A busy pair of American Horror Story: NYC episodes wipe the slate clean only to show that some tragedies can’t be so easily erased.
“What are our lives going to be like when we’re not hunting serial killers?”
A sentinel is defined as “a soldier or guard whose job is to stand and keep watch,” which is consistent with American Horror Story’s exploration of the concept. However, Whitely equates his powerful sentinel to an object of intense pride. “The Sentinel” and “Fire Island” are a pair of American Horror Story: NYC episodes that really get to the root of that word. These installments are a strong reminder that pride is a sin and not always something to admire and celebrate. These satisfying episodes live in this murky territory and they help push this season of American Horror Story towards a powerful conclusion.
“The Sentinel” and “Fire Island” examine the true weight of guilt and the life that it can take on. These are angry episodes of American Horror Story: New York City. They look at guilt and penance and pride, but they’re also furious installments that linger on acts of violence and trauma while characters recoil and seethe. The hunt for the Mai Tai Killer reaches its climax and Gino feels entitled to help Patrick in the serial killer’s takedown since he’s arguably been equally traumatized by this figure who’s loomed over both of their lives. The Mai Tai Killer accumulates a whole lot of hostages, which prompts both soulful reflection and brutal survival tactics. Denis O’Hare’s Henry is limber enough to not have to go all Gerald’s Game to escape. However, he does have to take a page out of the original Saw instead.
Additional insight into the Mai Tai Killer’s mind continues to add valuable complexity to this character. He stresses over not just finding parts for his Sentinel, but the right parts so that it’s the perfect totem to make his point. It needs to be a genuine beacon of hope. All of this morphs into the most morbid case of FUBU as Whitely explains why gay men–including a transfusion of his own blood–have to be the victims that make up this Sentinel.
What’s particularly fascinating here is that Whitely doesn’t view himself as perfect by any means and he even admits that parts of him need to be scorched to the ground. However, it’s the guilt of Patrick, Gino, Henry, and all of these co-conspirators that becomes the real antagonist of these episodes. Whitely is dead, but his rage and crusade are still very much alive through Patrick and other furious, overlooked members of the city. In fact, Whitely becomes a strange martyr–a Pennywise-like social phenomena that represents something bigger–that helps these victimized communities stand up and fight back. It’s actually quite powerful.
In a season that’s been full of surprising restraint and concise decisions, “The Sentinel” continues this trend by quickly icing one of the season’s boogeymen rather than letting him bring his twisted Frankenstein’s Monster to life at New York City’s Pride Parade like the previous episodes prophesized. It’s considerably more creative to wrap this material up and allow this anger and violence to fester in new forms rather than drag out the same idea. Who needs a human jigsaw puzzle when there are plenty of hollow men that now roam the city after Whitely’s murders?
Three more episodes of the Mai Tai Killer wouldn’t have seemed like overkill, but his absence gives what’s to come a limitless freedom that’s even more exciting. The ripple effects of Patrick’s “win” and Whitely’s fall triggers some of the season’s most compelling material that shows who these characters truly are. Gino and Patrick survive their encounter with the Mai Tai Killer, but they’re zombies who might as well be put out of their misery. Patrick suffers the most of all and he feels like his world has no center, but everyone continues to suffer and live in fear even after the Mai Tai Killer is six feet under ground.
“The Sentinel” provides many answers, which allows “Fire Island” to successfully masquerade as an epilogue to the season. Gino and Patrick try to believe that they’re in their “happily ever after” phase while they’re actually still caught in the middle of something much deeper. ”Why is this happening to us?” is a question that’s asked in earnest, but it hammers in an entire season’s worth of frustration and aggression. “Fire Island” really gets into rich emotional territory between Patrick and Gino and it doesn’t downplay the arguments that arise between these characters. The episode actually amplifies their emotional worth so that both characters are raw, raging, and vulnerable when it’s most important for them to be calm and collected.
Jennifer Lynch is responsible for directing some of American Horror Story’s best episodes and she brings a lot to the table in “Fire Island,” the calm before next week’s two-part finale. The “Ghost Reindeer” farewell sequence is easily the weirdest–yet also the most elegant–sequence of the season. It’s the most that Jennifer Lynch’s direction resembles her father’s surreal style in this episode. She also beautifully recreates an iconic shot from The Shining during a heightened moment of duress.
AHS: NYC’s viral infection continues to infect everyone, but it’s still the season’s most disconnected element. It finally starts to come together in “Fire Island” once 95% of this season’s cast head off to the eponymous island and give this virus a proper breeding ground where there’s no immediate escape. Billie Lourd’s Dr. Hannah Wells is still the most thankless role this season even if it’s an appreciated change of pace for her. It’s also pretty much confirmed that Big Daddy is some sort of mental manifestation of those who are infected with this disease. Regardless of whatever is exactly going on with this supernatural figure, AHS: NYC deserves some accolades for not completely showing its hand in this department. It’s kept the mystery alive throughout this season in a way that doesn’t feel manipulative or empty. Bad Daddy has become a sentinel of its own that speaks to this season’s confidence.
Sometimes American Horror Story has a dozen dangling plot threads that are still in motion when it heads into its finale. It’s stressful to see an ending attempt to cover too much territory or consequently just ignore it. However, “The Sentinel” and “Fire Island” leave AHS: NYC in a promising place and for once it feels like there’s the perfect amount of material left to cover in a two-episode finale. These episodes, as fanciful as they get in several areas, are still well-paced and don’t waste this season’s goodwill before it enters its endgame. Next week’s finale is set to cover two distinct time periods as it wraps up its business in 1981 before it jumps ahead more than half-a-decade to 1987 where all of this pride, shame, and anger will finally meet its conclusion.
The post “AHS: NYC” Review – “The Sentinel” and “Fire Island” Kill Their Boogeymen But Can’t Conquer Their Demons appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.