After a slow start with the premiere episode, viewers were left wondering what direction American Horror Story intended to take with this new season. But, after Wednesday’s episode, titled The Morning After, AHS: Apocalypse steamed ahead with the introduction of Michael Langdon, the infamous child from Murder House, grown-up and with the intention of selecting only a number of the residents of Outpost 3 for transfer to another sanctuary due to their facility nearing its last straw.
This is American Horror Story, so I expect that there’s more to the story, as Michael’s mission and personal intentions seem suspicious.
Miss Veneable (Sarah Paulson) and Michael Langdon (Cody Fern)
I found that this episode did a proper job at establishing a plot for the season, but simultaneously seemed compressed in such a way that begs to ask: What’s going to happen next? We barely know what’s going on in the facility—or how these “outposts” came to be in the first place—but it seems that Apocalypse is looking to end this part of the arc as fast as possible to welcome the crossover aspect of the season.
That’s something that should be noted. I feel like this season is being a victim to its own hype. Prior to the premiere, we knew that it was the long-anticipated Murder House-Coven crossover, so going into it, we already had concrete expectations for it. This has made the episodes seem scattered and listless: We might not know exactly what’s going to happen, but we know something will happen, making all the events in the aired episodes only preludes to what brought most people to watch this season: ghosts and witches.
Scene from the episode between Michael (Fern) and Mr. Gallant (Evan Peters)
Aside from the previous observations, the episode allowed the viewers to warm-up to certain characters, providing a look into their personalities beyond the initial reaction to the apocalypse. Evan Peters’ character stood-out to me after being the focus of Michael’s questioning. Although the camp that saturated the premiere was still there in leftovers, this episode took a more serious tone overall. And I note the subtle implications of Fleetwood Mac’s “Gold Dust Woman” being played towards the end of the episode.
I will continue watching the season, hoping that it allows itself to create a plot of its own that does not rely on the hype of previous seasons. The second episode was a step above the premiere, I hope it continues its journey upwards.