this part has many good moments, especially in the first few episodes of the season, but it is dragged down by not having much of a plot. i didn't feel much for most of the main characters, they didn't feel very 'real' if that makes sense. i honestly think the show would've been better if marie laveau's tribe was the main focus of the show. her tribe and the brutal history of it was the strongest part of this season. the main witch coven we follow starts to feel boring and repetitive very quickly.
SPOILERS:
i loooved the voodoo magic and how it's explored through marie laveau's tribe. the grudge they hold for madame delphine lalaurie and how they get revenge for her terrible actions through making her immortal and torturing her is incredible. the way the brutal torture of the slaves of the past is shown is so gut-wrenching i winced and looked away at several points. i loved this part of the season, but this was left behind for the main cast of the coven, who are way less thought out in comparison.
it felt to me like there are two writers on the show: a historian and a writer that tries to be modern and "relatable." the show had this problem in the first season as well, but it's more noticeable in this season. the whiplash from a brutal, historically accurate depiction of torture or burning at the stake being cut directly next to teenage witches reviving a dead boy as "the perfect boyfriend" didn't really sit well. the killing of every single witch in marie laveau's tribe in one go felt way too quick and easy for such a powerful tribe.
the ending felt fairly satisfying though, building a better coven from the ground up and making up for past mistakes. it felt very right for cordelia's story to be the supreme and be the one running the coven in the end. the coven needed a strong leader after the "passing" of the previous supreme.
it has a very campy, early 2010s millennial vibe but that's not necessarily a bad thing. the weakest point of this season by far is weird dialogue choices here and there and the characterization of violet being a little off at times. it's biggest strength is the atmosphere it creates when telling the story throughout the ages. it feels like the house itself becomes a character that grows and changes through time.
SPOILERS:
i knew what the big twist was coming in to this season because i watched a little here and there years ago, and it was still pretty shocking and effective. i still think tate langdon is evan peter's best character, as he's best at playing unsettling, disturbed people in my opinion. i wish there was just a little more focus on the victims though, since it felt like they were brushed past pretty quickly. imo they should've beat the hell out of tate more instead of asking "why?" over and over. pretty sure this was done to make teenage girls gloss over the fact that he's a school shooter to like him more, which worked immensely of course.
i enjoyed the ending even though it wasn't perfect. it felt tragic but beautiful in a way. even though the family was killed in different ways, they're all still together and sort of thriving in a way? very tragic how the thing that brought them together is also the thing that killed them all.
