The Vampire Detail In AHS: Double Feature That Makes No Sense To Fans
"American Horror Story: Double Feature" has delivered a new story with familiar actors ripe with suspense and scares in its first episodes, but like previous seasons of this horror anthology series, viewers have been left with more questions than answers in the first episodes. The seemingly obvious premise for "Red Tide" (the first storyline of the double feature) is set up when the Gardners arrive in Provincetown, a small coastal town: immediately, they find dead animals with their necks torn out, and a feral-acting man tries breaking into their home. The local police reassure them they're safe and that nothing bad ever happens in Provincetown, even as the chief of police (Adina Porter) exchanges looks with others that imply she's not being truthful.
Meanwhile, Harry Gardner (Finn Wittrock), a screenwriter from New York, is struggling with writer's block when he meets a flirtatious hustler named Mickey (Macaulay Culkin) and fellow writers Austin (Evan Peters) and Belle (Frances Conroy) at a night club. An unstable woman named TB Karen (Sarah Paulson) makes a commotion and warns him to stay away from Austin and Belle — whom she calls bloodsuckers. Later that night, Harry is attacked by the same feral-acting man from before, who breaks into their rental while Harry's pregnant wife, Doris (Lily Rabe), and their daughter, Alma (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), are asleep.
Though the family plans to leave afterward, Harry changes his mind after taking black pills given to him by Austin. Those black pills — which Austin calls "the muse" — clear Harry's writer's block but change his personality while also leaving him with a strange thirst for blood.
As viewers have noticed, there seem to be two types of vampires depicted in "American Horror Story: Double Feature" — the feral-acting Nosferatu-lookalikes and those who act vampiric after taking the black pills. And there's one little detail that doesn't make sense.
What is the muse, and where did Austin get it?
As one Reddit user wrote: "I feel like the hack vamps seem to be a massive plot hole. How did they get the muse. If Belle and Austin say they stop taking it in the summer and they go back to 'normal' then why are these things still around?"
After the second episode, a question many viewers have is whether or not the pills actually turn someone into a vampire ... or are they experiencing a mass hallucination that makes them believe they are vampires? Austin, Belle, and Harry do seem like fake vampires, so far. For example, Harry had his teeth filed down into fangs: he didn't develop them naturally. Regardless, the pills have turned Austin, Belle, and now Harry into monsters who are willing to kill those less fortunate than themselves — including a human infant — to quench their thirst. Are the feral-acting vampires the paranormal bloodsuckers of legend? It's possible those who take the pills long-term eventually turn into the feral-acting versions of the bloodsuckers depicted in the first episode, but the story has yet to clarify.
Viewers are certainly in store for more horror
Now that Alma, Harry's young daughter, has taken the black pills too, there is likely to be more bloodshed in the upcoming episodes. As a child, Alma probably won't be able to control her thirst, which might not bode well for her pregnant mother, Doris. While TB Karen seems frightened of Austin, Belle and "the others," Mickey longs to become one of them and has displayed questionable morals, too. The seaside town's police and other officials seem aware of the ominous presence amongst them, but so far, they've done nothing to stop it, suggesting they're a part of "the others" TB Karen referenced.
The "Red Tide" segment of "American Horror Story: Double Feature" will have a total of six episodes to explain all of these lingering plot holes before the second segment, "Death Valley," kicks off its four-episode run to complete the series' 10th season.