Movies & TV / Reviews
American Horror Story: Apocalypse 8.3 Review – “Forbidden Fruit”
Loading...It’s no secret that I did not love the first two episodes of this season. Part of that might have to do with my expectations being crazy high. Another part might have been that so many of these characters were shallow, annoying, and didn’t deserve any place in the new world. Tonight’s episodes cemented that for me, even as it took care of some of the biggest problems (but not THE biggest, because Coco might as well be a Barbie make-me-pretty head on top of a tape recorder that spews classist garbage). In “Forbidden Fruit,” we finally see someone pronounce Ave Satanis correctly. References include Blade Runner, The Jetsons, and the X-Men (LoL on you, Evan Peters, since this is the second blatant reference to his turn as Quicksilver). As always, major spoilers for American Horror Story season eight, episode three follow.
We open to realize that Timothy, Emily, and Gallant are all not dead, despite all being slated for execution by Ms. Venable. Don’t thank Langdon though, because he just likes fucking with people. He’ll tell you as much, since nobody has to watch their language on FX anymore. Oh, and Joan Collins died peacefully in her sleep. Wink. Langdon continues his Cooperation interviews and is intrigued by Mallory in particular. What’s up with her? Why does she have wicked firepower? How come she feels like someone is trying to claw its way out of her? We all have the same guess, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Langdon is understandably unnerved by Mallory and her fire throwing, wicked powers. Does that mean she’s like, extra good? In his interview with Coco, Langdon does deliver an exceptional zinger, telling her she’s “much too shallow for any meaningful negativity.” Wow! Dinah, on the other hand, clearly has a prior relationship with Langdon. I presume she sold her soul for fame or similar. Is Andre Dinah’s son? I don’t think I realized that, but that’s what Andre seemed to be telling Langdon. What’s Langdon looking for? Not sweet holy people, but rather hypocrisy-free souls who are willing to give in to their basest instincts. So that sounds like fun.
Meanwhile, Ms. Meade attempts to make sense of being a robot. We get some Bladerunner moments as she relates memories like making herself a Rosie the robot maid costume (and some daft housewife not getting it), or having to fend off some teenage moron while trying to watch Mia Farrow raped by The Devil onscreen. We know that Meade discovered that she enjoyed being scared and that she has memories of a beautiful little boy that she lost. I wondered if that meant she was the nanny murdered by little Langdon at the end of Murder House. Still possible, but what we learned later implies that she might have been around for longer than that. Watch for Meade to refer to Venable as “the backbone” of the Outpost when discussing her loyalty to her. Pun intended, do you think? Watch too for young Meade to sustain a cut on her face that should have left a scar, but didn’t…because Robot.
What is American Horror Story without Satanic imagery? Langdon does a blood ritual, begging his father for his wisdom. Is Langdon talking about witches, or something else? It seems clear that he means Mallory (though he doesn’t say so directly, so maybe it’s Dinah) and that he “thought he killed them all.” The message comes in the form of snakes. Why’d it have to be snakes…?
Out in the world, cannibals abound in a nuclear wasteland. We see someone who might be a mercy killer, or maybe just a lighter-thief. But no, it’s Brock (Billy Eichner) who we last saw screaming obscenities into the sky. He survived, as I predicted, and he’s mad—which I also predicted. Because I are smart. Brock is looking for Coco, and the outpost, and a certain horse drawn carriage leads him directly there.
When a surprise gift of apples shows up at Outpost 3, we see the fruits (pun intended!) of Venable’s plan in action. Venable already knows she’s being left behind, so she and her bestie, Meade, are going to kill everyone and take the computer. They’ll learn where Sanctuary is (if indeed, it’s real) and go there themselves. Meade believes she’s programmed to be loyal to Venable. But what if she was only programmed to believe that? Oh, AHS, what a tangled web you weave. I have to say that it’s disappointing that they didn’t discuss The Fist (Amazon Eve) coming with them. This little loyalty love fest didn’t mention her at all. I mean, food bloggers are annoying AF, but surely, she’s going to be a necessary part of any traveling-in-the-apocalypse team.
There’s to be a Halloween party, and guess what—it’ll be Victorian. Must be a fun change of pace for them to get to dress up all silly, right? Before long, Eichner is loose in the Outpost, The Fist has been murdered, and nearly all the apples have been spiked with snake venom. Since nobody in the cast saw Roanoke, apparently, it was easy to trick them all into eating their poisoned apples at the same time. Cue references to Snow White, Adam and Eve, and that face you make when you have to step over dead bodies. I’ll admit, I was shocked that they killed everyone off so early. But I shouldn’t have been. I’ve seen Coven, and I know that the possibility for drama goes way, way down when the permanence of death is eliminated. That’s why when I rank the seasons, Coven is always low. Can I just say—if the last thing I eat on this earth is an apple—it had better be a better apple than a friggin’ red delicious. Honeycrisp, or at least a granny smith. Come on.
To summarize —- Evie and Stu were already dead. Gallant, Dinah, Mallory, Andre, Timothy, Emily, and all the grey-redshirts are dead from poisoned apples. Coco is murdered by an irate Brock after some sex talk I could have lived my whole life without. Venable and Meade trot off to Langdon’s room with the belief that killing him will be easy. Why does everyone think Langdon is going to be easy to deceive or steamroll? I don’t love the character design, but he absolutely seems like a dude with tricks up his sleeve. And none of them (except maybe Dinah) have known him for long enough to cavalierly decide he’s defeatable.
After Meade shoots Venable, it’s more than clear that she was actually programmed by Langdon. And yes, she was made in the image of someone Langdon knew as a child. Those might have even been her memories, though I don’t know devil magick well enough to know how that might work. What we do know is Langdon’s philosophy, which is similar to that of the comic book villain they call Joker: “All people, given the right pressures or stimulus, are evil motherfuckers.” I can’t disagree. If they don’t start playing better music this season, I might have to cut somebody.
Fifty-six minutes in to the episode, it finally happens. Witches. They’ve arrived. There’s Cordelia, our dear Supreme. There’s also Myrtle Snow and Madison Montgomery—who appears to have an existing relationship with Mallory. I wonder if Mallory might be a Montgomery too—maybe from a less rich side of the family. This brings about new timeline questions—since Madison was killed at the end of Coven by Fratkenstein, and Myrtle was burned alive (twice) as punishment for hurting or killing witches. So of these three women, only one is alive in the timeline we know of. What’s the first thing the witches do? They resuscitate a few of these people—though certainly not all. Mallory, Dinah, and Coco get to live. I was glad for two of them. But Coco?!? Why? Just to make sure there’s someone annoying to hate? That’s unnecessary—since Madison is right there.
No sign of the Rubberman tonight. I have to think he’s someone from Murder House, like Tate or Chad or Derek? But who knows? We’re supposed to see the Harmons this season, and Jessica Lange acting AND directing. So, we’ve got that to look forward to. I imagine more witches are coming. This was ostensibly the Halloween episode, but who knows if it was really Halloween at all? Usually they fall closer to the actual holiday, so we might get more Halloween action later -— especially if we’ve got spirits playing by Murder House ghost rules. One thing I can say for this Halloween, plague masks are gonna be goddamn everywhere. Yay! I’d rather see zillions of them than see anyone wearing one of those awful “sexy handmaid” costumes. Ugh. But I digress.
My expectations for this season of American Horror Story have been tempered a bit. I need meaningful deaths, so I hope the witches are a little less rampant about reviving the dead. Still, this was a creepy, violent episode with plenty of turns and unexpected stuff. Plus I’m really thrilled that Brock is alive and hope this goes somewhere cool. I’m not loving the vitriolic hate that permeates the word “bitch” whenever its used on this show. I don’t know if I hate seeing it, or hate that they’re doing it—but it makes me wanna flinch whenever I hear it.
I’m hoping that Queenie will come back for a bit, plus I’m stoked to see the Harmons and Constance. I’m also excited to see what Mallory’s badass witch powers are. Anything you guys are stoked to see? Any theories on the new Rubberman? Do we think the Cooperative even exists?
See you’s next week!
