We're already at the fifth episode of this season which means we are halfway through the season. This episode, entitled Boy Wonder, brought back some other familiar faces, showcased why Sarah Paulson is regularly my favourite part of this series, and set up the rest of the season to be quite interesting.
With the usual reminder of spoilers lets break down what happened.
We begin where last week's episode left off. Cordelia fainted when Michael brought back Queenie and Madison. While unconscious we see that Cordelia has a vision of the apocalypse ... complete with zombies. Her powers are useless against the zombies who begin to tear pieces of her flesh away. As this is happening Cordelia sees a white faced demon looking man who seems to be controlling the zombie horde. He laughs as they eat her (which is rude).
Cordelia awakens and immediately wants to know what is going on. The other witches tell her she was passed out but yelling for them in her sleep. She is properly reunited with Madison and Queenie. Madison is all snark and wanting to know if they even knew she was dead. Zoe assures her that they knew. This is perhaps one of my favourite moments because the inference is that they didn't do anything about it. Cordelia though is very happy to have everyone back.
It's super cute to see them all back together. Once the reunions are over Cordelia instantly demands to see Michael. The warlocks show concern over the fact that she fainted to which Cordelia admits she was not prepared to see 'her girls' and reacted. Michael tells her that he needed to get her attention. Cordelia says that he has it but she needs everyone's attention first. She tells them of her vision of the apocalypse. She mentions the man with the white demonic face. John questions if there was any warning. Cordelia admits she is not sure but she needs to act because what happens may depend on the decisions she makes now. She announces that Michael will take the test of the Seven Wonders during the next blood moon (which Myrtle is not a fan of at all). She tells Michael that if he succeeds that he'll be the next supreme and that it'll change everything.
Once the witches are back at their own house Myrtle wastes no time demanding to know what Cordelia is thinking letting a warlock take the test. She is seething. She spits out that the entire concept of the 'Alpha' is just a fairytale the warlocks tell themselves. She goes on to list men who were terrible leaders and claims that history hasn't shown men to be all that great in that department. Cordelia tearfully admits that she is scared. She has seen the future and it ends with all of 'her girls' dead. She is worried that it is her hubris that leads them down this path. Her inability to see the possibility of this boy being the next Supreme. Myrtle reminds her that passing the Seven Wonders test doesn't mean you'll be a great Supreme as Cordelia's mother showed. Myrtle tells her that there are plenty of options within their own walls and mentions that Mallory was able to bring a young fawn back from the dead. She didn't just heal the wounds, she undid them which impressed Myrtle. Cordelia reminds her that it was Michael who brought Queenie back. That takes some real power. Myrtle wants the test delayed until Mallory has time to blossom. Cordelia reveals that she doesn't have time. Her powers and strength are fading. She bluntly states that she is dying and shows off a section of graying flesh on her stomach. Myrtle tearfully tells Cordelia that it is not fair as she has just reached her prime. They are interrupted by Mallory who advises Cordelia that her next appointment has arrived.
As the blood moon nears the warlocks of the school for boys gather to cast a protection spell on Michael to aide him in his test. They bless him with salt from the earth, water from the sea, and blood from the body. These are meant to protect and purify. It's a pretty ritual with blue flames and everyone is really excited except for John who sees the same white faced demon that Cordelia did when he looks at Michael. This causes John to want to peace out. He goes and starts packing a bag. He is caught by another of the teachers (whose name is Behold) who calls him out. He tells John that all of this disrespect is beneath him. John wants answers though. He shares that he saw that white face demon too. Behold chalks it up to jealousy and tries to prevent John from leaving. John easily moves Behold out of the way with a wave of his hand and a biting line:
John says he is not jealous but rather afraid and leaves while Behold is still stuck against the wall.
John is driving to Cordelia and has to stop for gas. I am immediately screaming for him to get back in the car because nothing good is going to come out of this. While he is waiting for the car to fill up Michael's caretaker shows up. She plays like she can't put gas in her own car and while he is helping her she leans down to pick up something she drops and attacks his ankles with a knife. He falls and she cuts his throat. She pours some gasoline on him and throws a match on top of him as she is driving away. Goodbye, Cheyenne Jackson ... we barely got to see you. Goodbye, John ... the only voice of sanity at that school.
The caretaker immediately drives to see Michael. They embrace like a mother being reunited with her son. It would be cute if they weren't the Antichrist and a Satan worshiper. He literally runs into her arms. It's too precious. Michael wants to know if she did what he asked. She says John is taken care of. Michael reveals that 'these people' are the only ones who could be a threat to him. He wants to destroy the coven from within once he becomes the Supreme. So this was a plan to get him into the school and take over because witches/warlocks are the only threats to him. Interesting and also further proves that Michael isn't an actual warlock. The caretaker reveals that Ariel was part of the plan to get rid of John and urges Michael to not talk about his father in front of the warlocks. This, for whatever reason, made me laugh. Ariel joins them and says he was not going to sit by and let John ruin their chances of having a warlock Supreme. In other words, he was totally fine with John being killed if it meant the women didn't run things anymore. The entire lot of warlocks are not very smart at all (minus John, he knew what was going on).
It is finally the blood moon and it is time for Michael to take the Seven Wonders test. We get a montage of him passing each hurdle effortlessly. First up is Telekinesis, followed by Concilium (mind control). Transmutation is next. This is followed by Divination, and Pyrokinesis. The last two are Vitalum Vitalis (bring something back from the dead) and Descensum (going into the Underworld and coming back). You can see the warlocks getting more and more excited as Michael sails through the tasks and the witches getting more and more worried. As Michael reaches his final task, Descensum, Cordelia puts an added twist to the task. She wants him to retrieve Misty Day while he is down there. The warlocks are outraged as this is not part of the official test. Cordelia points out that she is doing this because the next Supreme is going to have to be stronger because of her vision. Ariel calls bullshit. He thinks she is just afraid to let go and allow Michael to take over. Cordelia isn't having it. They bicker back and forth with Ariel accusing Cordelia of trying to kill Michael during these tasks. He compares her to her mother (who actually did kill potential new Supremes) which Cordelia does not like. She bites back with what is perhaps my favourite exchange:
She reminds him that she has humoured the warlocks and coddled their fragile egos but that doesn't mean that they actually get a say. She reminds him that she outranks him so he needs to fall in line because she is the Supreme. Michael tells them that he'll do it. He'll get Misty back.
Michael descends and finds himself in Misty's version of hell. The one where she has to keep killing the frog over and over. She's distraught and begging for it to stop. We see it happen over and over until Michael kills the teacher who forces Misty to kill the frog. He guts the teacher and it is a bloody gory mess. Misty is kind of in awe and asks if he is there to save her. Michael then awakens back in the school with Misty following shortly after. Cordelia is in shock. Michael is drained and stumbles over to lean against a table.
Cordelia cradles Misty like she's a treasure. It's really sweet and people are shipping them and I entirely get it. I kind of hope they end up together at the end of all this.
All the other witches welcome Misty back. As this is happening Cordelia gets a nose bleed. The warlocks begin to celebrate this sign of the Supreme weakening. We've seen Michael get a nose bleed before after a big display of power so I can't help but think he pushed his nose bleed onto Cordelia somehow. Misty senses something from Michael for sure though.
Ariel demands what is rightfully theirs. He wants Cordelia to name Michael as the next Supreme. Michael points out that he passed all seven of the tests and even sasses her by saying "unless you want to add another one". Cordelia relents and says that there is no doubt that Michael is the next Supreme before she faints again. Michael is very pleased.
Cordelia is resting and regaining some of her strength. Misty brings her a tea. There is a lot of smiling at each other. Cordelia tells Misty that she knew her for only a short time but that she missed her forever. Yup, these two are totally adorable. Misty tells her that they should have left her where she was. She says Michael gives her the creeps. There is something wrong with him. While Michael was 'saving her' Misty recounts that after the killing of the teacher the students all began speaking in unison in a strange language. Their eyes went white and their heads were thrown back. Misty tells Cordelia that Michael was listening and that evil was speaking to him. Cordelia muses that perhaps Michael was negotiating her release from hell. Misty isn't buying it thought. She says that she has never smelled anything like Michael before (she calls it the 'perfume of death'). Myrtle is even less enthused that Michael is the next Supreme. Cordelia assures them that he will never be the Supreme. She reveals that she only let Michael take the test to determine how powerful he is. She also used him to get all of 'her girls' back so she has a full fledged coven. Michael inadvertently made them more powerful. Cordelia isn't stupid.
Misty bemoans that she cannot fight. She was in hell so long that she is all out of sorts. Cordelia tells her that she has done enough. Misty brought them the first proof that Michael is not what he says he is and now she needs to heal. She's arranged for a surprise, The White Witch (aka Stevie Nicks). Stevie performs a song and dances with Misty. It's all very lovely and witchy. We see Cordelia leave the room during this which catches Michael's attention. Cordelia, it turns out, is having a meeting with Madison. She wants her to use all of her training to find out everything she can about Michael because he is dangerous. Madison questions why Cordelia doesn't assume that she'd be loyal to Michael. He was the one who brought her back, not the witches. Cordelia points out that Madison is only loyal to herself. It turns out Behold was eavesdropping on them and he wants to go along. He reveals that he has his own concerns about Michael. Cordelia agrees that they can go together and gives Madison the address. When Madison asks what is so special about where they are going Cordelia simply replies 'it's where it all began' and we get a shot of the Harmon's old home (aka Murder House).
We're going back to the first season in the next episode! We're going to see more of Michael's upbringing and I expect the Harmons, Tate, and maybe some of the other ghosts! Those missing Evan Peters' face should be happy with next week's episode as I expect he'll be all over it. I am really excited to see these characters again!
See you next week .... be like Cordelia and make good choices!
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