Could This Be the Last of Kathy Bates on 'American Horror Story'?
SPOILER ALERT: This recap contains storyline and character spoilers.
It seems as if everyone at the New Orleans coven hit a breaking point (murder, betrayal, more murder) in this week's episode of "American Horror Story: Coven," titled "The Dead." It's hard to imagine things getting even more insane, but after the deaths of both Spalding and Delphine (or so it's assumed), a really weird undead threesome, major Axeman daddy issues, and Queenie crossing over to Laveau's voodoo haven, everyone is left with some major post-traumatic coven issues. Viewers included.
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Are the witches going to rally against Fiona and put an end to her Supreme reign? Are Spalding and Delphine really dead? Will Queenie's crossover make her the coven's next big threat? And please, can the Axeman just go away already? Here are this week's top shockers.
Frat Tat
The episode starts with a flashback to a very fratty Kyle in a tattoo shop with his buddies, who are getting inked. As he talks about his dreams of being an engineer and preventing the next Katrina disaster with a better levee system (swoon), we see an ambitious and optimistic side of Kyle, who says, "I've got one life and I'm not wasting it."
We soon see present-day Kyle as Frankenstein, pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle from his friends' body parts, their fresh Chinese and shamrock tattoos visible on his limbs. Horrified, he tries to kill himself, only to be consoled, or rather seduced, by fellow formerly dead comrade Madison. More on that later…
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Wrath of Cordelia
Madison saves Cordelia from tumbling down the stairs, and with a vision-triggering touch of her arm, Cordelia confirms that Fiona was the one who murdered Madison. Cordelia realizes that Madison was likely targeted by Fiona due to her developing powers, and she asserts that Fiona certainly won't hesitate to slit the throat of the next potential Supreme. And of course, this means Zoe's life is in danger. Cordelia swears to kill her mother and warns Zoe that she's at risk of Fiona's wrath.
Millennial Madness
Giving what has easily been the most badass and true-to-our-time monologue this season, Madison voices the woes of a generation plagued by "numbness and indifference." Dark humor abounds with her quip, "Let's go to Jamba Juice!" describing her numbed attitude after being gang-raped by frat boys in the premiere episode.
Madison tries all of Fiona's medicinal herbs until she can't feel anything, and she admits that she needs to do something to feel emotion before she goes crazy. Mischievous as usual, Madison quickly finds a solution in starting relations with Kyle, and soon Zoe is invited into the picture. A two-thirds dead/undead threesome is bizarre, to put it mildly, but the bright side is that Zoe's powers are null against those who have already died. Will this relationship soon implode, or have these three lost souls formed a new alliance?
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Axeman in Love
After bonding over a rather morbid Faulkner quote, "The reason for living is to get ready to stay dead a long time," the Axeman and Fiona take their tryst to the next level. Never mind the dead body in the bathtub, or the realization that the Axeman has watched Fiona grow up in the coven since she was an 8-year-old child — these two are already beyond twisted. Which is to say, it could be the perfect match.
The Axeman admits to having viewed Fiona as his daughter, but as she grew older, his feelings became complicated. None of this is remotely normal, but such absurdity seems almost sane in the context of Fiona's love life. Will the Axeman and Fiona join forces? Or will Fiona's feisty and vengeful nature take charge against him?
Bye-Bye, Spalding
Zoe reattaches Spalding's enchanted tongue, which had been put under a truth spell by Myrtle Snow. Not wanting to tell the truth, Spalding initially cut it out of his own mouth, but now with his tongue back in its place, Spalding has no choice but to admit that Fiona was behind Madison's death. Zoe is disgusted with his behavior, and Spalding tries to reason that his family has served the coven for ten generations and that he's part of the coven, to which Zoe responds, "Not anymore." And with that, Spalding is stabbed in the heart... quite literally.
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Blood Facials
Queenie and Delphine go on a late-night fast-food run in what appears to be the start of an unlikely friendship. However, Delphine's belief that Queenie will never fit in at the coven because of her race is only compounded by Laveau's invitation for Queenie to join forces and finally belong somewhere that she can develop her powers.
The price of crossing over is, of course, bringing Delphine to Laveau, and Queenie doesn't hesitate long before handing her over. "Mix your witch with our voodoo, and even a Supreme can't touch you," says Laveau, dripping with foreshadowing.
Earlier in the episode, we see an evil Delphine coating her face with newborn baby's blood to provide youth, but by episode's end, Laveau is similarly brushing blood on her face, and this time it's Delphine's. Will this be the start of a battle royale between the coven and Laveau, or will Queenie's crossover bridge the gap?
"American Horror Story: Coven" airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.
