Spoilers below for anyone who isn't caught up with American Horror Story: Double Feature, so be warned!
Approaching its midway point, American Horror Story: Double Feature is already shaping up to be one of the most enjoyable and well-balanced seasons yet, thanks to its initial tale of creativity via vampirism. Its disturbing qualities are intact, as well, largely tied to Lily Rabe and Finn Wittrock's Doris and Harry Gardner now raising a murderous, bloodthirsty daughter, and all while Doris is ready to pop from her pregnancy. Of course, because this is American Horror Story, fans can assume problems are coming soon for Doris, and Rabe seems to also imply that'll be the case, saying the fifth episode may serve as her most terrifying AHS ep yet.
Speaking with CinemaBlend about what fans have seen from American Horror Story: Double Feature so far, Lily Rabe provided quite the daunting tease for Episode 5, "Gaslight," which is coupled with some pretty massive praise. Here's how she put it:
I know I'm really not allowed to say much as per the rules, but I will say that the next episode, which will be Episode 5 of the first part, was one of my favorite episodes of my nine years on Horror Story, but it was also perhaps the most painful, terrifying episode I've shot over my time.
Bang, zoom, to the Muse! As one of the American Horror Story franchise's most prolific stars, Lily Rabe has appeared in every season except for Cult and the Stories anthology spinoff. and portrayed two of fans' favorite characters in Coven's bewitching Misty Day and Asylum's libidinous nun Sister Mary Eunice. (Both of those characters followed up on their initial seasons with later appearances, since there can never be enough Misty Day in the world.) But let's not forget the (fictional) horrors Rabe faced as Murder House's doomed matriarch Nora Montgomery, mother of the Infantata, as well as real-world serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Hotel, and in-canon mass murderer Lavinia Richter in 1984. It's quite a lineage.
So for "Gaslight" to stand tall and horrific enough to potentially be her most terrifying experience to date, that probably means it'll be at least doubly disturbing for viewers, if not more so. It's almost too easy to guess that it'll be tied to Doris' pregnancy, considering she was out of commission for the entirety of Episode 4. But perhaps something disastrous will happen to her vampy daughter Alma, played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong. Will Doris end up needing to put Alma down herself? Eesh, I don't even want to think about it. Alma definitely deserves some retribution for talking shit about her mother and urging Harry to leave her, but perhaps eternal death is too harsh a punishment.
Theoretically, Lily Rabe will only be portraying Doris for two more episodes in American Horror Story: Double Feature, at which point the first part, "Red Tide," will flip over the the second part, "Death Valley." While we know that aliens will be the core supernatural flavor for the final four episodes of Season 10, it's not entirely clear how things will go down, nor whether the aliens are actually antagonists or not. We don't even know who Rabe will be playing, though early rumors claimed she would portray a certain female aviator who mysteriously disappeared.
When I asked Lily Rabe what her thoughts were about changing things up for American Horror Story: Double Feature's split narratives, she had nothing but kind words, saying:
Oh, gosh, it was just like getting two for the price of one. Because one of the things that's so great about doing the show - the most wonderful thing about doing the show as an actor, for me anyway - is getting to come in and play these different parts every year. So getting to then do it twice over the course of one season was just, in keeping with what is so wonderful about doing the show, it was fantastic. I loved doing that.
Lily Rabe previously shared the opinion that filming Season 10 was similar in spirit and energy to filming Murder House, with its full and mostly familiar cast bringing this sordid and darkly comedic tale to life. As someone whose favorite American Horror Story creature is the Infantata, I can only hope that Double Feature's similarities also involve that scary little shitshow's return.
With Episode 5 hitting on September 15, American Horror Story: Double Feature airs Wednesday nights on FX, with eps available to stream on Hulu the next morning. And be sure to keep up with the rest of the 2021 Fall TV schedule for more delightfully horrifying programming going into the Halloween season.
