Are we getting anywhere? AHS: Apocalypse episode 2, “The Morning After,” doesn’t lead viewers anywhere close to the promised crossover.
At the end of AHS episode 1 the credits rolled and the episode immediately aired again on FX. So, I sat back and watched the people of Los Angeles panic yet again as a nuclear ballistic missile headed toward the city. This is nothing for me, seeing as I’d watch The Americans episodes on repeat straight through a second viewing. But here, I didn’t need to see AHS again. I wanted something new — a trailer for next week.
The trailer eventually arrived, the Monday before the new episode with shots of the Coven witches interacting with the members of Outpost 3. But then AHS: Apocalypse episode 2 aired and still… no witches.
It’s not unlike AHS to leave breadcrumbs. But, from previous experience, the show typically front loads the series with what you want and then crashes into a mess of alien abductions, forced Neil Patrick Harris and family cameos, and a scene or two about Emmy-winner Darren Criss eating cat food.
It’s instances like the above and episode 2 of AHS: Apocalypse that tend to take me completely out of the episode and mythology of the season. Admittedly, Cult didn’t win me over with its first episode and so I did not watch it. But Apocalypse set itself up as the crossover event of the series.
And so, here we are with episode 2.
Michael Langdon, give me something
Is it weird to say that the Michael Langdon who murdered his Nanny feels more threatening than this guy? While Cody Fern does a fantastic job rounding out the character who ultimately comes to run the Cooperative, there is an emptiness in him.
The writers room relies heavily on the way actors can spin their provocative for the sake of being provocative text. The undressing of Evan Peters’ character, stripping him to the core of who he is as a person was done to prove he was not well-equipped to be chosen to move forward to the group charged with preserving humanity.
Evan Peters’ hairdresser persona, Gallant should have been a beacon enough to signal that he is not what his name leads you to believe. A tumultuous relationship with his grandmother is given away in the few choices that he and Joan Collins share in those opening moments of Apocalypse. In fact, I’d argue that Gallant going to pick up his grandmother gave away more about his character than the entirety of his scenes with Langdon.
Peters does so much with his characters in AHS off the page. Here my frustrations stem from the fact that they are not giving him any room to play with that. Exposition wins out over exploration.
Plot-wise, Gallant’s arousal after his interrogation by Langon leads him to retreat to his room where he is reunited with the second character from Murder House — the Rubber Man. Although this encounter does not signal that Tate is back, it is enough to get Gallant in trouble with Venable who beats him.
But the next time the Rubber Man appears in his room, Gallant stabs it revealing his grandmother Evie underneath. RIP Joan Collins.
Langdon’s other victim this week was Paulson’s Venable who is vulnerable in a physical way. But more on that next week. Maybe?
For better or worse, Langdon holds all the answers for what this season holds. And so we wait.
Cards Against the Apocalypse
Imagine, if you will, that this season is a game of Cards Against Humanity. The card in play on the table is — “American Horror Story: Apocalypse will unpack [BLANK].”
Episode one played: The establishment of a new human race after the inevitable Nuclear Winter.
Great, we have a promising, yet kind of boring answer. Nothing wrong with it, but our juices aren’t exactly flowing.
Episode two played: Robots and their relationship with the Antichrist.
Okay, that’s a throwaway card, right? Can’t play it anywhere else and it would be foolish to give that to a later episode this season. So we’ll take the flash of Michael Langdon sitting naked in a pentagram, the And Then There Were None style of killing off members of the house, and yes, robots, this early on.
Episode three plays: TBD. While we’re hoping, ever so desperately, to get somewhere close to seeing the witches of the Coven, anything from Donald Trump to flashbacks of Freak Show could be in this episode’s hand.
And while I’m not holding my breath for these witches to return, there was that Stevie Nicks song, “Gold Dust Woman,” playing…
When will we see this scene?
Rating: ⭐️⭐️ (out of 5)
A few other takeaways:
• Technology is presumably wiped out after the nuclear winter sets in, right? Well, as most people would claim, technology is in this case the work of the Devil. The Antichrist somehow still has a functioning computer and access to his Gmail account which reveals that Venable is going against the wishes of the Cooperative.
• Are these emails planted? Probably. But if you didn’t trust Venable and Mead before, you certainly cannot trust them now. Especially with the whole Mead is a robot reveal. As Timothy and Emily are punished, Timothy attempts to shoot Mead, exposing her constructed insides.
• Snakes aren’t supposed to do that right?
• Who would win a fight: Kathy Bates’ robot or Delphine LaLaurie?
AHS: Apocalypse episode 3, “Forbidden Fruit,” airs Wednesday, September 26 at 10:00 p.m.
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