AHS: Coven – Review

“No one gets away with sin. Eventually, everybody pays. Everybody suffers.”

The 3rd season in this anthology series deviates quite moderately from Asylum. The tone is different, going for a more black comedy type feel, and visually it is more gruesome and bloody. But it is still nonetheless, entertaining and exciting.

This season tells the story of Zoe Benson and how she travels to New Orleans to join a Coven for girls that share the same lineage and abilities. If you are a fan of the show Scream Queens, than you will love Coven. It blends both old folklore, and modern day stories of New Orleans. It has of course some returning actors from the previous seasons(i.e: Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe, etc).

But my personal favorite new comers this time around are Madison Montgomery(Emma Roberts), Madame Delphine Lalaurie(Kathy Bates), and Marie Laveau(Angela Bassett).

Coven is certainly ambitious with a change in mood, one being more quirky and whimsical, but writers/creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, prove themselves to be a force to be reckoned with.

I also would like to add, that this season is not completely devoid of true scares and horrors. Some of the performances, especially by Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett, make episodes truly cynical and sadistic. A majority of the episodes, and more specifically that latter ones, have more of an emphasis on mortality and death. Themes of the past, prejudice, family, relationships, are all explored.

Coven might be distinctly different from what we’ve seen thus far, but it only establishes the creators of this show as experts of creating layered characters, great atmosphere, and spine-tingling horror.