American Horror Story: Delicate Part 2 has come to a close, but the final four episodes failed to effectively deliver a satisfying close to a season that seemed promising in the first half. The horror anthology series has had its ups and downs over the seasons, but season 12’s finale failure does not promise a bright future for the franchise. Instead of neatly bringing together all the elements outlined in Delicate Part 1, Part 2 continued building the seasons’ mysteries, until the last episode brought everything crashing down.
AHS: Delicate is the 12th season of the popular horror anthology series, and for the first time in its run, it is an adaptation of another original story. Season 12 follows the same central characters, and closely follows the plot of Danielle Valentine’s novel, Delicate Condition, although the book had over 400 pages of story which was condensed into a nine-episode plot for AHS: Delicate. While the core concept for the season was strong, the execution let the story down with a rushed, unsatisfying ending, and lingering unanswered questions.
AHS: Delicate is the first season of the show to be split up into two parts with a hiatus in between. Having released five of the total nine episodes between September and October 2023, the final episodes were hotly anticipated ahead of their April 2024 release, with theories and speculation about where AHS’ season 12 would go abounding. Unfortunately, the final four episodes failed to add any significant elements to the story, and opted to use the finale as a means of offering a 30-minute info dump to wrap up the show.
With so many mysteries built up early in the season and through marketing materials, the Delicate’s final four episodes carried the burden of needing to deliver a satisfying ending, but it missed the mark. The identity of the true villain, who Ms. Preecher is, Dexter’s involvement, and what the babies were all for were only revealed in AHS’ season 12 finale. But worse still, the reveal largely comes as rapid exposition, with some of the most bizarre acting from the cast of the entire season.
Rather than providing a satisfying conclusion that neatly brings the story together, it simply adds more questions, with brief glimpses and moments that seem like they should be important, but come from nowhere without any explanation. The only saving grace within this whirlwind is Emma Roberts’ AHS performance. She does a fantastic job portraying a scared and upset young mother, and provides some degree of emotion in the middle of a lacking season.
With this season drawing heavy inspiration from a novel, AHS: Delicate decided to incorporate several elements that made the novel a success. While the opening for many of the episodes revealed a period in history and the mysterious women in black’s presence was a powerful way to expand their sense of scale, many other elements were thrown in for no reason. The series gives appropriate attention and focus to these elements in the final few episodes, but it drops them in without expanding upon them.
When creating a television show which will presumably be seen by many more people who have not read the novel than those who have, it’s confusing and careless to include such details without any clarification. As a result, Delicate Part 2 fails to effectively close the series, or achieve its goal of telling a coherent story. Earlier seasons managed to introduce plot points throughout, and ensured that these details would return later in the season to provide a significant payoff. But it appears that, over time, this ability has disappeared.
While the story ended in a rushed and unsatisfying muddle, the visuals throughout were at least strong and intense. From the winding corridors, to the gory violence, AHS has not fallen so far as to lack some of the stunning visual horror that the series has famously done so well. AHS: Delicate Part 2 includes some of the most striking visuals of the season, and does a brilliant job of keeping the visual style consistent and engaging throughout. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the story being told.