 It's not only the end of the world, but also the end of the season. But how did this mash-up of multiple fan-favorite seasons come together? Ladies and gentlemen, this is Matt Rogers. Now, if you missed my review on the first half of the season, you can find it here. But before we go any further, a bit of a spoiler warning, so make sure you're completely caught up before continuing. Now, as I said in my previous video, the early episodes of this season really peaked my interest. I was intrigued by the apocalyptic world that they were curating. But boy, have my naive, optimistic thoughts changed since then. Before we get ahead of ourselves, let's talk about Episode 6, The Return to Murderhouse. What an episode that was. Of course, we had Jessica Langgrace outscreens once again, and I love that she got to flex her storytelling skills one last time. Her monologues from earlier seasons were some of my favourite moments of probably the whole series. Sarah Paulson did a pretty good job of directing, but somehow it didn't quite capture the atmosphere of the first season. It felt like a new show filmed in the same location. But maybe that's just me being defensive of the nostalgia I have for that season. A few little details I liked in that episode was how Billy Dean referenced that Madison wasn't the first Montgomery she'd come across. That was actually a clever tie-in. Some of you may remember in Season 1 there was the evil doctor and his wife that committed unspeakable crimes in the Murderhouse. Their last name was also Montgomery, which makes you think if Ryan Murphy meant for them to be related all along. But this isn't brought up again, so possibly not. Also, did anyone notice that the actress that plays Pepper made a brief appearance? Obviously without her usual prosthetics. It was great to see closure for Moira as her story ended on such a tragic note before. We also got a beautiful ending for Constance and also for Violet and Tate, the OG AHS couple. But let's move on to the episodes following. I don't even know where to start. What an absolute mess. In the latter half of the season you really need to start bringing together the ideas explored in the first act, but episodes 7, 8 and even 9 continue to bring new aspects to the story. There was that episode where Michael goes to a group of Satan worshippers to find his path, and all of a sudden Kathy Bates is a robot, which I still don't understand why she just couldn't be human. Her death had no purpose, and her being an android added nothing to the story. And why do Kathy Bates' characters always end with a severed head? We of course meet the dudes that create her, and I didn't think I'd say this, but at this point I was like, come on, we're allowed to use some other actors. I love the main cast as much as the next guy, but you can't just keep popping wigs on them and developing brand new characters, especially this late in the game. But what made me throw my hands up in the air was the moment they mentioned the word Illuminati. Is that a joke? What has this show turned into? The last few seasons were different, but I still love the series as a whole. But this is an American horror story. By this point it turned into some sort of light-hearted horror comedy. Problem being, none of this was scary, and none of it is funny. They even had mass killings, which killed off some of the key characters. There was no tension building, there was no shock factor, and again the character's deaths just meant nothing. But I'll give it a break for a second, and I do want to appreciate Michael as a character. I honestly feel like Hody Furners seamlessly fit into the long-time established cast, much more than Leslie Grossman and Billie Eichner have. And I loved Paulson as Miss Venable, apart from when those two talked to her about the looming apocalypse and the Illuminati, and she just accepted it as fact, and didn't even question such an outrageous proposal. And then we come to the final episode. It was a tough gig tying up all the ends created throughout the season, and I'll hand it to Murphy, he managed to do it. But just because you can wrap up a season quickly doesn't automatically mean it was done well. It was good to see it jumped relatively quickly to the original timeline, and it was satisfying to see all the original ideas explored in the first few episodes come to fruition. However, tell me you didn't see Mallory going back in time and saving the day. Time travel is such a tough storytelling device to pull off, and if you're not careful, the writing can look as lazy as saying the whole thing was a dream. And unfortunately, that's what it felt like. On a positive note, as soon as Lang got back on the screen, it sparked a little bit of hope for the ending, as it seemed like a scene from season one, and I did like a final sign off to Michael. Plus, it was refreshing to see some familiar faces from Coven, such as Marie Laveau, as brief as a cameo as that was, Madame Delphine, Nan, and Papa Legba even made a brief appearance in a previous episode. But then Mallory easily fixes everything, and it's like the entire season never happened. Main characters, including Cordelia, didn't die at all, taking away the gravity of her loss in the final showdown between her and Michael. Some of the only casualties being poor Myrtle and Madison, at least temporarily. It was good that the original Chosen 2 ended up meaning something, but God help me. The ending was the most predictable piece of television I think I've ever seen. As soon as they started jumping forward in time, I could just see every single thing that was about to happen. Them coming home, blood on the wall, parents scream, dead babysitter, and there he is on a rocking chair. And that was that. What a forgettable season, and to think it had such promise at the start. Such a waste. But FX and Ryan Murphy have at least signed off on two more seasons, bringing us up to season 10. But I'm disheartened to say the least. It's a shame that one of my favorite shows of all time has sort of turned into a different beast altogether. I think I've made my point, but what did you guys think of Apocalypse? I'll be very interested to hear what you guys have to say. But until next time, thanks so much for hanging out. If you had a good time, then spank that like button. And if you're subscribed during this video, then walk on the board. This is Matt Rogers, and that is all.