American Horror Story: Delicate Season 12 Episode 5 Review: Preech
American Horror Story: Delicate Season 12 Episode 5, “Preech,” is an underwhelming, easily anticipated mid-season finale with a weak cliffhanger.
While “Preech” isn’t the worst episode of the season to air so far, it does nothing to help build up the anticipation needed for fans going into an extended hiatus. Instead, the audience is provided a lackluster ending seen coming from a mile away.
The most substantial information highlighted is Ms. Preecher’s backstory, revealing why she’s so adamant about keeping her eyes on Anna.
Through a flashback, we’re taken back to 1987 to a young Ms. Preecher at the height of her career as a designer and her own pregnancy. But things are only merry for a short time as she quickly learns there’s no clear way to escape Dr. Hill and his blacked-out demonic minions.
Flashforward 35 years later, it’s apparent why Ms. Preecher keeps her eyes on Anna’s whereabouts. Still, it needs clarification as to why she won’t approach her about the situation more directly, rather than watching from afar and giving vague responses when prompted by Anna.
Instead, we see Ms. Preecher confide in Virginia about her horrific run-in with Dr. Hill and the mysterious hooded figures currently haunting Anna in the past.
This crucial detail removes her from the running list of potential individuals in on the secret plan to torment and gaslight Anna. Unfortunately, her impromptu meeting with Virginia is the last we see of Preecher and any explanation for why Dr. Hill and his minions have targeted Virginia’s family for generations.
Throughout the episode, we follow Anna as she deals with the growing pains from her devilish pregnancy returning overnight. During this time, she does whatever she can to reveal the truth about Dex and Sonia’s relationship by inviting her over for dinner so she can subtly question her intentions.
Many inconsistencies are highlighted through the interactions, like Dex lying about Sonia living nearby. Right before she leaves, she casually mentions that her hotel is fifteen minutes away, proving Dex’s statement to be false.
Additionally, through Anna’s perseverance to figure out the truth, she hits a sore spot with Dex, leading him to become this volatile, angry man we’ve not seen before.
Dex’s interactions with Anna after their visit with Sonia lead me to believe he’s under the impression she’s close to figuring something out. That’s why he’s adamant about her imagining everything and needing to drop it entirely. But we’ll have to wait until early 2024 before any confirmation on the matter.
For a mid-season finale, it’s underwhelming because there’s nothing obscenely jarring or significant taking place. There are bits and pieces of new information sprinkled throughout the episode to keep the audience guessing, but that’s about it.
The only moment that can be deemed horror is Anna’s trip to the showers when the bleating goat visits her. Babette’s death is nothing short of predictable, and Siobhan’s relationship to whatever’s happening to Anna is not new information.
Hopefully, Delicate Part 2 will take a deeper dive into the horrific nature of what’s at play because there’s an immeasurable amount of potential with the subject matter if the series can execute it properly.
It’s clear Ryan Murphy should have quit filming and taken the extra time during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes instead of trying to film everything in a rush before productions shut down.
Other Thoughts:
- Anna is clearly not in her right mind because if I were pregnant and started coughing up little demon teeth, I’d be finding the first church to do an exorcism.
- Who is Preecher alluding to when she says one of their most prominent players defected because she fell in love with him? Could this be a hint of confirmation that Dex is in on the darkness at play? Considering his apprehensiveness to testify against his father even after Virginia explains the horrific situations she was subjected to at his hands, it would make perfect sense.
- With Preecher’s revelation about Dex’s family, I’m convinced he’s in on it and had Adeline fake her own death so he didn’t have to force her to go through what Anna is dealing with. With Sonia and Adeline’s almost identical facial features, her causally mentioning everything that has led up to her being with Anna, and Dex lying about small details regarding the two, there’s no way she isn’t Adeline in disguise.
- We know Ashley and Ashleigh make up two of the hooded figures working with Dr. Hill and Siobhan, but who could the other two be? They’re likely characters we’ve yet to see, but my gut leads me to believe Ivy is one of them.
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 will return with Part 2 in 2024 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.