Witches are the new black

MANILA, Philippines - Halloween and television have always made for a great mix. In time for all things spooky, #Undas2013 celebrates the unheralded return of a scarier line-up for fall TV programming. Owing to the massive success of The Walking Dead and its weekly ratings coups, the horror trend is seeing a major uptick in 2013 network pick-ups.  With longstanding shows like Supernatural, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries and popular sophomore Teen Wolf redefining the genre on the small screen, a resurgence of horror is heating up for the Netflix generation.

Deemed by critics as an early must-watch this season, the reimagining of Bram Stoker’s Immortal Count makes a TV reprisal in the eponymously named Dracula for NBC. Set in Victorian-era London, Jonathan Rhys-Meyer (sold!) plays the titular vamp burdened with a centuries-old vendetta against the Harkers and Van Helsings of his time. It’s a 10-episode mini-series that plays out a lot like Revenge, but with a little more bite. A modern adaptation of the Headless Horseman in Sleepy Hollow and spin-offs from The Vampire Diaries and Once Upon a Time make up the rest of the spook-tacular autumn lineup. 

Here at Supreme, we’ve done the legwork for you and we’ve unearthed a winner for the watching. The anthological series American Horror Story returns this Fall with the witch-tastic Coven! AHS is the brainchild of Ryan Murphy (writer and co-creator of Glee and Nip/Tuck). Each season stands as a self-contained narrative, the first two of which were aptly titled Murder House and Asylum respectively. Both shows ramped up the visual scares to a groundbreaking degree; if you haven’t seen either, take your pick between a house filled with murderous phantoms and a Nazi-run asylum filled with grim horrors. It must be said that neither is required to enjoy AHS in its most recent incarnation. 

WTF is happening?

Before Coven, I’d actually never seen an AHS episode, full stop. I skip through every “WTF is happening” moment and depend on online recaps to imbue meaning to the mangled imagery. #HonestyHour the show paints a dark, dark picture and it can be trying for the wracked of nerve. But luckily for you (and for my tell-tale heart, welp), Murphy promised a lighter hand this season, employing a more buoyant tone with the subject matter. More bitch-craft, less scare tactics. In a world where a school trip downtown looks like a Saint-Laurent motion campaign, how could we possibly turn away? Forget Hogwarts, we’re sending our O.W.L. scores for admission to Miss Robichaux’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies.

This season’s Coven is set and shot in storied New Orleans. It follows the secret history of witches in America: the survivors of the Salem trials pitted against the ancient power of voodoo priestesses blessed with a home court bayou advantage. The show makes for a heady mix of shock value and campy froth: led by AHS award-winning actress Jessica Lange as Fiona Goode, the Supreme witch of her time (zing!) versus a formidable Angela Bassett as legendary voodoo queen Marie Laveau. The show begins much like a youth-oriented soap with cast members AHS-veteran Taissa Farmiga, Emma Roberts (of Nickelodeon fame) and Gabourey Sidibe (PRECIOUS!) playing the endangered yet empowered student body at Miss Robichaux’s Academy. The star power doesn’t end there as Kathy Bates rounds out the cast as the sadistic Madame Delphine Lalaurie. A gruesome figure in New Orleans history — a Louisiana-born socialite with a penchant for torturing slaves. Hurtling through both past and present, Murphy creates a spellbinding tour-de-force repertory drama built using a solid female cast — de rigueur weekly cat fights, a must. 

Grandiose characters

AHS creates a horror world that revels in risk and excess but is grounded in grandiose characters, solid acting and inimitable dialogue. Four episodes in and we’re already treated to choice quips like “A bus flip? That’s not easy. But you were a sloppy little witch-bitch.” Or my personal favorite: “This Coven doesn’t need a new Supreme. It needs a new rug.” Our nominal lead Jessica Lange is the queen bee and she metes out justice in black Chanel suits. Needless to say, we’re hooked. This is an hour of fabulous television you shouldn’t be missing.

We’ve had enough of The Walking Dead (our hero Rick needs to snap out of chatting people half to death and shoot things) and it’s high time for vampires, zombies and werewolves to take a back seat or sink back into the woodwork. With the advent of soapy The Witches of East End (a show not to be confused with Coven) and the rumored reboot of Charmed, the witching hour is here to stay. AHS: Coven’s underlying theme of marginalized minorities gives the viewer an us-versus-them perspective. The thrill of propping witches front and center is the satisfaction of having our underdogs fight back in preternatural ways. And I quote the Supreme: “We, even the weakest among us... are better than the best of them.”

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