The message "I tried to warn you," is scrawled in red lipstick on the bathroom mirror of the deceased Virginia Harding, echoing the same shade that adorned Anna's mirror after her so-called "stalker" broke in during the season premiere. If you've slipped the memory thread, don't fret; this season of American Horror Story, which premiered in September—six episodes and an eternity ago—is set to conclude in April, long enough to nurture a human child (though Anna isn't expecting one). Fortunately, Delicate: Part Two, despite its lack of narrative momentum post-strike re-premiere, generously compensates by reintroducing every enigmatic or sinister element or character you've likely forgotten.
First, we revisit the traumatic birth story of a child—this time, Anna's. It's 1988 in White Plains, and the young Meryl Streep (Grace Gummer in the role) soothes her newborn with the unofficial Delicate theme song: "Rock-a-Bye Baby" (reprise). Wee Meryl is battling postpartum blues (or worse), and when her husband observes that the song's lyrics are eerily deranged, she defends the twisted ditty about parents perching their child on a failing yew tree's high bough. And I'd be on edge too if I married someone who was reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People while I dragged myself into bed, too tired to shower off the stink of sweat and spit-up and complaining of persistent leg pain. In the night, Meryl Jr. suffers a tragic pulmonary embolism while said husband—not yet effective, it seems—tells her to calm down. She later dies in the hospital; so far, so gory. But when a nurse comes to soothe fussy Anna, it's revealed to be Nicolette—the same woman who manages Talia's Hamptons estate.
At this point in Delicate, the unexplained recurrence of a vaguely witchy woman barely stirs surprise. Dex's latest art-world rock star, Sonia, is the spitting image of his dead wife, Adeline. Ivy is a gallery intern and an obstetrics nurse, always hanging around Anna's Brooklyn Heights apartment. So of course Nicolette wasn't just a glorified house sitter but an ageless nurse who's been tending to Anna since her infancy. What would be surprising at this point would be any indication as to what these connections could portend beyond demonic whispers. At its most frustrating, Delicate is all sizzle, no stakes.
Meanwhile, the present-day story picks up exactly where episode five left off: Anna's zit remains a massive, angry honker, and her Hollywood rival's head is just as recently decapitated. Anna swallows her suspicions that her agent, Siobhan, had anything to do with the fellatio-induced vehicular death and instead accepts an invitation to "headline" Babette's memorial in L.A. The funeral of her professional enemy is the perfect place to launch her Oscar campaign for The Auteur, and though Anna delivers the worst possible eulogy anyone has ever given—even managing to shoehorn in that the Screen Actors Guild snubbed Babette's performance—the Academy voters among the mourners don't seem to care. Because Hollywood loves a gunner, unless it's Bradley Cooper. It's one of the last safe havens for earnest, heart-on-your-sleeve striving.
Anna, for her part, claims to find the quick trip to L.A. liberating, partly because she defied her doctor's orders not to fly and partly because she's escaped the watchful eye of her husband. But her world is so tightly managed by others that even when she rebels against one person's agenda, she conforms to another's. This time it's Siob.
Returning to the Hamptons, a wayward black cat is feasting on yet another discarded Anna Alcott-inspired Barbie doll, this one with chewed, mangled limbs. Anna escorts it to Talia's basement, placing it in a bassinet alongside the other dolls that have surfaced this season. The lacy bassinet bears a resemblance to the one Grace Gummer used for baby Anna before her death, suggesting Anna may be unknowingly placing iterations of herself in her own cot. Delicate is dripping with spooky symbolism, yet somehow, it lacks actual meaning.
Not long after, Nicolette arrives with another Summer Day doll, claiming it was left outside her house in Rocky Point. Why? What does it signify? Nicolette seems to have developed fungal acne, mirroring Anna's own, so someone please get these beautiful ladies some Zitstickas. Anna comes up with the idea of dropping a pin on Apple Maps at every Barbie's location, forming a witchy pentagram. Does it matter? At this point, the series is dropping clues faster than I can keep up with its characters' actions. For instance, Anna rightly mistrusts Nicolette and frequently lashes out at her. So why does Anna, who doesn't like swimming, take a dip in Talia's pool just because Nicolette suggests it? It's hard to keep track of Anna's daddy when she's bouncing around the world of Delicate this quickly. That said, the pool is exquisitely situated, and her morning float does indeed seem lovely until Anna's son's clawed hand scrapes its way out of her womb before retracting. (Why does he retract it? What does it mean?)
Speaking of daddies, Anna nearly shows her husband the bloody paw print their son left on her abdomen before reconsidering. (Why? To protect Satan's spawn? Or Dex's already faltering opinion of his wife's sanity?) Meanwhile, Dex is preoccupied with his own daddy issues. He meets up with his father, who is busy spending his son's inheritance on his newest wife while his former wife attempts to sue him for satanic-ritual abuse. Papa assures Dex that his mother is "batshit crazy," which, to be fair to Dex, does seem more plausible than the idea his country-club-blazer of a father ever dabbled in anything as interesting as the occult. With more than a hint of menace, Mr. Harding promises Dex that Virginia's suit will go away.
Virginia doesn't show up for the episode's titular opening night—an exhibition of Sonia's work at Talia and Dex's gallery. But Anna does. Like a good wife, she hides her mauled stomach under a satin dress to support Dex. Everyone who hates Anna is in attendance. First, the Hollywood starlet approaches Talia, accusing her of spying on her with the world's most conspicuous security cameras. While I don't entirely buy Talia's defense that she finds Anna too boring to torment, it's hard to argue against the devilish trickery of purchasing top-of-the-line surveillance equipment.
Anna's next encounter is with the woman she almost killed in the bathroom at the Gotham Awards in episode two. As Anna washes her hands of stubborn stains, the woman attacks her again, and Anna slams her head into the vanity. I guess we don't need to ask "Why, what does it mean?" because it turns out she's not really dead or even in the room. As she runs from the scene of the crime, Anna bumps into Ivy, who once violated her with a transvaginal ultrasound probe but now claims to moonlight at her husband's gallery. I wish I could resist asking "Why, what does it mean?" but I can't help myself: WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
Sonia, with a warmth that defies the circumstances, greets Anna, her kisses soothing the purple hues on Anna's hands, the scratches on her face, even the pesky pimple. And as if by magic, they seem to fade away. As a gift, Sonia presents Anna with her most gory, most exuberant painting, one that whispers "Rock-a-Bye, Baby" just by looking at it. In Anna's mind's eye, they all stand together in their spiky green stilettos, united in their unwavering support.
Talia, Ivy, and even Nicolette form a circle around Anna, showering her with kisses after Sonia's display of kindness. Is it not that they hate her at all, but worship her?
Siobhan's arrival at the party is a relief to Anna, a self-serving killer who feels more complex than just confusing. Over supper, Anna suggests she might quit showbiz, causing her to feel uneasy. But to me, it's dubious because it's hardly as unsafe as whatever demon she's carrying inside her. Siobhan smacks her playfully, making the retaliation feel feminist: What kid wants a mom who gives up on her dreams? It's easy to get Anna back in line because she wasn't serious about giving up acting or the baby or Dex. Anna's just another one of Siobhan's pinballs.
Hamish, on the other hand, comes to an unsympathetic Siobhan threatening to tell the world the truth: that he didn't really write the film The Auteur. (In perhaps Delicate's best visual gag of the season, he douses a highly flammable paper copy of the script with lighter fluid before tossing it in a chic tabletop fireplace.) He needs to unburden himself, he declares, which is low-key hilarious given how incidental to the plot he feels. Go ahead and tell them...what exactly? Who would care and what would it change? The answer must be more elaborate than I understand.
A few hours after his showdown with Siobhan, news reports indicate that Hamish jumped from a New York rooftop (no doubt helped by his former lover), bringing the episode's body count from one to two. The third death, of course, is that of Virginia Harding, who missed her son's art opening because she was bleeding out in a claw-foot bathtub. "I tried to warn you," reads the message on the mirror. But what kind of message is it? A suicide note that might suggest Virginia broke into her own son's apartment in episode one? Or was it a threat, delivered by whoever came for Anna? Was she killed or did she kill herself? And what does it all mean for an Oscar hopeful with really bad skin? Besides Mrs. Preecher, who reappears once more to offer Anna help, Virginia was the only person who seemed a possible ally for our Rosemary. If only she knew it.
