The final episodes recount how Big Daddy stalks and kills the surviving characters one by one, leaving just a single survivor to bear witness. In the process, it borrows a trope from a much older ghost story. Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol figures heavily in the final episodes, particularly in the case of the season’s resident Scrooge, Sam. This time, however, there’s no eleventh-hour redemption: only regret for the paths not taken.
The AHS Season Finale Reveals the Ghosts of the Past
AHS’s season finale, “Requiem,” reveals the spread HIV in the months and years following the Mai Thai Killer’s demise. That includes copious use of flashbacks, as ex-cop Patrick is shown the mistakes of his life by the spirit of his departed ex-wife, and his lover Gino is forced walk alone among the ghosts until the disease claims him too. But Sam is cut from a different cloth. He’s one of the season’s chief antagonists: a slimy power broker with a taste for sexual sadism who willfully abuses anyone in his orbit. AIDS claims him as well — the disease doesn’t differentiate between saint and sinner — but not before he faces a reckoning for his crimes.
Sam experiences his wake-up call as a vision during the funeral for Theo, the photographer who served as his intermittent lover and target for his abuse. Sam appears to awaken in an abandoned hospital ward, full of dying and forgotten patients. Theo guides him room by room to show him the various men he used and abandoned: forcing him to acknowledge his fundamental selfishness. He also sees himself perishing because of the virus and without a single soul to comfort him.
The sequence then shifts, and Sam finds himself locked in the cage he used to torment his victim in. Henry appears, dressed in biker’s leather, and inviting Sam to watch while his estranged father and former boss are tortured in front of him. When his turn comes on the rack, he rematerializes on a Fire Island beach. Big Daddy is waiting for him, along with the spirits of the Mai Thai Killer’s victims. He transforms to ash which Henry then tosses into the sea.
There’s No Redemption for AHS’s Scrooge
While there’s no direct reference to either Scrooge or A Christmas Carol, Sam’s self-delusions are eerily similar. Henry serves as an adept Ghost of Christmas Past: leading him through the various people in his life who twisted him into who he was. Theo makes a Ghost of Christmas Present, as he reveals where Sam’s lifestyle and emotional abusiveness leads. And Big Daddy makes for a silent Christmas Future, with the same dark promise as Dickens’ version as well as the same destination.
It’s a reminder of how bleak A Christmas Carol can be, and how its message of redemption hides some very dark truths about human nature. American Horror Story uses the same dramatic device in the same manner: stripping away its subject’s justification for his selfish life until nothing but the unvarnished truth remains. Scrooge, at least, got a second chance — something American Horror Story rarely provides its characters. For Sam, however, there’s no escape on this one. The wisdom to change comes far too late.
American Horror Story: NYC is currently streaming in its entirety on Hulu.
News
Rings of Power Season 2: Even Ismael Cruz Córdova Had an Issue With The Episode 7 Twist That Left Fans Divided
Ismael Cruz Córdova’s Arondir faces his toughest challenge yet in The Rings of Power, and fans are in for an emotional rollercoaster! The Lord of the Rings universe just keeps giving and giving. Heartbreaks, we mean. The latest episode of its…
‘The Rings of Power’ Season 2 Faces Defeat By a Show That Ended 7 Years Ago, Despite Over 1 Billion Minutes Viewed
The Rings of Power Season 2 struggles to move past another TV series in viewership, which has been around for nearly two decades. The second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has currently dropped seven of its…
The Acolyte’s Eye-Watering $230 Million Budget Revealed, Further Explaining Disney’s Cancelation
Tax returns reveal that The Acolyte was significantly over-budget, further explaining Disney’s decision to cancel the show. Helmed by showrunner Leslye Headland, The Acolyte introduced viewers to the High Republic Era, a century before the Skywalker saga. The Star Wars TV show met with mixed reviews, and Disney…
Star Wars: How Much Every Live-Action Disney+ TV Show Costs, Explained
The live-action Disney+ Star Wars shows have redefined the franchise, but each series cost quite a lot to make. When Disney+ launched, Lucasfilm had an opportunity to explore new types of storytelling and dig into new parts of the Star Wars timeline. The Mandalorian, Disney+’s…
HBO’s The Last Of Us Showing One Ellie Scene The Game Skipped Sets Up A Major Season 2 Story
The scene between Ellie and Maria in season 1 of HBO’s The Last of Us has set up season 2 to explore their aunt-niece relationship in even more depth than the game. After season 1 told the story of the first game…
Joe Locke’s “Teen” Is A Wild New MCU Character In Shocking Agatha All Along Identity Theory
While the true identity of Joe Locke’s “Teen” in Agatha All Along remains a mystery, a wild new MCU theory might have provided the most unexpected suggestion. Joe Locke made his MCU debut as a fan and fast friend to Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness, but…
End of content
No more pages to load