Every week we’ll be recapping the newest episodes of “AHS: NYC.” Read at your own risk, spoilers ahead! 

Episode 7: “The Sentinel”

As the season edges closer to its ending, tensions and anxiety rise for our characters in early 1980s NYC. 

Episode 7 picks up after Whitely has kidnapped Henry and effectively derails  Gino and Henry’s plan to finish him off., Gino and Patrick decide to disregard their previous conflict to go save their friend’s life. 

There is a sense of determination and responsibility the couple feel as they anxiously snoop around Whitely’s lair. This is their opportunity to finally put an end to this violence and stop Whitely in his sadistic track, though neither of them would be prepared to witness the true extent of Whitely’s violence. 

Naturally, victory doesn’t come so easily for the protagonists, as Whitely is able to knock both of the men out with a pipe to the head. While detained, Patrick and Gino are introduced to Mr. Whitley’s skin-crawling lab, which used to be a meat processing facility and is decorated with various butchered limbs hanging from his ceiling. 

Here is where Whitely reveals his disgusting creation that he has dubbed “The Sentinel,” which is also the episode’s namesake. The Frankenstein-zombie-like creature hangs from the ceiling with its arms held out crucifixion style— an indication that this creature is somehow supposed to represent salvation. 

As Patrick lays strapped to a metal table, Whitely maniacally goes on about the role that the Sentinel will play as a “soldier” for the community, calling the corpse the gay community’s “last beacon of hope,” and how its existence is a testament to the negligence of law enforcement. 

Miraculously and yet expectedly, Patrick breaks free and serves Whitely a single lethal gunshot to the head. Whitely’s grotesque agenda seemingly ends here, though his early departure from the plot line raises questions about what may come from Whitely in the next episodes. Is this the end to the mysterious murders of gay men in the city or will the Mai Tai killer’s legacy live onwards? 

The episode winds down with Adam going to view the Sentinel in an attempt to potentially identify his late roommate Sully as one of the bodies used in its creation. While Adam finds no success in this endeavor, the viewers are granted a well-lit, full frontal shot of the horrific body that is akin to the level of gore usually seen in American Horror Story. 

Although now that Adam knows that Whitely was not Sully’s killer, his attention turns to the conspicuous Big Daddy character as the only other reason for Sully’s disappearance. 

The mystery disease begins to become the foremost villain in the story, as a conversation between Dr. Wells and Adam reveals that half of her patients that she was studying for the disease have gone missing. This raises the question of Big Daddy’s role in these disappearances, or could this mean that Big Daddy and the disease are linked?  

Episode 8: Fire Island 

The main characters take a long-awaited break from the violence of Manhattan and enjoy some time in the Fire Island Pines, a popular LGBTQ+ vacation destination, as well as the home of the disease-infested deer seen earlier this season.  Theo and Adam are seen on a boat where Theo reveals he’s been sick for the past few weeks. Despite Adam having knowledge of the mystery disease through Dr. Wells, it doesn’t seem to connect in his head that these symptoms are uncomfortably similar to the illness that is impacting the gay community in NYC. 

Gino and Patrick divert their attention away from the last episode’s traumatic captivity by spending time on Fire Island’s scenic beaches. As they’re both expressing their love to each other, Gino brings up Patrick’s mysterious lesions on his bicep, expressing concern for the unknown nature of the disease. 

Glimpses of “Big Daddy ” are shown throughout the episode with him lurking from afar in the bushes. Once Gino is left alone in the cabin, the cold-blooded killer charges toward him until Patrick shoots him from behind, seemingly killing him. Big Daddy is left lifeless on the floor, but when the characters re-enter the room after just a few minutes away from him, he completely vanishes and leaves Patrick, Gino and Adam utterly puzzled. It becomes apparent that Big Daddy cannot be killed by standard means, indicating that he is bigger than death and in fact, represents death itself. 

Audiences are left questioning if Big Daddy is an actual serial killer or a ghost entity that was one of the early victims from the 1981 AIDS epidemic. He typically haunts individuals who are seriously ill with the virus, behaving as an ominous reminder that death is around the corner. Perhaps there is a reason why he has been targeting Gino and Patrick often. Since he has disappeared into the abyss, there is a high possibility that he will continue his murder spree and taunt the main characters during their Fire Island stay. 

Alongside this, Fran is hired by Sam to read tarot at one of his swanky Fire Island beach house parties. One by one, several young gay men come to her to have their cards read, and each  time Fran pulls the death card. This serves as a strategic reminder that death is coming for all of them, unfortunately, and it also is an eerily effective way of conveying the vast impact that the disease will have in the near future. 

For reasons undisclosed, Theo is tied to a tree crucifixion style by Sam. However we can assume this is due to Theo’s defiance of Sam, who clearly is an entirely self-serving sadist. Now, Theo is already weak from battling this mystery illness, and due to Sam’s vengeful nature must meet his maker in the middle of the woods. 

Admittedly, the color grade in this scene is breathtaking. The fog emerging from the ground and the blue hues encapsulate Theo’s bewilderment and uncertainty as he transitions over to the other side, where he is met by several other young men who he recognizes as model’s from Sam’s studio. Each young man dawns a pair of bedazzled antlers, drawing a direct connection between the victims of the disease and the deer who were massacred on Fire Island in the first episode.