Over the course of its ten seasons (and ane spinoff), American Horror Story has featured more than its share of despicable, selfish, and downright evil characters. With combative traits such as Kai Anderson's (Evan Peters) psychopathy and murderous tendencies in Cult and Dandy Mott'due south (Finn Wittrock) manipulative actions and God complex in Freak Show, it can exist difficult for the audition to root for and emotionally connect with some of each season's main characters. Simply once in a while comes a character so gentle, good-natured, and kind that it balances out the vile deportment and crazy psychologies of the villainous characters we love to hate.

Possibly the best instance of this is Misty Day (Lily Rabe) in Coven.

With her bohemian wearable in the style of flowing dresses, layers of draped shawls, scarves, and mismatched necklaces, she automatically stands apart from the residue of the witches at Miss Robichaux's Academy for Infrequent Immature Ladies who are usually dressed in black monochrome. She's visually unique, a technicolor character in a black-and-white earth. Her style automatically alerts the viewer that in that location'due south something different about her and her quirkiness with her meditation, swamp mud rituals, and obsession with Stevie Nicks' music cements her every bit a singular character in the American Horror Story universe.

She doesn't care what others recall of her (as evidenced by her living alone in the Louisiana swamp rather than trying to conform to normal gild) and such nonchalance for the opinions of others makes her stand out amidst a bandage of vapid characters that are focused on vanity and perfection. "You can't exist your best cocky until you find your tribe," she says. "I'1000 even so looking for mine." Misty gives the audience reason to accept notice of her through her fierce independence and committal to cocky-improvement. With her humble roots and nomad spirit, she cements herself as an underdog, making us root for her success and happiness.

Lily Rabe in American Horror Story: Coven
Epitome via FX

In the hands of other actresses, she could hands come up across every bit a quirky, stereotypical Southern caricature, but Lily Rabe breathes real life into Misty. She embodies her with a committed sense of wide-eyed artless innocence in her extremely expressive face up, not to mention an endearing Southern twang. As Misty'due south emotions run the gamut from awed joy at coming together Stevie Nicks (who plays herself in a wonderful cameo appearance), intense pain and devastation when her blast box (which is her one connectedness to the "outside" world) is broken, and pure horror at being forced to re-live her own personal hell (dissecting a frog in a school scientific discipline class), Rabe's multi-dimensional performance brings Misty to life in an incredibly honest manner, elevating Coven to higher levels of graphic symbol depth when it comes to the season's machinations.

Whereas characters like Fiona Goode (Jessica Lange) and Madison Montgomery (Emma Roberts) are oftentimes cocky-centered and pushing a secret agenda known but to themselves, Misty stands apart from the other witches in the coven with her tearing kindness and compassion towards all living creatures, big and pocket-size ("Why would you kill God's innocent creatures?" she asks of a pair of alligator poachers). When viewers are first introduced to her, she's seen bringing a bird back from the dead with her power of resurgence. Here, she has nothing to gain from the activity; it'south something she does out of compassion and empathy. She brings life into the world rather than death. And her advantage for it? Being burned at the stake by a mob of religious zealots who wrongly believe her abilities to be gifted to her past the devil. Just her death doesn't last since she'southward able to apply her powers to bring herself back to life besides. Equally Myrtle Snow (Frances Conroy) introduces her:

"She's a sophisticated witch with extraordinary gifts…In fact, those effectually her tried incessantly to destroy her in order to mask their ain evil purposes. Yet she rose from the ashes stronger than ever, more fully realized. A living testament to the greater ideals of our coven — ability, compassion, and uniqueness."

Despite the horrors and trauma that came from experiencing the very worst of humanity, Misty rejects the path of retribution and bloodshed in favor of spending her time communing with nature and healing others rather than destroying. "I've surrounded myself with the white spirit light to protect me," she says to a threatening Fiona. "And fifty-fifty if you lot do put me down, I've already fabricated plans on how to bring myself back." While it might have been narratively tempting to let Misty to proceed a murderous rampage of revenge against those who wronged her, the restraint shown in regard to her characterization does a great deal in the way of constructing a well of warmth and understanding within her. She proves herself to exist a woman of pure heart and compassion and these characteristics let the audience to empathise with her and form a genuine bond and emotional connection to such a purely adept and innocent character in a season packed with prickly ones. By caring most Misty and what happens to her, by association we finish upwardly caring near what happens to her entire coven.

american-horror-story-coven-lily-rabe-stevie-nicks

Misty's kindness extends to people likewise when she offers not but to help ressurrect Kyle (Evan Peters) only also Madison. Her motivations are once again altruistic, reviving Kyle because she knows how deeply Zoe (Taissa Farmiga) cares for him, and Madison considering the coven's safe depends on uncovering who it was that murdered her in the kickoff place. Misty's deportment are sincere, showing her to be someone who's compassionate with both her human acts and witchy magic. But that besides doesn't mean she's naive or allows herself to be pushed around by others. "Y'all call up I'm stupid because of where I came from," she says, standing up to a bullying Madison. "Well...I own't that easily fooled." Whether being burned at the stake in her youth or targeted past Madison for potentially being the next Supreme, Misty is continuously persecuted for being different from everyone else. But with her continued forgiveness and willingness to help the very people that accept tried to damage her, the graphic symbol of Misty tethers us to the season'due south emotional through-line of friendship and loyalty. As a swamp-dwelling outsider to the witch customs, she serves as a surrogate for the viewer since the characters, world, and rules of Coven are new to us as much as they are to Misty. Without this human element and characters to believe in and root for, information technology would be harder to connect with the flavor's more magical elements of spells and spirits.

It says a great deal that Misty's ain personal hell, the worst thing imaginable to her, is beingness forced to kill one of "God's creatures." She's a unique presence, both visually and emotionally, that inspires empathy in viewers through her kindness and pity fifty-fifty when the world gives her reason to do otherwise. Withour her (and Lily Rabe's performance), Coven's story of friendship would ring hollow. Misty isn't simply a witch or a ane-dimensional background graphic symbol. She might non've been the next Supreme, but she'due south the flavor's secret weapon.

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