Season 10 of American Horror Story has come with its ups and downs so far. This season, titled Double Feature, wrapped up its first half with an episode called “Winter Kills” and fans aren’t happy with the ending.
I expect a lot of American Horror Story characters to die — it wouldn’t be a horror story without any death, would it? But I will say, I was a little confused about the death choices in Red Tide. First, I think it’s important to note one character who didn’t die: Doris Gardner.
Alma wasted no time plotting out how to take her mother out of the picture by convincing her to take the black pills. While they enhanced Alma’s natural musical talent, she knew her mother’s Instagram talent wouldn’t be enough for the pill to work with, and Doris quickly turned into a pale person.
Fast forward to the finale, and Harry’s manager, Ursula hands out a new batch of pills to help reverse the effects of the first one and creates a small army of pale people to help take down Belle and Austin…but Doris is nowhere to be found, despite Ursula having been in, essentially, a nest of pale people. We never found out what happened to her.
The setup was there when Harry thought he saw Doris outside the house, just before he discovered the baby was kidnapped. But that loose end wasn’t tied up and maybe the most disappointing part of Red Tide.
Putting aside all of the disappointing deaths, the survival, and team-up of Alma, Ursula, and The Chemist was destined to bring nothing but chaos. It may be fascinating to consider all the talent that could be found and perfected in Hollywood, but the city is quickly upturned when no-talent pale people are being created left, right, and at every corner of Starbucks. It’s a shame that we didn’t get to see how their life together shaped the future of Los Angeles.
Red Tide quickly established itself as one of, if not the, best American Horror Story plot yet. It is a small New England town full of mystery combined with a fresh, modern take on vampirism? Yes, please. But its short-lived story’s ending left a lot to be desired. Previous seasons had an entire, actual season to develop and wrap up the plot. Given that it brought some amazing characters into the world, Red Tide may have had a chance to be the best season yet all on its own given the time.
