Fearful Pranks Ensue
American Horror Story is quite simply the best show around where horror and dark magic is concerned and season 3 has raised the bar even higher than before. It has brought in the old and the new to great effect, but has relied on brilliant writing, acting and directorial skill to tell the story. It’s never tried to get away with simply grossing out the viewer with gore, although, there isn’t exactly a shortage when bloodshed is called for, and anything we do see is extremely powerful.
The stunning Alexandra Breckenridge, who also played Moira 2.0 in Season 1, made an uncredited appearance as Kaylie, Cordelia’s husband’s bit on the side, but this being American Horror Story, all was not as it seemed. His arc has great potential which I’m sure will be examined in greater detail soon enough, with maybe even an episode more dedicated to his darker side. Near the end of this episode Cordelia asks Fiona why she doesn’t like Hank, to which she replies, “He reeks of bullshit.” Indeed he does, but why can’t Cordelia see him for what he is, with her being a witch and all?
- American Horror Story
- Created by
Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuk - Cast
Taissa Farmiga, Emma Roberts, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Frances Conroy, Kathy Bates, Lily Rabe, Jessica Lange - Episode Release Date
30 October 2013 - Ed’s Grade: A
Fearful Pranks Ensue, opens in the 60’s, as a young black boy is being chased by a group of middle-aged racists. His mother is in Marie Laveau’s hair salon boasting about believing in Kennedy’s controversial school integration policy. While she’s being told by the others she’s taking a chance sending her son to a white school, her kid is being lynched by the group who snatched the boy off the street. When they discover the poor kid dead, Marie Laveau opens the gates of hell on their asses by summoning the dead. This serves to show us just how powerful she is in voodoo but also what she has in store for the witches.
Fiona murdered Madison by slitting her throat and Spalding had to clean up the mess then dispose of the body. Now the Council has arrived to seek answers to why Madison can no longer be heard by Nan. As usual Fiona shows contempt to all but one of their number, a screaming queen aptly named, Quentin. I’m assuming he’s based on the hilariously camp Quentin Crisp, a famed elderly gay gent from days gone by. Fiona is no stranger to the council’s questions as we see in another flashback where we witness more of the story of the old Supreme’s murder, and more importantly, how spalding became tongueless.
I’m sure we knew Spalding’s story was gonna be an interesting one, and of course, twisted. Once again they add a few drops of weird by having Spalding playing house with dolls, and even have him dress up in ridiculous old-fashioned doll-like clothes, including a matching bonnet. We need to wait until the end to find out just how weird Spalding can be. I didn’t see the tongue incident coming and thought I had that one figured out, but as per usual, I missed it.
Misty Day is noticeably absent for this episode although Kyle does make a brief and bloody appearance. It looks as though Zoe is beginning to regret her actions and questioning if she should have allowed his return from death. I have a theory about this particular arc (of which I’ll no doubt be once again proven wrong) that sees Kyle displaying some form of immortality and will allow he and Zoe to have safe sex.
We have the council breathing down Fiona’s neck over Madison’s disappearance and Queenie recovering from the minotaur attack, but Fiona is still the Supreme and takes care of the minotaur for Delphine. We learn that the old Supreme and Marie had a pact that has held up until now, but things are about to change after Fiona sends Marie a gift. This brings us back to how Marie dealt with the murderers back in the 60’s, and how she decides to deal with the witches now. The one big surprise I got in this episode involves acid and someones face.
Next episode’s trailer titled, Burn, Witch. Burn!, is attached.
Review by Ed Blackadder, Lead Entertainment Writer
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