Does the Antichrist reduce the world to ash, or does the coven save it from damnation? ‘AHS: Apocalypse’ casts a spell and concludes its season! 

“Don’t forget to rate me five stars. Please.”

The greatest trick that the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world that this season of American Horror Story had a plan…

Yes, this season had a vague blueprint for an “Antichrist versus Witches” showdown, but that much was clear from the season’s very first episode. AHS: Apocalypse knew what it’s ending would be, but the rest of the year seemed to be entirely up for grabs. Even though there was a decent kernel of an idea with this season (as is always the case with this show), Murphy and company had far too many ideas that they wanted to cram into this season, which at times made it feel like it wasn’t even about the apocalypse. Did the season really need to begin in media res? Was there really a point to this season beyond its high-point, “Return to Murder House,” and would anyone have really cared if the season just aired that episode for the past four weeks (also, huge missed opportunity for that not being the episode that aired on Halloween! Come on!)? However, in spite of the season’s faults and recent messiness, AHS: Apocalypse pulls itself together for the big finish.

“Apocalypse Then” is an insane finale that manages to be both incredibly gratifying and particularly frustrating (this has become par for the course with American Horror Story), but I’m really not sure how else you could have ended all of this. It’s simultaneously the perfect conclusion (and a whole lot better than the previous two episodes), but one that’s also guaranteed to enrage a lot of viewers. This finale basically breaks all of the rules that it’s spent the season establishing and hopes that the payoff is satisfying enough that no one will really scrutinize it too closely. Not only that, but at a surface level, memory erasure spells and time travel are seriously the laziest means of manipulation and quite the contrived solution to all of this. Yet, there’s so much to accomplish in this finale, the episode just has to move past these huge question marks and assume that you’re on board.

The episode’s first act mostly plays catch-up with the lingering developments that still need to happen to connect with the post-bomb timeline, but it does a surprisingly efficient job considering how much this finale needs to cover. “Apocalypse Then” doesn’t get a chance to slow down and it makes the most out of this take no prisoners, break-neck pace. A myriad of plot points get wrapped up in mere minutes as Myrtle and Cordelia take center stage to kick all sorts of ass. Myrtle storms the pre-Cooperative headquarters and works her magic to supplant Mallory and Coco into Outpost 3 in order to bait their trap. Truly, Myrtle is the episode’s MVP and if nothing else, this season was fantastic to Frances Conroy. Furthermore, when Mallory and Coco get mind wiped, the personality that they implant into Coco is Madison, which is pretty great. While these gears are in motion, Cordelia, Madison, and Myrtle bury themselves underground as they wait out the apocalypse and Mallory’s awakening (which is actually a rather subtle callback to AHS: Coven’s dialogue about how Louisiana’s swamp mud has healing properties).

Finally the episode catches up with where the post-bomb timeline left off and we actually get to have all-out warfare within the confined walls of Outpost 3. The witches really get to kick some ass for a while and this attack against Michael is extremely satisfying, suspenseful, and the climax that a huge season like this deserves. Sure, this onslaught doesn’t totally defeat Michael, but it’s still easily one of the best scenes from the entire season. Nobody holds back here and the results feature exploding heads, hearts getting eaten, tons of pyrokinesis, rampant Voodoo vengeance, Madison wielding Mead’s severed machine gun arm like a maniac, and a 2001: A Space Odyssey reference that’s just so bonkers that it works.

The witches run the show for a while, but they slowly start to fall and the tide darkly turns. There have been plenty of theories out there that Mallory was going to end up being an angel, the actual Antichrist, or something even more elaborate, but Murphy stuck to his guns here. She’s just a super powerful witch and that’s all. It’s also especially frustrating that Brock of all people is the one that ambushes Mallory and nearly takes her out. It’s this nonsense that leaves Mallory too weak to perform the time travel spell and for a brief moment it looks like Michael may get his apocalypse after all. Then Cordelia pulls off an incredibly bold move when she sacrifices herself for the good of the coven/the world. Cordelia’s death allows enough Supreme essence to transfer over to Mallory, give her the jump-start that she needs, and hurl her back through time. Cordelia’s sacrifice is a deeply touching scene and an especially fitting “end” for her, but it’s also proof towards why she needed to be the Supreme, as opposed to Fiona, who would have never relinquished power like this.

Mallory successfully goes back to a point in Michael’s youth, but it looks like Mallory doesn’t just visit the past, but actually inhabits her body from that timeline and lives things out rather than snapping back to the present to witness the effects of her handiwork. It’s more than a little anticlimactic and wildly unconventional to take out a budding Antichrist by repeatedly running him over with a car, but whatever works. Mallory brutally murders Michael, but what’s even more vicious is how Constance lets him die—scared and alone—rather than save him with the magic of the Murder House (the bitter way in which Constance spits, “go to hell,” at Michael before he dies is also marvelous). It’s interesting to see that Constance so readily gives up on Michael this time around, even if it does involve a “nudge” from Mallory.

After Michael’s defeat, the remainder of “Apocalypse Then” is really just an extended epilogue of positivity. The episode attempts to explain as much as it can about this altered timeline’s events, like how Myrtle remains dead because Cordelia never had to turn to her to help fight Michael or that Madison remains in her personal hell (for now, at least). Misty and Nan are also allowed to return due to the debt that the universe owes to Mallory for wiping out the Antichrist. Plus, Nan and Papa Legba are apparently dating, which is the spin-off series that I need now.

Billie Lourd does strong work through the episode’s final act and she helps sell the duality of what her character is going through. It’s a very nice moment when Mallory persuades Queenie to not check into the Hotel Cortez and spares her a doomed future in purgatory. However, did we ever really get to know Mallory? It seems we got to bond with her invented persona more than the real her, and even then, that wasn’t a great glimpse into who she is. Yes, Mallory’s selfless and sentimental (and apparently the descendant of Salem survivors), but what else? This is the world’s new Supreme? Honestly, Madison would have made a lot more sense.

Mallory’s blast to the past is all well and good, but it does raise a bunch of red flags. Why doesn’t she tell Cordelia everything that she knows? In spite of the dangers that this presents, it still seems like it would do more help than harm. Additionally, so apparently the events of AHS: Murder House still happened, but none of the cathartic goodness from this season, like freeing Moira’s spirit or “fixing” Violet and Tate takes place anymore. That’s rather bleak, but hey, so is a never-ending apocalypse loop.

Then, just when it seems like everyone can happily ride away in the sunset, the final portion of “Apocalypse Then” emphasizes the idea that energy can be transferred, but never completely destroyed. When in reference to the prophecy that an Antichrist will bring about the apocalypse, this means that the world will always be caught in a cycle that can’t be broken. The apocalypse is inevitable, not avoidable. The finale then boldly smash cuts to the year 2020 and this timeline’s version of Emily and Timothy (remember them?) get to meet in a non-Outpost 3 context.

There’s an immediate attraction between the two of them and a year later they’re having their first child. It seems like everything’s perfect for these two until another quick cut to 2024, three years later, shows that their son, Devan, is incredibly angry and violent. The sky also appears to be a deeply ominous shade of red and there’s an unusual murder of crows collecting above their house. Oh, and Devan has a nasty habit of killing his nannies like a certain other problem child did. The cinematography in “Apocalypse Then” even intentionally mimics the final moments of AHS: Murder House and Michael Langdon’s introduction to the series. You can’t destroy evil, just transfer it around, and now it all begins again. Apocalypse. Rinse. Repeat.

It seems that there always needs to be an Antichrist, whether it’s Michael or someone else. This is what is meant to happen and it cannot be stopped, even with all of the magic and time travel in the world. Kudos to American Horror Story for going out on such a legitimately depressing ending, even if might temporarily seem like all is okay in the world. However, if Michael hadn’t been stopped by Mallory, then would that mean that Devan would still be born and eventually take on Michael? Or would Devan not be “activated?” Was the Cooperative’s “ideal DNA” shenanigans all to figure out who has the genetic capacity to birth the next Antichrist (although the no sex rule in Outpost 3 throws a lot of that into question), or is it just a coincidence that in one timeline Emily and Timothy were in Outpost 3 and in the other they birth the Antichrist?

There are still many blanks here, but in theory I like the idea of these two seemingly random, normal characters who everyone’s probably forgotten about leading to another freaking Antichrist. That’s a provoking idea and it could wield a lot of power, but it’s just a shame that it has to happen to what might be the most boring couple to grace this season. Furthermore, wasn’t the whole point of AHS: Murder House that the birth of the Antichrist requires conception between a living person and a ghost? What happened to that crucial caveat? I suppose it’s fair to say that we never see how Emily and Timothy conceive, so maybe supernatural forces are at work, but that’d be a huge leap (but hey, maybe their honeymoon was at the Hotel Cortez). They do seem to be living in a rather comfortable life with that car and house, so maybe they just made a random deal with Satan where they offer over their child for an easy life, like so many members of the Cooperative. That tracks, but it’s a tremendous leap to make.

American Horror Story: Apocalypse was a fascinating experiment and an example of what a series with such a rich history can do when it turns to its past. That being said, with such a rushed conclusion that presents so many contradictions, this is definitely a season that wants you to think about its greater message more than its individual pieces. “Apocalypse Then” earns its bleak got ya! ending, but all of that poignancy is lost if they ever return to any of this (which feels only inevitable since all seasons take place within the same universe, but maybe Murphy doesn’t this American Horror Story will still be around in 2024?)

If Ryan Murphy does plan to return to all of this 2024 Apocalypse mayhem for a future season, Mallory—or whoever’s currently Supreme—officially has my permission to go back in time and erase his memory on the matter (or implant Vince Gilligan’s identity within him). For better or worse, we got our “crossover season,” but now let’s embrace the brave unknown.

Mutt Nutter and Jeff Pfister. MUTT NUTTER AND JEFF PFISTER. That is all.