American Horror Story Season 10, Episode 3 recap: Thirst
By Ariba Bhuvad
American Horror Story Season 10 is officially here, and while I didn’t get a chance to share my thoughts about the premiere, I have plenty to say about the third episode of the season. The tenth season is off to an…interesting start, and I’m not entirely sure if I like it or just want it to end.
The season premiere did show promise in its first hour, but as time went on, we were reminded that this is American Horror Story. We went from a family moving into a small, quaint town in the Northeast to get away from the city life and hunker down to…vampires.
Yes, vampires.
So how do we get to that point? Well, long story short, Harry Gardner (Finn Wittrock), a screenwriter trying to develop a new script, stumbles across eccentric townspeople who get him hooked on pills that turn him into a vampire.
But not only does he become a vampire, but the pill also gives him Limitless-like powers that allow his brain to operate at a superhuman level. He churns out quality scripts, and it’s all thanks to that magical pill given to him by Austin (Evan Peters) and Belle Noir (Frances Conroy)–who he met during a visit into town.
As Harry’s thirst for blood increases and his behavior becomes more erratic, his young daughter, Alma (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), and wife Doris (Lily Rabe) notice. It’s quite a freaky transformation, but Alma finds a way to take the pill herself to help her play the violin instead of being frightened by it.
Taking the pill, of course, has its consequences, aka–becoming a bloodthirsty vampire. We watched Harry try to quench his thirst for blood, but the American Horror Story Season 10 premiere ends with Alma succumbing to the thirst too.
American Horror Story Season 10, Episode 3 recap: Alma the vampiress
Heading into the third episode of the season, things change quite rapidly. It almost feels like a completely different series, to be honest. I could get into the nitty-gritty details of it, but given it’s been a few days, I’ll cut to the chase.
Alma and Harry are now vampires, and their bloodlust continues to grow stronger and stronger. A lot of the episode is Chief Burleson (Adina Porter) snooping around the house after complaints regarding Alma walking around town covered in blood. And the other half is Harry trying to convince Alma not to kill people/animals herself and leave it to him to bring her the blood she’s craving.
For her first “meal,” he finds a junkie to kill, but the whole thing backfires when the junkie’s boyfriend tries to knock him out. Apparently, these guys are into some weird stuff that involves kidnapping, raping, and murdering men. Luckily, Harry is able to take them down and take them home for Alma’s dinner.
American Horror Story Season 10, Episode 3 recap: Quentin Tarantino
Harry’s agent, Ursula (Leslie Grossman), shows up to inform him that Quentin Tarantino is interested in writing a Hulu limited series based on his work. It’s obviously a far stretch because Mr. Tarantino does not do other people’s writing, but we’ll let this one slide.
Later in the episode, Ursula crosses paths with Mickey (Macaulay Culkin), who flirts with her and then tries to get her to take his screenplays. She’s not too eager to read them, but when she does, she realizes they are absolutely brilliant. The whole thing throws her off, and very quickly (and I mean very quickly), she figures out something weird is happening in this town. Mickey eventually shares the whole “take a pill and turn into a vampire and a genius” thing.
This prompts Ursula to visit the Chemist (Angelica Ross) to try and convince her to make her a steady supply of these vampiric pills. The Chemist is not about that life and asks Belle and Austin to kill everyone involved with the pills recently.
Someone does die in this episode, but it is not who we think, or not the first person on my list of suspects anyway. Towards the end of the episode, Chief Burleson comes back around, hoping to wean more information about the creepy Alma. Instead, she meets her tragic end when Alma stabs her in the neck and lets her blood spill to the floor.
Ursula is there to witness it all…and surprisingly, she’s not fazed by any of it at all.
Well, that was an interesting episode, wasn’t it?
What did you think of this week’s episode of American Horror Story Season 10? Tell us in the comments below!