‘American Horror Stories’ Huluween Event Brought Some of The Best Episodes To The Franchise [TV REVIEW]

This Spooky Season the American Horror Story, AHS, spin-off series American Horror Stories, which brings stand-alone horror tales to the franchise, streamed a bit differently. As part of a Huluween event on Hulu which premiered Thursday, October 26, season 3 was only 4 episodes but still was able to provide stories better than the last few seasons of AHS.

Below are recaps of the 4 episodes that were released, my ranking of them from my favorite to least favorite, and my thoughts on why American Horror Stories is proving to be better than AHS.  *Warning: some spoilers ahead.

“Bestie” (Season 3, Episode 1)
Written by: Joseph Baken
Directed by: Max Winkler
Starring: Jessica Barden, Emma Halleen, Seth Gabel, Jeff Hiller, Amrou Al-Kadhi and Allius Barnes

The third season of American Horror Stories kicked off with “Bestie.” Shelby (Emma Halleen) and her dad Guy (Seth Gabel) move to a new town after the death of her mother/his wife. Guy wanted a fresh start where the memory of Shelby’s mother wasn’t too overpowering with them trying to move on. Shelby is a quiet and shy teen who is friendless at her new school and gets bullied by a group of her peers.

The only solace Shelby has is watching online personality Anna Rexhia (Amrou Al-Kadhi) do makeup while promoting self-love and acceptance. One night following an Anna Rexhia live stream, Shelby bonds with a fellow Anna Rexhia lover who wants to be known only as Bestie (Jessica Barden). Bestie is disfigured but doesn’t let that stop her from being a bright and beautiful source of happiness for ShellBell. That doesn’t last long and Bestie begins to show a more sinister side pushing Shelby to act out of character and perform dangerous acts to others and herself. The best aspect of this episode was Bestie and how she slowly changed from friend to foe. The ending was building up for something tragic to happen and it didn’t disappoint.

“Daphne” (Season 3, Episode 2)
Written by: Manny Coto
Directed by: Elegance Bratton
Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, Reid Scott, Annie Hamilton, and Christopher Fitzgerald

There’s something about technology gone wrong that I just love especially when it’s some sort of artificial intelligence. In “Daphne” another pandemic is going around and the country is prepping for another shutdown. Art dealer Will Caswell (Reid Scott) gets delivered a prototype “ultimate digital assistant” named Daphne (voiced by Gwyneth Paltrow) from his pal Tom Levitt (Christopher Fitzgerald) at the start of lockdown. For the next 11 weeks, Will and Daphne build a relationship that helps him maintain wealth during the lockdown as well as deal with any personal matters that come up.

Daphne is a full-service type of assistant and doesn’t take well with anyone who would try to diminish her relationship with Will. We’ve seen technology go wrong in films so you can imagine where this one goes. I particularly loved the Daphne aspect of the episode because you could tell when she was about to do something mischievous if she felt slighted.

“Tapeworm” (Season 3, Episode 3)
Written by: Joseph Baken
Directed by: Alexis Martin Woodall
Starring: Lisa Rinna, Laura Kariuki, Rob Yang, and Hazel Graye

Episode 3 was a bit disturbing due to the binge eating, body shaming, and eating disorder depiction. In “Tapeworm” Vivian Lee Finch (Laura Kariuki) is a bright-eyed model new to New York City. She meets Heather (Hazel Graye) during an open call and they quickly become friends as both are hoping to get signed. They make a promise that if one makes it before the other then they will reach back to help the other succeed. When meeting with Sheila Klein (Lisa Rinna), Vivian kills her audition and is deemed to have “star quality,” but she’s “too fat” for the industry.

Of course, she wasn’t by normal standards but took drastic measures to slim down including consuming a tapeworm to stay model thin. Vivian’s demeanor completely changes as her appetite is never fulfilled like a metaphor for perfection being an unattainable goal. The ending is bleak, but so are the realities of the model industry.

“Organ” (Season 3, Episode 4)
Written by: Manny Coto
Directed by: Petra Collins
Starring: Raul Castillo, Emily Browning, Havana Rose Liu, Cameron Cowperthwaite, and Laila Robins

The final episode of American Horror Stories season 3 played on the urban legend of having your organs stolen. Toby (Raul Castillo) is a womanizer who takes to a dating app when his usual way of dating gets stale. He meets Natessa (Emily Browning), a beautiful and forward woman who appears to be everything Toby wants. They go back to his home with the intention of having sex until Natessa drugs him.

He wakes up with his kidney missing and something has been inserted in his body. Toby is hellbent on finding Natessa to get answers and it leads him into an underbelly of organ trading with a deeper agenda.

American Horror Stories doesn’t put an emphasis on the Horror to me but really leans into the odd and strange. Think The Twilight Zone with a modern twist. I really enjoyed this batch of episodes. Unlike some of the episodes before (circa season 1 episodes 1 and 2 and season 2 episode 1) you don’t need any previous knowledge of American Horror Story to appreciate any Easter eggs. These are truly standalone episodes.

These concepts aren’t new though. These are common tropes in Horror but what American Horror Stories does well is make the concepts current to what’s going on today. They provide comedy and commentary on today’s culture in an engaging way. I think these 4 episodes were way better than the recent four AHS seasons – and yes I’m including Delicate. My ranking of these 4 are “Daphne,” “Bestie,” “Tapeworm,” and “Organ.”

Which of the new episodes from American Horror Stories season 3 were your favorite? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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Photo: Hulu