Every week we’ll be recapping the newest episodes of “AHS: NYC.” Read at your own risk, spoilers ahead!
Tensions are rising in Ryan Murphy’s downtown Manhattan of the early 1980s. Last week there was the arson at the lounge, an intense altercation between Gino and Mr. Whitely that landed Gino in a mortuary cabinet, the first death as a result of the mystery disease, and a blackout that left the city in darkness as the violence raged on.
Episode 5, “Bad Fortune”
This week, a seemingly supernatural energy has entered the scene, prophesying death and judgment by way of Fran’s newfound tarot deck. After getting a job as a psychic from Patti Lupone’s character, Kathy Pizzaz, Fran welcomes Adam and Dr. Hannah Wells to her velvet table and offers to give them a reading.
This interaction ends with three death cards being pulled. This confuses even Fran, as she knows there’s only one of every card in each deck.
Gino has a similarly unsettling experience when he gets his cards read in the sixth episode. The scene ends with Gino cowering in the corner while the black angel of death promises that she can make this all go away with just one kiss. The supernatural torment ends almost as quickly as it starts, leaving both Fran and Gino with an intensifying sense of impending doom. Similar warnings about impending evil have been seen in other, more vivid settings throughout the show, such as the woman on the train who says nothing except the ominous phrase “something is coming.” These threatening messages solidify the sense that there is even more evil on the way.
As a metaphysical evil begins to torment the characters, the tangible violence persists with full force. When Patrick goes over to his ex-wife Barbara’s house to feed her dog he finds that Big Daddy— the large, muscled, masked villain— is hiding in her apartment. They get into a scuffle, Big Daddy gets away and Patrick calls the police to come and investigate. When Barbara returns to the apartment, she shows little fear about staying in a freshly burglarized apartment alone, assuring Patrick that this is the safest place she could be because of the police cruiser parked outside that is meant to watch the apartment and maintain her safety.
Many questions arise from this altercation: How did Big Daddy get into the apartment? Is Barbara connected to Big Daddy somehow? Could this be why Barbara had that leather hood that she showed to Gino in the fourth episode? Did Barbara set him up? Things only get more complicated when Big Daddy strangles Barb to death in the sixth episode.
Alongside all of this, the mystery disease continues to silently rage on. The main characters are now experiencing symptoms as Patrick and Gino exhibit the skin spots and rash that are prominent indications of the disease. It is revealed in the third episode that Dr. Wells is pregnant, and when she goes to her ultrasound appointment she receives her blood work back. The doctor informs her that her red blood cell count is low, another symptom she noticed when gathering evidence about the disease. The illness takes a bit of a back seat in the sixth episode, so the potential havoc it will cause in the future is highly anticipated.
The episode ends with a chilling monologue from the season’s creepiest character, Mr. Whitely. After kidnapping two young gay men who attempted to follow him and find out where his apartment is, he straps them both to silver medical tables as he taunts them with ideas about what will become of them.
Whitely gives a glimpse into what may be the climax of the season: he talks maniacally about his plans for the NYC pride parade and how he will finally give the event “meaning.” Whitely then reveals a grotesque Frankenstein-like corpse of his own creation. The body, made up of parts removed from the other murders he’s committed this season, is hung with its arms outstretched and head hung low, a reference to Jesus hanging on the cross.
Episode 6, “The Body”
This episode shows a more in-depth backstory on exactly how Sam and Patrick are linked. After getting a call from a young gay couple on Fire Island about human remains they discovered in the sand, Patrick immediately implores them not to tell the local police and assures them that he will come take care of the situation. Sam picks him up and the pair head out there to deal with their demons from the past.
Meanwhile, Henry, the Brownstone bar regular we met in the first episode, is instructed to make Gino stop reporting on the Mai Tai killer because it’s hurting the bar’s business. Henry ambushes Gino in his apartment and gives him an ultimatum: stop reporting on the murders or he’ll force him to stop. Gino explains that he can’t stop now because another body has been found on Fire Island, which immediately rings a bell for Henry.
When Sam and Patrick arrive at Fire Island their morbid history is revealed. The Mai Tai killer had nothing to do with this murder. The death of a young gay man named Billy happened at the hands of Sam and Patrick in 1979 after a long day of partying, sex and drugs. Henry was enlisted by Sam to help cover up the tragic accident, and tagging along with Henry was a young Mr. Whitely, who Henry described as a “whiz at cutting up bodies.” However, this version of Whitely is a very different version than the one that New York knows in 1981. In this instance, Whitely exhibits a moral compass when he points out the innocence of the victim and shows hesitancy to chop him up.
However, once he gets going, Whitely seems to find pleasure in the act, foreshadowing the future version of himself who kills innocent gay kids for his personal agenda. This scene is particularly gory, a hallmark of “American Horror Story ” that has been nearly absent for the majority of the season. While it was admittedly hard to watch, the intense scene of Whitely cutting up the body shows exactly how sadistic he truly is.
Fast forward to the present, Patrick gets a suspicion that the person who dismembered poor Billy (who we know is Mr. Whitely) may have something to do with the recent grotesque killings and the recurring theme of missing body parts of the victims. Patrick uses his detective skills and links Henry’s “cleaner” with the Mai Tai killer.
Henry hatches a plot to kill Whitely and implores Gino to help him. Henry reasons that if Gino thinks Whitely is the Mai Tai killer, he should come and watch him meet Whitely to see if he can identify him as the serial killer. Reluctantly, Gino agrees. Henry meets Whitely at a bar and very intelligently rejects the Mai Tai that was ordered for him. Henry then jumps the gun, quite literally, when he attempts to ambush Whitely in the bathroom with his gun ablaze.
Whitely injects him with a sedative and takes him to his car where he drives off with Henry. Naturally, Gino follows him. He watches as Whitely carries Henry into a building. Gino then calls Patrick for help and the screen goes black.
So much has happened in these last two weeks and after the cliffhanger of episode six, who knows what will happen in the next two. Endless questions and theories are swirling regarding the connection between Mr. Whitely and Big Daddy, how the effects of the mystery disease will ramp up, and what Whitely’s pride parade stunt means for the main characters and the gay community at large.
Make sure to check back next week for another recap of “AHS: NYC.”