S10.E03: Thirst

[jewel21]

Quote

Harry's newfound talent brings an unexpected visitor to town. Alma decides to take matters into her own hands.

Airdate: 09/01/2021

[Chaos Theory]

And damn Alma.  You might be the most talented of them all but you are also the most bloodthirsty.   It was quite chilling that she simply didn’t care about her own mother or killing people.   Also killing a cop…….damn Alma.

Ursula was also quite entertaining.   She figured out something weird was going on in P-Town and wants to capitalize on it.  

And the chemist just wants to kill everyone just to make it simple again.

So many bloodthirsty people. 
 

Edited September 2, 2021 by Chaos Theory

[benteen]

Once the episode got away from the annoying daughter and her father and focused on the more interesting supporting characters it got much better.

[Ms Lark]

🎵 I ate the Sheriff, but I did not eat the Deputy (yet)! Sorry. Couldn't resist. Saw that one coming a mile away. Sorry she's gone. I liked her, but we're halfway through and we'll probably start losing folks left and right. I imagine the final ep is a total bloodbath.

Now, what's up with the Agent? She seems AOK with the whole scene and side-effects. I'm not sure she'll live, but who knows? She's an Agent, right? And they're pretty bloodthirsty anyway. Like cockroaches, they can survive anything!

I hope Belle Noir walks away from the whole thing unscathed, but that's only because I love Frances Conroy.

 

[sugarbaker design]

2 hours ago, benteen said:

Once the episode got away from the annoying daughter and her father and focused on the more interesting supporting characters it got much better.

Ditto.  Loved how Ursula figured it all out because she's familiar with both Belle and Austin's sudden output improvement.  So in addition to the creatives RM is also lampooning agents, I love it.  I don't care if Leslie Grossman essentially plays the same character every season, I still love her.

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by sugarbaker design

[sugarbaker design]

40 minutes ago, Ms Lark said:

I hope Belle Noir walks away from the whole thing unscathed, but that's only because I love Frances Conroy.

Belle Noir eats babies, she has to die.  I love Frances Conroy too, maybe the angel of death will take her away?

[Ms Lark]

5 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

Belle Noir eats babies, she has to die.  I love Frances Conroy too, maybe the angel of death will take her away?

Good point. I forgot about that. Hmm.

[iMonrey]

So Belle and Austin wanted Harry to stop giving his daughter the pills. What happens if he does? Does she just go back to normal, or does she die? I'm not clear on that. I mean, the pills apparently turn the non-talented into gruesome Nosferatus and I assume they are no longer taking the pills so clearly they didn't go back to normal.

Macaulay Culkin is really cracking me up on this show. Pairing his character with Leslie Grossman is genius. They play so well off each other. 

Strange that Tuberculosis Karen was missing this episode without mention.

[farmgal4]

I didn’t get to watch last night.  Did I miss anything super important?

[peridot]

22 minutes ago, farmgal4 said:

I didn’t get to watch last night.  Did I miss anything super important?

Harry's wife is in the hospital after having early contractions, and her daughter doesn't want her around anymore.  Harry lied to her about moving back to New York.

Alma now seems to be ok with killing people.

Harry's agent came into town and found out about the pills and used the meth-head to gain access to the source of the pills.  She wants to expand the selling into LA.  She came across the body of the Sheriff and seems to be ok with murder as well.

The chemist who makes the pills is tired of all the randoms and wants Belle and Austin to kill Harry and his family.

[Chaos Theory]

1 hour ago, farmgal4 said:

I didn’t get to watch last night.  Did I miss anything super important?

Ursula (Harry’s  agent) shows up in town to see why her client suddenly is writing like a master.   Harry makes lame excuses because he is worried about Alma who took the black pill and sends her to explore the town.   Ursula recognizes Belle and Austin and runs into MacCully Culkin who has trouble killing and getting respect even though he took the pill.   He eventually brings Ursula to The Chemist.  Ursula wants to go into business with her but she says no and gets pissed at Belle and Austin and orders them to kill everyone involved.

Harry and Alma talk about what taking the pill means and Alma doesn’t seem to care and wants to abandon Doris so they can go be special together.  Harry tries to convince her to go off the pill but it doesn’t last long but he also doesn’t want her to kill so he brings her blood and serves it to her like soup.   This works for about a minute because Harry is called away because Doris is in hospital worried about a miscarriage.  That’s when the sheriff shows up who put some of the pieces together herself.  (Or at least connected a string of murders to Harry). and tells Alma that Harry is going to be arrested.   Alma kills the sheriff.

Harry comes home to see a bowl full of blood left for him and Ursula sitting next to Alma and the dead sheriff.  “Harry we need to talk”  

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by Chaos Theory

[Starchild]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

So Belle and Austin wanted Harry to stop giving his daughter the pills. What happens if he does? Does she just go back to normal, or does she die? I'm not clear on that. I mean, the pills apparently turn the non-talented into gruesome Nosferatus and I assume they are no longer taking the pills so clearly they didn't go back to normal.

As I recall, when Harry first balked at killing people and said he'd just stop taking the pills and go back to his former mediocrity, Austin told him no, if he stopped taking the pills he'd lose all of his talent, and wouldn't even be able to write bad scripts anymore. His baseline would go from like 3-out-of-5 stars to absolute zero. So presumably Alma would not only lose the ability to play Paganini, she'd lose the ability to play violin, or probably any musical instrument at all.

Looks like he thinks the permanent emotional damage she'd suffer from such a loss is worse than her becoming a murderous ghoul. Personally I'm not so sure about that. But then again, we're talking about a guy who puts his own fame and fortune above the lives of human beings so..

[Chaos Theory]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

So Belle and Austin wanted Harry to stop giving his daughter the pills. What happens if he does? Does she just go back to normal, or does she die? I'm not clear on that. I mean, the pills apparently turn the non-talented into gruesome Nosferatus and I assume they are no longer taking the pills so clearly they didn't go back to normal.

Belle and Austin make a point of saying that they only take the pills during the 4 months they are in town.  So they will eventually go off the pills themselves during the rest of the year.  They write "works of art" in P-Town during the off season and hoard them throughout the year.    That is what Harry innitially intented to do.   He makes a point of telling Alma that as a screen writer he can write a dozen pilots and such and then hand them out throughout the year but Alma being a musician needs to be able to play all year.   

[HollyG]

Question - did they ever explain about the red lights on the houses? Are they prostitutes? I originally thought that it might be a signal to the vamps.

[Starchild]

Not yet.

[AryasMum]

6 hours ago, iMonrey said:

So Belle and Austin wanted Harry to stop giving his daughter the pills. What happens if he does? Does she just go back to normal, or does she die? I'm not clear on that. I mean, the pills apparently turn the non-talented into gruesome Nosferatus and I assume they are no longer taking the pills so clearly they didn't go back to normal.

Macaulay Culkin is really cracking me up on this show. Pairing his character with Leslie Grossman is genius. They play so well off each other. 

Strange that Tuberculosis Karen was missing this episode without mention.

I’m confused. There’s gangs of spike-toothed ghouls roaming the streets and cemeteries all over town, but Harry and Alma are the ones putting Peaches and Cream at risk?

I’m more adding to your post than responding to it, I guess. 

[Chaos Theory]

Is anyone else getting the kid from “Interview With The Vampire ”  vibes from Alma?  

 

24 minutes ago, AryasMum said:

I’m confused. There’s gangs of spike-toothed ghouls roaming the streets and cemeteries all over town, but Harry and Alma are the ones putting Peaches and Cream at risk?

 

They “pale” vampires are mostly confined to P-Town which has been looking the other way during the off season.   Not sure what happens to them during the tourist and Fishing seasons.     We don’t know what happens to them and maybe they are something that just needs to be hand-waved as a “this can happen to you if you take the black pill and have no talent” worst case scenario but they don’t have much of a plot except as roving bands of chaos.    

 

 

 

[farmgal4]

Thanks, everyone, for getting me caught up! 🧛🏻‍♀️🧟‍♀️👹

[bilgistic]

What doesn't make sense to me are these things:

1) Why are Belle and Austin pissed at Harry? Yes, Harry's daughter, Alma, took one of Harry's pills, putting them all at risk, but Belle and Austin put themselves at risk by giving the pills to Harry. It's stupid for them to be mad (and ready to murder) over a problem they created. What benefit do they get by giving people the pills? They're also creating a food shortage by sharing the pills and making more "blood-hungry talented entertainers".

2) What does the chemist get out of giving people the pills? Why not take the money/deal from Ursula, seeing as how the chemist is getting nothing now?

3) I realize this won't be answered, but... Belle and Austin mentioned getting high from the meth (or whatever) in the guy that they drank/ate from last week. What about bloodborne diseases? The couple that made snuff films must've been crawling with disease.

Edited September 3, 2021 by bilgistic

[gesundheit]

13 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

Ditto.  Loved how Ursula figured it all out because she's familiar with both Belle and Austin's sudden output improvement.  So in addition to the creatives RM is also lampooning agents, I love it.  I don't care if Leslie Grossman essentially plays the same character every season, I still love her.

 

If she plays that same character well and it makes sense in the story, more power to her! Love her.

 

1 hour ago, bilgistic said:

What doesn't make sense to me are these things:

 

2) What does the chemist get out of giving people the pills? Why not take the money/deal from Ursula, seeing as how the chemist is getting nothing now?

3) I realize this won't be answered, but... Belle and Austin mentioned getting high from the meth (or whatever) in the guy that they drank/ate from last week. What about bloodborne diseases? The couple that made snuff films must've been crawling with disease.

2) had the same question. How in the world is she not already loaded? Why wouldn't she be?

3) I wondered that as well. Or at least drugs, they were surely not two sober individuals.

Speaking of the snuff filmmakers, I had that usual uneasy AHS feeling in my stomach. "Oh here we go, here's a major detour and a new story branch about violent sex, so much for the nice taut season" and then that was it! I was delighted. Staying right track. I'm still all in. 

[Glade]

A lot of people inviting strangers from craigslist into their homes at night...I know you need the money, but that's a pretty big, glaringly obvious risk. 

I like the chemist; but her appearance made me wonder, does she have a full-blown old vampire locked up in her basement that she feeds and slowly drains of their blood and then mixes it with some chemicals to make the effects of the vampirism only temporary?  If the theme is writers, maybe the vampire will be a famous, long-dead writer themselves, like Stoker, Wilde, Whitman?   Anyway, good episode.

[AnimeMania]

Some random thoughts:

Why would Ursula piss off Austin Sommers and Belle Noir, wouldn't she be afraid that they might retaliate in some way and have her blacklisted in the industry.

Why didn't Belle Noir notice that Mickey was covered in blood and already made his first kill. Did Belle Noir already know that Mickey had stolen some of her pills and taken them when they were talking.

Why was Chief Burleson so obsessed with Alma, the murders have been going on long before Alma showed up, why does she think all the murders revolve around her family. I thought Chief Burleson was helping to cover up what was going on in the town, why wouldn't she question some of those zombies.

Everybody wants everybody dead, they may just get their wish.

[Chaos Theory]

I think the whole “why is everyone pissed at Harry and Alma” might be answered more next week but from what I understand the vampire/pill issue has been incredibly self contained.   Although there are several vampires most of them have acclimated to p-town and the rules that are probably set up by The Chemist. Then Harry takes a pill and Alma sneaks one.   The two overwhelming problems are (1) a kid on the pill is incredibly unpredictable.   (2) Ursula wants to push the pills on a bigger level which can end up being a problem for the chemist.   The chemist seems to be in control threatening to withhold the pills from Belle and Austin but Ursula is there circling and if she gets her hands on enough of the pills she can wrangle control away from the chemist.   

 

Edited September 3, 2021 by Chaos Theory

[TattleTeeny]

MacCaulay Culkin keeps reminding me of Steve Buscemi, mainly his voice but sometimes his appearance too.

Edited September 3, 2021 by TattleTeeny

[AnimeMania]

2 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

I think the whole “why is everyone passed at Harry and Alma” might be answered more next week but from what I understand the vampire/pill issue has been incredibly self contained.   Although there are several vampires most of them have acclimated to p-town and the rules that are probably set up by The Chemist. Then Harry takes a pill and Alma sneaks one.   The two overwhelming problems are (1) a kid on the pill is incredibly unpredictable.   (2) Ursula wants to push the pills on a bigger level which can end up being a problem for the chemist.   The chemist seems to be in control threatening to withhold the pills from Belle and Austin but Ursula is there circling and if she gets her hands on enough of the pills she can wrangle control away from the chemist.   

 

If I would blame someone it would be Belle Noir for being too lazy to do her own dirty work, hiring locals like Tuberculosis Karen to be her Grubhub and Mickey for a quickie and a snack. Mickey got a sample of the pills from Belle Noir because she told and showed him everything. Mickey isn't stupid and put all the pieces of what is really going on in town and who The Chemist was. When Mickey got his opportunity to cash in, he took it. Ursula isn't stupid either, she knew something was going on in the town before she got there, she just didn't know what without doing a little investigation.

Edited September 3, 2021 by AnimeMania

[Luckylyn]

Mickey’s story really showcases that talent alone isn’t enough for success.  He took the pill and wrote a fantastic script.  Still, he doesn’t have the access and resources to get his work out there on his own.  Because of class, he’s still treated as an expendable flunky even though he took the genius pills.  It reflects in society how some talented people are blocked from success because they are disadvantaged in other ways.  Money and/or who you know can trump talent.  

[EllaWycliffe]

2 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

 He took the pill and wrote a fantastic script.  Still, he doesn’t have the access and resources to get his work out there on his own.  Because of class, he’s still treated as an expendable flunky even though he took the genius pills.  It reflects in society how some talented people are blocked from success because they are disadvantaged in other ways.  Money and/or who you know can trump talent.  

I mean, I agree in spirit but Mickey looks and acts like a meth addict. It's not like he's cleaned up at all. Unfortunately, fair or not, presentation is part of the issue. Believe me, I'm a writer and there's a LOT of hilarious "oh thats so right" in this about writers and agents. Getting harassed on a beach by a guy who looks methed out because he wants you to read his script isn't an agent's dream. This is a fun send up of the agent/writer culture. Why do I have a feeling that the Sarah Poulson character will ultimately be the one who ends up with art acclaim after getting off the junk while all these blood drinkers end up dead.

Also waiting for Doris to take the pill and either turn into a ghoul or be way more talented than Harry or Alma - either way I will be pleased.

[Redrum]

12 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

I think the whole “why is everyone pissed at Harry and Alma” might be answered more next week but from what I understand the vampire/pill issue has been incredibly self contained.   Although there are several vampires most of them have acclimated to p-town and the rules that are probably set up by The Chemist. Then Harry takes a pill and Alma sneaks one.   The two overwhelming problems are (1) a kid on the pill is incredibly unpredictable.   (2) Ursula wants to push the pills on a bigger level which can end up being a problem for the chemist.   The chemist seems to be in control threatening to withhold the pills from Belle and Austin but Ursula is there circling and if she gets her hands on enough of the pills she can wrangle control away from the chemist.   

The problem is that the show rather bluntly hinted that Quentin Tarantino was using the black pill.  That implies there's a much bigger distribution going on by the Chemist than just Belle and Austin and whatever the tattoo artist is called. There's also four or five creepy zombies in the cemetary... and the townies seem to have some idea of what's going on. 

If the Chemist isn't already getting a share of Belle and Austin's and yeah, Quentin's wealth, then I don't see what her motive for making this stuff is. 

[Anela]

Well, I wasn’t expecting that.  He goes to murder a woman, and it was a trap for him.  I did get a laugh out of the “house rules”. No complaining! She looked like a Manson girl, so I should have suspected something.  

Alma seems to be a little sociopath.  

This one made me laugh several times.  I like McCauley Culkin’s character.  I like Leslie Grossman, but she’s equally sociopathic.  Wanting to give these pills to more creators, and make more money.  I wondered if there was a chance of the pill’s effects wearing off in the body - beyond the blossoming talent. If their taste buds could return to normal.  There’s no going back after murdering people. 

Edited September 4, 2021 by Anela

[Anela]

On 9/2/2021 at 9:34 PM, bilgistic said:

What doesn't make sense to me are these things:

1) Why are Belle and Austin pissed at Harry? Yes, Harry's daughter, Alma, took one of Harry's pills, putting them all at risk, but Belle and Austin put themselves at risk by giving the pills to Harry. It's stupid for them to be mad (and ready to murder) over a problem they created. What benefit do they get by giving people the pills? They're also creating a food shortage by sharing the pills and making more "blood-hungry talented entertainers".

2) What does the chemist get out of giving people the pills? Why not take the money/deal from Ursula, seeing as how the chemist is getting nothing now?

3) I realize this won't be answered, but... Belle and Austin mentioned getting high from the meth (or whatever) in the guy that they drank/ate from last week. What about bloodborne diseases? The couple that made snuff films must've been crawling with disease.

I wondered about that, too. 

[Redrum]

9 hours ago, Anela said:

Well, I wasn’t expecting that.  He goes to murder a woman, and it was a trap for him.  I did get a laugh out of the “house rules”. No complaining! She looked like a Manson girl, so I should have suspected something.

I think that was a riff on the whole "Craig's list serial killer" stuff. 

9 hours ago, Anela said:

Alma seems to be a little sociopath.

I think it's the pills. Both Harry and Alma got much nastier as people when they started taking the pills. We didn't know Belle or Austin before, but they seem pretty nasty. The tattoo artist and Macauley Kulkin so far don't seem to share the sociopathy but I wonder if its a matter of time. 

I wonder what Belle and Austin are like during the months that they aren't on the pills?

[AnimeMania]

3 hours ago, Redrum said:

I think it's the pills. Both Harry and Alma got much nastier as people when they started taking the pills. We didn't know Belle or Austin before, but they seem pretty nasty. The tattoo artist and Macauley Kulkin so far don't seem to share the sociopathy but I wonder if its a matter of time. 

I think it is something like this, I was going to call it the "Copernicus Principle" but something already has a similar name so I will call it the "Beeblebrox Principle". This is where your viewpoint switches from "normal" to "you (or people like you) are the most important thing in the universe". It seems very analogous to racism, where you don't see the "others" as worthy as you are. It is a shame that the writers place their worth so much higher than that of other people, since art does not have a function, unlike the things that other people create.

[Terrafamilia]

The Chemist looked like she was leading an exceedingly comfortable life, materially speaking. So, unless she had loads of her own money apart from cooking up and distributing the pills she's making pretty good bank off of them.

[Redrum]

5 minutes ago, Terrafamilia said:

The Chemist looked like she was leading an exceedingly comfortable life, materially speaking. So, unless she had loads of her own money apart from cooking up and distributing the pills she's making pretty good bank off of them.

I think the interesting question here is what the Chemist is trying to do with these pills. 

[hookedontv]

I like all the little details in this show. LIke when Mickey was rummaging through Belle Noir's house in search of the pills....opened her dresser drawer and there were dildos/vibrators neatly lined up in a row...... 

[tennisgurl]

I love how Ursula took about a day to realize that something weird was going on in this town and is apparently pretty cool with the whole bloodsucking ghoul thing. What's a few corpses when you have the Speed Racer remake and Quentin Tarantino on speed dial? 

You have to love the AHS universe, the place so filled to the brim with monstrous creatures and psychopaths that you can go to somebody's house to eat them only to find out that they actually happen to be murderous serial rapist/killers. That's AHS for you, cant throw a stick without hitting a few serial killers. 

Macaulay Culkin and Leslie Grossman are a match made in camp heaven. If the Chemist is so worried about discovery, you would think she would be more concerned about the hordes of zombie vampires running around, but maybe its less about exposure and more about not having to talk to so many people?

[zibnchy]

On 9/2/2021 at 12:09 PM, iMonrey said:

What happens if he does? Does she just go back to normal, or does she die?

I'm about 10 minutes into Episode 3. Please tell me she dies.

[archer1267]

1 hour ago, zibnchy said:

I'm about 10 minutes into Episode 3. Please tell me she dies.

No kidding. I wondered if the pill brings out people's psychopathy, or if they already have a latent tendency towards it. Harry at least seemed taken aback and upset by Alma's comments about Doris, but Alma seems to have embraced her new life quite easily and without conscience. Her "I'm hungry" unnerved me more than practically anything else.

So, Harry's new teeth provided an unforeseen benefit - the ability to gnaw through ropes!