American Horror Story: Ranking Every Season Premiere From Worst To Best

By 2013, American Horror Story had become known for its incredibly dark and disturbing storylines. With two successful seasons under its belt in Asylum and Murder House, however, it was time for the series to do something different.

Bitchcraft, the first episode of Coven, introduces us to a world that's a far cry from those seen in the previous two iterations of the series. The episode sees young witch Zoe arrive at Miss Robichaux's Academy in the hopes of learning how to control her powers. Fiona Goode's arrival gets the ball rolling, and the Supreme witch does her best to influence the young girls, encouraging them to embrace their true nature. A series of flashbacks introduce us to Madame LaLaurie as well, who remains one of the greatest American Horror Story characters.

This episode is largely responsible for establishing the camp tone that people associate with the series now, and - at the time - it was exactly what long-time viewers of the show needed. Due to the strength of the narrative, the series was able to demonstrate that it could break out of the parameters of the horror genre because, even though at its core it was utilising a horror-inspired theme, the series didn't require bloodbaths or murders.