American Horror Story: Coven has added Fringe star Lance Reddick to its cast.
Reddick will play Papa Legba, described as a “voodoo Satan,” when the series returns in January. According to Entertainment Weekly , Legba will be an important figure in the remaining four episodes, and plays a pivotal role in the life of Marie Laveau (Angela Bassett).
Co-creator Ryan Murphy also hinted at Legba’s involvement in EW ‘s AHS: Coven cover story last month, saying, “You find out that’s how come Marie Laveau looks so good — because she sold her soul!”
Lance Reddick, a Baltimore native, is best known for his roles as Cedric Daniels in The Wire and Detective Johnny Basil in Oz . He also appeared in the fourth and fifth seasons of Lost as Matthew Abbadon. The 51-year-old was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Guest Starring Role and Best Supporting Actor on Television for his role as Phillip Broyles on Fringe , which ended after five seasons and 100 episodes in January.
In this week’s episode of American Horror Story: Coven , “ The Sacred Taking ,” we see Queenie (Gabourey Sidibe) going down a dark path after aligning herself with Marie in last week’s episode, “ The Dead. ”
SPOILER ALERT AHEAD. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN WEDNESDAY’S EPISODE, OR IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW THE DETAILS OF NEXT WEEK’S EPISODE.
Queenie tells Madison (Emma Roberts) and Zoe (Taissa Farmiga) that the town isn’t big enough for voodoo and witchcraft. There’s a war coming, she warns, and they’re going to lose. Things come to a head — literally — at the end of the episode, when Marie chops off Delphine LaLaurie’s (Kathy Bates) head and sends it to the Coven.
“Then we came up with a whole episode which is the winter cliffhanger called ‘Head’ where we follow the travails of Kathy Bates’ head and things happen to other characters’ literal heads or intellects or brain power,” Murphy said of next week’s winter finale . He also said that Fiona doesn’t want Delphine’s head in the house, but that something will eventually happen with Queenie.
END SPOILER .
With American Horror Story: Coven winding down, Ryan Murphy is already thinking ahead to next season. He has said in the past that both Angela Bassett and Kathy Bates have expressed their desire to return, and he told EW that he hopes Frances Conroy, who has appeared in all three seasons, will return as well. Jessica Lange has already confirmed that season four will be her last.
American Horror Story: Coven airs Wednesday at 10 pm on FX. After next week’s episode, the series returns on January 8, 2014.
[Photo credit: Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com ]
