American Horror Story: Apocalypse season 8, episode 6 recap: Return to Murder House

This week on American Horror Story we returned to Murder House and it wasn’t as epic as we had hoped.

American Horror Story has been hyping the crossover season for quite some time now, and this week’s episode was all about seeing our fan favorites return to the universe. I was super excited to see Jessica Lange and Connie Britton return, even if for just a few moments, but it wasn’t the reunion I was hoping for. Perhaps it was the buildup or just simply my expectations, but I wanted something more, something more dramatic.

In this Sarah Paulson directed episode, Madison, and Behold return to Murder House to learn more about Michael. They plan to do this by speaking to the spirits lurking around the house which include Jessica Lange’s Constance, Evan Peters’ Tate, Connie Britton’s Vivien, and Dylan McDermott’s Ben. Each spirit had some insight to offer on the Antichrist, and none of it was good.

While Constance was reluctant to share about anything Michael, she struck a deal with Behold and Madison. In exchange for spilling the beans about Michael, Madison and Behold would have to get rid of Moira’s spirit. They do this by digging up her bones and burying them in a location of her choice–her mother’s grave.

As Constance recalled her time raising Michael as a kid turned adult overnight, it gave us the heebie-jeebies. As a child he would murder animals, leaving them around the house as treats for her, and she would bury the carcasses under rose bushes. The murders soon changed from animals into humans and continued to worsen until she chose to kill herself to get away from him.

Credit: FX

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After finding Constance dead on the sofa, Michael meets Ben who chooses to reveal himself and tells Michael that Constance could choose to appear but doesn’t want to. Over time, Ben and Michael form a bond despite the fact that Michael is not Ben’s biological son.

But Ben too lost any hope he had for Michael after Michael murders a lesbian couple within moments of them moving into Murder House. The American Horror Story episode then shifts to Vivien (Connie, we missed you so much!) as she tells her experience with Michael embracing the Antichrist he was transforming into.

One night a Satanic cult came to see Michael and performed the Black Mass in which they murdered a girl and had Michael eat her heart. This is a metaphor for him truly turning into the devil as was illustrated by the devil shadow that emerged behind him (Not going to lie, this part was a bit cheesy and anti-climactic).

Within the walls of Murder House, Tate never really considered Michael his son and was just eager to win Violet’s affection after everything that happened between them and her family. At the end of the episode, Madison is the one to convince Violet to give Tate another chance because he did save her mother after all from Michael, who tried to burn her spirit to a crisp.

And in the words of Madison, at least someone should get a happy ending.

What did you think about this Murder House episode? Share your thoughts below!

American Horror Story airs every Wednesday on FX at 10 PM EST!