American Horror Story: Apocalypse Review: Go To Hell

"America Horror Story" just finished it's eighth season on FX. There are ten episodes total. See my previous reviews here

"Apocalypse' shows us a world destroyed by the AntiChrist (Michael Langdon). A few select people have survived in several outposts scattered around the world. After briefly getting to know the members of Outpost 3, we go back in time to see how it all began.

The most interesting aspect of season 8 is that it ties in with "Murder House" (season 1) and "Coven" (season 3). We already met a young Michael in the finale of "Murder House". He is the son of Tate Langdon (who is a ghost) and Vivian Harmon. Tate is the son of Constance Langdon (the goddess Jessica Lange) who live next door to the Murder House.

So who can stop Michael from wiping out humankind? The witches of Ms Robichaux's Academy of course. In the outpost are Coca, Madison and Dinah. Problem is, they are all killed by poisonous apples thanks to Venable and Mead. Supreme Cordelia, Myrtle and Madison arrive and promptly revive the three. Then it's flashback time. All the witches work together (minus Dinah) to figure out how to stop Michael. It turns out Coca and Mallory were besties in their past lives but had their memories erased so as not to be detected. How sweet!

Madison and Warlock Behold Chablis head to the Murder house to get intel. After gaining Constance's trust, they learn Michael's backstory. He was kicked out of the house by Grandma because he kills anyone and anything that crosses his path.

Michael then hooks up with a true believer Ms Mead and later joins the warlocks of Hawthorne school. Cordelia has the "real" Mead burned at the stake. A distraught Michael visits Kineros Robotics (where coke heads Mutt and Jeff) build a robot Mead.

Michael doesnt really know much about being the AntiChrist. He is therefore susceptible to anyone around him (like originally Mead and then the guys from Kineros). They come up with the Apocalypse Plan and the Cooperative (ie the Illuminati).

In the penultimate episode, Myrtle visits Mutt and Jeff and makes them save two spots in Outlpost 3 (for Mallory and Coco). So that's how they got there. The other three witches (Cordelia, Myrtle, Madison) bury themselves. I assume they are underground for a few years until it's time to emerge... and you know the rest of the story.

In the finale, all hell breaks lose as Michael and the witches try to kill each other. We get a brief appearance by Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau (I'm always glad to see the wonderful Angela Bassett). Cordelia has traded Marie's soul to Papa Legba for the other voodoo queen-- Dinah (Adina Porter). Dinah could never be counted on to help the other witches anyway. MeadRobot is blown to kingdom come. Madison takes Mead's machine gun arm and fills Michael full of holes. But of course he is not dead. He retaliates by chopping off Madison's head. Coco's neck is snapped. In a surprise twist, Mallory is stabbed by Brock (Billy Eichner).

It seems all hope is lost. Cordelia makes the ultimate sacrifice and kills herself to give a near death Mallory the power to resurrect. Before going she tells Michael "Satan has one son but my sisters are legion, motherf#^#%$". You go girl! Great line but is any anyone surprised by her sacrifice? We knew this had to happen eventually for Mallory to become the next Supreme.

Time for more flashbacks. Mallory is able to perform the dangerous feat she tried earlier and goes back to 2015 when Michael was a teenager. She runs over him MANY TIMES with a SUV. A dying Michael begs Constance to take him into the Murder House so they can be together forever but she refuses saying "Go to Hell". That seems a bit harsh (even for Constance) but he is the Antichrist after all. And is it really that easy to kill the Antichrist?

Anywho, Mallory has changed the course of history. She then joins the witches academy. Of course, no one knows who she really is or what has transpired. Because she killed the AntiChrist, Mallory is able to get Misty and Nan out of Hell. She helps Queenie steer clear of Cortez Hotel (so she doesnt become trapped there in "Hotel"). Mallory says she'll go back to Hell to retrieve Madison from Retail Hell (but she can wait a bit longer). Only Myrtle is not present. Since the apocalypse never occurred, Cordelia has no reason to resurrect her.

We think they will all live happily ever after until... fast forward to 2020. The couple from the bunker (Tim and Emily) meet anyway and have a baby. Three years later they come home to find he has killed the babysitter. Uh oh. There's a ring at the door. It's the Black Pope and Miriam Mead. They've been waiting to help all their lives. And here we go again. I guess "Apocalypse" is saying no matter what the witches do, the world's fate will always be the same (thanks to Satan's multiple backup plans)? If so, that's a bummer.

Grade: 4 Monsters (out of 5). "Apocalypse" is not the worst season (I'm looking at you "Roanoke") but not the best either. That was "Asylum" IMHO. The show had enough going for it though to keep me watching. But I wasnt motivated enough to view during the original airing.

"Apocalypse" continues to suffer from some of the issues as previous seasons. This season has a great setup with compelling characters. But it struggles at times with too much filler. The plot gets bogged down. We were stuck in the bunker for three episodes until the action started. Word on the street is they are still writing the show while filming earlier episodes. Is that typical? Wouldnt it be better to have everything written first so they can make improvements across the series? I know that will definitely help with the show's structural holes.

Also, as is typical of "AHS", "Apocalypse" has a hard time sticking the landing. They threw everything and the kitchen sink into this one. But based on the structure of the show it isnt that climatic. We already saw what could happen if the witches dont stop Michael. That took a bit of a kick away.

On a more positive note, the actors continue to be wonderful in everything they do. One of the reason I keep coming back is because I love Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Evan Peters and Jessica Lang eso much.

I did enjoy the previous season tie-ins with "Apocalypse". I feel like that rewards those of us who have been faithfully watching for eight years. "Apocalypse' would also suit as a fitting series finale for the show. We know there are at least two more seasons of "AHS" though. Do you want to see more of "Apocalypse" or call it done? I think it's time to put a fork into it and move onto a different story.