel spell to stop him. This is where we begin to filter in the events that lead into where Apocalypse began. The plan is to place an identity spell on Coco and Mallory and get them into the outpost. By then, Mallory should be ready, but at the same time a lot of this is resting on some big fucking hopes.
Once the spell is complete, we see Coco as the horrible, selfish person that we saw in Apocalypse, and Mallory is her scared little assistant. There is a little aside here. Their Lyft driver is Madison. After dropping them off, she sees a bus sign with Dinah-Oprah’s face on it advertising her show. When Madison returns to the swamp, she asks for permission to burn a witch (Dinah-Oprah) for betraying them. Like the ride or die she is, Myrtle is like, “I’ll get the gasoline, you get the wood” however, Cordelia says no, not wanting to risk Michael finding out any part of their plan. Myrtle and Madison begrudgingly let it go but trust and believe I was ready for that roast.
Divide and Conquer
At around the halfway point in the episode, we now start getting glimpses from the first couple of episodes, starting with the moment when we knew Mallory was a witch during her confrontation with Michael. From there, the scene goes back to the swamp. Supreme Cordelia, Myrtle, and Madison rise out of the ground like zombies in one of my favorite horror movies, Return of the Living Dead. They buried themselves in the healing Louisiana mud to survive the nuclear fallout.
After getting themselves together, they get to outpost 3 and resurrect Mallory, Coco, and Dinah-Oprah. Basically here is where we pick up from where we left off in episode 4. Michael offers the witches life, if they will all bow to him and claim him as their Lord and Savior. (Does he really have to copy everything?) Everyone refuses, except Dinah-Oprah who tells Cordelia that she only brought her back to have the power of voodoo on her side. However, Dinah-Oprah says fuck y’all and pledges herself to Michael.
BUT BABY….WE GET A BIG FUCKING SURPRISE!!!
Cordelia reveals that Dinah-Oprah is only half right, and out of the darkness steps…OUR ONE TRUE VOODOO QUEEN MARIE FUCKING LAVEAU AKA ANGELA BASSETT. Let me tell you, when I heard her voice and saw her sashay onto my screen, I! LOST! MY! SHITS! If you have been reading my reviews over the course of the season, you know that I have been wishing for this since day 1.
And then not only is Marie here to slay the voodoo kids, she literally slays Dinah-Oprah with a Bastdamn machete to the throat. I was all too happy in this moment. However, the reign of two magical queens was not to be had, and Michael must be dealt with. It starts with Cordelia casting a spell that causes robo-Miriam to explode and knocks Michael off the staircase.
End of Time and a Supreme’s Last Stand
While he is dazed, Madison picks up robo-Miriam’s blown-off machine gun arm and lights Michael up like Keisha in the shootout scene in New Jack City. Michael is knocked out but alive, of course. Myrtle rips out a lock of his hair, so that Mallory can have it to concentrate on when she performs the time travel spell. As everyone scatters to create a defense and give Mallory time, Madison decides to make her last stand (knowing she will die).
As Mallory is headed for the nearest tub, she is stabbed by Brock, who complains the he should have been on the plane to safety. (Once again, a completely forgotten character.) Myrtle quickly dispatches him with flames. Downstairs, Michael has blown up Madison’s head and is on his way up but gets blocked by a magical barrier created by Marie.
Cordelia and Myrtle are able to drag Mallory into a tub and turn on the water to start the spell. Meanwhile, Michael pierces through Marie’s barrier and right into Marie’s chest. (Gone too soon!) While he has his back turned, Coco sneaks up and stabs him in the back. After having a bite of fresh Creole heart meat, he snaps Coco’s neck with a twist of his fingers.
In the bathroom, it is obvious Mallory is too weak to perform the spell and is about to die. So, we’ve come to the moment we all knew would have to happen. Cordelia goes out to face Michael. Our Supreme gives us the most impressive speech of reading while still loving and hoping. She basically calls Michael a little pissy boy (which he is) She telekinetically takes the knife from him, stabs herself in the heart, and jumps off the third-floor staircase, denying him the joy of killing her himself.
In the tub, Mallory is full Supreme strength now and finishes the spell, disappearing into the ink black waters (of time). Our final scene of our former Supreme Cordelia is her smiling ever so slightly and her body in a pool of blood.
Changing the Past for the Better
Now in the past, we see the moment that led to Constance Langdon, Michael’s grandmother, deciding to kill herself at the Murder House. She is fed up with Michael killing everyone and everything. (Side note: As always, Jessica Lange gives us acting!) Michael is upset and leaves the house, but as he is crossing the street, he gets smashed by an SUV…being driven by new Supreme Mallory! She puts it in reverse and runs over him again. Then, she looks over at Constance, who has come outside and is in a state of shock, before putting it in drive and running him over again. (One for the Father, one for the Son, and one for the Holy Ghost.) Though, I would have hit him at least 7 more times, then stopped the back tire on his body, put the break on, and hit the gas. Gotta make sure he dead. That’s why a lot of people die in horror movies, not taking that one extra shot or two or three.
Constance runs to the street and kneels next to Michael. He tells her to take him to the house (Murder House), so he can die there and be stuck as a ghost with her other kids and technically, his family. However, Constance does the best thing ever. She tells Michael to go to hell and leaves him there to die in the street.
Apocalypse averted, Mallory is now at Miss Robichaux’s Academy for Exceptional Young Women. After bringing a butterfly back to life, a familiar voice speaks behind her. It’s our former (but once again reigning) Supreme Cordelia.
So, let’s finish this out with exactly what has happened. Mallory is now at the school before certain events happened. One of those events being that Queenie hasn’t gone to LA yet, so she isn’t in the hotel. Mallory warns her not to go there without revealing that she knows what will happen. Zoe is also alive, and Madison is back in her own personal hell. Because Michael is never a challenge to Cordelia, she never resurrected Myrtle either. However, because Mallory “defeated” the Antichrist, she makes a deal with Papa Legba to release Misty Day. I thought Nan was coming back too, which would have really made my day, but alas, Nan likes torturing people in hell. This also probably means Dinah-Oprah is alive, and Marie is back in hell as well. Ugh! Mallory go get our Voodoo Queen NOW!
It’s a Beautiful Baby…Evil
Some years pass and in 2020, Smart Sis Emily is protesting and meets Timothy. They get together and get together. Now, remember that special DNA that they had. Well, apparently and unbeknownst to them, what was so special about their DNA is that it is the exact correct concoction to make a new fucking dark haired bi-to-multi-racial Antichrist.
The season ends with the Black Pope of the Church of Satan coming to meet their Dark Lord and Savior and offer their help.
Final Final Thoughts *invites you to sit on my couch*
This season did some very, very wrong things. It really did waste the Apocalypse theme and smashed together a crossover of Murder House and Coven. This season really was Coven 2, and this may be the closest we actually get to that. What it does show, once again, is that Coven should be its own spin-off.
This finale started off great with Myrtle and Madison not being with the shit. Marie Laveau coming back from hell to give us true Voodoo Queen realness. The end of Michael’s neediness to please. And the amazing moments from Constance and Cordelia, especially Cordelia’s death speech.
With that being said, I can’t help but still feel this season wasn’t that good. It had bright spots, but every season has bright spots. This show overall has been following a trend of not being consistently good since Coven. The first three seasons (and arguably Freakshow as well) were good for much of the season, but since then it’s been so up and down. And I’ve been downright bored with several episodes this season, much of the ones that focused on Michael. However, this is all my opinion and opinions are relative and like assholes, everyone has one and some are shitty.
I want to end on one glaring thing that I really will not get over when it comes to this season. I can look past how Black voodoo was made to look evil. I can look past trying to figure out if Mallory is still the Supreme or if Cordelia is or both (honestly, I think they both have Supreme powers now, but Mallory will eventually have to tell Cordelia the truth and they’ll have to fix that bridge when they get there). The one thing I cannot get past is how Smart Sis Emily and Timothy created the Antichrist.
What about their combination of deoxyribonucleic acid made the correct genetic swaps that would be fitting of creating the spawn of Satan? Did they visit the Hotel or Murder House maybe? Are they descendants of someone that may have worshipped the Devil? When a healthy male ejaculates, it contains about 40 million to 1.2 billion sperm cells, AND it only takes one to fertilize an egg. So, I need the Black Pope or someone to explain to me how they were the correct couple to do this? (I’m just going to side eye the fact that a Black woman apparently can birth an Antichrist.)
Whether I will be back for another season (AHS is renewed for 2 more seasons) is up in the air right now. I mean I haven’t even finished Cult, because I was bored with it too. We’ll see what the future holds, until then don’t forget to wear your black on Wednesdays.
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