PopHorror Let's Get Scared
This week was the premiere of the first episode of American Horror Story: Apocalypse. a season AHS fans have been anticipating since the announcement that this one is a combination of season 1, Murder House, and season 3, Coven. The debut episode kicked off with a bang… well, more of an explosion, a blast that wiped out 90% of the Earth’s population. Check out our recap of episode 1 below!
We start out with two storylines that eventually merge into a third. Within minutes of the episode’s start, we hear the alert that warns everyone of the incoming missile that ends up destroying California. There’s the first group of apocalypse survivors: Coco Vanderbilt (Leslie Grossman), Mr. Gallant (Evan Peters), Mallory (Billie Lourd) and Evie Gallant (Joan Collins) who are able to escape via Coco’s father’s plane to a safe place called the Outpost. There’s humor right off the bat, as Coco’s husband, Brock (Billy Eichner), tries to make it to the plane but he is delayed by the surrounding chaos. As they leave without him, he screams up at the plane, “You bitch!” The four survivors watch the nuclear cloud from the plane as they are whisked away to the Outpost.
The second story line focuses on Timothy (Kyle Allen). Just as he finds out that he got into UCLA, the world ends. Members of the Cooperative take him to the Outpost. All he is told is that his genetic makeup makes him a desirable survivor. Timothy is taken to an underground fallout shelter and meets Emily (Ash Santos). She also doesn’t know why she is there, but they assume that it was the same reason why he was chosen.
Now, the two tales of the survivors merge when they all reach the Outpost, which is like a Victorian version of Hell. I was waiting for characters from Downton Abbey show up. Timothy and Emily meet the leader of the Outpost, Wilhelmina Venable (Sarah Paulson). We are also introduced to another survivor, Dinah Stevens (Adina Porter). Venable gives them all the rules of their new home: no going outside and no unauthorized copulation. The survivors are separated by colors: purple for the elite and gray for the workers. Even in the apocalypse, we can’t escape the rich. Venable is like a Victorian dominatrix. She loves doling out punishment and torture to all of the survivors, and joining her in this pleasure is Mead (Kathy Bates). I can’t wait to see more of these evil characters. At one point, Gallant and another survivor are decontaminated because they were detected with radiation. This is absolutely horrifying to all involved; Gallant is decontaminated but the other survivor is not so lucky and is shot. We learn later that there was no reason to fear, as Mead had adjusted the Geiger counter at the lowest setting, causing an unnecessary panic.
The survivors continue to think there is hope, and that the Cooperative will rescue them. However, eighteen months later, they realize that one is coming for them. Against all odds, Timothy and Emily fall in love and limit themselves to one kiss a day. After the blare of a siren, we are introduced to Michael Langdon (Cody Fern), the grownup version of the Antichrist baby from season one. He reports that the other outposts have been overrun, and that he has come to determine which survivors he would like to take with him to his more secure outpost, a place that has enough food to last for decades. Langdon says he can take all of the survivors or none of them; he will be the judge.
The first episode of American Horror Story: Apocalypse is keeping us in the dark. Who are the Cooperative? What is Langdon’s endgame? When will we see the merge of Murder House and Coven? We are left with more questions than answers. It was a good first episode; the action started off right at the beginning, and we all know it will only escalate from here. American Horror Story: Apocalypse airs on Wednesdays at 10 pm EST on FX.
What did you think of the first episode? Let us know in the comments below!
