In 2011, American Horror Story hit screens, and TV hasn’t been the same since. Its unique content and interesting urban legends have definitely put it on the map. The mystery, gore, and madness have drawn a number of dedicated fans and lots of love from critics.
AHS is currently the best mess on television. Each season is full of characters, flashbacks, and plot twists. These things keep fans guessing, but they also create some problems. Like any other show, AHS has its issues. Many seasons end with countless plot holes and loose ends. While some are intentional, others are not. AHS's most recent season, Apocalypse, is full of unanswered questions and plot points that make no sense.
Of course, the season was a success and got great reviews. The theme worked well with audiences and newcomers like Cody Fern impressed audiences, while returning stars like Jessica Lange delighted them. Yet, Apocalypse had many unanswered plot points that were confusing and nonsensical. Thankfully, we've decided to take a look at some of AHS: Apocalypse's biggest problems. Because of this, there are bound to be spoilers -- so if you haven't yet watched the season, please be warned.
With that said, here are the 20 Things That Make No Sense About American Horror Story: Apocalypse.
Rubber Man is still a mystery
Nothing says AHS crossover like the return of Rubber Man. Rubber Man was a major season 1 antagonist and a key part of the very first AHS ad campaign. In season 1, Evan Peters donned the infamous suit. However, in Apocalypse, Peters' character — Gallant — was the one who reacted to the suit. Gallant never found out who was in the suit, and neither did the audience.
While Rubber Man’s identity was a key part of season 1, it's unknown why it would reappear in Apocalypse. We never find out who or what is in the suit or even why it reappears. However, its reappearance doesn't seem intentional. It made a big splash on screen in Apocalypse but was then was dropped almost immediately. Hopefully we'll find out more in upcoming seasons.
Was anything Michael said in the first three episodes true?
Michael rolls up to Outpost 3 with a mission. He’s going to decide who should go to the better outpost since all of the other outposts have been overrun -- or so he says. However, Michael's appearance brings with it many other strange things, such as the reanimated snakes and Rubber Man. A lot of this is unexplained, so it’s hard to know what’s really going on. Sure, it’s possible and even likely that Michael is just messing with everybody, but if that's the case, what’s his endgame?
In retrospect, so little of Apocalypse is about the actual end of the world that audiences are left to wonder what Michael’s plan was post-doomsday. Is the Cooperative in charge? Does Michael have anything to do? Spending the end of the world toying with random survivors seems like a pretty hollow eternity.
The new supreme is more powerful than any witch
Apocalypse includes a late-season reveal: Mallory is the new supreme. Not only is she the most powerful witch-in-waiting, but her powers are unmatched -- she can even travel back in time. This left audiences wondering whether or not Mallory was actually a witch at all. Even the most powerful witches on AHS pale in comparison to Mallory’s powers.
Because of this, many fans have wondered whether her time travel ability might be a cue about the scope of her power. However, instead, it seems to be a deus ex machina. Though the show often throws in aliens, demons, and psychopaths, time travel felt a bit lazy. Given her powers, many fans still assume that Mallory might be an angel or a super-witch.
The plane has no pilots for no reason
In the first episode of Apocalypse, Coco and her band of survivors get on a plane and are horrified to discover that the plane is flying itself. Since this is a huge revelation, audiences expected some of time of explanation. Even a throwaway line would’ve helped to cue us in.
Instead, there was no explanation. However, the reason might be easy enough to figure out. Since they didn’t want everyone to know the whereabouts of the outpost, perhaps auto-pilot was used. Though this might seem reasonable at first, it still doesn't quite add up when you consider that they kept menial laborers at the outpost and that this was all happening after the apocalypse. Wouldn't it be safer to have a knowledgeable pilot?
Ms. Mead is at Outpost 3 with no memory because...
Ms. Mead means a lot to Michael. In the final episode, Mutt and Jeff casually mention that Michael wants the Mead robot placed. Michael also wants the robot to have no memories of him. This moment shows audiences how everything from the first episode came to be. However, why does Michael want a memory-less Mead? We can assume that he has his reasons, but the show never makes them clear.
Michael’s placement of Mead raises other questions, too. For example, it reminds audiences that we don't know Michael's final plan. It also comes across as sloppy. There is no motivation for the memory wipe, so it looks like the writers wrote themselves into a corner and then quickly tied everything together at the last minute.
The other outposts are barely mentioned
For a season about the end of the world, we see very little of the actual apocalypse. Most of what we know about it comes from Michael, Mead, and Venable. However, all of these characters lie frequently, especially about the apocalypse.
Michael says that the other outposts were overrun, but we have no idea if this is true. The lack of information about the other outposts makes no sense. It's likely that the outposts would communicate with each other. Even if they were overrun, wouldn't Mead and Venable toy with the guests using this information? Also, what is this final outpost that Michael talks about? Sometimes missing information can make the show scarier. In this case, it's just frustrating.
Two supremes at full power coexist
After Cordelia sacrifices herself to slow down Michael, Mallory becomes the supreme. She then goes back in time, prevents the apocalypse, and enrolls in Miss Robichaux's Academy. When she enrolls, she is still the full-powered supreme who was able to time travel.
This means that there are currently two supremes, Cordelia and Mallory, at the height of their power. This should be impossible based on the internal logic of the show. Cordelia should weaken upon Mallory’s arrival. Also, because Cordelia is so powerful, she should be able to detect Mallory’s true nature. Of course, Mallory might not be what we think she is, which could explain all of this, but these are some big questions to leave for another season.
Tim and Emily make a demon-free antichrist
Tim and Emily may have a purpose to the devil, but they don’t do much on AHS. They both stand out from the other guests at the outpost because they’re less petty and confrontational than the other survivors. They also aren’t connected to the witches vs. warlocks plot. At the end, we find out that they can also conceive an antichrist in case Michael fails. This twist gives them purpose, but it also raises a few questions.
Michael is the unholy union of ghost demon and woman. Tim and Emily’s kid is, as far as we know, completely human. Their epilogue brings the story full circle, but it ends the season with uncertainty. This might have looked like a cliffhanger in the writers room, but on screen, it's just lazy.
Defeating Michael was too easy
For nine episodes, defeating Michael seemed impossible, and then Mallory went back and ran him over repeatedly. Michael was presented as an all-powerful ender of worlds, yet he was felled by something that takes millions of lives every year.
Based on what we know about supremes and alphas, it’s reasonable to infer that Michael was younger and more vulnerable when Mallory took him out. It could make sense that an SUV could hurt Michael as teenager even though multiple machine gun wounds couldn't hurt him as an adult. However, that is a big assumption for audiences to make on their own. This is the climax of the series, and it relies on an ambiguous point.
Ms. Venable’s motivations are never explained
Ms. Venable is one of Apocalypse’s most impactful characters. Everything about her from her hair to her sadism raises questions. We know that she likes to be in control, she likes to put people through the wringer, and she’s obsessed with power. However, it's not clear why.
Venable is one of the cornerstones of Apocalypse, and she is the audience's introduction to apocalypse, but we don’t know anything about her motivations or personality, so everything she does seems weird and abstract. AHS is a show that punishes its characters, and its brutality is effective because we know who the sadists and sufferers are. Venable comes off as a cypher. Her character is pronounced enough to make us wonder, but her motivations are underdeveloped and thus seem artificial.
Mutt and Jeff just kind of disappear
The actual apocalypse in Apocalypse is anticlimactic. The act is so bland, in fact, that Mutt and Jeff carry it out while eating chicken wings. Their final appearance in the season sees them manipulated by Myrtle Snow.
This is where the confusion starts. The scene ends with Myrtle casting a spell on them. Some fans have said that she did away with them for good, and many on the internet agree. However, other theories suggested that they were put under an identity spell and became Brock and Gallant. Either way, this is a moment where AHS could’ve done with some clarity. The confusion is telling. These characters quickly became important and extremely disliked, so it seems strange to casually dismiss them. Mutt and Jeff's fate happened too soon and too quietly.
Mallory could’ve just buried herself
When Cordelia and company first appear in Apocalypse, we wondered how they survived doomsday. When we found out that some of the characters in the outpost were witches under identity spells, it was equally baffling.
Of course, Cordelia, Myrtle, and Fiona buried themselves in the swamp, so why couldn’t Mallory just do the same? Mallory and Coco get new identities, memory spells, and places in Outpost 3 so that Mallory’s powers can develop. For some reason, Mallory’s powers can't develop if she was buried in the swamp, but they can develop when she was living underground. Maybe there are rules that say that power can’t develop if a witch is buried. If so, it's an important detail the showrunners left out.
Where is Kyle?
Apocalypse was dubbed the Murder House/Coven crossover, and most Coven characters make an appearance or are referenced. However, there was one noticeable exception: Kyle. Kyle was was college boy turned Frankenstein doll who Madison and Zoe resurrect. At the end of Coven, he's alive. In fact, he's become the help at Miss Robichaux's. However, in Apocalypse, Kyle is never mentioned or seen.
He should still be working at the school. He is the only main character from Coven to be completely omitted from the story. Evan Peters was obviously on set, so there was no reason why the character couldn't make a quick appearance. More so, Madison and Zoe both appear in Apocalypse, so it's likely that Kyle is still hanging around somewhere.
Suddenly, the Illuminati are AHS’s big shakers
AHS has built an incredible story over several seasons. Audiences have come to expect almost anything from the show, but the appearance of the Illuminati was unexpected. Conspiracies and urban legends are AHS mainstays, but this plot element was more Dan Brown than Ryan Murphy.
Even with their rebranding as the Cooperative, the secret society is more of an unearned ploy than a plot device. If there is a secret society of global movers and shakers who are dedicated to Satan, then why is the Church of Satan such a small operation? Also, did they affect past seasons as well and are they responsible for everything on the show? Almost any monster could fit on AHS, but the Illuminati is neither scary nor very interesting.
Madison is anti-Mallory... until she isn’t
When the coven resurrects Mallory, Coco, and Dinah, everyone seems disoriented. Madison has some choice words for Mallory: “Surprise, b****. I bet you thought that you’d seen the last of me.” However, udiences had no context as to why Madison would be hostile to Mallory. Madison’s remark, which was clearly made specifically to Mallory, created a big moment. It signalled a shift in plot and tone and provided a tense cliff-hanger.
However, that’s all it turned out to be — a cliffhanger. We never see any bad blood between these two witches, aside from Madison's role as an Uber driver right before the apocalypse. Still, Madison lays on the snark and animosity, while the rest of the season treats this hostile moment like it doesn't exist.
Mallory lies to Queenie for no reason
So, the apocalypse is averted and all is well. Queenie is going on her ill-fated trip to Los Angeles, and Mallory gets her to avoid the Hotel Cortez by lying about traffic. However, it would be much easier and more straightforward to just tell her that her hotel is actually a door to hell that claims the lives of its patrons and turns them into ghosts.
Mallory never even tries to tell her this, and it’s hard to understand why. Queenie could easily change her mind and decide to go to the Cortez. Since they’re all witches, it’s not like the concept of a haunted hotel is hard to believe. There might be a reason behind Mallory’s approach, but it's not clear. As a result, the moment felt odd and unconvincing.
Tate isn’t actually bad
In season 1, Tate was a great villain and an incredibly tragic character. It’s no surprise that the writers would want to revisit the character or return to his and Violet’s love story. On Apocalypse’s Murder House episode, the two finally get their chance.
Madison tells Violet that Tate isn’t evil himself. Instead, it was Michael’s spirit that made him do terrible things. Tate and Violet’s reconciliation was erased by the season finale, but this revelation about Tate still stands. However, this twist oversimplifies Tate’s arc in season 1. Tate's personal history is tragic. His mother did away with his father, and he spent his life struggling to deal with his issues. Blaming his evil on the house may make him seem more lovable, but it undermines season 1’s impact and the character.
The music isn't explained
The inhabitants of Outpost 3 talk about the music in a dramatic scene. When they hear the Carpenters’ “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft”, they assume that there’s a hidden message, and the show dedicates a beat to this moment. After that, though, it’s never referenced again.
Apocalypse is full of moments that hit hard and then are abandoned, and this moment was widely discussed as a potential clue about next season. Previous seasons have hinted at the theme of the next one but never so obviously as this moment. If it is a clue, it’s too obvious to be clever. If it isn’t a clue, then it’s another red herring that feels underdeveloped and cheap. Either way, the show never comes back to this issue.
Myrtle Snow’s hair is a mystery
AHS has its plot holes and loose ends, but Myrtle Snow’s hair is one part of the show that’s not supposed to make sense. Snow made a big splash in Coven and instantly became a fan-favorite. On a show teeming with awful mothers, she was a rare positive maternal figure. However, it was her looks and mannerisms that stood out to fans, especially her hair — a cascade of red that looked like it had been braided, permed, and crimped.
Ms. Venable mentions this during her encounter with Snow. She insults Snow’s coif by saying, “You might as well ask me to explain your hair.” Snow replies with: “My hair is an eternal mystery, never to be fully understood.”
The many missing witches
Witches should not be in short supply on AHS. Cordelia makes that clear when she faces down the Antichrist saying, "Satan has one son, but my sisters are legion, motherf****r!"
Apocalypse has many characters, but there seems to be a shortage of witches. Misty Day is brought back from hell before she disappears completely. When the coven sets up shop in Misty Day’s swamp shack, Day and Stevie Nicks are explained away with one line. However, it seems odd that they could be too busy to stop the apocalypse. More so, the world of Apocalypse should be crawling with witches. Coven ended with witches going public about their existence, with Miss Robichaux’s getting an influx of attendees. AHS is a show that does so much in the name of world-building, so it would be nice to see more of that world.
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Are there any other things about American Horror Story: Apocalypse that make no sense? Let us know in the comments!