'American Horror Story: Coven' Recap: 'Burn, Witch. Burn!'

We're almost at the halfway point for American Horror Story this season and the appeal has grown substantially over the last couple of episodes. The start of the Coven season has been somewhat of a slow build. That paid off this week.

The war between the Voodoo and the Witches has escalated all the way up to a physical battle. More importantly, I'm not really sure who we should be rooting for. Both groups have been plagued with evil. Fiona (Jessica Lange) has been motivated by her own self interests. Up until now it was difficult to determine whether or not she even cared for her own daughter, Cordelia (Sarah Paulson).

We see a mixture of both sides in this episode when Fiona saves a grieving mother by bringing her once-stillborn baby back to life, yet uses her power of persuasion to convince the counsel to set Myrtle (Frances Conroy) on fire.

Then there's Marie Laveau (Angela Bassett), who represents the Voodoo. The hatred she has for Fiona and Delphine LaLaurie (Kathy Bates) has put the entire group of witches in danger. Even when her friends tell her she needs to let this vendetta go, she wants nothing more that to kill everyone that's has ties to these two people.

I thought Kyle (Evan Peters) would show up as the leader of the pack of zombies, but he was left out of this episode. Spaulding (Denis O'Hare) didn't want anyone in his room because he has Madison (Emma Roberts) locked in a treasure chest. In a scene of what seems like comic relief in the midst of the Voodoo/Witch war, he rips off her arm while wearing your mom's nightgown. Guy gets his tongue cut off and he goes bonkers. Go figure.

Cordelia's loss of vision seems to have heightened her other powers, which exposes Hank's secret of infidelity. The anger inside of her is clearly building. She hasn't been able to have a baby, she's still dealing with her mother's own abandonment from when she was younger, and now she discovers her husband has been cheating on her. She's probably the purest character on the show, and I want nothing more than for her to flip out. She's the only one that deserves to get what she wants. With that said, my wish for the demise of Hank's character will likely become a reality in the next couple of episodes.

Overall it was a good episode. The show still plays on some cliches that I could do without. I HATE when a hospital is portrayed as some sort of deserted dungeon that has no working lights. However, the show is starting to flesh out a pretty tense storyline and the acting by most of the main characters is fantastic.

Popculturology Score: B