It is no surprise that American Horror Story: Apocalypse is the highest rated season in the show’s history according to Rotten Tomatoes. Spoilers for the episode “Could it Be..Satan?” follows.
It was known before the premiere of this season that Ryan Murphy would be making Apocalypse a cross-over between season one’s Murder House and season three’s Coven. Episode 1, “The End” immediately provided this connection with the introduction of Michael Langdon, son of Tate Langdon, who arrived at Outpost 3 and proceeded to terrorize the elite survivors of the nuclear explosion that wiped out the majority of the population. The question on everyone’s mind, however, was, “where are the witches?”
Episode three, “Forbidden Fruit” answers that question with the return of Madison, Myrtle, and Cordelia from Coven at the end of the episode leaving all of viewers on the edge of their seats. Episode four, “Could It Be… Satan?” satisfies the anticipation built up in these previous episodes, serving primarily as an extended flashback.
“Could It Be…Satan” provides flashbacks of the events leading up to the apocalypse. In particular, we are given Michael Langdons backstory, showing his attendance of Hawthorne Academy, school for warlocks. However, it becomes evident later during the episode that Michael is in fact not a warlock, but instead a more powerful dark entity.
This episode turns political when the heads of Hawthorne Academy choose to overlook the obvious red flags about Michaels sinister character by presenting him as the next “supreme” to the witches. This subtly shows the men’s eagerness to surpass their female counterparts despite the consequences that could result.
All in all, “Could It Be… Satan” is one of the best episodes in American Horror Story history. This episode does an exquisite job allowing us to relive moments with our favorite characters from past seasons while continuing to move the current season’s storyline forward.