Toni Lane, 2016, P.

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Observation Analysis Notes
Assignment One

Assignment One
Friday, February 12, 2016
FXs American Horror Story Coven
I. Observations
Relevant Background Information:
American Horror Story: Coven is a television show about a coven of witches living in present
day New Orleans. The girls seem to reside in some sort of boarding school in the eyes of the
outside world outside but those within the coven know the real purpose. The purpose of the
Coven is to keep the witches protected and help them to meet other witches like themselves. And
the coven helps the witches to learn and understand their powers. These witches are all decedents
from the Salem witch trials. Within the coven there is one witch who holds all the powers; she is
the Supreme. Outside of the coven there are other witches residing in New Orleans. The other
witches in New Orleans are not quite witches because a witch does not need to use tools. These
women practice the art of dark magic and voodoo. All of these witches are living together in
secrecy from the normal human society.
Actors:
Fiona Goode: Fiona is The Supreme she is a very confident witch and she is what you would
call That Bitch. Fiona has been the supreme for decades and does not care to give that title up.
Fiona recently found out she was dying and returned to her coven to find the witch that is taking

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her power and becoming the new Supreme. Fiona is not to be messed with. She stated that the
only thing the whole world that the girls within her coven have to be afraid of is her. Fiona also
stated that she is that witch, which she is. Fiona contains every power and is not afraid to use her
magic for her benefit. Fiona is a shark so anyone that cares to cross her path better hail the
Supreme or they may get bit.
Cordelia Foxx: Cordelia is Fionas daughter. Cordelia is mad at her mother for leaving her at the
coven as a child and going to travel the world. Cordelia still loves her mother a lot deep down.
Cordelia is the head mistress of the coven and is in charge of all of the new witches. She is a very
kind woman and doesnt believe in using her magic against others or for the wrong reasons.
Cordelia is married to a cheating husband and is unable to have a baby even though that is her
biggest desire. Cordelia will become the new Supreme.
Madison Montgomery: Madison is a superstar bitch; her cover up for the coven is a
rehabilitating program her publicist is making her do. Madison is basically a little Fiona but not
quite. Madison is a bitchy little witch whose powers are accelerating at phenomenal rates.
Madison believes she is the next Supreme and will kill for her title. Madison is confident,
beautiful, and self-absorbed.
Marie Laveau: Marie is the Voodoo Queen and she has been alive for hundreds of years. Marie
sold her soul and now has immortality as long she brings the man she sold her soul to a baby
every year. Marie is the leader of the of the voodoo witches and is a powerful black woman.
Marie settles the score for African Americans whenever she sees fit. She settled the last 10-year
war between the Coven and her voodoo witches. Marie is also not to be messed with.

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Madame Delphine LaLaurie: Is a white Sadist from slavery times who use to tortured and kill
her slaves. Not only did Delphine tortured African Americans she also tortured her daughter
when they plotted to kill her. Marie killed Delphines family and trapped her in a box for over
100 years for her crimes against humanity. Fiona let Delphine out the box to ask her how she
stayed alive so long and then made her into Queenies slaves, since she hates African Americans
so much. Delphine feels out of place in todays times and is shocked to find out we have an
African American president. Delphine slowly starts to like Queenie.
Zoe Benson: Zoe is a sweet girl who upon having sex for the time came to learn she was witch
with the power of killing people when she has sex with them. Zoe is very sweet and falls in love
with a boy named Kyle who she invests most of her time in.
Queenie: Queenie is an African American witch who is a real live voodoo doll. Whatever
Queenie does to herself others can feel. Queenie is spunky and a virgin who just wants to be
loved. Queenies ancestor was a slave and the first person in Salem accused of being a witch.
Nan: Nan is clairvoyant. She is really sweet and very observant. She often reads peoples minds
and tells others what she found out. She has a crush on the neighbor and he likes her back. She
says she has a way with the fellas.
Artifacts:
The Seven Wonders: The Seven Wonders are very important within American Horror Story
Coven. The Seven Wonders give every witch something to look forward to. If a witch is able to
successfully pass The Seven Wonders and live, then she will become the New Supreme. The

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supreme has the power to protect the witches within her coven and will do so. The Seven
Wonders give the witches their leader, and a leader is what helps a society function.
Slavery: In American Horror Story Coven slavery is not just slavery it is beyond heinous.
Delphine uses slavery as a way to kill and torture African Americans. Slavery which modernly is
seen as owning people was in this context away of murdering people and getting away with it.
Delphine didnt just work her slaves she tortured them for her enjoyment. Delphine was a sadist
and a serial killer and slavery was her tool to do this.
Observation 1: Fearful Pranks Ensue
5 minutes: A black boy who attended an all-white school for the first time was chased down and
hung in New Orleans 1961. Marie then conjured up a voodoo spell bringing up Zombies of civil
war veterans and creole people to kill the white men that killed the little boy. The opening song
then comes on. During the opening song a lot of images pop up of witchcraft and disturbing
animals.
12 minutes: The butler Spalding comes downstairs from a tea party with his dolls to see Fiona
killing Madison. Spalding cleans up Madisons body and pours Fiona a drink while Fiona tells
him Madison would have made a lousy supreme. Fiona goes to the greenhouse and sees the
aftermath of Queenies rape by the Beast. Fiona and Cordelia work to help keep Queenie stay
alive while also arguing about Cordelia undermining Fionas authority and going to see Marie.
Queenie dies and Fiona brings her back to life but it seems to take a lot out of her. Delphine and
Fiona talk about how the beast was actually sent there for Delphine. Fiona kills the beast and
sends its head to Maries hair salon in a box.

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17 minutes: Zoe talks to Kyle while he repeatedly bangs his head on the bathtub. Kyle is sad and
says he is no longer Kyle. Zoe goes to make Kyle some food and puts Rat poison in it but by the
time she gets back Kyle is gone. Zoe frantically goes to look for Kyle and realizes it is
Halloween. Fiona is happy because it is Halloween and that is her favorite day of the year. Fiona
says she is going to let the whole world in to get a good look at her tonight and then looks in the
mirror and says, Whos the baddest witch in town?
24 minutes: Marie starts to make a spell and has a discussion with someone within her coven
about the repercussions of starting another war. Cordelias husband has sex with someone else
and it seems as though the baby spell Cordelia cast may have worked on her instead. Queenie
wakes up and Delphine attempts to thanks her for saving her life. The council then arrives. The
council arrives because Nan summoned them on behalf of the fact she cannot hear Madison
anymore and thinks that she is dead. The council starts to question the coven.
30 minutes: Cordelias husband killed the girl that he had sex with; he met her online. The
council continues to question people. One of the council member tries to confront Fiona. Then a
flashback to the time right after Fiona killed her supreme was shown and the same witch
suspected her of killing her supreme then.
Observation 2: Boy Parts
5 Minutes: The episode starts with two men catching an alligator. The men kill the alligator and
then they go back to a spot where they illegally have all of the alligators that they caught. When
they return back to this place they find Misty Day who is presumed to be dead she has the power
of resurgence. Misty is a witch who has the ability to bring things back to life. Misty brings the

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alligators that the men killed back to life and they then kill the men. Then the intro to every
episode plays. After that the song plays that often comes on in and out, throughout the episode.
Then the head mistress Cordelia tells the girls to come down to a house meeting. Zoe and
Madison then talk about how Madison killed Zoes boy crush. Cordelia tells Fiona to come down
for food while Fiona talks to Delphine, who she has hidden in secrecy in her room.
12 minutes: Fiona asks Delphine how she stayed alive in a box for so long. Queenie tells the
story of how she arrived at that coven. She killed a man at the chicken place that she worked at
by dipping her hand in oil so in return it happened to him; she is a voodoo doll basically. Then
she says her ancestor was a slave and the first person in Salem accused of being a witch.
Detectives come and question Madison and Zoe about the frat bus Madison turned over and the
surviving frat boy. Zoe came to the hospital and killed the boy that raped Madison. Zoe tells the
cops the whole story she cant take the heat Madison and Cordelia deny these facts but Cordelia
cannot take control of the conversation. Fiona comes down stairs and spits in 2 cups of water
then she wills the detectives to drink it, one of them tries to put up a fight but Fionas powers are
too strong. Fiona then goes upstairs and slams the girls around the room and tells them if the heat
comes they close rank.
21 minutes: Fiona tells the girls the only thing they have to be afraid of in the whole world is
her. Madison decides to help Zoe since she killed the guy the raped her. The girls break into the
morgue because Madison stole a reincarnation spell from Cordelia. Madison decides to put
together the perfect boy for Zoe so she brings the boy Zoe had a crush on back to life. Madison
uses other dead boys from the crashs body parts to put together Zoes boy. Cordelia goes to the
hospital and the doctor tells her she still cannot have a child, her husband suggested they use

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Observation Analysis Notes
Assignment One

magic but Cordelia does not want to because she says it is dark, which escalated to a fight
between her and her husband. Fiona again asks Delphine how she has immortality. Delphine tells
Fiona about Marie Laveau tricked her and gave her a portion of immortality for her sins against
humanity. Laveau also killed Delphines family and told her that they had horrible deaths then
she locks Delphine in a box and buries her there.
25 minutes: The girls sew Kyle the dead boys body parts back on and recite the reincarnation
spell but it does not seem to work. Zoe tells Madison to sit in the car while she searches for her
phone. As Madison is outside a car pulls up so Madison gets in the car and says Good luck
bitch. Zoe is inside telling Kyle that she is sorry she then gives him a kiss and then a scene of
Misty walking appears and then the scene switches back to Zoe. A man that works at the morgue
comes in so Zoe quickly hides he tries to turn on the light but it does not work.
30 minutes: The man at the morgue sees Zoe and asks her what she is doing when Kyle comes
alive from behind him and kills him Zoe stops him. Kyle does not seem the same he is less
human like and more animal like. The scene then flips back to Misty. Nan starts to complain
about something being too loud she is clairvoyant. Queenie does not hear anything so she
follows Nan to see what is wrong. Nan lets Delphine free Delphine then moves pass Queenie and
says Move slave. Queenie say Bitch who you calling a slave, then Delphine hits her in the
head while she isnt looking. Fiona and Laveau have a conversation as to how witches and
people who do voodoo are the same and different. Fiona asks Laveau for the secret to how she
has stayed alive so long.
Observation 3: The Replacements

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5 minutes: Fiona cannot sleep she reaches for her medicine and then a flashback comes into
screen Fiona is now young and talking to her supreme. They talk about how someone knows
when they are about to become supreme and Fiona says she will be the next one. Fiona then kills
her supreme after her supreme makes a threat that Fiona will be in hell before she gets a chance
to be supreme. Fiona cuts her Supremes throat and says see you there. Then she turns and sees
that the butler she nods and he smiles. Then present day comes and Fiona is in the exact same
spot looking at the picture of her supreme she turns around and see the butler and says Whats
the matter; cats got your tongue and gave him her drink then walks away. Then the beginning
song comes on.
11 minutes: Fiona goes to a plastic surgeon for her face because she feels as though she has lost
her dance. Zoe goes to visit Kyles mother who is smoking weed through a bowl Zoe tells Kyles
mother she will see him again. The girls watch as their new hot neighbors move in his mom
doesnt seem to like the girls. Delphine sees that there is a black president and is in denial then
Fiona orders Delphine to be the house maid. Madison talks about Nan and Queenie being virgins
but Nan isnt one. Delphine refuses to serve Queenie because she is black. Queenie almost
smacks Delphine then Fiona comes down stairs and orders Delphine to be Queenies slave. Fiona
then says there is nothing she hates more than a racist.
19 minutes: Zoe and Misty get into a fight over Kyle. Misty wants Zoe to stay but Zoe wants to
get Kyle back to his mother. Kyle choses Zoe then Misty gets sad and starts dancing. Madison
and Zoey go over to meet the next door neighbor Nan brings his favorite cake, Madison brings a
hot dress. The neighbor seems more interested in Nan his mother then storms in and makes a
smart remark Is this the welcoming committee, then asks the girls to go because she about to

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Observation Analysis Notes
Assignment One

go to church. Madison says church is a Crock of shit, then the mother tries to take the knife
Madison was cutting the cake with and Madison flung it across the room the mother orders them
to leave and never talk to her son again.
24 minutes: Madison sets the neighbors curtain on fire with her power she didnt even know she
had. Zoe takes Kyle back to his mother even though he didnt seem to want to go. The doctor
tells Cordelia she cannot have children while simultaneously another doctor is telling Fiona she
cant get plastic surgery because her body is breaking down. The neighbor mom comes to snitch
on Madison and Fiona condones Madisons behavior saying she needs to work on her aim,
because the neighbor said the knife missed her by an inch. She then tells her that Madison set her
curtain in fire which sparks Fiona attention Madison tells the neighbor she conjured the devil and
thats how the curtains combusted which scared the neighbor off. Madison and Fiona then talk.
31 minutes: Kyles mother sees that his body parts are not the same then she starts to molested
him and he starts to cry. Cordelia goes to Marie Laveau for a poison for her to have a baby and
Laveau seems to be for it, for only 50 thousand in cash. Cordelia wants to do it and Laveau says
no because of Fiona. Cordelia starts to cry.
II. The Interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2NeaZ9-Ya8
III. Analyze
Part A: Rules and conventions for appropriate behavior.

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Observation Analysis Notes
Assignment One

In American Horror Story Coven, the rules and conventions for appropriate behavior are
the most spectacular part about the show. In the coven it is appropriate to call someone a bitch at
any given moment; the word bitch is used as common as the word girl in the real world. Also
in AMS it is appropriate to succeed, or attempt to kill someone, one second then protect them in
the next. In the coven in order to be The Supreme, one has to go through the trials which can
ultimately kill them but they are expected to do it anyway. Also in this society, in order for
someone to become Supreme after completing the trials; the present supreme has to die first.
Madison and Lily share a boyfriend that they handmade and created together, which is perfectly
appropriate. Killing people without repercussion is appropriate behavior within the coven.
Having no remorse or guilt for ones actions is an important factor in succeeding in the Coven
society. A person with antisocial personal disorder would be a perfect fit for the culture of the
coven. Also within the coven no-one seems to have any privacy which is culturally acceptable.
Another aspect of the culture is sex; in the coven sex is literally just sex it is often portrayed of
having no emotional feeling behind it. Sex in general is an important part of the culture in AMS
everyone has sex for any reason they please, Queenie was ridiculed for being a virgin. The
absence of religion is a cultural norm within this show for instance most of the witches showed
atomicity toward the Bible thumping neighbor because that kind or religion did not fit into
their culture.
Part B

Madison getting raped. (date rape in us)

Lily killing the guy that raped Madison(sisterhood)
Fiona getting cancer (cancer killing people)
The power of Marie Laveau (creole magic and womem images)
The difference between the creole witches and Salem witches. (racism)

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Assignment One

Fiona feeling bad for being bad mother when close to death. Daughter dislike mother and

trying to be one. (Motherhood and daughter relationship)

Lily loves Kyle, Church boy loves Zoey (love even though flawed)
The coven is full of witches (Witchcraft)
The African American witches perform voodoo (Voodoo)
Basically every character in the show has sex at some point (sex)
Delphine brutally killing slaves (women serial killers)

IV. Chart
1. American Horror Story Academic Article: http://comum.rcaap.pt/handle/10400.26/9432
http://comum.rcaap.pt/bitstream/10400.26/9432/1/Elisabete%20Lopes%20final%20version
%20-%20Paper%206EWF.pdf
2. Sex NPR: http://www.npr.org/2016/01/23/463999193/sex-and-the-snowed-in-cities-whythis-blizzard-could-cause-a-baby-bump
3. Witch Craft Magic, Voodoo= Ted Talks (will pick one):
https://www.ted.com/talks/keith_barry_does_brain_magic
https://www.ted.com/talks/wade_davis_on_endangered_cultures
4. Witchcraft NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/search/index.php?
searchinput=witchcraft&dateId=0&programId=0
V. Propose
A woman serial killer or woman business owner is a very interesting topic. In the
American society there are limited reports of women serial killers and men are often awarded
more opportunities then women. American Horror Story Coven is all about woman; all of the
main characters are woman. Girls run the world within this season of American Horror Story.
Only women have the power to be a witch, two women even take the initiative to build a boy and
bring him back to life. Within this show Delphine, a woman, is a serial killer; and Marie owns
her own business. Within this show woman do the killing and women do the healing; and it is

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women who make all the choices. Women are more powerful than they are portrayed especially
if they stick together. The power of women plays a very important role in this season and all of
the death at the hands of women brings up the topic of, how powerful are women really?