One of the most interesting things about American Horror Story isn’t just its anthology format, but what the show can do with it, and the new season is taking full advantage of that in every way: crossovers. In AHS: 13, we’re seeing several familiar characters return, past events become relevant again, and connections that are taking on entirely new meanings. However, as much as this strategy can please fans (and was one of the main reasons people were so excited about the season), it can also backfire. After all, what’s the point of telling a story and giving it an impactful conclusion, only to go back on it later and repeat the same conflict? Because that’s exactly what’s happening here.
Remember Season 8? Apocalypse ended with the witches successfully preventing Michael, the Antichrist who threatened to destroy the world, from rising to power. Mallory traveled back in time, changed the course of events, and stopped him from becoming the person he was destined to be (an arc she even recalled in Episode 10 of the new season). It was a sensible solution, even if it left the door open for Ben to show up as Satan’s new pawn. Still, it would’ve been more interesting if the show had taken a different approach to his character. Now that Mr. Nas wants him to rule the Earth, we have to ask: if Satan can simply find someone else to keep trying to take over the world, did killing Michael actually accomplish anything?
Getting straight to the point, the problem isn’t that AHS is exploring Satan again or introducing another character connected to him. This universe has always had room for new stories on that scale, and it wouldn’t make sense to expect Michael’s defeat to wipe out all evil once and for all. The issue is what this new threat actually adds to the story. If Satan is still pursuing the exact same goal and just needs a new representative to help him achieve it, it’s hard not to feel like we’re essentially watching Season 8 all over again, just with a few changes to the cast.
When Mallory defeated Michael, the idea was that her actions would have lasting consequences, since she was changing the events that would lead to the Antichrist’s rise to power. That gave Apocalypse a satisfying ending because the witches had finally managed to do something that once seemed impossible. As mentioned earlier, the show left the door open to revisit this storyline in the future, but there’s a difference between doing that and making the events of Season 8 feel pointless in retrospect. The one benefit we can point to is that Mallory discovered she would become the next Supreme after Cordelia, and the main difference is that Apocalypse was about preventing the end of the world, while 13 is about fighting Satan himself. But in both scenarios, the world would end up under the control of the demonic figure — no wonder Mr. Nas tells Constance in Episode 9 that he had plans for Michael before he was killed.
Looking at the bigger picture, Ben is the key to making the new season’s story work. His character had every opportunity to take the plot in another direction. And the show actually managed to do that already through his entire arc involving his fear of the number 13, the mysteries he couldn’t even begin to understand, how he survived the plane crash, and why he couldn’t remember anything about his past. These ideas are much more interesting than introducing a new antagonist right from the start. But now that he’s learned the truth, it’s as if the show was heading down this interesting path before suddenly switching to one that could’ve used a lot more thought. With only three episodes left before the finale, it seems clear that war between Ben (and Satan) and the witches is about to begin, which is something we already saw in Season 8.
Ideally, the show could take everything it established about Ben and use it to set him apart from Michael, rather than having him follow the same path — that would give him an identity of his own. But in Episode 10, he accepts Satan’s offer, so now it feels like we’ve just swapped one character for another, even if the circumstances are different. To be fair, when Mr. Nas reveals everything to him, Ben asks whether he could use his position as ruler of the Earth to do good instead of evil. So it’s possible that we’re heading toward an arc in which Ben tricks everyone into thinking he’ll become the villain, only to use his power to do something genuinely good. That would make the storyline a little more promising, but for now, that’s just a theory. Regardless of what he does next, the basic framework of Seasons 13 and 8 would still be the same.
Even so, this season has its highlights. The fan service still works, and since the recent revelations, some fans who were initially disappointed have even admitted they’re more excited to see how everything plays out. Other than that, seeing Cordelia and Fiona working together against Satan is one of the season’s biggest draws. Still, nostalgia alone can’t carry a good story or make a satisfying viewing experience, right? If these and other characters are only coming back to fight another version of the same kind of threat, their reunion starts to feel like an attempt to recreate an old success rather than develop the universe in a more meaningful way. That doesn’t mean the whole season is a lost cause, though.
Not at all. 13 hasn’t failed, since there’s still time before the season finale. In fact, the show has a great opportunity to use the events of Apocalypse to deliver something more surprising. Instead of just presenting Ben as Satan’s new pawn, the story could show that Michael’s defeat has changed the way the Devil needs to operate. Maybe his plans now depend on different conditions, or maybe the witches will have to deal with consequences they didn’t face in the previous storyline.
Part of the fun of seeing the Coven characters again is watching how their past experiences influence the decisions they make now. If Cordelia and the others have to fight Satan again, it would be much more satisfying to see what was learned since Season 8 and how that changes their approach to their enemy. Otherwise, we will inevitably start wondering why we’re revisiting the same conflict instead of getting a story that moves everything forward and lives up to the crossover, the return of the original cast, and the promise of a truly special season.
This is a problem that many shared universes know all too well. When a story delivers a definitive victory, bringing back a similar threat can diminish the impact of what came before. Star Wars and Palpatine’s return, Halloween and Michael Myers’ endless survival, and Terminator: Dark Fate replacing Skynet with Legion are all examples of this. Villains don’t have to disappear forever, and revisiting past events isn’t automatically a bad thing. But when the same kind of threat keeps coming back, the new confrontation needs to offer something new as well, so audiences can take the show seriously.
That’s why it’s too early to say AHS: 13 has failed. There’s plenty it could accomplish in three episodes. Still, it’s fair to question what lasting impact Mallory’s actions really had if Satan can simply replace his son and keep trying to take over the world. All the show needs to do is prove that it’s doing more than repeating a story we’ve already seen. So far, it’s mostly filling in the details of Mr. Nas’ plan (and explaining his motives), which Season 8 never fully clarified, and that’s pretty much it.
