“American Horror Story” fans eagerly anticipating Jessica Lange, Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott’s return to the franchise next week are about to be granted the gift of a little more time with the series alums, as the installment is going to run longer than any other “Apocalypse” episode we’ve seen so far.
Next Wednesday’s “AHS: Apocalypse,” titled “Return to Murder House,” will be a 1 hour and 18 minute broadcast, a spokesperson for FX told TheWrap, with 55 minutes and 1 second of that being the actual runtime of the show.
For reference, the typical length of an “AHS” episode in the more recent seasons has been between 40-42 minutes, excluding commercials. So that is a pretty good chunk of extra time there. And this should be Stevie Nicks music to “AHS” fans’ ears, as next week’s “Apocalypse” is expected to finally fully deliver on the Ryan Murphy series’ promise of a “Murder House” (Season 1) and “Coven” (Season 3) crossover.
The installment (directed by series star Sarah Paulson) will see the return of Season 1 stars Britton (as exclusively reported by TheWrap in August), McDermott and Taissa Farmiga (again, as the actress has already reprised her role as “Coven” witch Zoe this season), who are coming back as “Murder House” family the Harmons.
Also back for more “Murder House” fun are Lange and Evan Peters (another “AHS” lead who is taking on multiple roles this season) as Constance and Tate Langdon, the devilish Michael Langdon’s (Cody Fern) grandmother and ghost father, respectively.
Lange was a prominent fixture during the first four seasons of “AHS,” playing a leading role in each installment, including the parts of creepy next door neighbor Constance in “Murder House” and (former) Supreme witch Fiona Goode in “Coven.” But she exited the franchise after Season 4 aka “Freak Show” and hasn’t returned for even a cameo since.
“AHS” fans started to clamor for a Lange comeback (even more than they usually do) when Murphy broke the news in June that “Apocalypse” would be the highly-teased mashup season, and Paulson confirmed their wish had been granted in August.
“American Horror Story: Apocalypse” stars Paulson, Peters, Kathy Bates, Billie Lourd, Emma Roberts, Billy Eichner, Leslie Grossman, Adina Porter, Cheyenne Jackson, and series newcomers Fern and Joan Collins.
“American Horror Story: Apocalypse” airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on FX.