American Horror Story: Delicate Season 12 Episode 8 Review: Little Gold Man
Proving that “Ave Hestia” was just a one-off, American Horror Story: Delicate Season 12 Episode 8, “Little Gold Man,” delivers a dull hour of weak revelations.
As a penultimate episode, and following the high of one of the season’s best episodes, ‘Little Gold Man’ falls short in creating that gripping, almost haunting anticipation for the finale.
A Sidechick?
I don’t know about you, but the big mystery the series has been leading up to for Dex’s mysterious ways is beyond disappointing. A “dark secret” would be if Dex plotted Anna’s downfall and played on the same team as the witches.
The revelation of Dex’s affair with Cora is far from the shocking twist I had hoped for. It’s disappointingly predictable. His subtly malicious behavior towards Anna throughout the season, from his aggressive confrontations to his sinister glances, has been a clear sign of his true nature.
The revelation about Cora also does nothing but take away from that evil, malicious aura surrounding the situation. Now that we know it was Cora messing with Anna the whole time, we’ve also learned that the witches have done nothing but keep a close eye on her throughout the pregnancy.
Plus, Cora folded to Anna entirely too quickly. There’s no resistance from her whatsoever when Anna slightly questions her about the robe she hung up. It’s as if she walked in expecting Anna to peep her from across the room, secretly hoping she’d ask about it.
Anna, the Oscar Winner
After spending the entire season working towards her Oscar win, Anna finally achieves her lifelong dream, but with a consequence.
It’s no secret that Siobhan has been plotting on Anna’s baby from the beginning, but with all of the gruesome hallucinations leading up to the moment of truth, it’s devastating tame.
Instead of putting Anna through another haunting hallucination that forces her to lose her mind, besides the freakish legs in her hotel room, Siobhan’s final move is to place her hand on her stomach. It’s a tremendous letdown, to say the least.
In One Ear and Out the Other
As a viewer, it’s hard to feel sympathetic for Anna and the outcome of it all. Ms. Preecher has been approaching her all season long, trying to get through to her, all leading up to her crashing Virginia’s funeral to try and get through to Anna.
A more entertaining approach to Anna’s predicament would have been her following her gut instinct and getting out of town rather than sticking around to be part of the big finale for those messing with her.
It’s evident that the witches are the ones to swoop in and sign Ms. Preecher out of the hospital, likely meaning she will die, but I hope we get some conclusion for her storyline.
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With only one episode left in the season, my anticipation levels are dangerously low. The only thing we have to look forward to is the birth of the demon child and answers to all of our remaining burning questions.
Who the hell is Dex’s father, and why is he so close with the witches? Who killed Virginia? Was Kamal in bed with the witches? Why did Nicolette try to leave the coven like Adeline but was allowed to stay?
While past experiences with American Horror Story don’t leave this viewer hopeful for answers to all questions, I’m still hopeful the finale will tie most of the season together.
Stray Thoughts:
- It’s natural American Horror Story fashion to jump back in time to see someone famous or noteworthy only for a three-second reveal.
- Why can Anna not have a normal damn speech? Each time, we’ve seen her hallucinate some outrageous moment before fainting or needing to go to the hospital. The least the show could do is allow her to get through three sentences at the Oscars before going off the rails again.
- There might have been a time crunch to finish filming the remaining episodes, but most of the episodes in Part 2 running less than 40 minutes is ridiculous.
- Billie Lourd and Leslie Grossman deserved more prominent roles in the second half of the season. I don’t care if their characters were only brought in to shape Anna’s public image.
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.
One thought on “American Horror Story: Delicate Season 12 Episode 8 Review: Little Gold Man”
I tend to disagree. If anything, I actually thought this episode fit perfectly right after last week’s. Certain revelations from last week (Dex’s dad) were seamlessly paralleled this week (Dex and Cora proving that Dex truly is his father’s son.) I actually think the episodes have been getting stronger with each week. Part 2 has been a lot better than Part 1, but that’s just me.
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