The highly anticipated eighth season of Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story has wrapped up and the big finale did not disappoint.
The series started off by throwing us straight into the deep end. There was no build-up or explanation, just a full-blown apocalypse and no sign of the Murder House/Coven cross-over we’d been promised. We then witness a cast of unfamiliar characters living out their miserable new post-apocalypse lives in a dinghy yet glamorous fallout shelter. Here we are introduced to Billie Lourd’s character, Mallory, who initially appears to be the least powerful member of the group, though we later find out that the opposite is true.
In episode 3, the witches from Coven arrive and resurrect Mallory along with the other witches in the shelter. The next six episodes take us back to the build-up to the apocalypse, and we learn about Michael Langdon, the spawn of Satan responsible for the end of the world as we know it. The episodes follow his involvement with the warlocks and witches, who are struggling to come up with a plan to stop him becoming too powerful.
When episode 10 drops, we have a pretty good understanding of just how evil Michael is and that the witches are pretty much powerless when it comes to stopping him. After Michael wipes out the majority of their coven, their only hope is Mallory. Cordelia (Sarah Paulson) places her under an identity spell that makes her forget that she is a powerful witch. Then, just like that, we are bought back to where we left off in episode 3.
The remainder of the episode is AHS at its best. Angela Bassett makes an unexpected return as Marie Laveau and with the power of voodoo on their side, and the witches are able to hold Michael back long enough for Mallory to go back in time and stop Langdon from rising to power.
Of course, things aren’t that simple and the witches cannot stall Michael for long. Things are made even more complicated when Coco’s (Leslie Grossman) bitter ex-boyfriend in a bid for revenge ends up fatally injuring Mallory.
In the TV sacrifice of the year, Cordelia kills herself before Michael has the chance, transferring her remaining powers to Mallory. She goes back in time and runs over a young Michael, who is currently living next-door to the Murder House. And just like that, the world is saved.
After a dramatic climax, AHS could afford to be a little cheesy with their ending. Mallory rescues Queenie from the hotel Cortez and brings Misty back from her personal hell. All is well and Mallory is welcomed into the coven with open arms.
In the final moments of the series, we are introduced to the future spawn of Satan. In a Conjuring-esque style moment of cliche cliff-hangers, we are reminded that American Horror Story will always be able to continue, because there will always be plenty more stories of evil to be told.
An exciting, climactic finale which tied everything together perfectly and did not disappoint.
4/5
