Written by Ned Martel And Charlie Carver And Brad Falchuk
Directed by Crystle Roberson Dorsey
Ben (to Mr. Nas): "All my life I've been afraid of the number thirteen. But I am afraid no longer. It is more than a fear. It is more than a number. It is my destiny. The purpose of my life."
I feel like I'm in a minority of fans who both liked Ben DeSoto as a character and was genuinely invested in his story. Unlike his feckless father, who abandoned Ben and his many siblings, Ben wanted to make the world a better place for his daughter.
In one of the most annoying and pointless aspects of the finale, both Ben and Madison became parents to an unnamed baby girl. The condom broke, the pregnancy accelerated, Madison gave birth and Nas was the one to breathe life into his new granddaughter. Then his other granddaughter, the killer of the previous Antichrist and Ben plotted his doom.
Of course this show couldn't let the Devil properly win. What kind of message would that have sent out to audiences? And this was in spite of Nas himself calling off the bet and letting everyone live. Mallory found a way to trap Nas's soul in The Last Supper painting and Ben had to give up his new family to do it.
Much as I detest the Ben/Madison pairing (lack of chemistry, build up, feeling unearned, etc) and the inclusion of a baby and the generally bad AO3 style fanfic nature of this plot, it did suck that the poor guy had to lose everything. Even during the actual scene itself, it's less about Ben saving the world and more about Cordelia and Mallory getting the last word in.
As much as I do love the Coven, they're starting to suck the life out of this show and to it's detriment. The focus should've been more on completing Ben's arc in a way that allowed the character to go out with style. While I like that he got his heroic sacrifice and subverted the role of the Antichrist, the overemphasis on the coven just annoyed me a lot more here.
As for Mr. Nas, his whole plan was fucking idiotic to begin with and the fact that he barely put up a fight to stop Cordelia, Mallory and Ben was also nonsensical. I genuinely think the show's budget cuts played a role in how sloppily handled the main plot for this season actually was. If the budget was there, perhaps Mr. Nas would've won and we'd have seen Hell on Earth. I guess we'll never know now.
- Ben was the thirteenth Antichrist. Others included the likes of Caligula, Xerxes, Hitler, Mussolini and of course, Michael Langdon.
- Marie was absent from this one, Myrtle relegated to a scene with Morwenna and Fiona taught Constance some magic. Ben rescued Queenie from Hell again.
- Nan returned as Cordelia's personal Hell involved being in a kill shelter. Mallory travelled to Salem witch times to get the spell to defeat Mr. Nas.
- Mr. Phibes was the final sacrifice to Nas to ascend. Phibes was also the final scene as he was making his gay biker movie in Hell.
- Standout music: Troye Sivan's One Of Your Girls.
- Chronology: From where the episode left off. The Coven is now split between the Robichaux Academy and the Apollyon, which Cordelia inherited.
I was really hoping that Devil Of A Good Time would bring this episode home but it's a rushed and messy finale that ignored/abandoned a lot of characters, gave us a pointless supernatural pregnancy and anticlimactic exits for both Ben and Mr. Nas. After this season, we need the longest break from the Coven.
Rating: 6 out of 10
No comments:
Post a Comment