Prashant Gupta / FXAnnnd exhale, people.
If you're like us, you probably held your breath while watching the season finale of American Horror Story tonight. So many questions built up all season, and only one episode to answer them all?! Stressful.
So what kind of ending did the Harmons get? And did AHS deliver the finale you wanted after blowing our minds over the past three months?
WHAT WE LEARNED
The Harmons Got (Morbid) Happy Endings: We were sure Ben (Dylan McDermott) was going to bite it in the finale, either by his own hand or someone else's, but we were not expecting Mr. Harmon to lose his life so early on! But Hayden (Kate Mara) had other plans, and she enlisted help from the house invaders (episode two) to hang Ben from a chandelier. Such a dramatic staged suicide. Of course, Ben was close to killing himself earlier in the episode, but the ghost of his wife Vivien (Connie Britton) and daughter Violet (Taissa Farmiga) convinced him to take his newborn son and get the eff out of that house. Almost made it.
But now the whole Harmon family is together! And when a new family moved in, Vivien, Ben and Violet knew what they had to do: scare 'em off to save them. So that's what they did, and the newly dead married couple had wayyy too much fun "killing" each other in front of the new owners. They successfully chased the family out, and we learned what they'd be doing for the rest of time: scaring people away from the murder house.
Turns out, the whole Harmon family is more than OK with their new way of "life." A fact that was cemented when we got a cheery Christmas scene which involved the trio decorating. Oh, and baby makes four, because the stillborn Vivien delivered? Now a permanent ghost baby. It was very sweet to see mother and baby reunited, especially when Moira (Frances Conroy) was offered the role of godmother. If you would have told us after the pilot that our last glance of the Harmons would be them plus Moira cheerily celebrating Christmas in the afterlife, we would've laughed and slapped you in the neck. Not the ending we were expecting…how about you guys?
Our favorite part about this whole storyline? The fact that there's a ghost war brewing! As Moira said, some ghosts want occupants to die in the house so they can suffer with them, while others don't want any more deaths. We saw an inkling of that when the new owner, Miguel, was standing over the stove with Larry's burnt wife on one side and Vivien on the other, like an angel and a devil on his shoulders. Maybe a possible premise for season two?
Tate and Violet Got an Open Ending: Tate (Evan Peters) loves Violet, there's no a question about that. Yes, he shows it by trying to kill the new kid who moved in so she could be with someone normal in the afterlife. Understandably, Violet wasn't too excited about being set up via murder, so she stopped Tate and gave him what seemed like a goodbye kiss. But we saw him later hovering outside the house with Hayden (get new friends, Tate!), and he told her he'd wait forever for Violet. So, the door's not wide open for Tate and Violet to be together, but it's not slammed shut either. Fans of the couple will be happy to hear that. Fans of Violet not being with a sociopath are probably not too psyched to get an open ending.
At least Tate admitted everything to his therapist Ben and took responsibility in the only way he knew how: by saying out loud all the horrific crimes he committed. And we got one of our favorite scenes of the episode; Dylan and Evan knocked it out of the park.
Constance Is Indeed Raising the Antichrist: Constance (Jessica Lange) did the Harmon's a solid by rescuing the surviving baby from crazy Hayden…but is it rescuing if she stole the kid and then told the cops that Violet ran off with him? Either way, we flashed ahead three years and got to hear how Constance is rocking motherhood and is raising the most beautiful boy. When she gets home, she finds out that same beautiful boy has brutally murdered his nanny and is calmly sitting by the body and smiling. Constance isn't as horrified as a mother should be, but after having a son like Tate, she's probably seen it all. The last thing American Horror Story leaves us with is Constance leaning down to say to Michael: "Now what am I going to do with you?" Good question, Constance…what do you do with a little boy who is pure evil? Although from what she said in the salon, she thinks she's raising someone of great importance. She might be right: the devil!
BURNING QUESTIONS: SEASON ONE EDITION
- So, how and why does the house have powers?
- Will any ghosts from season one return? They certainly can if they want.
- Is Michael, Constance's adoptive son, really the Antichrist?
- Did Ben deserve the happy ending he received?
- What will season two revolve around? A new house? A ghost war?
- Where was Zachary Quinto, dammit?!
You probably have lots more questions, and we're happy to let you all know that Ryan Murphy is going to give us answers via conference call. So, check back tomorrow for more info right from the cocreator himself.
In the meantime, since this finale was probably not what a lot of you guys expected, we'd love your opinion. Were you disappointed, or happily surprised by the outcome? Vote in our poll below, and then hit the comments to let the finale reaction commence!