If you could take a magic bullet and become a creative genius, would you? What if that magic bullet comes at a terrible cost?
"American Horror Story," executive producer Ryan Murphy's long-running anthology series, returned to FX Wednesday night to tackle those same questions, in two back-to-back episodes.
And the highly anticipated tenth season, titled "American Horror Story: Double Feature," seems to make up for lost time with two storylines instead of just one. FX president John Landgraf told Deadline earlier this month that the season would be split between two stories, with the first six episodes in and the remaining four in the second.
It's a fitting structure for fans who have patiently awaited the return of "AHS," which hasn't had a new season since 2019's "1984." Many of the show's fan-favorite cast members, such as Evan Peters and Lily Rabe, return with some new additions such as Macaulay Culkin.
Here's everything that went down during the chaotic first two episodes of the season.
Sarah Paulson gives ominous warning as homeless woman
The season began like many horror stories: an unsuspecting family moves into a creepy house despite all the obvious red flags.
After passing several pieces of roadkill on the drive, struggling screenwriter Harry Gardner (Finn Wittrock), his pregnant wife Doris (Rabe) and their young daughter arrive at their new residence in Provincetown, Massachusetts for the next three months. The couple are hopeful about their new location, but the ominous background music begs a separation.
Later at the local grocery store, Gardner has a fight with a homeless woman (Sarah Paulson), who delivers a clear message, just in case the roadkill wasn't worrying enough: "Get out of here!"
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But, in true horror story fashion, Gardner erases the omen. Instead, he returns home to work on his pilot script, but it's clear he's got a bad case of writer's block. Meanwhile, Doris and her daughter take a casual stroll through the town's cemetery, where they meet a bald, sharp-toothed monster in a long black cloak. He follows them and tries to break into the house, but Gardner and Doris lock the doors just in time.
The couple reports the incident to a police officer (Adina Porter), who dismisses it as a prank. But Gardner later walks to the beach and stumbles upon a more horrifying scene: corpses with their entrails ripped apart. He also reports it to the police, who once again do not take it seriously, taking it to a great white shark. Come on
Macaulay Culkin Gets Flirty As Mickey
And what do you know! There's also a creepy bar in Creepy Town, where Gardner goes to blow off some steam. After being hit by drug addict Mickey (Culkin), Gardner strikes up talks with two fellow writers: successful romance novelist Belle Noir (Frances Conroy) and an award-winning playwright Austin (Peters). Just as they are exchanging cheers, the formerly homeless woman returns with another shocking message: "You stay away from all this bloodshed (abusive)! I'm warning you!"
Later that night, Gardner is attacked at home by an earlier monster, which tries to suck the writer's blood. Fortunately, he strikes the intruder's skull and kills him. But surprise, surprise - even the police do not take this incident seriously. Just some thief trying to steal the stereo, he says.
Gardner and Doris have finally made it to this town and are ready to move out. But the next day, the playwright invites Gardner over and offers him something he can't refuse: treating his writer's block as mysterious black pills. Gardner initially refuses them, but, after an angry call from one of his higher-ups, he turns one down at home. What could be the harm, right?
Finn Wittrock Embraces Thirst for Blood as Harry Gardner
And lo and behold: pills work. Gardner types in his masterpiece pilot script. He works non-stop and attacks his wife and daughter. Eventually, he gets hungry and stops near the grocery store. He feels attracted to the raw meat segment. You probably know where this is going.
At home, Gardner grinds raw meat in a blender and drinks it. Later, when his wife accidentally cuts herself while chopping a vegetable, he grabs her finger and sucks the blood out of the cut. Gardner confronts Austin to find out what those magic pills contain.
And it turns out, those pills come at a hefty price. They unlock creativity that most people can only dream of – but they also deplete minerals in the blood that can only be replenished by drinking the blood of humans. They also only work if you have the talent, Austin says. So if someone who is just an idiot takes a pill, they turn into one of those bald monsters that roam around town.
And there's another catch: Once you take a pill, you can never do your art without it again. So Gardner is doomed to writer's block unless he gets them.
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Gardner is still determined to leave Provincetown — and the bullets — behind, but a call from his agent changes his mind: his pilot is greenlighted, Joaquin Phoenix has signed on, and he's struck a deal with Netflix. has done. Not so much for more bullets.
Gardner accompanies Noir and Austin on a hunting trip, where they kill and feed a young man. Gardner even gets his teeth filed by a dentist, who is also on pills (Billy Lourd), and hunts another young man down the dock in town.
And the pills prove tempting to others as well. Frustrated with her violin practice, Gardner's daughter takes a shot, seeing the effect it has on her father. She plays the violin like a prodigy... and the episode ends with Doris finding her daughter sucking blood from an animal in the graveyard.