After the disappointing first season and a hyperactive, depressing second, Coven seems to be an attempt by American Horror Story to find a middle ground. Is it successful? There is a clue in my chosen title, but there is quite a lot to unpack with this series and not a lot of room in this word count to cover it all.
Firstly, yes, it is my favourite. Coven has the most focus and the best balance of all the series. I like how despite following a predominantly female characters (the men barely feature), the season feels more diverse than the others. This is largely because the setting moves the story away from just bickering middle-class white people, to include bickering black working class people as well. This diversity feeds the plot, which is all about an ever changing power dynamic between individuals, groups of people, and even entire races, and the abuses of this power that inevitably come from it. It's basically a bully story, in which the role of the bully and the victim changes every episode. There is a sense of cyclical violence, in which no one can escape because of these past grudges. Feeding into this is the fact that many characters are either immortal, or they come back from the grave at some point to seek revenge.
It does however have its own share of problems. As with all the previous seasons, the most creepy and interesting things happen in the opening credit sequences, and I was disappointed that the Jersey devils, flying clansmen and BDSM witches don't ever make an appearance in the actual show. There is a recurring issue of how the witches are kind of thick, gullible, and constantly forgetting they have magic powers when they would come in handy. Also, The rules about how ghosts and magic work seems inconsistent. The biggest problem though is how, as a consequence of all the resurrections, death is a very cheap thing in this show. By the end of the season, I don't think there is a single character who hasn't murdered someone else, or died at some point - and yet they still keep hanging around one another, acting all surprised when yet another murder is announced, and getting upset as though this can't be immediately fixed. It removes all the stakes and ruins the tension. Also, it becomes a chore keeping track of who killed whom, and who is hiding who's body right now.
My Favourite So Far
After the disappointing first season and a hyperactive, depressing second, Coven seems to be an attempt by American Horror Story to find a middle ground. Is it successful? There is a clue in my chosen title, but there is quite a lot to unpack with this series and not a lot of room in this word count to cover it all.
Firstly, yes, it is my favourite. Coven has the most focus and the best balance of all the series. I like how despite following a predominantly female characters (the men barely feature), the season feels more diverse than the others. This is largely because the setting moves the story away from just bickering middle-class white people, to include bickering black working class people as well. This diversity feeds the plot, which is all about an ever changing power dynamic between individuals, groups of people, and even entire races, and the abuses of this power that inevitably come from it. It's basically a bully story, in which the role of the bully and the victim changes every episode. There is a sense of cyclical violence, in which no one can escape because of these past grudges. Feeding into this is the fact that many characters are either immortal, or they come back from the grave at some point to seek revenge.
It does however have its own share of problems. As with all the previous seasons, the most creepy and interesting things happen in the opening credit sequences, and I was disappointed that the Jersey devils, flying clansmen and BDSM witches don't ever make an appearance in the actual show. There is a recurring issue of how the witches are kind of thick, gullible, and constantly forgetting they have magic powers when they would come in handy. Also, The rules about how ghosts and magic work seems inconsistent. The biggest problem though is how, as a consequence of all the resurrections, death is a very cheap thing in this show. By the end of the season, I don't think there is a single character who hasn't murdered someone else, or died at some point - and yet they still keep hanging around one another, acting all surprised when yet another murder is announced, and getting upset as though this can't be immediately fixed. It removes all the stakes and ruins the tension. Also, it becomes a chore keeping track of who killed whom, and who is hiding who's body right now.