‘AHS: Apocalypse’ steps on the gas and delivers a winner with a festive party that’s big on death, answers, and plot twists.
“Surprise, bitch. I bet you thought you’d seen the last of me.”
Sex is a very prominent topic, not only in American Horror Story, but every one of Ryan Murphy’s productions. This is a series that delightfully devours its eye candy and takes just as much pleasure in figuring out new sexy characters for Evan Peters to play as it does in bringing new monsters into its world. Hell, the previous entry concocted a deviant scenario where Evan Peters more or less fucks himself, but at this point I wouldn’t even be surprised if this year’s finale somehow features all of Evan Peters’ past characters tangled up in a gang bang.
If sex is an important area for Ryan Murphy, than forbidden sex, like the kind that’s referenced in the title of the episode, is even more fundamental. It’s worth noting that while the term “forbidden fruit” obviously has sexual connotations, it’s also a reference to the apple in the Garden of Eden—the original forbidden fruit—which is a symbol for knowledge. It’s no coincidence that as soon as sex is back on the menu in Outpost Three that this development comes with an influx of information about the “truth” of the outside. And because this is American Horror Story this show can also be incredibly literal, so while these two angles are true, this episode is also very literally about dangerous, forbidden apples. If the previous episode of American Horror Story: Apocalypse marks the skin of that forbidden fruit getting initially broken, than this installment unabashedly digs its teeth in and lets the juices run down its face.
Matters begin with Tim Campbell and Mr. Gallant feeling considerably indebted to Langdon after he comes to their aids after the events of the last episode. While he throws them a life preserver, it’s also covered in barbs. With those two effectively under his thumb, Langdon continues his examinations of the rest of these survivors. Langdon’s manipulation of Outpost Three only grows deeper in “Forbidden Fruit” and he demonstrates just how thoroughly he understands everyone. “Call it a ‘night vision of the soul’,” he says. He goes through an expedited version of what he did in the previous episode with Tim and Gallant, but then all of a sudden “Forbidden Fruit” shows that it isn’t playing around.
Rather than let Langdon continue to brainwash Outpost Three, he gets kicked out of this episode surprisingly early. When Langdon pushes Billie Lourd’s Mallory especially hard during her examination, she pulls off some badass psychokinesis and pyrokinesis skills that knock Langdon to the ground. Not only that, when Langdon tries to save face by revealing his true demonic nature, Mallory just dishes it back even harder and makes him retreat. It’s a rare moment where Langdon looks not only overpowered, but also caught off guard. For once he’s not pulling the strings and actually surprised.
The likely conclusion here is that Mallory is a witch, but she hasn’t realized it yet. The end of the episode pretty much answers this question as well as implying a deeper connection between Mallory and the other witches from American Horror Story. When Langdon runs away in defeat and performs a very emo blood ritual to bring forth his “father” for guidance, he cryptically reveals that “one survived” and that he’s killed the rest. It stands to reason that a powerful coven would be able to eliminate or seal away Langdon, so the idea of him at one point assassinating all known witches makes a lot of sense. Of course, there are definitely some blanks to fill in here, like if the AHS: Coven witches faked their deaths or have be in hiding. Lourd is perfect witch material though and if she was a part of Murphy’s ensemble back during Coven, then she surely would have been included as a witch. Or maybe she is just the Dark Phoenix.
“Forbidden Fruit” also treats the audience to some depressing scenes of life on the outside with the mutated cannibals who are struggling to survive out there. At first, it just seems like this is some set dressing and further context for the state of the world, but then Billy Eichner’s Brock shows back up as a gross, mutated Road Warrior version of his former self and it’s extremely awesome. The decision to have Eichner’s character become a radioactive vindictive ex is a drastically more fun angle than to use him as cannon fodder in the premiere. Brock manages to sneak his way into Outpost Three, but surprise surprise—Coco has mixed feelings about this reunion. The episode also gets to gleefully lean into that urban legend about the married couple at the Halloween party to great effect. The direction that this all takes is certainly one of many surprises.
Last week’s episode dropped the bonkers bombshell before its credits that Kathy Bates’ Miriam Mead is actually a robot. “Forbidden Fruit” doesn’t shy away from this topic, but it still tries to play with the audience’s expectations. A myriad of formative scenes from Mead’s past play out as she thinks back on her life and development. There’s even a visceral fight that she thinks back to that’s reminiscent of the domestic fight with Vernita Green in Kill Bill Vol. 1. The episode packs a sprawling amount into this rundown through Mead’s life and it’s some incredible stuff. The devastating nature of these scenes is not in their content, but rather in the brutal realization that they’re not real. They’re just some programmed memories that she’s supposed to feel.
In spite of Mead’s awareness towards her “condition,” she continues on with the same goal and doesn’t change her behavior (or so she thinks). Mead and Venable are still determined to pull off some kind of coup against Langdon because they don’t trust his selection methods. Mead’s solution here is to kill everyone, Langdon included. What’s great about this decision is that they’re still operating out of a place of honor. They want to do what’s best for the world and they’re not entirely wrong. They shouldn’t go and kill everyone, but Langdon is up to something.
It’s no secret that American Horror Story likes to indulge in Halloween-centric episodes and give them as much respect as possible. This season is no different and the holiday becomes the conduit to mass poison the lot of Outpost Three. The games and frivolity of Halloween allow mass murder to easily take place and it’s another surprising turn when this villainous poisoning scheme actually works. Even though the massive projectile vomit is played for laughs to some degree, this is a properly terrifying sequence. It doesn’t shy away from the horrors of being poisoned.
For a moment it looks like AHS: Apocalypse has cleaned house with the bulk of its cast, but then the final piece of the puzzle finally comes together and there’s one more final twist. Apparently, these mass executions were Langdon’s plan all along. He wanted all of Outpost Three killed and the express purpose of the apples was to poison them. Furthermore, Mead’s allegiance to Venable has all been one elaborate long con and a function of her programming. Mead is actually devoted to Langdon, not Venable, and he maybe even built her in the image of Constance. It seems that in many ways she’s been a mother figure for him through the years.
“Forbidden Fruit” is easily the best episode of the season. It picks up the pace and it actually feels like the plot starts to get moving here. Plus, there are plenty of shocking, memorable sequences throughout this offering. As big as all of the episode’s developments are, none of these massive twists are as awesome as the final witch-infused minutes of “Forbidden Fruit.” The camera mysteriously swirls, “She’s A Rainbow” blares on the radio, and the all-powerful witches from Miss Robichaux’s Academy immediately start kicking ass and cleaning up Langdon’s mess. It’s surprising how cathartic it is to see these characters return and in such a triumphant fashion. In many ways it feels like the first three episodes of American Horror Story: Apocalypse were just an extended prologue to immerse the audience in this desperate world. Now the training wheels are off and it’s time to light some devils on fire.
Surprise, bitch? I’m not just surprised. I’m goddamn excited.
‘American Horror Story: Apocalypse’ airs Wednesdays at 10pm (ET) on FX
