American Horror Story: Delicate
| American Horror Story: Delicate | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster. | |
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 5 |
| Release | |
| Original network | FX |
| Original release | September 20, 2023 – present |
| Season chronology | |
The twelfth season of the American horror anthology series American Horror Story, subtitled Delicate, is based on Danielle Valentine's book Delicate Condition, the first season of the series to be based on a novel instead of having a wholly original storyline. Series mainstays Emma Roberts, Denis O'Hare, Dominic Burgess, Billie Lourd, and Leslie Grossman and newcomers Matt Czuchry, Kim Kardashian, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Cara Delevingne, Julie White, and Maaz Ali star in the season.
Created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for cable network FX, the series is produced by 20th Television. The season premiered on September 20, 2023, and will be split into two parts.
Cast and characters
Main
- Emma Roberts as Anna Victoria Alcott
- Matt Czuchry as Dex Harding Jr.
- Kim Kardashian as Siobhan Corbyn
- Annabelle Dexter-Jones as Sonia Shawcross and Adeline Harding
- Michaela Jaé Rodriguez as Nicolette
- Denis O'Hare as Dr. Andrew Hill
- Cara Delevingne as Ivy Ehrenreich
- Julie White as Ms. Preecher
- Maaz Ali as Kamal
Recurring
- Juliana Canfield as Talia Baldwin
- Tavi Gevinson as Cora
- Dominic Burgess as Hamish Moss
- Taylor Richardson as Babette Eno
- Debra Monk as Virginia Harding
- Reed Birney as Dexter Harding Sr.
Guest
- Andy Cohen as himself
- Zo Tipp as Theo
- Zachary Quinto as himself (uncredited)
- Ashlie Atkinson as Anna's Superfan
- Billie Lourd as Ashley
- Leslie Grossman as Ashleigh
- Erin Murray as Elizabeth I
- Sophie von Haselberg as Mary I
- Taylor Schilling as herself (uncredited)
- Tommy Dorfman as herself
Episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | US viewers (millions) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part 1 | ||||||||||||
| 124 | 1 | "Multiply Thy Pain" | Jessica Yu | Halley Feiffer | September 20, 2023 | CATS01 | 0.454 | |||||
| Young actress Anna nearly misses her transvaginal oocyte retrieval after learning it was suddenly rescheduled, unbeknownst to her, angering her husband Dex as the two have had difficulty attempting to conceive a child using IVF. However, while traveling to the appointment, Anna notices a mysterious woman multiple times and believes the woman is stalking her. In the operation room, Anna is kissed by Io Preecher, a woman she met while waiting to be called for her appointment. Anna later meets with her PR agent Siobhan Corbyn, who has booked her a spot on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, hoping for her to be an Academy Award nominee. At a dinner with Dex and his previous wife, a chef who died in a fire, Adeline's friends- She is gifted a red lipstick. Anna later awakens to find herself covered in the lipstick and finds a message saying "Don't do it Anna" on her bedroom mirror. | ||||||||||||
| 125 | 2 | "Rockabye" | Jennifer Lynch | Halley Feiffer | September 27, 2023 | CATS02 | 0.318 | |||||
| Security footage shows that no one besides Dex entered or exited Anna's apartment building, leading a police detective to suggest she was hallucinating due to her pregnancy medications. Anna is anxious to take a pregnancy test, but is advised to wait 2 full weeks (it having only been 3 days). A moment later, Dex suggests she take the test, and Anna realizes that she has lost 2 weeks of time. She takes the test and they find that she is pregnant. Her fertility doctor advises her to avoid stress. Anna learns from Siobhan that she has been nominated for a Gotham Award. At the awards ceremony, Anna finds herself at odds with Babette Eno, another actress nominated in the same category. In the bathroom, Anna inadvertently peels her skin off, attempting to conceal her pimple, and injures a fan. Later, when giving a speech for winning the award, Anna sees the fan, Preecher and Dex kissing his colleague, Sonia, in the crowd, before Anna vomits and faints. Sometime later, Dex and Anna stay at Talia's house in the Hamptons, where Anna hears strange noises at night. The next day, Anna experiences increasingly severe pain and profuse bleeding. At the local hospital, she is administered an ultrasound by a nurse named Ivy who resembles her stalker. She later learns she miscarried, and that no nurse named Ivy works at the hospital. | ||||||||||||
| 126 | 3 | "When the Bough Breaks" | Jennifer Lynch | Halley Feiffer | October 4, 2023 | CATS03 | 0.366 | |||||
| Dex encourages Anna to report Ivy to the police, but she believes her story will be dismissed. Anna fears that there is a conspiracy to prevent her from conceiving, but Dex dismisses her. In the woods near Talia's home, Anna finds Preecher and alerts Dex, but they find no trace when searching for her. At the beach, Anna discovers a doll with nails in its stomach that she signed, as two veiled figures dressed in black watch her from afar. In Talia's basement, Anna discovers a box marked "Talia's Baby Stuff" before spotting a small door, which she crawls through to an underground chamber. While there, the two figures from the beach trap and chloroform her, causing Anna to take a little nap. She later feels the baby move in her uterus, but Dr. Hill dismisses it as grief from miscarrying. At a pharmacy, Anna notices the figures stalking her, but the clerk does not. Going home, she watches Sonia and Dex speak, before being interrupted by Preecher saying "Watch out for her", who later warns her that "they did something" and confirms she did not miscarry. | ||||||||||||
| 127 | 4 | "Vanishing Twin" | John J. Gray | Halley Feiffer | October 11, 2023 | CATS04 | 0.358 | |||||
| In 1555, after having forged a deal with Satan to ensure prosperity, Mary I gives birth to a demonic child. In 2023, Anna places a dead raccoon in Talia's bassinet and treats it as her child. Later, Siobhan hires Mary's ladies in waiting, the "Ashleys," to overhaul Anna's public image. Anna films an Instagram reel about her pregnancy for them, and it goes viral. At the clinic, she gets diagnosed with vanishing twin syndrome, to her and Dex's bewilderment. Anna also encounters Ivy again, although Dex is unable to find her. Dex's mother visits them and explains she is suing Dex's father for committing Satanic ritual abuse. Anna receives a mysterious card saying, "You can't trust any of them," and binge eats before fainting. She later discovers she has been nominated for the Golden Globe Awards, and devours the raccoon she previously kept in the bassinet. Siobhan is revealed to be in an affair with Hamish, the director of Anna's breakout film, The Auteur, and implies it was a success because he made a Satanic pact. | ||||||||||||
| 128 | 5 | "Preech" | John J. Gray | Halley Feiffer | October 18, 2023 | CATS05 | 0.239 | |||||
| In 1987, Dr. Hill attends while Preecher gives birth to a demonic child, due to a Satanic pact she made. Preecher attempts to break the pact, but he prevents her from doing so. In 2023, Dex's mother asks him to testify against his father, but Dex refuses. To her annoyance, Anna discovers Siobhan now also represents Babette. Anna meets Preecher, who explains her history: in 1987, she became pregnant after a one-night stand and attempted to get an abortion but stopped after a woman promised to grant her deepest desires if she complied with certain demands. In the present, Preecher warns Dex's mother that she, Dex and Anna are in danger from the Satanic cult which Adeline was in before defecting when she became infatuated with Dex. Anna discovers that Dex does not believe her story about Ivy. While watching the Golden Globe Award ceremony, Anna learns she has lost to Babette and vomits tacks. Siobhan calls her, asking if she wants an Oscar Award. Anna agrees and a mysterious figure grabs her. She wakes up the next morning and discovers Babette was decapitated in a car crash. | ||||||||||||
Gwyneth Horder-Payton directed the season finale.
Production
Development
On January 9, 2020, American Horror Story was renewed for up to a thirteenth season. On April 10, 2023, series co-creator Ryan Murphy confirmed that the season would have Halley Feiffer as showrunner and be based on Danielle Valentine's upcoming book Delicate Condition, making it the first season in the series' history to not have Murphy as showrunner and to lean into source material. Murphy also announced that the season would be titled Delicate.
Casting
Matt Czuchry joined the twelfth season's cast on April 6, 2023. On April 10, 2023, Murphy announced that the season would be led by Kim Kardashian and series veteran Emma Roberts. Murphy described the season as "ambitious and unlike anything [the series has] ever done" and Kardashian's character as "fun, stylish and ultimately terrifying". Kardashian's involvement in the series is her first in scripted television (besides a one-scene appearance in an episode of the 2008 reboot series of 90210) and was being planned by her and Murphy since 2022, after Murphy was impressed by her work as a host in an October 2021 episode of Saturday Night Live.
On April 24, Cara Delevingne was spotted filming scenes for the season with Roberts. The same week, Annabelle Dexter-Jones and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez joined the cast in undisclosed capacities. On May 1, Variety mentioned Odessa A'zion among the confirmed cast members. In June, People reported that Zachary Quinto confirmed he would make a cameo appearance in the season. The actor also praised Kardashian's performance, stating, "I don't think she needs my advice. She seemed really in her element, and I was really impressed by her spirit and her openness".
Filming
On May 1, during the Met Gala, Kardashian told Variety that production for the season had begun, and her scenes will be filmed later that month. On May 4, the third day of the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike in New York City, it was rumored that production had paused. However, Deadline Hollywood reported that filming for the twelfth season did not stop and cast members were using a studio back entrance to avoid the picket line. On May 10, 2023, it was announced that production for the season has stopped due to the strike. Filming was officially suspended in July due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Filming resumed at the end of November 2023 and wrapped on January 22, 2024.
Release
Marketing
On July 20, the season's first teaser trailer was released. Described as "sinister" by press, it presents white-haired women in a circle and motherhood imagery, including Kardashian holding a baby; Kardashian, Roberts and Delevingne are the only actors to appear, with all of them wearing bright red lipstick. The teaser features a modified version of the English nursery rhyme "Rock-a-bye Baby". After watching the teaser, Kyle Denis of Billboard pointed out Rosemary's Baby (1968) as a possible inspiration for the season. A full trailer was released on September 6.
Broadcast
On August 15, FX announced that the season would be split into two parts, and that the first part would premiere on September 20, 2023.
Reception
Streaming viewership
According to the streaming aggregator JustWatch, American Horror Story: Delicate was the seventh most streamed television series across all platforms in the United States during the week of September 18-24, 2023, the ninth during the week of September 25 to October 1, 2023, and the ninth during the week of October 9-15, 2023. According to the streaming aggregator Reelgood, American Horror Story: Delicate was the ninth most streamed program across all platforms in the United States during the week of October 12, 2023.
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 75% critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.6/10, based on 12 reviews. The website's consensus reads: "American Horror Story reins in its Grand Guignol excess for a softer touch in Delicate, refreshing the series' formula with a slow-burn chiller about the anxieties of pregnancy." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 58 out of 100 based on 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
JP Mangalindan of People reported that multiple critics praised the performance of Kim Kardashian upon the season premiere. Anthony D'Alessandro of Deadline Hollywood called her "perfect" for the role of Siobhan Corbyn. Patrick Ryan of USA Today stated that Kardashian succeeded to embody the valley girl persona in a clever way. Coleman Spilde of The Daily Beast found Kardashian to be the best element of the season, while complimenting the performance of Emma Roberts. Benjamin Lee of The Guardian gave Delicate a grade of three out of five stars, said that Kardashian provides a new and better screen presence compared to other media she starred in, and found Delicate to be more accessible than the previous seasons owing to its focus on the thriller genre.
Accolades
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards | Commercials & Music Videos – Best Makeup | American Horror Story: Delicate | Pending | |
| Commercials & Music Videos – Best Hair Styling | Pending | ||||
| People's Choice Awards | Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show of the Year | Pending |