Go to Hell (American Horror Story)

"Go to Hell" is the twelfth and penultimate episode of the third season of the anthology television series American Horror Story, which premiered on January 22, 2014, on the cable network FX. The episode was written by Jessica Sharzer and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon.[1]

"Go to Hell"
American Horror Story episode
Episode no.Season 3
Episode 12
Directed byAlfonso Gomez-Rejon
Written byJessica Sharzer
Production code3ATS12
Original air dateJanuary 22, 2014 (2014-01-22)
Running time45 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

With Fiona (Jessica Lange)'s deteriorating health, the girls show new powers as Queenie (Gabourey Sidibe) searches for Marie Laveau (Angela Bassett). Angela Bassett, Gabourey Sidibe, and Danny Huston guest star as Marie Laveau, Queenie, and the Axeman, respectively. This episode is rated TV-MA (LV).

Plot

Fiona shows Queenie a silent movie about the Seven Wonders (seven acts of magic a witch must demonstrate to be labeled the Supreme), which leads her to schedule Queenie's test of the Seven Wonders. Queenie is on to her, as she considers Fiona's action as another desperate attempt to kill the Supreme. Furious, Fiona denies any kind of evil plan, as she wants to enjoy her last weeks of life peacefully.

Queenie performs Descensum successfully and finds herself in Chubbie's Chicken Shack. She does not realize what's happening until Papa Legba appears and explains to her that she has the power to go to hell and back. After successfully managing to come back from hell, she convinces Papa Legba to take away Laveau and (as a result) LaLaurie's immortality. Meanwhile, Madame LaLaurie is working as a tour guide in her own house, lying about her history after attacking the previous guide. Queenie arrives and offers to help her, but she refuses so Queenie stabs her to death. In her hell, she is thrown in a cage next to her daughters. Papa Legba orders the deceased Laveau to torture LaLaurie's daughters for all eternity.

At the Academy, Fiona poses for her portrait to be painted. Fiona finds her mother's necklace and puts it around Cordelia's neck. When Fiona touches her, Cordelia experiences a futuristic vision about the Coven, in which everyone (including herself) has been killed by Fiona as she maintains her position as Supreme. Cordelia visits the Axeman and explains to him that Fiona is selfish and does not love anybody but herself, using Fiona's passport as sole proof.

Later, Cordelia and Queenie find the entombed Misty Day. At the Academy, Zoe and Kyle come back from Florida with Zoe claiming she is the next Supreme. Misty, Cordelia, and Queenie enter, and Misty violently attacks Madison for entombing her. The Axeman, covered in blood, comes downstairs with his axe, screaming at the witches. All of them use their powers to throw the Axeman's body backwards. Myrtle points to the blood, and Cordelia makes the claim that it is her mother's.

Cordelia uses her sight to see the Axeman waiting for Fiona to arrive at the motel room. After she arrives, he confronts Fiona about the passport. After informing him of her plan to kill her successor and retain her youth, the Axeman hacks Fiona to death.

Back at the Academy, the witches decide the Axeman needs to be executed for his crimes against the Coven. Madison, Misty, Zoe, and Queenie use their abilities to violently stab and hack him to death, re-creating his initial death at the hands of the Academy decades before. The Coven hangs Fiona's portrait and Cordelia informs the girls they will all be undertaking the tests of the Seven Wonders.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes reports a 62% approval rating, based on 13 reviews. The critical consensus reads, ""Go to Hell" presents a microcosm of Coven's flaws with a crowded episode whose messy narrative crowds out an effective surprise for a leading character."[2] Matt Fowler from IGN gave the episode a rating of 7.9, adding that, ""Go to Hell" was a more focused episode, with a lot of driving action. It sounded off a few sour notes here and there, but in the end parts of it felt like a season finale."[3] Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club rated the episode a D+, stating, ""Go to Hell" kills off Coven's older generation in its entirety, turning things over to the next generation, and I could not give two shits about it." He added, "By far the worst thing any TV show can be is boring, and that goes doubly for a Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk show. But in "Go to Hell", even the outrageous stuff feels rote."[4]

The episode received a 1.8 18–49 ratings share and was watched by 3.36 million viewers in its original American broadcast, a decrease from the previous episode.[5]

References
  1. "(#312) "Go to Hell"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
  2. "Go to Hell – American Horror Story: Coven, Episode 12". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  3. Fowler, Matt (January 22, 2014). "Everybody Pays". IGN. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  4. VanDerWerff, Emily (January 22, 2014). "American Horror Story: "Go To Hell"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  5. Bibel, Sara (January 23, 2014). "Wednesday Cable Ratings: 'Duck Dynasty' Wins Night, 'American Horror Story', 'Wahlburgers', 'Workaholics', 'Psych' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on January 26, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
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