American Horror Story 303 Recap: The Replacements

Back at Witch Prep, Fiona is double-fisting whiskey and pills, otherwise known as a regular Tuesday.

Madam, this uptight woman is here to see you.

Madam, this uptight woman is here to see you.

Creepy Butler brings in Joan, who has come to complain about Madison rolling her vagina into a ball and pitching it at her son.

Straight down the middle like a fast ball

Straight down the middle like a fast ball

Joan has also brought Fiona a bible. Someone is barking up the wrong tree. Fiona calls her on her fundamentalist Christian hypocrisy, and tries to give her a drink.

Let me get this straight: you want a lady in the streets but a freak in the sheets?

Let me get this straight: you want a lady in the streets but a freak in the sheets?

She threatened to fist my son!

She threatened to fist my son!

It's just the four fingers, and you tuck the thumb under.

It’s just the four fingers, and you tuck the thumb under.

Joan is in no fucking mood, and tells Fiona to control her girls or she’s calling the police.

Madison shows up looking to start some shit. She taunts Joan by saying she conjured the devil and made her son jizz his pants using only the power of her withering stare.

And when I'm done with him, it's just you and me, Evita

And when I’m done with him, it’s just you and me, Evita

As Joan storms out, Fiona asks Madison to light her cigarette. Madison does it with her mind, capturing Fiona’s interest. Over at the FrankenHouse, FrankenKyle is tucked into bed when his mom comes in. She’s noticed his body is different (because it’s made of rapists) and he’s not talking.

If I'd known you were alive, I never would have smoked your weed

If I’d known you were alive, I never would have smoked your weed

She doesn’t care though, as long as he’s still her son. And then this shit happens:

UGHPSETTING

UGHPSETTING

FrankenKyle and his mother have been having sex, or more accurately, she has been sexually abusing him for quite a while. It is all of the gross. She feels up his Frankenpenis while he cries. I need a handi-wipe for my brain.


Cordelia goes to Marie Laveau’s salon to get a witch baby a’brewin. Sidebar, how amazing would it be if Lafayette from True Blood just wandered into this show?

Hello, I'm here to see the magic

Hello, I’m here to see the magic

Cordelia walks into the back room to find Marie sitting on a throne of bones and pelts. She’s chilling out and playing solitaire on an iPad like a badass. Marie offers her a Coca-Cola.

We also have Fresca, Coke Zero, and goat's blood

We also have Fresca, Coke Zero, and goat’s blood

Do you have goat blood zero?

Do you have goat blood zero?

Cordelia has come for a fertility spell, but Marie tells her it’s quite the procedure. There are drummers, dancers, animal skulls, and jizz in a mason jar.

I put the jizz in a Gladware container, is that okay?

I put the jizz in a Gladware container, is that okay?

NO

NO.

So they toss the jizz into the fire and Marie eats the world’s hottest pepper.

Marie, you said I wouldn't be the only white person here!

Marie, you said I wouldn’t be the only white person here!

I lied.

I lied.

There’s some singing, some dancing, and they cut a goat’s throat and let it bleed all over Cordelia’s vagina and stomach. Typical baby shower stuff.

No lie, I thought she was gonna fuck this goat

No lie, I thought she was gonna fuck this goat

Despite the hefty price tag, Cordelia is ready to go. But not so fast. Marie cackles at her and tells her that she will never perform the spell. Since Cordelia is the daughter of her sworn enemy, Marie refuses to help her.

But I went to Vassar!

But I went to Vassar!

Bryn Mawr or die!

Bryn Mawr or die!

She says Cordelia was born in the wrong tribe, and Fiona messed with the wrong witch. Poor Cordelia can’t catch a break.


Zoe is back at school and pretending like she didn’t fuck with nature, when Mrs. FrankenKyle calls to invite her over for dinner. Nan wishes she would take her loud thoughts elsewhere.

How does Sookie Stackhouse put up with this shit?

How does Sookie Stackhouse put up with this shit?

Madison and Fiona have mimosas and soak up each other’s awesomeness. We find out that Madison had a cruel stage mom who forced her to be the breadwinner. It’s essentially every child star story ever.

What's your mother like?

What’s your mother like?

Her implants are hard as rocks

Her implants are hard as rocks

Fiona tells Madison that she was a terrible mother to Cordelia, and it’s too late to change, even though both of them are very much alive and living in the same house. Fiona laments that she has so much magic to teach and no plucky young witch to learn. Madison immediately volunteers.

Staring contest in 3,2,1, go!

Staring contest in 3,2,1, go!

The first lesson is mind controlling some guy to wander into traffic. This doesn’t take magic; this takes a case of beer. Or twenty dollars.


Meanwhile, Queenie has forced Delphine to make her chicken pot pie. This is upsetting, as chicken pot pie is never a punishment and always a joy.

Now chop all the onions!

Now chop all the onions!

But my eyes!

But my eyes!

Delphine tells her that peach cobbler won’t keep her warm at night. She has obviously never had peach cobbler, because that shit is delicious and will warm even the coldest of hearts.

Queenie tells her that she uses food to replace the love she never had as a child. This seems like something approaching a genuine dialogue about eating disorders, so they shut it down right quick.

Sorry, I forgot I was on a show with no fucks to give

Sorry, I forgot I was on a show with no fucks to give

Delphine sees something moving outside.

Scared that Obama is lurking outside the window

Scared that Obama is lurking outside the window

Who’s at the door? It’s the minotaur!

I forgot my keys again.

I forgot my keys again.

Minotaur tries to break into the house. Delphine confesses her real identity to Queenie, who understandably freaks the fuck out. It’s bad enough she was eating racist cobbler but serial killer racist cobbler? Too far.

Voodoo doll vengeance powers activate!

Voodoo doll vengeance powers activate!

Delphine gets on her knees and begs Queenie to help her. Queenie cuts Delphine’s hand, puts her blood on a towel, and goes out to face the minotaur. I would have tossed her racist murdering ass out the door, but to each their own.

Queenie the Minotaur Slayer

Queenie the Minotaur Slayer

Queenie goes outside and starts waving the bloody towel like she’s a Spanish bullfighter. Then things start getting weird. Queenie tells the minotaur that he just wants love. She wants love too. They aren’t beasts, they’re just people. Queenie starts downstairs DJing and the minotaur is into it.

Come on baby, we ain't nothing but mammals

Come on baby, we ain’t nothing but mammals

So let's do it like they do it in a bestiality snuff film

So let’s do it like they do it in a bestiality snuff film

UGGGGHHHHHPSETTING. This feels racist and wrong. We so rarely get to see women of color and women of different sizes express their sexuality, and we get this fresh hell instead. I want to throw Ryan Murphy down a well.


Back at the house that incest built, poor FrankenKyle is rocking in the corner. Mrs. FrankenKyle tries to talk to him, but he still won’t answer.

Uncomfortable

Uncomfortable

She then tries to have sex with him, but FrankenKyle snaps and bludgeons her to death with a trophy.


Madison and Fiona are drinking and playing pool in a bar. I would watch a show that was just these two as drinking buddies.

High schoolers really can't hold their liquor

High schoolers really can’t hold their liquor

Fiona watches the boys watching Madison, and flashes back to her youth when she had the same sway over men. This sucks, as Jessica Lange is still crazy hot, but whatever.

Cheers bitch!

Cheers bitch!

I will destroy you.

I will destroy you.


Zoe shows up to dinner, and finds Mrs. FrankenKyle’s bloody corpse and an equally bloody FrankenKyle right behind her.

Should have left him in the swamp shack

Should have left him in the swamp shack


Madison and Fiona stumble back home after a long night.

Let's go streaking!

Let’s go streaking!

Fiona tells Madison that she is the next Supreme. Madison is dubious, but Fiona knows it. As Madison is flowering(gross) and gaining her powers, Fiona’s powers are fading.

Most of these Supremes used two fingers…

Most of these Supremes used two fingers…

But I got that shit done with one!

But I got that shit done with one!

But you still used your mouth, right?

But you still used your mouth, right?

Fiona has cancer. Madison assures her that her agent can get the best oncologist in the country.

CAA, WME, and Cedars-Sinai

Has connections at CAA, WME, and Cedars-Sinai

Fiona is not interested in chemo, and wants to go out in style. She laments becoming the Supreme at such a young age and squandering her powers. She was a shitty Supreme.

And I never got the choreography right!

And I never got the choreography right!

Fiona confesses to killing her predecessor, and takes out the same knife. Madison starts to freak, and rightly so.

Stay away from drunks with knives!

Stay away from drunks with knives!

Fiona asks Madison to kill her. Her time is up. Madison refuses, having already filled her murder quota for the school year.

Um, I think it's past my curfew…

Um, I think it’s past my curfew…

Fuck your curfew!

Fuck your curfew!

They struggle with the knife, and Fiona accidently/on purpose slits Madison’s throat. Goodbye Madison, it was nice knowing you. Unless you get resurrected, in which case we’ll see you next week.

I have eight more episodes of Mean Girls quotes, fuck!

I have eight more episodes of Mean Girls quotes, fuck!

Guess who saw it all go down? Creepy butler!

Does this guy ever get a night off?

Does this guy ever get a night off?

Fiona tells him to bury Madison deep. She lights a cigarette and collects herself.

 Smoking kills…everyone else

Smoking kills…everyone else

Fiona says, “this coven doesn’t need a new Supreme, it needs a new rug.” ZING!

NEXT time on American Horror Story! Witch Police! Frances Conroy! Drunk Fiona! And a live performance by Fleetwood Mac!

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Chelsea

Chelsea Steiner was born and raised in New Orleans, which explains her affinity for cheesy grits and Britney Spears. She currently resides in sunny Los Angeles, where she works as a screenwriter/blogger/sex educator. She's the writer/director of Thank You Come Again, a queer sex positive web series based on her experiences working the Pleasure Chest, which you can follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. She’s obsessed with dachshunds, Buffy, 90's dance parties, and roller derby. She loves the word "Jewess" and wishes more people used it to describe her. Follow her ramblings on Twitter and her cute puppy pics on Instagram.

Chelsea has written 46 articles for us.

12 Comments

  1. I felt compelled to delurk to say that I’ll read anything Chelsea writes. Clicking on to page two now. Carry on.

  2. I love AHS and I love this season because witches and ladies and WOC but I’m also traumatized by every episode? I wish Ryan Murphy would stop hating women so much.

    • Yes, I can’t tell you how much I love that a legit horror television show is on that isn’t centering around vampires or werewolves. However, as much as I like the show, certain elements can be a bit too much, you know?

  3. “Marie, you said I wouldn’t be the only white person here.”
    “I lied.”
    And I died.

    But yeah, my response to Queenie x Minotaur (+ other horror) was just that. I think I may have actually said “oh Ryan Murphy why?” after that scene. Ughpsetting, indeed.

  4. Honestly, I thought the Queenie/Minotaur scene was fairly well-done, but I had a completely different interpretation of it than it appears anyone else did. I saw this scene as a sad exploration of a girl who views herself as an outsider that no-one wants, offering herself up to another perceived outcast. As a woman who is very different herself (autistic, bizarre interests, unusual-looking), I am probably projecting my own emotions onto Queenie, but I completely understand the feeling that no-one will ever want you unless they are as weird or different as you. This being said, I think that a character as damaged as Queenie, who has received only negative reinforcement, would certainly identify with a character like the Minotaur, and think herself deserving of love only from one as “monstrous” as he.

    Also, I perceived this exchange differently from other viewers, I think. I thought Queenie was voodoo-ing the Minotaur, trying to get him aroused, to get him to stop going all murderous on everyone, while at the same time showing him that she doesn’t think he’s a monster.

    HOWEVER, this is all coming from a teratophiliac, so I may be biased. After all, I always have stopped “Beauty and the Beast” before the Beast transformed back into a human.

    Either way, I will continue to watch this show because Jessica Lange is insanely foxy and fabulous, and Patti Lupone is forever my hero. Also, am I the only one who thinks Gabourey Sidibe looks incredibly hot (if under-utilized and horrifically stereotyped) in this show?

    • Yea, I’m really over Queenie being the fat, food-loving, beast-fucking, black girl BUT, I also feel the same you, Sarah Marae. She seems like the only one who wants to connect on a common level, even sexually, with a fellow outsider. I can’t quite shake the feeling of straight-up racism (Queenie=beast, Minataur=beast), so I hope Murphy explains all this is very good fucking detail in upcoming episodes.

      Also, Kyle being sexually abused by his mother… I feel so bad and awful and yucky and am also happy that he killed her the way he did. Howeverrrr, is anyone sensing that the parallel/irony that Madison isn’t able to speak about her abuse and Frankenkyle, silent body of rapists, gets to assert his own autonomy with the source? Is that a good thing? I kind of feel like there was some inadvertent justice with all this…

  5. Dammit AHS, why do you have to be so effing problematic??? I want to like this season, and there are elements that are obviously awesome but seriously. Driving me crazy.

    The Queenie situation is exhausting. Why is she the virgin nobody wants? Why is she the one that works in the fried chicken place? When she is told to order Cathy Bates around like a slave, why is she shown at the table demanding pie and cobbler at all hours of the night? Why does Queenie have to have a lack of love in her relationships which she substitutes with food? Why is it necessary? Every emaciated woman we see on TV (which is practically every woman) doesn’t have a scene where she explains it is because of an eating disorder brought on by childhood abuse and media brainwashing. It would be considered boring and reductive to make those assumptions about all thin women, but it is totally legitimate to pathologize fatness as something there must be a root cause for. Fuck you and your body shaming Ryan Murphy.

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