Thursday, November 03, 2022

My Review of American Horror Story: NYC - Bad Fortune

 


Written by Our Lady J And Jennifer Salt
Directed by Paris Barclay

Whitely (to Daniel/Cameron): "Now .... Decisions, decisions."

Whelp, this episode laid it on extremely thick, didn't it? Every one is going to die and in case people thought Big Daddy was a ghost, I really think this episode managed to stress that he wasn't. On top of that, Big Daddy also claimed a prominent victim and whoever they are, they have one hell of a grudge against Patrick.

I haven't been the biggest fan of Barbara as a character but she did not deserve to wind up being one of Big Daddy's victims and unfortunately her association with Patrick led to her death. In spite of the fact that this episode actually had the pair of them finalise their divorce and Barbara seemed to be recovering from an illness, only to be killed in the shower by Big Daddy.

Now why is Big Daddy after Patrick? He already attacked the latter in the previous episode and even the cops thought his attack here was a tryst gone wrong. It doesn't help that Patrick has been massively secretive all season long and now it's starting to have some serious consequences. If Big Daddy can openly kill Barbara, then Gino has to be next on that hit list too.

Speaking of Gino, this episode really marked him for death. Now only with certain marks on his skin, the potential threat of Big Daddy coming for him but also with that unsettling tarot card reading at Kathy's psychic shop, complete with an encounter from the Angel of Death. Fans of Asylum rejoice but fans of Frances Conroy, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but that definitely wasn't her we saw during this episode.

The bad fortune telling took up a surprising portion of the episode as Kathy hired Fran to tell people's fortune. Except for Fran managing to spook Hannah, scare the bejesus out of Adam and mildly intrigue Theo. Gino was dismissive of Fran's talents but after letting Kathy read him, he was probably wishing that Fran had been the one to have given him that reading instead.

Last but not least, there was Whitely himself. Aside from one earlier scene where he narrowly avoided being recognised by Adam, the latter really came into his terrifying own by the last scene. A terrified Daniel and Cameron, both bound and gagged had to listen to Whitely's monologue about creating his own sentinel in order to send a message during an upcoming Pride event. Things have just gotten a lot darker for the show. 

- Barbara got herself a cute little dog that I assume both Patrick and Gino are now going to have to look after. Patrick doesn't seem too keen on dogs.
- Hannah is four months pregnant, had low red cells and Adam was the sperm donor. He also has low red cells as does Theo.
- We got an allusion to Double Feature with Hannah having a nightmare of giving birth to a baby with tentacles. 
- Whitely is a hospital porter and has been working on his sentinel down below where he's also keeping Daniel and Cameron captive. 
- Despite being a bit nasally, Kathy does seem to be getting her money's worth with her impersonator.
- Chronology: Some time has passed since the events of the last episode.

Bad Fortune wasted no time in driving home the doom factor but it did it in such style, I cannot begrudge it nonetheless. Will any of the main characters make it out of the  season alive? I doubt Barbara will be the only death and I'm intrigued to see where the Patrick and Big Daddy connection will go. Also give Jeff Hiller all the awards for his unhinged performance as Whitely. 

Rating: 9 out of 10

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