American Horror Story: Coven 3.09 Review: Witch Hunters

Anyone that has yet to watch Wednesday night’s episode of American Horror Story: Coven, entitled ‘Head’, then you’re taking longer to watch it than I am to review it, I suggest you do that now. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

So, three episodes left until the season finale, in which this series of characters wrap themselves up. With that in mind, I’m not sure the progression of this story is being done quite as well as the first season was. This whole dedicating flashbacks to Hank business this week was a tad boring, and wasn’t really necessary to complete his story. So, basically there’s an entire company dedicated to taking witch-kind down, and yet they supposedly have very few left? It seems a little ludicrous to me. Also, the fact that Hank was merely “placed” in the coven as eyes, when it was made to look like he took the initiative to get into bed with Marie Laveau in order to take these witches down. Sloppy writing right there if you ask me.

Basically, what I found is that this week’s episode was terribly slow. We were back to horribly done camera angles. I’m sorry, it’s not artsy, it’s nauseating; please stop it so I can enjoy this program. They go through all of this struggle with Kyle and stuff, only to have Fiona swoop in and fix him to the best of her abilities. And yet, he’s still not fully there; he’s just around as an attack dog. I have to say, of all the characters this season, I’m most disappointed with Kyle. I’d thought by now he’d at least be mostly back to who he was, but now he’s apparently just their attack dog? What? It made sense that he’d kill his mother, but that other dog? Also, what was this whole business of having the council members cut up? I’d understand Myrtle’s desire for revenge, but that seemed a bit over the top if you ask me.

All in all, while I was happy to have Cordelia get her sight back, as well as watching Marie Laveau go crawling to the witches, I’m not sure this season is shaping up to be anywhere near as good as I’d hoped it would be. The villains of the season seem pretty pathetic when you look at it, and it appears as if there is no overarching story developing at all this season. This really is a mess of a season, and I don’t see how it thinks it could get any better. That’s two disappointing seasons in a row; if next year isn’t better, I’ll probably be done.  The writing is just nowhere near as tight and well-developed as it really should be, and it makes me incredibly disappointed in the showrunner for this season. Sure, that song was beautiful at the end, but about half of each episode could be cut out and it would still be enjoyable. It’s dissatisfying.

My rating: 6.5 out of 10 (and that .5 is merely for the last five minutes).

Best Lines:

“No, bitch, she’s clairvoyant.” – Madison states.

“You’re one stubborn old lady head, you know?” – Queenie remarks.

Okay, my apologies for the lateness of this, but I’ve just had a long couple of days. I have a few more reviews to catch up on, but probably won’t get to those tonight. Maybe The Crazy Ones, but I’m not sure yet. So check back later to see.

American Horror Story: Coven 3.08 Review: Working Together

Anyone that has yet to watch last night’s episode of American Horror Story: Coven, titled ‘The Sacred Taking’, that is what I suggest you go and do now, before proceeding ahead. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

There are so many sides to this series this season, it’s almost difficult to keep track. You’ve got the witches that everyone is – or at least I am – rooting for, then you’ve got the voodoo side where I only really like Marie Laveau, and then there’s Cordelia’s husband who is a witch hunter. Okay, so there are only three sides, but there are a lot of characters that go back and forth between them all. One of which is the witch/voodoo crossover kind of character Queenie. She’s one character I really can’t stand this season, a) because she’s grotesquely large, b) because she’s so damned whiny, and c) because she’s this selfish, oh woe is me kind of character that thinks she deserves more than everyone else – those kinds of characters really piss me off.

This episode, for the most part, really worked for me this week. We finally got to see most of our witch characters (including Misty Day) work together for once. I really enjoyed seeing the coven work together to bring Fiona down, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing all of them work together against the Voodoo priestesses. And I’m especially glad Fiona didn’t go all raging Supreme on them all for trying to take her down.

All in all, aside from a few choice cinematographic shots, this was a very well done, well-written episode. Despite how much I don’t like Queenie, I still really enjoyed the opening scene, and the storytelling that it brought with it. Seeing Kyle’s face light up with amazement when Zoe covered his ears with the headphones was beautiful, as well as when he managed to tell her he loved her, which also brought wonderful storytelling with it as Madison listened in, in tears. This episode had a great use of red, as Madison wore that colour dress to facilitate Fiona’s killing herself. Such a shocking use of the colour against the mostly black and white of that scene. This episode really had a lot going for it, despite it, or this season, living up to the Horror in its title.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Maybe it’s a good thing you’re blind as a butter knife.” – Myrtle Snow relates to Cordelia.

“God knows it’s not getting any action from you, grandma.” – Madison remarks, regarding Fiona’s bed.

“I’m going to bring marshmallows and graham crackers to make smores.” – Madison explains what she’ll do when they bring Fiona to be burned for her crimes of killing another witch.

My apologies for not posting this yesterday, but here it is now. I’m off to watch The Vampire Diaries now, and afterwards Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, Grey’s Anatomy, and The Crazy Ones. Stay tuned.

American Horror Story: Coven 3.06 Review: Don't Mess With Spirit Boards

Anyone that has yet to watch last night’s episode of American Horror Story: Coven, entitled ‘The Axeman Cometh’, here’s where I suggest that is what you do before proceeding ahead. For this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

Well, we’re halfway through the season. I do like the material they’ve created this season, but each episode doesn’t quite feel like one full episode. Like tonight’s episode, it felt like half an episode rather than an entire episode with a clearly written beginning, middle, and end. There’s no horror to this season, I thought they’d at least be well written episodes. It’s like one half of an episode is the end to the last, and the other half is the beginning to the next episode. It’d be one thing if all of the episodes were out at once, but it’s aggravating when I have to wait a week to see some sense of conclusion.

One thing I do enjoy this season are some of the characters. Like I believe I mentioned in my review of last week’s episode, Zoe started out as such a scared, little girl, and has really grown into this strong witch that wants to fight to survive. At this point, I honestly don’t care if they say otherwise; Zoe is the next Supreme in my books. Nan is also an interesting character, definitely a step up from the minutely annoying Addie. Queenie, on the other hand, is a character I don’t like. At all. She’s moronic, believing Fiona when she’s obviously being manipulated, and then the way she acted with Bastien. Fiona I’m back and forth on. Her selfishness doesn’t make her much of a redeeming character, but the way she’s trying to step up for Cordelia gives me some hope in her. Cordelia, on the other hand, is definitely better than Paulson’s character last season, but so far I still prefer her character from season one. I’m not much of one to think Paulson is a strong enough actress to carry a season, or have as heavy a role as she has had these last two seasons. Kyle I’m still intrigued by, but I’m still waiting for him to get over this lack of being able to speak. And then Misty I was much happier with when she was fawning over Zoe and wanting to find her tribe, rather than bringing back Myrtle. But I did enjoy her for the most part this week.

So the husband is a witch hunter. That makes more sense now, with the redhead from last week and how he killed her. Still, I’m not quite certain why he would work for Marie Leveau if he’s a witch hunter, this series does state she is a witch, just of a different kind. This does make this come together a bit better, though. I always find this series has stronger second halves of the seasons, when the writing gets clearer and is strung together better. That’s definitely a touchy tactic when it could just as easily fail by causing a series to shed viewership. Nonetheless, I still end up watching the season.

All in all, I do find the writing is stronger as this season goes on, but there isn’t much horror to it. The stories are interesting, but this series is called American Horror Story, not American Story. After the first season, I expected more, but I suppose intriguing storytelling will have to suffice. It does have its sparing moments, but maybe it’s because I have a lamp on so that I’m able to write notes, but its just not getting to me at all. And my house is actually haunted. Although I suppose that might make this season seem less scary, even with that ax man added in. Still, I hold out hope that it will get better. It is, after all, a hell of a lot better than last season.

My rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Best Line:

“You released him?” – Queenie questions. “I told him I would! I lied.” – Zoe explains, diabolically.

All right, that’s all for tonight folks. Check back in tomorrow for my reviews of Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, The Vampire Diaries, Grey’s Anatomy, and The Crazy Ones. Good night to all you other night workers out there!

American Horror Story: Coven 3.05 Review: Protecting the Coven

For all those that have yet to watch last night’s episode of American Horror Story: Coven, titled ‘Burn, Witch. Burn!’, now is your last chance to do without the threat of spoilers. For this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

For an episode I was looking forward to, I was sadly disappointed with a lot of what this episode gave us. Don’t get me wrong, it was certainly a step above every episode from last season, but all of the filming techniques were just too damned distracting. Last week I thought, yay, this series is finally moving this season into mostly regular cinematography, and then this week I get blurred lens work, terrible lighting and focus, as well a lot of terrible angle work. The cinematography was back to being aggravatingly distracting. I mean, was I supposed to be able to pay attention to anything going on on screen? The blurriness was in the way of so much of it, that what was the point to adding it in? They weren’t dreaming, everything that was happening on screen was happening, and they weren’t drunk, so I just don’t get it.

 While the cinematography was horrendous, the writing direction of this season hasn’t been terrible. I like the way that they’re going with Zoe’s character more now than when she was first introduced in the season premiere. When she pulled out the chainsaw I thought, ‘Bitch with a chainsaw, nice.’ Even if her voice was a little squeaky and high-pitched every time she would yell at someone to run. It’s also nice to see Nan and this boy-next-door character finding a connection, although I’ve liked Nan all season. Fiona hit the nail on the head when she said Nan was smarter than all of them. Queenie has had some pretty interesting lines, but what she did two episodes ago was disgusting, and the idiocy she seems to have is a little unbelievable. I did greatly enjoy Fiona this week, especially in that scene where she brings the stillborn baby back to life, as well as how she was trying to be more protective of her daughter now that she’s lost her sight. The one thing I wasn’t too fond of was Misty bringing Myrtle back to life; I feel like they’re going to be working in cahoots soon, when I’d really hoped Misty and Zoe’s friendship would get more screen time.

That was definitely an interesting choice of music for the scene leading Myrtle to the witch-burning pole. The way that was filmed was mostly intriguing, with the two men in suits and everyone walking out to it. The song was strangely fitting for this point in the episode. I am now more confused with the whole daughters situation with Madame Lalaurie. I just don’t think this writing in this episode fit the scene quite well with the season’s premiere, but maybe I’m not able to match things up.

Overall, this episode wasn’t quite as exciting as I expected. I think I get disappointed every time I hold high expectations for this series, but only love it when my expectations are low. The trouble is, every time my expectations are surpassed, they’re higher for the next episode, so it’s almost like a rollercoaster, every other week I like the episode, the other weeks I don’t. We’ll see how this comes to pass in future weeks. I do hope we see Kyle again more, and that my belief that Zoe is the next Supreme (given the evidence of this episode leading it to be the most likely) comes to light. It would be a disappointment if she weren’t, being that there is more evidence of it being true of her, than any of the others.

My rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“I like a witch who knows how to fight.” – Fiona informs Zoe, after she fought for the coven.

“I doubt it. You are, after all, the maid.” – Fiona tells Madame Lalaurie, who thinks that their similar motherly circumstances could bring them closer together.

Okay, now I just have to wait for The Vampire Diaries, Once Upon A Time In Wonderland, Grey’s Anatomy, and The Crazy Ones to air, before I can review any of them. Check back in a few hours for those reviews.

American Horror Story: Coven 3.04 Review: United We Stand, Divided We Fall

For all those that have yet to watch Wednesday’s episode of American Horror Story: Coven, titled ‘Fearful Pranks Ensue’, this is the only point where I’ll suggest you go and do that now before reading ahead. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! Proceed at your own discretion.

This week’s episode was so beyond better than the last three episodes, it’s exciting to think. No, there hasn’t been much horror to this season, but the writing was a lot tighter this week, the characters more interesting, and the most encouraging thing about this week’s episode was how wonderful the cinematography was compared to previous weeks. There were still a few moments to the episode, most notably near the end, that could’ve been done without, but overall I was much happier with the camera work this week.

At first I was a little worried Spalding’s backstory would turn out to be moronic, but it was astonishingly interestingly done. It was quite obvious that he was in love with Fiona, but that was still an intriguing touch added in there that he was the person to cut his tongue out. Still, I feel like there needs to be a little more development to him, because he’s really not that great of a character for someone such as Denis O’Hare.

There several small things I loved about this episode. It made me laugh to see Spalding cover his paper from the prying eyes of the Council. I also liked how Zoe seemed to take charge with Kyle, and how she seemed to be a stronger character this week then a few episodes ago. Just leads me to believe she really is the next Supreme. It was also sad but well done the way Marie Leveau took care of that one woman who lost her son to black haters.

There are definitely some questions circulating in my head. Are the writers calling Voodoo Black witchcraft? I’d think they’d give more credit to the craft that it is its own thing. What’s with the dolls in Spalding’s room, and that he was going to dress up Madison’s dead body in Fiona’s old dress? Where did Kyle run off to, and why? Why wasn’t Zoe out there looking for him? And why in all hell did Cordelia’s husband kill that woman? Oh, and was it really necessary to just write that actress into one episode like that when she’s so much better than just a one episode character?

All in all, this week was definitely an improvement. There are still kinks to be worked out by the end of the season, and more horror definitely needs to be added, but it’s getting better a lot quicker than last season did. Maybe season one set the bar too high, but I still expect a lot when that is what’s been created. I am excited to see Marie Leveau and Fiona go head to head.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Best Line:

“If she’s dead, it’s probably because she got wasted and offered the Grim Reaper a hand job.” – Queenie says to the Witches Council.

Alright, that’ll have to be all for the night because I’m still exhausted. My brain is starting to nod off, so I’m signing out. I’ll try and post the review of Thursday’s episode of The Crazy Ones before I go to work tomorrow, but no promises.