American Horror Story: Apocalypse Episode 5 Review: Next Stop Murder House!

After a few sluggish episodes in the fallout shelter, "AHS: Apocalypse" is finally getting some action. See my initial review here

The "Coven" witches of Ms Robichaux's Acadmy are back (led by Supreme Cordelia). Myrtle and Madison are in tow. Venable previously killed everyone at the outpost with poisoned apples. Venable was then killed by Mead (who had secretly been working with Michael). Cordelia resurrects Adina, Mallory and Coco. So right now that makes six witches vs Michael and Mead.

Flashback Time! A meeting is called by the warlocks of the Hawthorne School (which later became Outpost 3). They include: Behold Chalis, Ariel, Baldwin and John Henry. They have someone (Michael Langdon) that they want to be given the Seven Wonders test. If he passes he'll be the first male Supreme/Alpha. Failing means he's dead and stuck in Hell forever. Unsurprisingly, he passes with flying colors.

Along with Cordelia, we have Zoe, Madison (rescued from a retail job in hell), Myrtle (when we last saw her, she was being burned alive), Queenie (rescued from Hotel Cortez by Michael when Cordelia couldnt save her) and Misty Day (rescued from a biology lab in Hell by Michael as part of his last test). Coco is also revealed to be a witch. But her special power is detecting "gluten". Seriously? Too funny. Please tell me Michael has a serious gluten allergy! Mallory and Adina are still wild cards as we dont know exactly what they are.

In case you need a refresher, Michael is the son of "Murder House" alum Vivian Harmon and Ghost Tate Langdon (Constance's son). Tate dressed as the Rubber Man in order to make Vivian think he was her husband Ben. Michael was raised by Constance and at some point by Ms Mead (who is currently a robot but I assume was alive at some point). Dont ask, I dont understand it either.

Cordelia has a post apocalyptic vision where she's alone and surrounded by a group of zombies. A white faced demon looks on. We know this is Michael but Cordelia doesnt YET. At least Misty, Chablis, and John Henry seem to be on to the fact that he is not what he seems. John Henry is quickly dispatched by Miriam Mead while pumping gas. Cordella sends Madison to LA to the Murder House to look for secrets about Michael's past. Behold goes along for the ride.

Grade: 4 Monsters (out of 5). A sluggish beginning but let's hope the back half on the season has more of a punch. And while I like Stevie Nicks as much as the next person, that musical interlude of "Gypsy" was a bit strange. But whatev. Thus far, we've had tie-ins with "Coven", "Hotel", "Roanoke" (the blood moon) and of course "Mystery House". We still lack "Asylum", "Cult" and "Freak Show". Let me know if I missed any references. I'm very interested to see what happens at "Murder House" next week. Constance Langdon (Jessica Lang) is slated to make an appearance. Yeah!