The Axeman Cometh
This weeks installment of American Horror Story, Coven, has been written by experienced TV show writer Douglas Petrie, with direction from Michael Uppendahl. The Axeman Cometh, begins in 1921 at the coven, where the young witches are reading in a local newspaper about a serial killer terrorizing the city, known as The Axeman (Danny Huston). We watch The Axeman writing a letter, where he explains some of his actions and lets it be known he loves to listen to jazz, and if he comes across anyone not playing Jazz as he stalks at night, he intends to chop them up like all his other victims. Full marks for originality on this one.
- 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
13 November 2013 - Ed’s Grade: A-
Being that the young witches are far from helpless, they devise a plan to lure the killer to the coven by simply not playing jazz but instead loudly play a classical piece. The Axeman wanders the streets where the terrified public are blasting out his kind of music, however, when he hears the wrong type of music coming from the witches home, The Axeman takes the bait and breaks in. Once the trap is sprung, he’s left rather perforated as each member of the coven stab him many times to end his serial killer days.
There were a few very good surprises in this episode of Coven as Spalding’s secret is out and Delia’s Hank has more than just one secret that we didn’t know about. We discovered he enjoys murder but the second secret to be revealed is a peach. Fiona continually warned Delia about Hank “reeking of bullshit,” but after becoming blind, thanks to Myrtle Snow throwing acid in her eyes, Delia has gained the power of Second Sight. When she simply makes contact with someones bare skin, she can see their innermost secrets, and Hank and Fiona are the first two to be ‘read’ by Delia.
Zoe has found a Ouija board and persuades Nan and an unwilling Queenie to join with her to attempt a connection with the missing Madison. Under protest from Queenie, the trio use the Ouija and do in actual fact make contact but not with Madison. Instead it’s a spirit who blames the witches for his death. Zoe promises the spirit it’ll be released if he tells them where Madison can be found, which he does, but Zoe doesn’t hold up her end of the bargain to the chagrin of The Axeman.
Fiona has started chemotherapy where she’s surrounded by the sick and dying in the hospital ward. She’s asked the doctor if she’ll lose her hair but he tells her that not everyone goes bald. Near the end of this episode we discover if that is indeed Fiona’s fate. Delia returns home and when Hank touches her she catches a glimpse of a beautiful redhead, Kaylee (Alexandra Breckenridge) and now wants answers as to who she was. Kaylee was certainly not the random victim we all thought her to be and is actually connected to the coven.
Kyle finds himself once again at Misty’s home, and Misty decides to try to clean him up by helping him take a bath, however, Kyle is haunted by the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother and goes zombie-postal, then starts to smash the place up, including breaking Misty’s much-loved Stevie Nicks’ 8-track. Zoe arrives in time to see all the mess Kyle has made and gets the pair to go with her, although, Zoe also has another reason for wanting Misty Day to go with her.
The young witches now have Madison’s decaying corpse and have been trying to get Spalding to tell them what happened via Nan, but he won’t reveal to them what they want to know. With Kyle chained up for his own protection, Misty and Zoe attempt to get Madison back to life and try to learn how and why she was murdered. We also get an interesting flashback where we see Kaylee use powers to set her boyfriend’s arms on fire. Hank pays a visit to Marie Laveau’s salon but most definitely not for a dye job. Misty doesn’t want to stay at the coven as she’s getting bad vibes from the place.
A blind Cordelia gets payed a visit from The Axeman and Madison is being questioned by the other girls, but so far can remember very little. Fiona discovers what chemotherapy can do, while she’s sitting alone in a bar.
Another great episode of American Horror Story, Coven that was plenty busy but perhaps not as good as the second and third episodes, but only slightly.
The trailer for next Wednesday’s episode, The Dead, is next to this TV roundup.
TV Review by Ed Blackadder, Lead Entertainment Writer
