Well, the third season of FX’s horror anthology American Horror Story is in the books.  Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s American Horror Story: Coven promised magic and mayhem (which we got in spades) along with a new Supreme by season’s end.  They made good on both points, but also managed to muddy up the waters along the way.  Powers were established and then thrown away, redemption was teased but rarely achieved, and characters died and revived so often as to lose any emotional impact.  Still pretty entertaining though, even if the only purpose for the entire season was a song and a stance.  Hit the jump for my episode/season recap and review.

From co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, the FX series American Horror Story uses a unique and compelling approach to television, with a different setting, different characters and a rotating cast of actors for each season.  For Season 3, American Horror Story: Coven has told the secret history of witches and witchcraft in America, with a cast of talented actresses that included Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Patti LuPone, Sarah Paulson, Frances Conroy, Lily Rabe, Taissa Farmiga, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe and even Stevie Nicks.

During this exclusive phone interview with Collider, actress Angela Bassett talked about how she came to be a part of the show this season, how it was the best of all worlds, bringing the history of the real woman to her portrayal in the present day, talking to actual voodouns, how invaluable it was to really get to shoot in New Orleans, and that she would absolutely be willing to entertain the idea of returning to the series, for a future season.  Check out what she had to say after the jump.

Here we are at the penultimate episode of FX’s American Horror Story: Coven in which viewers get to “Go to Hell” right along with the witches.  One big question was answered tonight, which was, just what the heck are these “Seven Wonders” supposed to be anyway?  With that out of the way, the only major mystery left to be unraveled is the identity of the new Supreme.  While each of the witches has shown signs of being the next leader of the coven, we’ll have to wait until next week to find out who comes out on top.  In the meantime, hit the jump for my recap and review of tonight’s ep.

With only two episodes left in American Horror Story: Coven, the major external threat to the witches’ sisterhood appears to have been eliminated, but internal dangers abound.  It’s anyone’s guess who the new Supreme is at this point, especially since even the current Supreme isn’t quite sure.  What’s a witch to do?  In the immortal words of Metallica: Kill ‘Em All.  We’re not quite to that point yet, as everyone under the academy’s roof is jockeying for position and shoring up their alliances, some pf which worked out better than others.  Hit the jump for my recap of “Protect the Coven” to see who’s left standing.

As part of the TCA Press Tour presentation for FX, President & General Manager John Landgraf took some time to talk about their current hit series and how they determine the format and renewal for their shows.  During the interview, Landgraf talked about how they came to the decision to end Justified with six seasons, the format for Fargo, why they chose to order a second season of The Bridge, and hinted at what the fourth season of American Horror Story will look like.  Check out what he had to say after the jump. 

FX’s American Horror Story: Coven made a strong return for the second half of their season, featuring not just one, but two guest stars.  As you can probably guess from the title, singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks guest starred as herself, to the delight of everyone on screen and off.  In much more of an unrecognizable role was guest star Lance Reddick (Fringe) who played the devilish Papa Legba.  The new blood certainly livened up the proceedings, but were the witches still up to their same old tricks?  Hit the jump to find out.

As of tonight’s episode, American Horror Story: Coven is back on track, which is remarkable for a show that’s known for going off the rails in all sorts of entertaining ways.  The show’s mid-season finale had all of the elements that make the horror anthology so much fun to watch: multiple examples of the supernatural (in this case, the powers of both the witches and voodoo practitioners), explorations of character backstories that make their otherwise vile actions seem somewhat justified, and plenty of shocking WTF moments to go around.  Some characters are starting to come apart at the seams while others are finally managing to knit themselves back together.  Hit the jump for a recap and review of tonight’s episode, “Head”.

There are times when you have to throw out all sense of reason and logic while watching American Horror Story: Coven, and just sit back and enjoy the ride.  Tonight was one of those times.  Whether it’s inconsistencies in storytelling, repetitive scenes that seem to play out in the same way week after week, or aggravating camera flourishes that distract from the otherwise engaging performances on screen, sometimes you just have to let all that go so you can enjoy a zombie learning to speak with a LeapFrog tablet, a neo-conservative Christian purification remedy, and a racist witch’s head in a box.  It’ll all make sense after the jump.

From co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, the FX series American Horror Story uses a unique and compelling approach to television, with a different setting, different characters and a rotating cast of actors for each season. For Season 3, American Horror Story: Coven tells the secret history of witches and witchcraft in America, with a cast of talented actresses that includes Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Patti LuPone, Sarah Paulson, Frances Conroy, Lily Rabe, Taissa Farmiga, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe and now even Stevie Nicks.

During this recent exclusive phone interview with Collider, actress Emma Roberts (who plays out-of-control Hollywood starlet and resident bitch Madison Montgomery) talked about how she came to be a part of Coven, that she was initially nervous about the subject matter, how much fun it is to play a bitch, how far ahead she was made aware of her character’s story arc, the fantastic clothes and shoes she gets to wear, how great it is to work with all of these talented actresses, just how much crazier things can get (they actually cut out a sex scene from Episode 7), the fan reaction she gets from people when she’s out, and how she’d love to return for Season 4.  She also talked about how she hopes to continue to find a balance between roles in comedy and drama, and how it’s her dream to play a Margot Tenenbaum (from The Royal Tenenbaums) type of character.  Check out what she had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers. 

Jessica Lange has been the centerpiece to FX’s horror anthology, American Horror Story, for the last three seasons, but will depart the show after season four.  She’s played an over-protective mother, a lounge singer-turned-Catholic nun on the path to redemption, and is currently the resident Supreme of her coven.  While Lange will return to the show in season four, co-creator Ryan Murphy said she won’t be the lead but “she’ll have this great juicy part.”  For more on Lange’s decision to leave the show, and for more on season four of American Horror Story, hit the jump.

While last week’s episode of FX’s American Horror Story: Coven was a bit of a departure in terms of advancing the plot, things got back on track for all concerned this week.  The conflict between the witches and the voodoo priestesses jumped up a notch in this episode with an unexpected betrayal and a reconciling of old grievances.  Relationships within the coven are just as treacherous as truths are revealed, bonds are broken and then reforged again in the strangest of ways.  Hit the jump for my recap and review.

While a strength of American Horror Story: Coven is its use of supernatural elements that allow characters to die and be resurrected at will, sometimes that mechanism can also act as a crutch.  Tonight’s episode, “The Axeman Cometh”, not only introduced a new character to the at-times-unwieldy cast, but brought two (okay, one and a half) back.  When an hour-long drama can’t even give ample screen time to members of the principal cast, then the story has already become too bloated without compounding matters by introducing more sub-plots half-way through the season.  Unfortunately, that’s what we got tonight.  Hit the jump for my recap and review, and for why jazz may be making a comeback.

Even though FX has ordered a fourth season of American Horror Story, we still have quite a few episodes left to enjoy in this iteration, American Horror Story: Coven.  Tonight’s episode, “Burn, Witch. Burn!” felt more like the second half of last week’s episode (the two probably should have been a Halloween special), but that’s not to say that we didn’t get a lot of story progression along the way.  This hour played heavily on the gore effects, which is to be expected when a horde of zombies descends on a witch coven’s manor home.  We also learned that the voodoo practitioners might not be the most dangerous threat to the coven, but rather someone from within their own ranks.  Hit the jump for my recap and review, plus reasons never to name your daughter “Borquita”. 

In advance of tonight’s fifth episode of FX’s American Horror Story: Coven, we have news that the network has ordered a fourth season of the Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk drama.  While the current season won’t air its finale until January 29th, 13 new hours of television are officially on the books for the as-of-yet untitled fourth season.  The season order comes as no surprise, as Coven’s ratings have outstripped both of the show’s previous runs, and the creators are already deep into conceiving the next season’s themes and storylines.

Catch up on all of our American Horror Story news here, and check out our ongoing episode recaps here.  Hit the jump for more.

I have to admit that I’m loving American Horror Story: Coven, not just because it’s the season of the witches, but because it’s also very much the season of the bad-ass women, with the likes of Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett and Patti LuPone joining Jessica Lange and Sarah Paulson.  With Marie Laveau (Bassett) unleashing her wrath on Madame Lalaurie (Bates), Fiona (Lange) adding to the body count, and Cordelia (Paulson) being attacked, the secrets, lies and mysteries are mounting, and there’s just no telling where things will go next.

During this recent exclusive phone interview with Collider, actress Sarah Paulson talked about her thoughts on how Asylum turned out, the extraordinary women who are on this season, being less physically and mentally exhausted this time around, how challenging things will get for Cordelia, that her attacker will remain a mystery for now (she has speculated about who it could be, but has no idea), the involvement of the Council of Witchcraft, and just how much crazier things will continue to get.  She also talked about the Oscar buzz for 12 Years A Slave, which she’s very proud to be a part of, and her hope that she’ll be able to continue to find a balance between working in film, television and theater.  Check out what she had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.