AHS: COVEN (Gianina Bonpietro)

Gia Bonpietro

Wednesday nights at ten o’clock is officially witching hour on FX.

American Horror Story: Coven made its highly anticipated debut last week, drawing in a record setting number of viewers for the series. The show, Bitch Craft lived up to AHS standards with its gore and shockingly graphic scenes.

I cheered as each of the returning cast members made their dramatic entrances throughout the episode. Taissa Farmiga returned to the show this season as the newest arrival at Miss Robichaux’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies. Sarah Paulson, who I am thrilled to see once again, leads this screwed up Hogwarts reform school. Farmiga’s character learns she is a part of a bloodline tracing back to witches when she kills her boyfriend while trying to lose her virginity. We’ve seen this before in X-Men, Rogue kills her boyfriend in the beginning of the movie with her touch while trying to have sex. Farmiga’s power is a mix between X-Men and the movie Teeth’s vagina dentate myth. It’s interesting at first, but I am not sure how many times I can watch her murder men with her vagina. Emma Roberts joins the cast this season as one of the witches, an interesting addition to the cast.

I have to admit I was a bit nervous as the show began as the dialogue between the teenybopper witches unfolded. I understand that writers want the language to be modern as the show takes place in our current time, but the lingo seemed cheesy and artificial. The clever, witty one liners seemed to be reserved for Jessica Lang. Take for instance her Hogwarts reference and when she is discussing the need for witches to hide in a world obsessed with Facebook, Twitter, and smart phones. Lang has held a place in my heart since season one, though. I love how all of Lang’s captivating characters throughout the series maintain the same personality, voice, and habits (the smoking). Emma Roberts on the other hand was particularly unlikeable as she delivered her dialogue.

But of course what AHS lacks in some areas it makes up for through its emotion stirring whirlwind scenes. Just as I began to condemn Emma Roberts for her stuck up attitude and cheesy lines we watched as she was gang raped in a scene so graphic I could not believe I was witnessing it on television. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the screen. I was hooked. I mean isn’t that what we all love about AHS? We watch for specifically for those scenes made for the shock value.

 Evan Peters from seasons one and two is back, and then was killed off moments later when Emma Roberts flips the bus containing her rapists. How could they kill off Evan Peters in the first episode?! I’m sure AHS vets Jessica Lang, Sarah Paulson, and Lily Rabe could hold the show all on their own with their entrancing character performances, but Evan Peters died in the first episode! We have to know more, and of course that teaser at the end gives us some hope for Evan Peters.

So far this coven is living up to AHS standards. The first episode included all that viewers are looking for in weekly television: rape, murder, gore, and bad ass characters.

I am reviewing American Horror Story: Coven in the style of Maureen/Mo Ryan.

I enjoy Mo’s criticisms because of her unique words and phrases, conversational style, and witty remarks. Mo reviews the shows she watches based on how different elements of the show (such as visuals, music, character performance, etc.) effected her emotions. Her reviews therefore are emotional. You get a real feel for the shows by the way she discusses them. She doesn’t use hyperbolic words that belong on the back of New York Time’s best seller books.