Go to Hell (American Horror Story)

"Go to Hell" is the twelfth and penultimate episode of the third season of the anthology television series American Horror Story, which premiered on January 22, 2014, on the cable network FX. The episode was written by Jessica Sharzer and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon.^[1]

With Fiona (Jessica Lange)'s deteriorating health, the girls show new powers as Queenie (Gabourey Sidibe) searches for Marie Laveau (Angela Bassett). Angela Bassett, Gabourey Sidibe, and Danny Huston guest star as Marie Laveau, Queenie, and the Axeman, respectively. This episode is rated TV-MA (LV).

Plot

Fiona tries to persuade Queenie to take a chance at the trial of the Seven Wonders, seven advanced feats of magic a witch must master to ascend as the Supreme. Due to the trials being potentially lethal, Queenie believes that Fiona's urges are only meant to kill her successor, but Fiona insists she simply wishes to enjoy the last weeks of her life peacefully.

Cordelia is searching for the missing Misty Day, trying to evoke a vision to no avail, even upon touching Madison who, trying to avoid her, develops the power of teleportation, one of the Seven Wonders. Cordelia eventually tracks Misty's whereabouts and together with Queenie, they free her from confinement.

Queenie successfully attempts astral projection, one of the Seven Wonders, encounters Papa Legba and convinces him to cancel his deal with Marie Laveau, stripping both Marie and Delphine of their immortality. Queenie finds Delphine posing as a tour guide in her former house, now a museum, and kills her after an unsuccessful attempt to turn her towards goodness. Delphine and Marie are sentenced to spend all eternity in a shared hell for their respective crimes in life.

Receiving a horrific vision of Fiona murdering the Coven, Cordelia alerts the Axeman of Fiona's plans to leave him. Upon Zoe returning to Miss Robichaux's due to believing she is the next Supreme, the witches execute the Axeman and learn he murdered Fiona in a fit of rage. Cordelia decides young witches will all undertake the trials of the Seven Wonders to determine the new Supreme.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes reports a 62% approval rating, based on 13 reviews. The critical consensus reads, ""Go to Hell" presents a microcosm of Coven's flaws with a crowded episode whose messy narrative crowds out an effective surprise for a leading character."^[2] Matt Fowler from IGN gave the episode a rating of 7.9, adding that, ""Go to Hell" was a more focused episode, with a lot of driving action. It sounded off a few sour notes here and there, but in the end parts of it felt like a season finale."^[3] Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club rated the episode a D+, stating, ""Go to Hell" kills off Coven's older generation in its entirety, turning things over to the next generation, and I could not give two shits about it." He added, "By far the worst thing any TV show can be is boring, and that goes doubly for a Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk show. But in "Go to Hell", even the outrageous stuff feels rote."^[4]

The episode received a 1.8 18–49 ratings share and was watched by 3.36 million viewers in its original American broadcast, a decrease from the previous episode.^[5]

References

External links

• "Go to Hell" at IMDb
• "Go to Hell" at TV Guide.com

This page was last edited on 10 May 2023, at 17:55