American Horror Story: How Apocalypse Saved The Show

When Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk announced that American Horror Story would be revisiting both Murder House and Coven during the Apocalypse season of the show, fans were both delighted and nervous.

While there was plenty to celebrate in seeing our favourite characters again, the anthology series had largely lost its way after Jessica Lange's departure, and - other than a few victories here and there - the show had become a shadow of itself, failing to reach the heights of either aforementioned season again. Last year's Cult is proof of this, as it was undoubtedly the worst outing for the show to date.

However, in bringing together the beloved characters of critically-acclaimed seasons Murder House and Coven, Murphy and Falchuk have actually managed to create something very special in Apocalypse. The 10-episode season, which recently finished its run, was a lot less like Cult, and a lot more like the American Horror Story we know and love.

Yes, with a strong narrative to boot, and some of the series' biggest names back in action, Apocalypse delivered in a big way, and the season proved to be a return to form for the once great series.

While much of Apocalypse's appeal lay in seeing our favourite Coven and Murder House characters once more, it wasn't the only reason to tune into the end-of-the-world-themed season. The narrative of Season 8 was centred around the Anti-Christ's rise to power. There'll be more on the greatness of said narrative later, but for now let's focus on the central character himself, Michael Langdon.

Michael initially appeared at the end of Murder House, when Constance Langdon promised to raise him after his mother Vivien died during childbirth. The character had been established as evil back then, but Apocalypse delved further, showing Michael accepting his role as destroyer of the world.

The fact that the writers use the Anti-Christ to end civilisation may sound cliché - or perhaps even a little contrived - but strong writing and characterisation in regards Michael ensured that this wasn't the case.

In spite of the prophecy - and Michael's villainous attempts to fulfil them - Murphy and Falchuk's strong scripts painted the antagonist as nothing more than a terrified young boy doing what he was put on this earth to do. He wasn't evil by nurture, but rather by the fact that it lived within him in the first place - and it was out of his control. Cody Fern delivered a stunning performance in the 10-episode season, and - together with the writers - created one of the best antagonists seen on television this year.