The Questions Most Fans Have After Watching AHS: Coven

Since its series debut in 2011, Ryan Murphy's enigmatic and ever-evolving "American Horror Story" has been keeping fans on both the edges of their seats and on their toes. If there's one thing long-time viewers of the AHS series know, it's that a seemingly loose end, plot hole, or unresolved question from one season will almost certainly come back to haunt and tantalize in intricate and unexpected ways down the road. Sometimes, the road is short and direct, creating an immediate connection between sequential seasons, or offering up a series of AHS Easter eggs. Sometimes, the road to resolution is long and winding, and may take several seasons to work itself out. (See: Season 8's Michael Langdon, and his origin in Season 1's "Murder House.") 

With "AHS: Double Feature" set to premiere on FX on August 25th, fans are wondering if Murphy's tenth season will answer their most burning questions from previous AHS iterations, some of which have had viewers scratching their heads ever since the 2014 finale of Season 3, "AHS: Coven." 

The magical, mystical, and (lest we forget) Stevie Nicks-infused horror, humor, and history of "Coven" has kept it at the top of the American Horror Story season rankings for years, so it's little wonder fans are still hungry for answers. After recently revisiting Murphy's third installment, u/LuckyClover3 had some questions for fans in the AHS subreddit, including, "What was Myrtle's last word before she was burnt for the 2nd time?" Redditors were quick to provide the answer: Myrtle, ever the queen witch of haute couture, yells out, simply, "Balenciaga!" In a series known for hiding its many devils in the details (be they literal or symbolic), it's hard not to speculate as to whether or not that word might hold some greater meaning for Myrtle's now-extended plot line in the AHS universe.

According to creator Ryan Murphy, it doesn't. Murphy told PopSugar it was more like a case of Myrtle being Myrtle. "It's not literal," he said, "she's just saying it as a crazy Myrtle thing, a Myrtle-ism." Well, that answers one question, but what about those questions that have more to do with loose-ends than last words? 

For instance, who was that baby that Marie Laveau planned to hand over to Papa Legba, and as u/LuckyClover 3 asked, "What did Spaulding (sp?) end up doing with her?" Of course, it's possible the baby (eventually dubbed "Ceci") is little more than a passing character from whom AHS fans will never see nor hear again, but this seems unlikely for several reasons. To begin with, in the world of "American Horror Story," a baby is rarely "just a baby."  What's more, as we learned from Michael Langdon in Season 9, "AHS: Apocalypse," babies don't stay babies forever — eventually, they grow up, and occasionally with dire consequence. Finally, as u/ashkies points out, we're given an intentional (albeit brief) glimpse of the baby's ankle band: "...the camera pans to the ankle bracelet which says baby girl williams. The date I see is 01/07 but can't make out the year and then the name 'Joseph metzinger' is printed on it which I assume to be the attending physician..." 

Baby Ceci's initial story comes to an exquisitely twisted and unsettling end when "Coven" butler and protector Spalding decides to steal her from Laveau in order to have his very own "living doll." But after Spalding's death at the hands of Zoe — a death that results in him regaining his speech, but losing (as ghosts in the "AHS" world do) his ability to leave the house— fans are left to wonder just what became (or what might become) of this mysterious, stolen baby girl. If "AHS: Double Feature" holds the answers, fans have just a few more weeks to wait for them, though it's likely they'll be left — as "American Horror Story" fans so often are — with plenty of new questions to ask in their stead.