'American Horror Story: Coven' Recap: 'Head'

The end is near. Not just for Season 3 of American Horror Story, but also for many of the show's main characters. Delphine (Kathy Bates) is headless, Hank and Luke were killed,and most of the Voodoo was taken down. 

This season finally gave us a little more back story on Hank, as the episode opens on a early 1990s hunting trip with his dad. It's not like they're hunting animals like normal people — they're hunting witches. Hank's infiltration in the Coven was a long-thought-out plan by his dad's company, which was really a front for killing witches. Hank, of course, had shown he has the ability to kill, but it has been established that he cares about Cordelia (Sarah Paulson). It's not just Hank's father who had grown frustrated in his delay in the plan to take down the Coven, it's Marie Laveau (Angela Bassett) as well. Hank ended up going after the Voodoo however, and he shot most of the people there. Queenie (Gabourey Sidibie) wound up putting a gun in her mouth to kill Hank. Does he come back next episode? If the episode preview is any indication, Hank appears to at least come back in the form of a flashback. Up until now, the only person that could bring people back to life was Misty (Lily Rabe), but both Cordelia and Misty are shown mass producing magic mud that appears to do the same thing.

Since Delphine wasn't going anywhere, she spent most of the episode watching Roots at the insistence of Queenie. Delphine's was crying by the end, and we can only hope it was because she felt remorse for what she's done in the past and not because she really did have to poop out her neck. I wouldn't have put it past the show to have an entire scene dedicated to that. I guess they've drawn the limit somewhere.

Cordelia got her eyesight back with the help of her Aunt Myrtle (Frances Conroy). Cordelia didn't seem to ask where the eyes came from or why her aunt happened to have them. She also didn't appear to notice that they are of two different colors. Her inability to see visions of people's history when she touches them now is likely going to give her a heavy disadvantage later on. What's also a little strange is Cordelia's newfound loyalty to her mother Fiona (Jessica Lange), the same mother whom she tried to kill last episode. Speaking of Fiona, after she witnessed Kyle (Evan Peters) accidentally kill her guard dog, she fixed him to the point where he can now play cards at the kitchen table. I really don't understand the extent of anyone's powers on the show.

Zoe (Taissa Farmiga) and Madison (Emma Roberts) took Nan (Jaime Brewer) to the hospital to visit Luke (Alexander Dreymon). His mother befriended Nan when she learned she truly was clairvoyant, but then chased her out of the hospital when she finds out Luke know her involvement in his dad's death. She fixed this problem by putting a pillow over his face. Nan won't be too happy about that. The mystery surrounding her character has been interesting; she very well may be the most powerful one of them all.

American Horror Story: Coven will be taking a break for a few weeks, and it's unfortunate they ended on another weak episode. The body count was high, but there were a lot of forced-back stories that ended up jumbling most of the episode. Don't get me wrong, it's still a good show to watch, but it's mainly because of some of the cast that picks up what the rest of the show is lacking. It's a little frustrating that we continue to have to do a lot of work to try to keep up with what's going on. That probably sounds lazy, but after all, we don't want to lose interest in a show that was so good in it's first and second seasons.

Popculturology score: C