Editor’s Note: This article contains spoilers from American Horror Story Apocalypse’s Finale Episode.
The AHS Apocalypse finale is here! In this week’s episode, we bounce around time through past, present, future, and an alternate dimension. In order to have knowledge gaps filled in of how the witches prepared for the apocalypse and what happened post-apocalypse. Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this finale, so with that being said, let’s begin!
Well, the screenplay was definitely creative in the sense of saving the world through an alternate dimension and how, unless Michael’s (Cody Fern) soul ceased to exist (why didn’t you think of this witches?) anymore, he would always return one way or another. It played well with the cliffhanger ending which also added to episode’s overall effectiveness. However, I felt that this episode ended very unsatisfactorily. It just didn’t quite do the rest of the season justice, as it gave you the feeling that there was still more to expect, regardless of the ending being present. It just seemed like lazy writing on behalf of the creators. Alternatively, they might be planning on tieing this season into the upcoming seasons. Nonetheless, it was a good episode as a whole, but not quite a good finale episode. Also, what happened to the awaited apocalypse? I was expecting to see the apocalypse happening! Instead, all we saw was the lead-up and aftermath, but not the actual apocalypse.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BqNF3BrjkhB/
As promised last week, there was a surprise director and it is was Evan Peters! This episode was his directorial debut and he did an amazing job. The episode lacked a bit in the sense of creative camera techniques, but I think that if he was given a better episode to work with, he would have done a great job! Being a finale, there is always a lot of pressure coming from viewers and there is only so much Peters is able to do once the creators and screenplay have already been planned. Honestly, I hope we see his directing again in the future seasons. Of course, just because Peters was directing, it does not mean that he missed out on acting. In this episode, we see him as tech guy Jeff and reprise as Mr. Gallant in the backstory of how he and Coco met (We can thank Madison’s bad Uber driving for messing up Coco’s hair).
https://www.instagram.com/p/BqNJyG9F25C/
Onto the music: I feel that these weekly reviews have turned more so into a weekly music criticism of each episode. I am someone who believes that music is an essential quality in bringing out emotions, intensifying scenes or simply resonating with the characters within film and TV. Personally, I feel that this episode lacked big time in sense of music, considering it was the finale! Yes, there was eerie music placed in the right scenes, which made them effectively tense, and, of course, there was the expected “Lala Lala” song (American Horror Story Coven) by James Levine, but I still felt that use of more music could have improved the episode’s quality. Take “Return to Murder House”, during Constance’s (Jessica Lange) suicide scene, the song “You’re Gonna Miss Me” by Connie Francis plays as she dances and drinks to death. This song was not only fitting towards the scene as Michael misses her very much so but also, in a weird way, suited her classy vintage-like character.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BqNlqCpjki8/
Was I, overall, satisfied by this episode? Yes and no. I thought that it was a great episode, which reached an expected 9.1/10 on IMDb and Peters did an amazing job at directing it! But honestly, me to you, it wasn’t quite what I had hoped for. I was expecting to be as wowed as I was after the “Return to Murder House” episode, which had every element of perfect: There was a wide range of fitting music, the director had creatively shot scenes using of different camera techniques, and the storyline was perfect. I think that this episode would have been better if it was within the season rather than a finale! Regardless, this is the end of the ‘Apocalypse’ season and the weekly reviews! So, until next year, hold tight and expect an amazing new story-line and a new set of characters in the next season of American Horror Story, that is to arrive this time next year!
