Why The Chemist's Actions In AHS: Double Feature Makes No Sense To Fans
Contains spoilers for Episode 4 of "American Horror Story: Double Feature — Red Tide"
The first half of the new season of "American Horror Story," entitled "Red Tide," focuses on the The Muse, a drug in the form of a black pill produced by a character known as The Chemist (Anjelica Ross), that sparks creativity at the cost of mild vampiric tendencies.
As we understand it currently, those with a certain level of innate talent get a boost to their creative endeavors, making them more successful than they could have ever dreamed of before. Those less gifted, if that's the right way to look at, find that the pill slowly begins to rob them of their intellectual and physiological capabilities entirely. Their hair falls out. Their body has trouble maintaining its normal temperature, hence the coats. They seem incapable of thinking about much other than their next fix.
The fourth episode, "Blood Buffet," fleshes out the backstory of The Muse and The Chemist and what exactly they're doing in Provincetown, but it's also prompted some questions. Some fans on Reddit think The Chemist is overcomplicating her life by leaving one too many bloodsuckers on the table. As u/thepeoplessgt puts it, "Why doesn't the Chemist just kill the Pales?"
Is it too much trouble for The Chemist to get rid of AHS: Double Feature's pale monsters?
It's a fair question. Who would want a bunch of feral bloodsuckers wandering around, especially if you knew that they were –– horror of horrors –– talentless? They may be a version of a classic horror monsters, but they haven't proven that difficult to kill, as evidenced by how Harry (Finn Wittrock) was able to defend himself when one attacked him, even before he had full knowledge of the situation.
That scene led some in the replies to speculate about the reasons she might have for keeping them around. "Might be part of her research and who wants to dispose of that many bodies?" wrote u/MainBhiChowkidar. Though, if the Pale are killing people in town, then presumably that's a different kind of body disposal problem, unless they pick and choose their targets.
Another fan agreed that they could still serve some kind of research purpose for her, but speculated about other possible reasons as well. "I think she wanted to continue observing them for her research?" u/hellobaaa wrote. "Or she might have a use for them. Maybe to keep outsiders out and to deter people from snooping around too much. It's easier to blame the Pales for strange deaths."
Might the pale monsters serve some purpose?
The keeping outsiders out part certainly didn't work on Harry or Ursula (Leslie Grossman), but it could be useful to have someone around to take the blame. The Muse, after all, gives even those who retain their humanity a taste for blood, so who's more likely to be blamed for an attack when it comes, the bloodthirsty monster, or the person who can wipe his or her mouth off then point at the bloodthirsty monster and say "Look! A bloodthirsty monster!"
But one commenter thinks The Chemist keeps them around as a cautionary tale to others who might be on the fence about whether it's worth it to go on The Muse to fuel their own dreams. "Also it's a good way to dissuade too many people from taking the drug. If they realize they can end up like that and are not willing to take the shot, it means less risk that this drug is gonna be spread," wrote u/Hameli0.
Though, granted, if the goal was to stop people from taking the drug, then much of what The Chemist has done this season so far would likely be different. As one user wrote. "The chemist's presence and actions are a massive plot hole."
"American Horror Story" has two episodes remaining in the first, "Red Tide" half of its "Double Feature" season to prove that user wrong.