Burn, Witch. Burn! (American Horror Story)

"Burn, Witch. Burn!" is the fifth episode of the third season of the anthology television series American Horror Story, which premiered on November 6, 2013, on the cable network FX.

This episode focuses on Fiona (Jessica Lange) exacting revenge on Myrtle Snow (Frances Conroy) after Cordelia (Sarah Paulson) is blinded.

Plot[]

This episode's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (January 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

1833[]

Madame LaLaurie overhears her daughters plotting to kill her after she frightens away a potential suitor of Borquita by displaying slaves' body parts, although it is unclear if all of them are serious. The daughters are dragged out of their beds at night and taken to her torture chamber. She tells them if they're good, she'll let them out in a year. She also tells Borquita that on Christmas morning, she will "stuff her conniving mouth full of shit".

2013[]

LaLaurie opens the door to the Academy and sees her zombified daughters. Zoe tells everyone to shut off the lights and close the drapes. In her trance, Marie Laveau orders the zombies to attack. Luke goes outside and is struck in the back with an axe. Nan goes outside to get Luke and drags him into a car. The zombies break into the car and Zoe gets their attention. LaLaurie goes into the kitchen and sees her daughter Borquita through the window. LaLaurie opens the door to talk to her, and she grabs LaLaurie by the neck. Queenie sends Spalding to find LaLaurie, but he meets a zombie in the hallway. Queenie tries using her powers on the zombie, but nothing works, until LaLaurie kills her with a fire poker through the heart. Luke and Nan make it back into the house when Zoe appears wielding a chainsaw and mows her way through the zombies. She raises her hand to casts a spell and the zombie drops to the ground. Back at the salon, Marie comes crashing to the ground.

At the bar, Fiona hears Cordelia scream from the attack, and calls for an ambulance. In the hospital, after Dr. Wilson tells Fiona that they couldn't save Cordelia's eyesight, Fiona raids the pharmacy for pills. Fiona stumbles into a room where a woman has just given birth to a stillborn baby. Fiona brings the dead infant to the woman and, as Fiona brushes her hand over the baby, it starts to breathe. When Hank makes it to the hospital, Fiona leaves to give him 15 minutes with Cordelia before she throws him out. He takes Cordelia's hand, and she has vision of him having sex with Kaylee.

At the Academy, the undead bodies are being burned. LaLaurie comes out to watch her dead daughters burn. The Council returns and orders that Fiona abdicate her Supremacy. Fiona refuses and accuses Myrtle of the acid attack on Cordelia. She also accuses Myrtle of killing Madison. Fiona pulls off Myrtle's gloves to reveal her acid-burned hands. Cecily and Quentin vote to "burn the witch". The Coven and the Council walk out to a quarry where Myrtle is roped to a stake and doused in gasoline. Fiona flicks her lit cigarette at Myrtle and her body goes up in flames, killing her. Back at the house, it is revealed Queenie dipped her hand in a glass of acid at a key moment during Fiona's interrogation, framing Myrtle. Queenie isn't sure she can live with it. Fiona flatters Queenie, telling her she can help build her powers, maybe even to become the next Supreme. At the quarry, Misty Day finds Myrtle's charred corpse and uses her powers of resurgence to bring her back to life.

Reception[]

"Burn, Witch. Burn!" received a 2.2 18–49 ratings share and was watched by 3.80 million viewers, winning the night for cable.^[1]

Rotten Tomatoes reports a 94% approval rating, based on 16 reviews. The critical consensus reads, "Philosophical exploration of maternal challenges and a challenging, extraordinary turn for Kathy Bates make "Burn, Witch. Burn!" an excellent – albeit weird – hour of television."^[2] Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B+ rating, saying, "The episodes have all been packed with incident, with crazy moments and crazy twists, but there's not yet a center, and without a center, things cannot, well... you know."^[3] Matt Fowler from IGN gave the episode an 8.4/10 rating, calling it a great episode, saying, "This week's episode of Coven gave us a half great/half confusing zombie attack and some emotional moments involving mothers feeling shame and regret."^[4]

The episode was chosen as one of The Atlantic's Best TV Episodes of 2013.^[5]

References[]

External links[]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Burn, Witch. Burn!

• "Burn, Witch. Burn!" at IMDb