American Horror Story: Delicate Season 12 Episode 4 Review: Vanishing Twin
American Horror Story: Delicate Season 12 Episode 4, “Vanishing Twin,” sees a substantial increase in pacing ahead of the midseason finale.
Finally, as we’re nearing the halfway mark, the season is taking things up and delivering a well-rounded episode that does what it should: entice the audience and provide sufficient background information rather than focusing solely on the one-dimensional side of Anna’s POV.
“Vanishing Twin” contains genuine shock value, storyline progression, and provides enough to get the audience thinking harder about what’s at play.
This episode confirms that Anna isn’t just going crazy, and something supernatural is at play. Before now, we knew there was some sort of dark magical occurrence happening, but with the backstory of the Queen giving birth to what we can only assume to be the devil, there’s no denying its presence.
Furthermore, Dex’s mother casually revealing to him that she suffered satanic abuse from his father leads me to believe there’s a connection. Assuming the curse follows the bloodline of the Queen, it seems valid to presume all of Anna’s tormented misfortunes are due to her marriage to Dex and his family’s past.
“Vanishing Twin” is exquisite compared to the first three episodes. It’s almost upsetting because we’re only one episode away from a long hiatus. With the SAG-AFTRA strike continuing with no end on the horizon just yet, we likely won’t be getting Delicate Part 2 until early 2024.
Kim Kardashian has been the supreme force at play so far, but Emma Roberts brings her A game in this episode. I find myself liking her character more and more with each passing week, and I hope that after such a long break, the momentum and thrill can be kept at the same pace.
While it’s not necessarily a horror-driven moment and meant more for shock value, Anna munching on the maggot-filled, rotting raccoon corpse toward the end of the episode is the goriest, most jaw-dropping moment we’ve seen this season. It feels almost like it could’ve been kept out and wouldn’t have affected the storyline. However, it cements the lengths to which Anna has begun to go off the rails and what she’ll do to ensure her pregnancy is successful.
I mean, c’mon, Anna witnessed an underground room full of babies in jars, a demented operation room, was experimented on in the room, and still has the gall to keep going into the basement and that room. Clearly, something has been knocked loose after the consistent gaslighting and her attempt to maintain a healthy pregnancy.
Leslie Grossman and Billie Lourde are like the essential duo that any television series needs. The charisma, nuance, professionalism, and comedy the two bring to anything they touch is unmatched. I can’t wait to see where Ashley and Ashleigh’s stories go from here and learn more about what their characters genuinely are.
It’s unclear right now if the two are immortal witches or something more sinister like demons abiding by something else’s command.
Themes that we all know and love in the American Horror Story franchise are finally at play, and for once this season, I’m excited to see where it goes from here.
Other Thoughts:
- Why the hell was the ice cream in the fridge next to the pickles? Even in a magical trance, that makes zero sense and feels like a massive oversight on set.
- What if the curse on Dex’s bloodline is the real reason why his first wife died? I know the suggested imagery used throughout the episode is meant to allude to her still being alive, but I think something menacing happened to her, and Dex is simply hoping the same won’t happen with Anna.
- I hope we get to see a nod to Coven this season. With the magical elements at play, it would be the perfect opportunity to connect the two seasons in some way, even minutely.
- One thing that continues to upset me is how Anna keeps seeing Ms. Preacher and Nurse Ivy out in public but does nothing other than stare at them. For a girl looking to prove she isn’t crazy, she sure isn’t working hard to prove these people aren’t fictional and living in her head. Had I been the one to see Nurse Ivy standing across the parking lot from me, I would’ve run at her at full force. The sudden burst would’ve alerted Dex and Kamal and forced them to look in her direction, catching her before she ran off.
What did you think of this episode of American Horror Story: Delicate? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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American Horror Story: Delicate airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on FX.
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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.