海角大神

One of the primary advantages of doing a television series in an anthology format is the opportunity for characters and the narrative to flow in practically any direction, as the series is not beholden to a greater sense of continuity, nor are characters bound to their future story in .聽There鈥檚 a freeing sense of impermanence knowing that the storyline of a particular season is only going to last 13 episodes, and in that time, there鈥檚 really nothing that can鈥檛 be done (or undone, as is the case with ) to serve the needs of the larger story. As with anything good, however, there always comes a warning that too much of a good thing can be bad for you, or the proverbial pendulum can swing back viciously in the other direction.

鈥楾he Magical Delights of Stevie Nicks鈥� makes for an excellent example of the series experiencing an overload from the supposed good qualities that spring forth from its unique format. All season long,聽Coven has been in search of a main thrust that might align its various characters and . That means there have been quite a few episodes that seemed to be trying different meaningful plot threads on, only to discard them when something newer or more interesting came along.

To the show鈥檚 credit, it hasn鈥檛 completely abandoned anything; the throughline of the search for the new Supreme, Fiona鈥檚 cancer and , and a mixture of vague or sometimes overtly clumsy, subtextual elements about, sexism, racism, and ageism have generally been present at one point or another. But while these elements have mostly been there, more often than not, there comes the feeling that they are being draped over an amorphous idea of a plot, rather than a fully formed one.

Generally, things just happen on the show because the writers seem to be only concerned with the next crazy thing they could have happen. While it鈥檚 largely worked in the of the show, the problem with this is, since most things happen in the spur-of-the-moment, there鈥檚 little context or meaning to their happening. Sure, it鈥檚 a terrific in-joke that Fiona would ask the White Witch herself, Stevie Nicks, to come by and do a special performance for her number one fan Misty Day, but there鈥檚 about as much point to Nicks鈥� appearance as there is in having or on the show. That is to say: not much.

The impulsive nature of this season has led to a feeling of inconsistency that breaks down the character dynamics and works against a true sense of stability in the overall plot. is suddenly living at and comforting Cordelia, who is suddenly being attacked by Fiona after their reconciliation following an attempt to trick her mother into committing suicide. Meanwhile, Madison is convinced she鈥檒l be the next Supreme, since coming back from the dead somehow corrected her heart murmur. Elsewhere, Zoe shrugs off Nan killing their neighbor, shortly before Nan is drowned as an offering to Papa Legba ().

Such inconsistency makes it difficult to take anything Coven does at face value, and what鈥檚 more, there鈥檚 little in the way of some larger function to any of it. In essence, it feels like the season is just waiting for the big climax of the finale, and because of that, it鈥檒l just keep tossing out the unpredictable as a way to delay the story until then.

Kevin Yeoman blogs at .