`American Horror Story: Coven’ Premieres Its New Incarnation, Witches; What the Critics Are Saying

American Horror Story season 3 episode 1: American Horror Story was reincarnated last night into a new magical creature, witches. American Horror Story: Coven stars Jessica Lange as the most magical of the lot. A sarcastic witch that rules her coven.

American Horror Story: Coven cast a spell on most reviewers.

The Daily Beast said American Horror Story: Coven is creepy, hilarious and scary good. They think the new season of American Horror Story "promises to be the most terrifying, funniest, and best yet." Kevin Fallon wrote: "2011's first run of AHS  brooded so much it nearly bored and last year's insane asylum-set season committed so deeply to its Saw-meets-One-Flew-Over-the-Cuckoo's Nest ambitions that it nearly played like an Eli Roth fever dream, Coven is refreshingly grounded in reality-at least as grounded as a series about corrupt witches can be. ... This coming-of-age element in Coven gives it a dramatic and emotional relatability, but this AHS installment has something else the previous seasons lacked-and which Murphy excels at: a sense of humor. ... Needlessly complicated? Of course. Stressfully ambitious? We'd expect nothing less. Overflowing with melodrama and camp? Of questionable taste?...We mentioned this is a Ryan Murphy production, right? American Horror Story: Coven is all those things. And it's creepy. Scary. Fun. If the first episode is any indication, Coven will be the strongest, most entertaining iteration of the series yet."

Slate Magazine says American Horror Story: Coven proves that great television doesn't have to be self-conscious. Willa Paskin wrote: "Over American Horror Story's two invigorating, gruesome seasons, creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have indicated that there is no subject too distasteful for them to tackle.  ...  But even this past boldness does not quite prepare one for the opening segment of the new season, titled American Horror Story: Coven. Forget the serpents in the show's promotional materials; Coven begins with America's preeminent horror story: slavery. ... I watched most of this opening segment through my fingers, but as dark and disturbing as it is, it is also undeniably over the top. The music pounds; candlelight glistens on dark skin. ... If you're worried that slavery was the only sensitive subject the premiere explores, rest easy: Once the show moves to the present day it delivers Steubenville: The Revenge Fantasy. Taissa Farmiga, who sat out last season, plays Zoe Benson, a young woman who learns she is a witch almost exactly at the moment she learns her genitals are a kind of vagina dentata. .... The anthology and repertory aspects of American Horror Story, in which actors play wildly different parts season to season, is paying dividends: Past characters and storyline have started to rustle and rub up against present ones.

The Los Angeles Times says that 'American Horror Story: Coven' casts a wicked spell. Mary McNamara writes: "Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates. Five of the more promising words on offer to the American television audience, and reason enough for even those put off by the absurd amount of sexual violence, sadistic brutality, extreme gore and downright silliness that marked the first two seasons of FX's "American Horror Story" to gather 'round for the third. ... a cast that just does not stop. Bates is not the only A-list newcomer; Angela Bassett, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe, Patti LuPone and Mare Winningham are also joining the already high-wattage series regulars, who include Lange, Sarah Paulson, Taissa Farmiga, Jamie Brewer, Evan Peters, Frances Conroy and Denis O'Hare."

Den of Geek thinks American Horror Story: Coven is off to a good start. Nick Hartley writes: "Tonight's premiere wasn't perfect, but the show has a strong premise and plenty of potential to craft (bare with the witchy puns) good weekly stories. However, I will say that this season's premiere was the weakest pilot of the three, and I'll get to why here in a minute. ... Overall, there are some cool threads that are started here in this episode, and director Alfonzo Gomez-Rejon brings a great eye in his direction. Angela Basset is also really intriguing as the mysterious witch Marie Laveau, but I really think that the past two season's of this show started off much stronger, setting up their mythology with ease instead of heavy handedly laying it on thick. Regardless, I'm excited that the wackiest show on television is back to shake things up a bit.

The Washington Post thinks the spell is wearing off. Hank Stuever writes: I'll admit I had to stifle a yawn and a complaint: Does it have to be witches? ... We gotta lotta witches these days - some in pre-production, some in post-production and some already outstaying their welcome on other networks. The problem is, your modern TV witch is usually about as scary and/or interesting as a picked-over Halloween aisle at Walgreens; she's all sexy spells, smoldering glare, plunging neckline, designer jeans and tousled mane - and sometimes she's all that in the package of a sullen teenage girl. (Come back, Samantha Stephens, with your twitchy nose and immaculate living room!) ...Watching the first episode of "American Horror Story: Coven" (which is all FX would let critics see in advance), I began to wonder if, during our nation's shameful history of witch persecution, any of them were ever charged with the crime of being boring?"

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