Every week, I'll be analyzing the latest episode of American Horror Story: Double Feature; This week is the season's fourth episode, titled "Blood Buffet."
PLOT RECAP:
This episode does not continue from the previous week's cliffhanger, but rather goes back five years into the past. We begin with The Chemist moving into her home in Provincetown, meeting with Holden to look over the house. After Holden questions her about the nature of her profession and the exacts of why she's moving into the town, The Chemist insists this is the right house and environment for her and gets to work, making the black pills we have come to know as The Muse. Later, The Chemist approaches Mickey at the bar after a failed attempt to woo Holden and invites the gigolo home with her to try out her drugs. While Mickey declines, The Chemist offers to pay him for every person he can get to come over and try her drugs. While hanging out with Karen, Mickey finds his first mark in an aspiring singer, Vlad (The name comes from his actor, Spencer Novich's, instagram.)
Some time later, Belle is seen promoting her new George Washington-themed erotic novel "Martha's Cherry Tree." We quickly learn that while Belle is a published author (albeit, self-published), her fanbase is miniscule and she's in an unhappy marriage with a cruel bigot named Ray. While out for a drink, she encounters Mickey for the first time and the two get on well enough for Belle to request Mickey supply her with some drugs. First meth, inspiring Belle to party hard in the bar, then he takes her to The Chemist's house to supply her with The Muse. Unlike Vlad, who we see at the bar reacting quite adversely to the drug what with his vomiting and prominent hair loss, Belle takes to The Muse quite well. Not only does she write a whole novel in one sitting, but she uses her newfound aggression to murder her husband and begin what she later refers to as "her second act." This directly contrasts with Vlad, who deteriorates further and becomes the first of the pale monsters who roam the streets of Provincetown.
Two years after this last series of events, Belle gets her official makeover into the woman we all know courtesy of Lark. The two quickly bond over killing their former partners and their mutual drug use, and Lark even offers Belle a bonus dental makeover to go with her new look. Belle debuts her new style with a slow motion walk to a local drag show that features, amongst its roster of performers, Austin as "Patty O. Furniture." Austin is considered inferior by the other drag queens, even as he performs an amusing lip sync of "Magic Man" by Heart. After the show, Belle approaches him and the pair discuss Austin's dreams, to which he tells her that he wants to be a playwright but lacks the resources to do so. Belle offers Austin a solution: The Muse. After having an initial adverse reaction, Austin undergoes a similar transformation to Belle and the two kill all of the drag performers that mocked Austin earlier. Except for one, Crystal Decanter (Eureka O'Hara), who escapes only to end the episode as Vlad's victim.
