American Horror Stories' Kevin McHale Confirms What We Suspected All Along
The fourth episode of "American Horror Stories" brought Christmas to July in a terrifying tale about a killer Santa Claus (Danny Trejo) and the perils of social media culture. As members of The Bro House engage in increasingly toxic behavior to reach their goal of 5 million followers, they ruin the holiday spirit by telling a crowd of children that jolly old St. Nicholas isn't real.
Little do the obnoxious 20-somethings know, the mall Santa they harass had killed the real actor and stuffed him in a gift box. "You'll get what you deserve," he tells them, hunting and brutally picking them off during the episode's climax. The finale of "The Naughty List" had some fans online questioning what happened to the least problematic of the bunch, Barry (Kevin McHale). His fate seemed to be sealed, but knowing the franchise's affinity for twists, everything isn't always what it seems.
So, what did Kevin McHale confirm about his character? Just what we expected.
Did Barry die at the end of The Naughty List?
In an interview with TVLine, McHale confirmed that Barry didn't make it out alive. The interviewer explained that people online weren't convinced that Barry died after being shot with an arrow, doused in gasoline, set on fire, and collapsing into a pool likely pulsating with electricity from a string of weaponized Christmas lights. McHale said that when he watched "The Naughty List" with friends, they also asked whether or not his character was dead. "I think Barry died," he said. "It's ultimately up to Ryan Murphy, though, he can always reverse that if need be."
While some fans found his final moments unbelievable, others didn't know if Barry had survived, because his death was the only one left semi-open. Some viewers expressed confusion about which Bro's dismembered body parts adorned the massive Christmas tree left by the sadistic Santa, though most agreed that it was Zinn's (Nico Greetham) mistletoe-stuffed head in place of a star. How ironic.