Written by Brad Falchuk
Directed by Axelle Carolyn
The Chemist (to Mickey): "I don't care if you are Bill fucking Shakespeare. If I whack you hard enough in that part of your head, you'll never write again."
With two episodes left to go for the finale of this part of the season, it was time to put the Gardner family and Ursula on hold and instead rewind the clock back. Yes, folks, it's a flashback episode to when the Chemist first appeared on the scene.
Buying a house from Holden certainly attracted his suspicions but she wasn't interested in telling him anything about herself. Instead she befriended Mickey and gave him the down low on the little black pills she was making and the effects they had on both the talented and untalented of primates.
While Mickey had the sense to refuse the Chemist's offer at the time, he wasn't above sending other people her way. The first being a Vegan Buddhist (Spencer Novich) with aspirations of being the next Bono. Instead he became the Chemist's first look at the darker effects of the untalented and showed little empathy for his physical decline.
Then there was Sarah Cunningham aka Belle Noir herself. She had the talent but between self publishing, underwhelming book tours and a husband who hated her guts and wasted no time in cheating on her in a new location, Belle needed a makeover. With the husband dispatched of, a new wardrobe and a book series that became a movie franchise, Belle was proof that st least 10% of the Chemist's trials were a success.
Then there was Austin himself. A struggling playwright with a cancelled show, performing drag badly with a group of bitchy queens who took pleasure in mocking him. It was easy to see why Belle would share her secret with him and Austin certainly had his own joy in getting revenge on those who were cruel to him.
In the space of this shorter episode than usual, we got the essential history needed as well as the Chemist's motive for these pills. The military aspect is almost a little disappointing but not by much and it seems likely that aspect will connect into the second half of the season as well.
- Even back in flashbacks Mickey was encouraging of Karen's talents. Belle's writing though is more EL James than Danielle Steel.
- Lark inadvertently inspired the look for the Flesh Phantoms while also helping Belle vamp up her wardrobe. She also killed an ex-boyfriend of hers to satisfy her thirst.
- I suspected the Muse was a gay bar and this episode confirmed it. I assume Austin is gay while Mickey is bisexual.
- Chronology: Five years before the events of this season, also around Halloween at two different points in the episode.
Blood Buffet serves up a satisfying appetiser of flashbacks, giving most of our players a bit more context. It's easy why talented people like Belle and Austin were able to be tempted by the pulls while Mickey had initially held back from them. I like the Chemist as an antagonist of sorts and despite being shorter on time, this was a strong episode nonetheless.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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