American Horror Story: Delicate’s season finale had a string of complicated twists to explain, so why was the episode so much shorter than most?

The finale of American Horror Story: Delicate was incredibly short and this created a major problem for the show’s complex plot. Every season of American Horror Story gets more convoluted as it continues, with seemingly straightforward stories about haunted houses or creepy cults turning into sprawling, surreal odysseys filled with offbeat characters and odd subplots. However, since season 12 is based on an existing novel, it seemed as though the show would need to contain its zaniness. For the most part, American Horror Story: Delicate Part Two managed to tell a clear, cohesive story until its finale.

“The Auteur,” picked up immediately after the ending of American Horror Story season 12 episode 8, with Anna getting an ambulance to the hospital. However, things immediately got silly as the villainous Ivy was revealed to be the ambulance’s driver and Anna’s husband, Dex, lost his hand to her demonic baby before it was even fully born. Soon after, Ivy choked Dex to death with his severed hand and Anna was paralyzed while Kim Kardashian’s Siobhan explained her villainous cult that engineered the season’s events. This might have worked if it weren’t for the episode’s inexplicably short runtime.

American Horror Story: Delicate’s Finale Was Only 31 Minutes Long

American Horror Story’s Season 12 Finale Was Bizarrely Short and Rushed

American Horror Story season 12, episode 9 was only 31 minutes long, which is particularly notable when some of the show’s earlier outings have run over an hour. Although American Horror Story season 12 episode 7 already unmasked a few members of Siobhan’s cult, the series didn’t explain the main villain’s modus operandi or her mission until the finale. This made the last episode feel incredibly rushed as Anna went from giving birth to helplessly listening to Siobhan to joining her cult to defeating and killing her, all in twenty minutes of screen time. Entire subplots were reduced to afterthoughts.

Ms. Preecher’s offscreen death was particularly inexplicable since it led viewers to wonder why Siobhan waited so long to kill Anna’s stalker if she was so all-powerful. Similarly, the fate of the cult’s other members was a complete mystery after Anna and Adeline’s chanting successfully caused Siobhan to spontaneously disintegrate. Talia, Sonia, Nicolette, Ashley, Ashleigh, and Susan all seemingly vanished into thin air before the episode ended, an underwhelming fate that made American Horror Story season 12’s villain Siobhan seem much weaker in retrospect. These avoidable issues could all have been solved with a longer runtime.

How The Episode’s Runtime Hurt The American Horror Story Season 12 Ending

Countless Subplots Were Crammed Into A Hurried Overstuffed Finale

“The Auteur” was always bound to be a messy finale since Delicate had so many disparate subplots, but the show did itself no favors with the episode’s brief runtime. An hour-long version of the episode could have added some meaning or pathos to Dex’s death, particularly when the episode revealed that he was secretly Siobhan’s son. Similarly, Anna’s conflicted attitude toward her seemingly normal baby in the episode’s ending would have been more effective if viewers knew exactly what went down between her, Siobhan, and Adeline. Instead, American Horror Story: Delicate left viewers with a hasty ending to an unwieldy story.

Episode Number
Episode Title
Air Date

1
“Multiply Thy Pain”

September 20

2
“Rockabye”
September 27

3
“When The Bough Breaks”
October 4

4
“Vanishing Twin”
October 11

5
“Preech”
October 18

6
“Opening Night”
April 3

7
“Ave Hestia”
April 10

8
“Little Gold Man”
April 17

9
“The Auteur”
April 24