The AHS: Apocalypse Plot Hole That Has Fans Scratching Their Heads
After the polarizing and decidedly meta split narrative of "American Horror Story" Season 6 ("AHS: Roanoke"), and the hyper-political and equally polarizing narrative of Season 7, "AHS: Cult," fans of the Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchulk horror phenomenon were excited to get back to a more straightforward take on society's worst fears in Season 8, "AHS: Apocalypse." However, what began as an "isolated cast of people in a bunker go crazy and kill each other" narrative, à la John Carpenter's adaptation of Stephen King's "The Thing," ultimately revealed itself to be a full-on crossover with Season 3, "AHS: Coven," and Season 1, "AHS: Murder House."
Long-time fans of the "AHS" universe were thrilled to see some of their favorite characters (including Jessica Lange as Constance Langdon) return for the season, but Murphy's attempt to draw on (and, in the process, occasionally alter) some of the complex universe rules and narratives established in previous seasons left just as many fans reeling. There's one seemingly unexplained plot hole from Season 8 that still has viewers wondering if Murphy simply forgot his own rules (seems unlikely...) or if the show will ultimately come back around to explain the alleged gap between established "AHS" lore and the twist in the season finale of "AHS: Apocalypse."
Fans of "AHS" aren't happy with "Apocalypse" breaking established rules
In the season finale, viewers are shown that despite Malorie's (Billie Lourd) successful, "Terminator"-esque time travel murder of the Antichrist Michael Langdon (Cody Fern) before he can bring on the Apocalypse, an Antichrist is born regardless — just, under very different circumstances than in "AHS: Murder House." It's those circumstances that have fans questioning the show's writers. In a recent discussion on the show's subreddit, user fatash98 asked, "how did the couple from the bunker give birth to the second Antichrist if the Antichrist can only be made from man and spirit?"
It's a valid point. According to the rules put forward by medium Billie Dean Howard (Sarah Paulson) in Season 1, the Antichrist is the result of a union between "man and spirit," or, in Michael's case, the pregnancy occurring from Tate's (Evan Peters) rape of Vivien Harmon (Connie Britton). And yet, the "couple from the bunker" to whom the O.P. is referring — Emily (Ash Santos) and Kyle (Timothy Campbell) — at least appear to be regular, living, flesh-and-blood humans.
So, did the writers of Season 8 simply forget the lore they established in "Murder House," or is the seeming oversight yet another Ryan Murphy plant that the series intends on explaining in a future season? As user craig6186 points out, "Emily and Kyle were there because they had special DNA. We never find out who, what, when or why that is...Chances are they're descendants of some biblical evil. Who knows?"
There's a lot we still don't know about Emily and Kyle in "AHS: Apocalypse"
To be fair, viewers are never actually given a thorough backstory or explanation of what makes Kyle and Emily special outside of their allegedly superior DNA. If their backgrounds were later revealed to be supernatural, the couple's union could be keeping with the man-plus-spirit "AHS" Antichrist recipe. Although we're treated to a slice of Kyle's family life prior to his being moved to the bunker, we know almost nothing about Emily's.
Moreover, as user Green_SeaTurtle jokingly adds, perhaps the most mysterious thing about the pre-apocalypse couple we meet at the end of Season 8 is that "they were both college freshmen and in one year...had a child a house and a nanny." This leap in socioeconomic station is either the most absurdly unbelievable plot in all of "AHS," or, once again, there's something more to it.
For now, fans are still left to speculate as to whether or not "some writers are long overdue to be fired," as one user suggests, or if indeed a future storyline involving the young lovers (perhaps in "AHS: Double Feature?") will reveal their connection to long-established "AHS" canon. Or maybe user BlancoDelRio is correct, and, well, "A wizard did it."