American Horror Story: NYC Review: The Sentinel and Fire Island (Season 11 Episodes 7 and 8)
American Horror Story: NYC Season 11 Episodes 7, “The Sentinel,” and 8, “Fire Island,” attempt to wrap up portions of the storyline in preparation for the finale.
By now, it’s unclear what American Horror Story: NYC has been trying to achieve with this season. Besides highlighting the fact that we as a human population can be vile, sadistic, and downright unforgivable.
On “The Sentinel,” we see the chapter on the Mai Tai killer come to an end, thanks to Gino, Patrick, and Henry’s adamance for survival. Frankly, it’s one of the season’s more twisted and gory outings.
With focus primarily on the more realistic aspects of horror rather than the supernatural, there’s an additional sense of gruesomeness.
After being captured, Whitely forces Patrick to listen as he explains his reasonings behind the grisly murders and prepares to replace the heart of the Sentinel with Patrick’s. He believes that the abomination he’s creating will be the sole protector of the LGBTQ. He uses this fact as an excuse for the murders of gay men throughout the city.
The hypocrisy of what he says versus his actions are not lost on him, but the innate fear inside of him is too pressing. He believes that he’s genuinely working in favor of the LGBTQ community and cannot see past the atrocious abomination in front of him.
Thankfully, before he can complete the heart transfer, Henry and Gino swarm the room, save the day, and effectively help Patrick neutralize the threat.
Unfortunately, the death of the Mai Tai killer serves as one of the only pressing highlights in the two-episode airing. Confusion follows as we watch Patrick and Gino attempt to de-stress with a planned vacation on the subsequent episode, “Fire Island.”
The series swiftly moves from one threat to another on American Horror Story: NYC . With Whitely’s death on “The Sentinel,” there’s no time wasted in re-framing the narrative to keep the pressing storyline active.
It feels as if the series is attempting to gloss over the aftermath of the Mai Tai killer with his death. “Fire Island” focuses on the ongoing mystery illness that ravages the LGBTQ community, resulting in many deaths and disappearances.
As we can see from the episode, Theo and Hannah’s symptoms are progressing quickly. The disease is taking a significant toll on their bodies; without proper knowledge of what’s happening, they’re forced to endure the unpleasantness.
It begs the question: where will Whitely fit into the bigger picture, and how, if at all, will he be incorporated in the finale? “Fire Island” only evokes more questions from the audience rather than providing answers.
Barbara’s ghost is haunting Patrick, Henry discovers a newfound obsession with Gino, Theo faces an untimely fate, and Big Daddy perseveres, even with a bullet in the head. It’s a muddled mess with no clear outcome to be determined or hypothesized.
In addition to Sam being utter garbage, he continues to provide the most shell-shocking moments. From the beginning of the season, we’ve known that his character is not to be trusted and that we are still unaware of other pressing factors at play when it comes to him. Now it’s confirmed Sam is deranged and out to destroy anyone he sees as a threat.
The season has been cautious about its vulgarity regarding sexual situations, and I applaud that. At the end of “Fire Island,” it feels as if we’re about to witness a disturbing interaction between a drugged Theo and the abundance of half-naked men strolling out of the woods. Thankfully, instead, the men embrace him, accepting him into what we can only assume to be the afterlife.
This penultimate outing is a weak attempt at setting everything up for a noteworthy finale. Rather than instilling excitement, though, we’re provided with further confusion. With no real answers as to how the season could wrap up, it’ll be interesting to see how everything is tied together.
Stray Thoughts:
- At this point, I have no desire to know what’s going on with Big Daddy. He’s been used as a plot device all season long, conveniently appearing and disappearing as needed to add additional flare, but he only raises more questions. And after an entire season of popping in and out of the picture with no explanations, I’m over it.
- My guess is Sam will be at the helm of all the destruction in the end. In some way, shape, or form, I’m willing to bet he’s the one in control of Big Daddy.
- All I want from the finale is for Sam to die and to figure out the truth about Big Daddy.
What did you think of this episode of American Horror Story: NYC? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Critic Rating:
User Rating:
American Horror Story: NYC airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on FX.
Follow us on Twitter and on 
Instagram!
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Cade Taylor
Cade Taylor is a television and film critic living in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a Senior Writer for Tell-Tale TV. His love for television developed at a young age, with a concentration on queer stories, sitcoms, teen dramas, and science fiction thrillers. In addition, he works full-time as a news producer, telling the stories of Missourians and helming "Produced in the Bi-State," a segment spotlighting actors, musicians, and entertainers from the St. Louis area. He can be reached by email at cade@telltaletv.com.