How does Michael Langdon hold up as the Antichrist in American Horror Story?

The central conflict of this season is thanks to Michael Langdon. Midway through the season, we ask, is he a convincing Antichrist?

Let’s talk about Michael Langdon for a minute. The character, played by Cody Fern, is shown at the start of the season as a much older version of himself. We see him in Outpost Three during the apocalypse where he has already brought forth destruction on the earth and is assured of his own powers and capabilities. When the season shifts after the first few episodes, we learn more about Michael’s past and how he grew up.

As of the last episode, we watch as Michael tries to come into his own and gather new allies after Cordelia killed most of his old ones. My question is how effective is this character and, while American Horror Story doesn’t shy away from humor or camp, does this idea of an Antichrist take things too far to be scary at all?

I have to say I was fairly impressed with the Michael Langdon we saw at Outpost Three. Cody Fern did a great job of capturing this idea of a satanic figure who is beautiful yet slightly off. While he wasn’t outright scary, there was a dark presence that exuded from within.

With the flashback episodes we have been in for a while, we have seen Michael as an adolescent basically throwing tantrums and fits. The younger version of Michael does remind me a bit of Tate, his father. In that way, the casting is pretty spot on. You can see a resemblance and even the personalities seem similar at times, so I wonder if that wasn’t done on purpose.

Still, seeing Michael in his youth has diminished his ability to scare or terrify. He is evil, that is for certain. We’ve seen him kill many people for no reason other than simply to delight his wicked heart. But, that doesn’t seem to make him any different or worse than your average serial killer in television. It’s maybe hard to take him seriously, and in episode eight specifically, the camp factor was dialed up to 11. The allies in this Satanic church he runs across or mostly laughable and annoying and at times Michael comes off the same way.

I’m definitely waiting to see how the show pulls the two timelines together — the future where we already know the apocalypse has occurred, and this flashback sequence that has gone on for many episodes. While I have enjoyed Cody Fern as an actor and an addition to AHS, it’s hard to see Michael Langdon as anything more than a petulant child at this point.

Do you find the character of Michael Langdon convincing or scary? Or do you wish they had taken this Antichrist character in a different direction? Share your thoughts with us!