The Seven Wonders (American Horror Story)

"The Seven Wonders" is the thirteenth and final episode of the third season of the anthology television series American Horror Story, which premiered on January 29, 2014, on the cable network FX. The episode was written by Douglas Petrie and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon.[1]

"The Seven Wonders"
American Horror Story episode
Episode no.Season 3
Episode 13
Directed byAlfonso Gomez-Rejon
Written byDouglas Petrie
Featured music
Production code3ATS13
Original air dateJanuary 29, 2014 (2014-01-29)
Running time48 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

In the episode, the remaining witches compete to perform the Seven Wonders in order to find out who is the next Supreme. After the new Supreme rises, the Coven goes public with their powers. Stevie Nicks guest stars as herself at the beginning of the episode, singing "Seven Wonders" as the girls prepare.

Plot

The witches prepare to compete in the Seven Wonders. They begin with Telekinesis and Concilium - mind control, and all four witches pass. Next, they perform Descensum - travelling to hell and back, a sun-up deadline for their return. Queenie, Madison, and Zoe return but Misty disintegrates to ash, unable to meet the deadline. The remaining three witches succeed at the next trial, Transmutation (teleportation). Zoe ends up teleporting on a pike over the Academy's gateway and dies, while Queenie fails to revive her, removing the latter in the running for Supreme. Madison refuses to perform Vitalum Vitalis - resurrection on Zoe, instead proving her power on a fly, fearing that resurrecting Zoe would contend her position. Myrtle convinces Cordelia to take the trials, and she succeeds in the first five challenges. Then Madison and Cordelia compete at Divination, which Madison fails and Cordelia passes. Her final task is bringing Zoe back to life. She succeeds, and rises as the new Supreme, her vision restored. Cordelia goes public about the witches in a television interview. Madison leaves to pack her belongings to return to Hollywood, but Kyle enters her room and chokes her to death for refusing to bring Zoe back.

Myrtle requests to burn at the stake once more for killing the other Council members, insisting that Cordelia not be a hypocrite like her mother. An emotional Cordelia sets her ablaze.[2] Cordelia invites Queenie and Zoe to be her Council, and goes downstairs, where Fiona awaits her. Fiona insists that her daughter put her out of her misery now that she is powerless, but Cordelia declares that she must let herself go. As they hug for the first time, Fiona dies in Cordelia's arms. She awakes in hell with the Axeman, damned to spend eternity in his cabin. There are young women outside the Academy, waiting for the doors to open. Kyle, as the new butler, opens the door for the students.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes reports a 62% approval rating, based on 13 reviews. The critical consensus reads, ""The Seven Wonders" doesn't quite deliver the payoff viewers might have hoped for, but it does curb the season's downward slope with a decently entertaining and visually impressive finale."[3] Matt Fowler from IGN gave the episode a rating of 8.0, adding, "There were still a few head-scratching moments, but essentially "The Seven Wonders" put a bow on the season ā€“ with the few remaining villains getting their just deserts."[4] Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club rated the episode a Cāˆ’, stating, "It seemed beyond the writers on Coven, who revealed in "The Seven Wonders" that they were similarly incapable of getting us interested in the actual end games of all of these characters."[5]

The episode received a 2.2 18ā€“49 ratings share and was watched by 4.24 million viewers in its original American broadcast, a marked increase from the previous episode.[6] This episode had the most viewers of any finale in the entire series.

References
  1. "(#313) "The Seven Wonders"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  2. Barnes, Bronwyn (January 31, 2014). "Myrtle Snow's last word". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  3. "The Seven Wonders ā€“ American Horror Story: Coven, Episode 13". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  4. Fowler, Matt (January 29, 2014). "Either Crown Me or Kiss My Ass". IGN. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  5. VanDerWerff, Emily (January 29, 2014). "American Horror Story: "The Seven Wonders"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  6. Kondolojy, Amanda (January 30, 2014). "Wednesday Cable Ratings: 'Duck Dynasty' Wins Night + 'American Horror Story', NBA Basketball, 'Wahlburgers' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
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