American Horror Story: Delicate returns for the second part of Season 12, with episode 6 proving to be as gruesome and entertaining as ever.

After a long hiatus due to the writer’s strike, American Horror Story makes a glorious return to television screens with this excellent new episode in Season 12, which is subtitled Delicate. The series is based on a book called Delicate Condition, written by Danielle Valentine. It was considered a feminist update of Rosemary’s Baby, and features some gruesome scenes, even by the shocking standards of this horror anthology series.

Emma Roberts reprises her role of Anna Victoria Alcott in the American Horror Story premiere, who has been experiencing a rather torrid pregnancy, and is joined in the cast by Matt Czuchry, Kim Kardashian and Cara Delevingne. American Horror Story episode 6 had a lot to live up to after the excellent first part of the series debuted in September 2023, but it lives up to the hype and exceeds all expectations.

What happened in American Horror Story Episode 6?

American Horror Story Season 12 Episode 6

Title
Opening Night

Written By

Directed By
Bradley Buecker

Episode 6 of the anthology series is titled ”Opening Night”, and begins in White Plaines, NY in 1988, with a woman giving birth. Later on, while singing a lullaby to her newborn child, her partner tells her how messed up the song she’s singing is while not getting actively involved with the child. The man rejects the woman when she approaches him later that night. They talk about being new parents, and she tells him she thinks she needs to see the doctor because she’s having pain in her leg, but he dismisses her concerns. However, she ends up gasping for air and coughing. They rush to the hospital, but the woman sadly dies of a pulmonary embolism.

Turns out, the couple are Anna’s parents, and she was the newborn baby. As her father tries to comfort Anna, a nurse comes into the room and sings the same lullaby, which soothes Anna straightaway. This woman is Nicolette.

The episode flips back to the present day, with Anna getting the news of Babette’s death. Siobhan (Kim Kardashian) informs Anna that her death is likely to change her chances of winning an Oscar now. Later on, Anna gives a moving speech at Babette’s funeral, after discovering she got a SAG award nomination, but Babette missed out.

Back at home, Anna follows a black cat outside where she discovers another mutilated Sunny Day doll. Upon picking up the cat, it claws at her. She takes the doll downstairs to where she has the other dolls and the animal corpse. Elsewhere, Dex meets with his father in a bar, and Dex Sr. tells his son that all his mother’s crazy is going to “go away”.

Nicolette informs Anna of another Summer Day doll that has shown up on her doorstep. Anna takes the doll downstairs to compare it with the other ones and discovers they all make a pentacle.

Anna decides to relax in the pool and thinks she sees claws coming through her stomach as well as goats nearby, and she totally freaks out about it and runs to Dex, but ends up apologizing to him for acting crazy, and in turn, he apologizes for treating her badly.

When Dex walks away, Anna opens her robe and the wounds on her stomach are real. Later on, they are getting ready for Dex’s art opening night, and Anna asks Kamal why Talia doesn’t have security cameras in the basement, but he is none the wiser.

How does American Horror Story Season 12 Episode 6 End?

Anna attends the opening night and confronts Talia about the basement cameras, but she says they need to leave some room for reality, and points out to her that she’s not Dex’s first wife, Adeline, who died. Anna tells her that she knows she’s lying after constant denials about things.

Anna then has a confrontation in the bathroom with the woman who died at the Gotham Awards. Is the woman alive or a figment of Anna’s twisted imagination? Anna escapes out of the bathroom and bumps into Ivy, who denies being the nurse. Anna freaks out about it, but tries to disguise the extent of her meltdown in public.

Sonja greets Anna and notices the scratch as well as Anna’s red palms. She pulls her aside and kisses her hands and cheeks, with her wounds mysteriously going away. Sonja tells her that she has a surprise for her. Turns out, it’s a painting that she wants to give to her and when Anna looks at it, she hears the sound of a baby crying.

Dex gives a speech at the opening ceremony and thanks Anna, but she is too consumed by the sound of the woman from the bathroom clapping, and finds herself surrounded by Ivy, Sonja, Talia, and Nicolette, with the painting appearing to show a very disconcerting look. Sonja kisses Anna again, but is interrupted by Siobhan showing up to get her out of the place.

Anna tells Siobhan she needs to quit Hollywood, but she slaps her and reminds her that the world (and for the most part, men) want women to give themselves up to be mothers, so they disappear. There is breaking news that reports the death of the director in an apparent suicide. Anna calls the number on the card she was given and hears it ringing in the restaurant. It’s Preecher who says they can’t speak where she is.

The episode ends when Dex confronts his mom for not attending the opening night, and blood drips onto his phone. He races into the house to find his mother dead in her bathtub in yet another apparent suicide, but there’s a message on the mirror that says “I tried to warn you.”

American Horror Story is available to stream on Disney Plus.