I have been enjoying American Horror Story: Apocalypse more than I expected, particularly after AHS: Cult’s ham-fisted, deeply obvious appeal to middle-of-the-road #resistance warriors made the show’s worst seasons—Freak Show; Roanoke—seem like feats of artistry. Apocalypse, apart from being about an inexhaustible topic (the freakin’ apocalypse!), pulls characters from its best seasons, Coven and Murder House, for a neat little biblical narrative that I wish could last forever. If they cancel this show after this season it won’t be a surprise, since it feels a bit like a denouement. But if they decided to revamp its format and give us multiple seasons with the witches of New Orleans and Michael Langdon, the Satan-spawn of Columbine-Cobain archetype Tate Langdon (Evan Peters) and normal mom Vivian Harmon (Connie Britton), who could truly be mad? Truly.
Coven’s secret weapon was, of course, casting Stevie Nicks as both herself and the White Witch, a revered member of the coven around which Louisiana swamp witch Misty Day (Lily Rabe) crafts her entire persona. At the end of that season, you’ll recall, Misty is stuck in a hell of her own making, disintegrating into dust after she fails to return to the waking world while taking the test of the Seven Wonders. Obviously, The Devil (or whatever he is) can bring her back, though, and so during his own Seven Wonders test, Michael rescues her from a looped eternity wherein she is forced to dissect a living frog.
And with her own resurrection, so too do we get another Stevie Nicks clip, in which the White Witch serenaded Misty and the coven with a raw, pared-down version of “Gypsy,” with actor BD Wong on a simple, beautiful piano accompaniment.
Misty, in her first bit of respite from hell, tears up. Stevie clasps her face, a healing presence. Everyone wept!