So the most recent episode of American Horror Story: Apocalypse was exciting for a few reasons... 1) It was the return to the Murder House for the first time since season one. 2) We get the return of the Harmon Family and Tate... some of everyone's favorite characters in season 1. 3) Jessica Lange returns for the first time since Freak Show! 4) It is Sarah Paulson's directorial debut!
So this episode had a lot going on with it to begin with... it was over an hour long... and it did not disappoint at all. I actually think it might be the strongest episode of the entire series and the best crossover the show has ever done.
This episode followed Madison and Behold as they bought the Murder House and did a spell so that the spirits would appear and talk to them about Michael Langdon. We get to see some of the murder house resident ghosts... like The Harmon Family, Tate Langdon, Moira O'Hare, and of corse Constance Langdon reunited with 3 of her children. Madison and Behold are mostly interested in Constance's story raising Michael... but of corse- Constance won't talk to them unless they do something for her... get rid of Moira!
And so they do! They dig up the bones of Moira O'hare- which are her ticket out of the house. She wishes to be buried with her mother who she misses dearly and she gets her happy reunion with her mother in the cemetery... so that was a good end for one of our characters.
Before I even get into the other encounters with Michael Langdon... let's talk about the second happy ending of the show: Tate and Violet! Madison reunites the two by showing Violet that Tate is truly no longer evil and they are both only tortured souls because they long to be together. Its a really sweet moment and surprising that Madison could actually feel bad for the two and help them... although she described it as just "helping 2 hot ghosts get laid." Which is a truly Madison thing to say.
Alright so back to our stories with Michael... Constance raised him for his childhood and she loved him. He was beautiful and more than anything Constance loved being a mother- even if there was something wrong with all of her children. Constance noticed Michael's sociopathic tendencies and his love of killing animals... and although she knew that could lead to worse things- she still believed she was there to raise him and make it better so she planted rose bushes over the animals... eventually she became so sick of the smell and as Michael grew up mysteriously over night and began killing things bigger than animals- she knew that she wouldn't be able to take it any more and killed herself inside of the murder house so that she could mother 3 of her children for all eternity... and she wished to never see Michael again.
Ben and Vivienne were not on speaking terms when Madison and Behold arrived... which I thought was kind of an interesting choice for this show... considering that at the end of Murder House the two were quite happy together... I was a little surprised to say the least. Anyway Ben thought of Michael as his son... although he was not biologically his... he was still a part of Vivienne and he loved Vivienne so he raised him the way that he never got to with his own son who died in childbirth and was an eternal infant in the Murder House. He threw a ball around with him... and there were some genuinely nice bonding moments between the two of them. I have to admit- I didn't quite remember why Ben and Michael had their falling out... but as Michael was becoming more powerful he started killing more people and harming the other spirits in the house. A nice couple moved into the Murder house and he not only killed them physically... but he also killed their souls and that's when Ben said "You know what I'm not really your dad."
I thought Ben seemed a little out of character this episode... it's not the same Ben as the end of Murder house... but I guess the same one as the beginning of Murder house.
Tate also rejected Michael as his son... Vivienne still watched over him in a worried fashion I guess because she knew something wasn't right. She saw him do a Black Mass with some satan worshippers- which is how he was introduced to Ms. Mead... and she tried to kill him after knowing what sort of evil he was... but she couldn't kill him- he almost killed her... but Tate was the one to save her... which is what eventually brought Tate back to Violet.
So Vivienne believed that Tate was not Michael's father any more than she was his mother... he's just a creation who was really born from the evil of the house.
As far as Sarah Paulson's directing skills... I thought it was very visually interesting right from the beginning and I just think they did a great job of it all around. I thought of everything the Ben part was the most forgettable and disappointing... but as a whole the episode was one of the best of the series... in a pretty great season. It was great to be back where it all began and to have characters that haven't met before interact... and honestly even though it was brief- it was kind of cool to see Connie Britton with Cody Fern and Evan Peters... I just thought that all played out really well. There was a lot of fan service in this... but it also turned out to be a great episode and one of my favorites of the series.
I'm sure we'll learn more about Constance's 4th child- Rose who is a little girl with no eyes... and I don't really think that's the last we'll see of the characters for the year... or from the Murder House. I'm interested to see what happens next.
This was also the highest rated episode of the series... which I think includes all 8 seasons? The second highest was "Could it Be... Satan?" which is another favorite episode of mine... I think this started off a little slow- but I'm happy to see where this is going and how it all connects!
Bye!
-Shannon
So this episode had a lot going on with it to begin with... it was over an hour long... and it did not disappoint at all. I actually think it might be the strongest episode of the entire series and the best crossover the show has ever done.
This episode followed Madison and Behold as they bought the Murder House and did a spell so that the spirits would appear and talk to them about Michael Langdon. We get to see some of the murder house resident ghosts... like The Harmon Family, Tate Langdon, Moira O'Hare, and of corse Constance Langdon reunited with 3 of her children. Madison and Behold are mostly interested in Constance's story raising Michael... but of corse- Constance won't talk to them unless they do something for her... get rid of Moira!
And so they do! They dig up the bones of Moira O'hare- which are her ticket out of the house. She wishes to be buried with her mother who she misses dearly and she gets her happy reunion with her mother in the cemetery... so that was a good end for one of our characters.
Before I even get into the other encounters with Michael Langdon... let's talk about the second happy ending of the show: Tate and Violet! Madison reunites the two by showing Violet that Tate is truly no longer evil and they are both only tortured souls because they long to be together. Its a really sweet moment and surprising that Madison could actually feel bad for the two and help them... although she described it as just "helping 2 hot ghosts get laid." Which is a truly Madison thing to say.
Alright so back to our stories with Michael... Constance raised him for his childhood and she loved him. He was beautiful and more than anything Constance loved being a mother- even if there was something wrong with all of her children. Constance noticed Michael's sociopathic tendencies and his love of killing animals... and although she knew that could lead to worse things- she still believed she was there to raise him and make it better so she planted rose bushes over the animals... eventually she became so sick of the smell and as Michael grew up mysteriously over night and began killing things bigger than animals- she knew that she wouldn't be able to take it any more and killed herself inside of the murder house so that she could mother 3 of her children for all eternity... and she wished to never see Michael again.
Ben and Vivienne were not on speaking terms when Madison and Behold arrived... which I thought was kind of an interesting choice for this show... considering that at the end of Murder House the two were quite happy together... I was a little surprised to say the least. Anyway Ben thought of Michael as his son... although he was not biologically his... he was still a part of Vivienne and he loved Vivienne so he raised him the way that he never got to with his own son who died in childbirth and was an eternal infant in the Murder House. He threw a ball around with him... and there were some genuinely nice bonding moments between the two of them. I have to admit- I didn't quite remember why Ben and Michael had their falling out... but as Michael was becoming more powerful he started killing more people and harming the other spirits in the house. A nice couple moved into the Murder house and he not only killed them physically... but he also killed their souls and that's when Ben said "You know what I'm not really your dad."
I thought Ben seemed a little out of character this episode... it's not the same Ben as the end of Murder house... but I guess the same one as the beginning of Murder house.
Tate also rejected Michael as his son... Vivienne still watched over him in a worried fashion I guess because she knew something wasn't right. She saw him do a Black Mass with some satan worshippers- which is how he was introduced to Ms. Mead... and she tried to kill him after knowing what sort of evil he was... but she couldn't kill him- he almost killed her... but Tate was the one to save her... which is what eventually brought Tate back to Violet.
So Vivienne believed that Tate was not Michael's father any more than she was his mother... he's just a creation who was really born from the evil of the house.
As far as Sarah Paulson's directing skills... I thought it was very visually interesting right from the beginning and I just think they did a great job of it all around. I thought of everything the Ben part was the most forgettable and disappointing... but as a whole the episode was one of the best of the series... in a pretty great season. It was great to be back where it all began and to have characters that haven't met before interact... and honestly even though it was brief- it was kind of cool to see Connie Britton with Cody Fern and Evan Peters... I just thought that all played out really well. There was a lot of fan service in this... but it also turned out to be a great episode and one of my favorites of the series.
I'm sure we'll learn more about Constance's 4th child- Rose who is a little girl with no eyes... and I don't really think that's the last we'll see of the characters for the year... or from the Murder House. I'm interested to see what happens next.
This was also the highest rated episode of the series... which I think includes all 8 seasons? The second highest was "Could it Be... Satan?" which is another favorite episode of mine... I think this started off a little slow- but I'm happy to see where this is going and how it all connects!
Bye!
-Shannon
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