American Horror Story: Coven Review: “The Replacements” (Season 3, Episode 3)

Madame LaLaurie is trying to cope with the changed world, a point illustrated hilariously by her bewilderment over Obama’s presidency. Too stubborn to get over her racism, she’s punished by becoming Queenie’s personal slave, which I’m sure will be mined for more than a few humorous moments. Queenie also happens to have a run-in with the minotaur from down the street, apparently subduing him by turning him on. Yes, it’s strange, and it doesn’t seem to make much sense, but hopefully that’s something that will be elaborated next week. It’s kind of hard to let Minotaur sex go undisclosed at the breakfast table.

Delia is also struggling with her fertility issues, which while tragic, wasn’t quite registering on my radar as significant until now. Desperate, she seeks the help of her mother’s worst enemy, the voodoo priestess Laveaux, and is quickly denied simply because of who she is. We’re still shown how the ritual would be performed, even though it isn’t. Let’s just say it involves boiling man chowder, hot peppers and goat’s blood all over Delia’s underwear. You know, a typical Wednesday night.

But with everything that’s been happening, the most pressing issue is still the war of the Supremes, which is now missing an heir. Fiona seems hellbent on holding onto her position of power, even if she’s just wasting her days strolling around New Orleans. Maybe she’s hoping to take out Laveaux before she gives up her power?

It’s easy to see that Laveaux and Fiona are enemies and that some sort of voodoo/witch war is gonna go down by the end of the season. At this point, American Horror Story seems more concerned with detailing the personal lives of everyone involved, which is praiseworthy simply because some restraint is finally being shown. Who would have thought that a more focused narrative that remained somewhat grounded could be a smashing success? Other than most of the audience.

At the end of the day though, The Replacements pushes the story forward a few leaps, and it still holds my interest better than most shows can. For a series about excess and insanity, this new level of restraint is making American Horror Story: Coven the most enjoyable and least perplexing season yet.