Why American Horror Story Fans Hated Apocalypse's Finale
Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk's American Horror Story is a seasonal treat. Every year, just like Halloween and pumpkin spice lattes, people must contain their excitement as summer morphs into fall and another glorious season of the horror anthology series draws nigh. As leaves start to crumble and blanket the ground, viewers wonder which characters their favorite AHS alumni will play on the screamer's latest iteration.
Considering American Horror Story: Apocalypse featured a Murder House-Coven crossover, fans were more excited than usual for the eighth season. Unfortunately, many were left disappointed with the finale. The first few episodes left a lot to be desired before the crossover elements kicked in, but soon enough the witches arrived and long-time viewers were rewarded with a "Return to Murder House" episode, calling all the way back to the inaugural season of American Horror Story. While the season as a whole was certainly strong in parts, there has been plenty of debate about the finale.
In fact, many Reddit users were left unsatisfied, as crystalized by one user posting under the handle u/Strobei. This user said, "Really? Ran over by a car? Yet he can take an entire clip of bullets, knife in the back and recover? What is this s**t story?" The user is, of course, referring to the death of the all-powerful son of Satan, Michael Langdon (Cody Fern).
The antichrist's death should mean something
Although the bad guy almost always loses on television, fans were expecting a more gratifying death to quite possibly the strongest creature on AHS. Other Reddit users mentioned that Michael's death is also anticlimactic. The witches go back to his weakest point to kill him as opposed to a fair showdown between Michael and newly minted Supreme Mallory (Billie Lourd). The point is, Michael can't be beaten at the top of his game, as is the case with most characters who are capable of bringing on the bloody apocalypse. This is why Mallory has to take on a much weaker form of the antichrist. Otherwise, she loses.
Another common complaint is that Apocalypse undid plot lines from previous seasons. As the Redditors collectively pondered, how come the antichrist is still born regardless of everything the witches go through to stop Michael? Doesn't this undermine everything that happens in Apocalypse?
Outpost 3 teens Emily (Ash Santos) and Timothy (Kyle Allen) also reappear after being off the grid for what seemed like ages. In the new timeline, since the undoing of Michael's wrath in the apocalyptic world, Emily and Timothy meet up by chance and sire a kid who eventually kills a babysitter. This kid is somehow the new supposed son of Satan. Apparently, their DNA really was special. Alas, the audience is just supposed to accept that these two are capable of making Baby Satan — even though the audience spent an entire season being told how otherworldly powerful Michael is? As usual, the season's time travel component blurred the already bloody waters of a season that was otherwise great — but could have been so much better.
Twists and turns are staples of the horror genre. As far as some fans are concerned, however, Ryan Murphy's aging anthology series may have gone a bit too far with this one.