Reviews
“AHS: Delicate” Review – Episode 3 Recycles Old Themes and Shows Signs of Storytelling Fatigue
American Horror Story: Delicate has been off to a strong start with its unique season. After an encouraging pair of introductory episodes, “When the Bough Breaks” proves to be the season’s slowest, most atmospheric, and least substantial entry. American Horror Story at least understands that Jennifer Lynch is the right person to get behind the camera for an episode that’s sparse in dialogue, but dense in cryptic sequences where characters explore caverns and haunted spaces that shouldn’t exist. If nothing else, this energy really keeps the audience on their toes over what’s actually happening and what might just be some figment of Anna’s feverish fugue state. The viewer is just as foggy and disassociated as Anna. Just like how Anna’s face blemish/likely-spider-nest continues to grow, American Horror Story: Delicate further develops its story. Anna’s worsening facial imperfection reflects the slow burn surface level nature of “When the Bough Breaks.” It’s just a bad reaction, fighting to break out from makeup, as it festers over time.
Anna has spent much of American Horror Story: Delicate in doubt and “When the Bough Breaks” is when she finally reclaims her narrative. She’s told early on in this episode that “nobody is comfortable with anything…we’re all just learning on the job.” This turns into a mantra that carries through the episode as Anna searches for an ally. Anna just wants confirmation that she’s not imagining all of this or alone on this journey, which she eventually gets by the episode’s end. The biggest fault of “When the Bough Breaks” is that it positions Dex as Anna’s biggest suspect, which feels like a long overdue and insultingly obvious complication for Anna to reach. In this respect, AHS: Delicate feels like it’s just doing its due diligence as it checks each hypothetical suspect off of Anna’s hit list (enter Pose’s MJ Rodriguez as the “house manager,” who contributes nothing other than functioning as another possible acolyte). Most of Anna’s woes and this episode’s obstacles stem from suspicions over Dex, even if these presumptions are misguided.
Anna’s fears and accompanying memory loss collide with troubling dreams and hallucinations. Anna’s subconscious and reality get bombarded as she experiences plenty of on-the-nose baby-based nightmares and even more cliché haunting set pieces where witchy figures creepily chant infantile nursery rhymes. It’s all very obvious and only further underlines the first two episodes’ points–which were already well made–instead of presenting its own ideas. American Horror Story has a history for some stunning practical and prosthetic effects work, but “When the Bough Breaks” includes some of the worst CG that’s even been featured in the series. It doesn’t help an episode that’s already largely style over substance.
Anna’s paranoia is at an all-time high in “When the Bough Breaks,” but she’s also more resolved than ever to get back in the saddle and make sure that she does have this baby. If not for herself, then to spite whatever darker forces are working against her here. Speaking of darker forces, AHS: Delicate plays it fast and loose in this department in a way that requires a lot of suspension of disbelief. I praised the previous entry for its heightened camp, some of which was guilty of the same oversights. However, “When the Bough Breaks” isn’t as nearly as successful. There are random elements like how Siobhan’s caller tone is “Rockabye Baby” that are just creepy touches with baby veneers that are present, but without any real explanation. They’re unearned eerieness.
The same is true when it comes to the arbitrary doll effigy that Anna finds on the beach. Why is it there? These aren’t questions that American Horror Story: Delicate sincerely wants its audience to ask, but it’s still an empty way to tell this story even if the gimp-core death bunnies are a very American Horror Story-esque sight. They’re clearly designed to be this season’s big Rubber Man sexy/supernatural spectacle.
All of this feeds into a sense of magical realism that increasingly takes over the episode. It’s most prominent with the Alice in Wonderland-like tiny door shenanigans. This is perhaps the episode’s most effective material and there’s a real sense of awe and wonder to Anna’s strange journey. That being said, it’s still no Channel Zero: Dream Door and far from the best execution of this door-that’s-there-but-shouldn’t-be concept. There’s also a lot of success in Anna’s covert communication through calendar notes. It’s such an effective, unique device that does a lot with a little. Similarly, on several occasions Lynch captures the scene’s tension in the most effective ways possible, like through a car’s sideview mirror. Despite these fun flourishes, there’s not enough to latch onto in “When the Bough Breaks” that hasn’t already been covered.
Magical realism and palpable paranoia aside, the big twist that “When the Bough Breaks” builds towards–while effective–is a foregone conclusion for most horror fans. Anna feels a kick and her non-baby is somehow still on the way. Not only that, but there are even bigger revelations in store regarding Anna’s offspring that the audience should already expect to hear. This wouldn’t be a deal breaker in a standard season of American Horror Story, but with only two more entries in AHS: Delicate’s “Part One,” time shouldn’t be wasted on a reductive tone poem that muddles its point. There’s absolutely no reason why the events of this episode couldn’t have been fit into last week’s installment instead of drawing them out in this manner.
News of a baby–human or otherwise–results in blind optimism that drives Anna through the episode’s final act. Any preexisting distrust and doubt that Anna previously had gets eradicated by prenatal bliss and excitement. It’s a promising direction for the next two episodes even if “Part One’s” conclusion seems destined to feature Anna’s reunion with her stolen child. We’ll see where these familiar ideas go since there’s still the possibility that it births something unique and brilliant out of these overdone ideas. It’s not unlike how Anna’s bloody and bemused smile still shines through a mouth full of stained teeth. All that American Horror Story: Delicate can do is wash away the blood, rinse, and repeat.
Death Down the Aisle begins with the tantalizing image of a bride, Malorie (Jess Brown), dressed in a wedding dress splattered with blood.
This is a brief (unnecessary) in media res opening before writer Audrey C. Marie jumps the action back to earlier in the day. It’s the day of the wedding, Malorie is preparing to wed Jon (David Alexander) and there’s a whirlwind introduction of wedding guests, many of whom are either family, work associates from Jon’s legal firm, or both.
Most of these relationships aren’t clear until after Jon’s death (this isn’t a spoiler; his death is heavily telegraphed by director Roxanne Boisvert). Only after the murder does it become clear that Death Down The Aisle is primarily interested in exploring red herrings, gossipy busy bodies, and characters making A LOT of phone calls.
Let’s rewind: Malorie is marrying Jon, an older man with an adult daughter, Bridget (Anna Kopacek), who looks nearly the same age as her. Jon works at Stone Legal Services with his brother Zach (Scott Gibson), as well as Malorie’s mother, Pamela (Jayne Heitmeyer) and Zach’s younger girlfriend, Amy (Gracie Callahan).
Each of these characters hand Jon a drink before the wedding begins – Zach – a Scotch, Amy – a coffee, and Pamela – an energy drink. There’s also a mysterious glass of champagne delivered to Malorie’s room that Jon drinks and Boisvert ensures that the audience keeps track of each of them by zooming in each time. This is why it’s no surprise when Jon keels over mid-ceremony, coughs up blood on Malorie’s dress, and immediately croaks.
Naturally it turns out that nearly everyone had a motive to see him dead. Pamela recently quit the firm because Jon wouldn’t confirm her salary; Zach was pushing for a merger with rival Miles (Colin Price) that Jon was unsure about, and the dead man fretted that Amy was a gold digger, so Jon wouldn’t support her promotion, either.
Adding to the too plentiful number of suspects is Malorie’s ex-husband Ryan (Frank Fiola), a recovering addict. Even Jon’s own daughter ends up on the list when it’s revealed that they were fighting in the weeks leading up to his death.
The only one who doesn’t have a motive to kill Jon is Malorie’s best friend Francesca (JaNae Armogan), who works at the wedding venue and thinks she saw something fishy. Naturally she’s killed off before the end of the first act.
What follows is a lot of conversation between characters about the firm, the merger, Malorie and Jon’s relationship, and how everyone is lying to everyone else. The problem is that 90% of these conversations happen via phone or text and few of them are interesting. Marie’s script fails to develop the characters beyond their motive, which means that the majority of the plot developments aren’t particularly engaging because the characters are so shallow.
With so many people and interweaving relationships involved, it’s hard to zero in and identify with anyone. Malorie is clearly meant to be the protagonist because, like most Lifetime films, she assumes the role of investigator, despite the presence of Detective Levine (Christian Paul) on the periphery.
But even she is kept at a distance from the audience. Because we only see a few moments of her relationship with Jon, secrets that the pair were keeping from friends and family don’t carry any emotional resonance when they come to light later in the film. One in particular seems to come out of left field and seemingly only exists to introduce another red herring in order to prolong the mystery for another 20 minutes.
Alas none of the characters get much to do, so none of the performances pop. Kopacek and Callahan look too similar and are styled identically, which sometimes makes it hard to distinguish one from the other. Further issues with casting is that the age disparity between Malorie & Jon and Zach & Amy is never mentioned (neither is Jon’s paternity of Bridget). This may be an ageist observation, but even the fact that Pamela never comments that her daughter was marrying her (Pamela’s) boss seems unusual, especially when Death Down the Aisle regularly suggests that one or more character is a gold digger.
Arguably the film’s biggest issue is that everything circles around the business dealings of the firm, none of which is engaging or interesting (hilariously it’s never even made clear what kind of law they practice!) Without more distinct characters, there’s very little to hang the narrative on.
Unfortunately after a solid opening, Death Down the Aisle gets stuck spinning its wheels, endlessly recycling its red herrings and interminable phone calls between characters. The suspect list is long, but the film’s energy lags through the saggy middle section and the climax can’t bring Death Down the Aisle back to life.
This one could have easily been called “Business Phone Calls”…and that’s not great.
Death Down the Aisle premiered on Lifetime Thursday, June 13.
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