In the second episode, "Beautiful Jordan," The Beauty offers us a glimpse into the villainous plot, played brilliantly by Ashton Kutcher as Byron Forst. The episode also takes a cue from the highly stylized "John Wick" franchise, which adds an interesting visual dimension to the 25-minute runtime. Despite this stylistic choice, it retains the same demented edge as the premiere, culminating in a remake of Jeremy's transformation scene, but this time focusing on a different character - one of the main ones.
We're in Venice, as predicted, as Jordan and Cooper are directed by their boss to another victim who tested positive for the mysterious virus that killed Ruby in Paris and other victims in Berlin and London. Her fate is a bit different, though. She's still a mess, but she's still recognizable as a human being; her front has been peeled away, exposing all of her vital organs. It's not quite combustion, but not exactly survivable either. On the wall, the Egyptian symbol of beauty is daubed in blood.
This victim wasn't just a model; she was also an influencer who posted a warning video shortly before her death. The advice "Don't do it" is too vague to constitute a clue at this point, as it could apply to various things in the beauty industry, and it's not the kind of advice that people tend to follow. Just think of Jeremy.
As mentioned earlier, "Beautiful Jordan" does give us a clue as to who's pulling the strings - Ashton Kutcher's Byron Forst, who seems to be in charge of what I can only assume is a pharmaceutical company responsible for the Beauty formula, which has been stolen, resulting in a rapidly spreading infection. Forst deals with his problem rather adroitly - he sends an assassin to kill the thief - but the formula is already out in the wild. As if to prove the point, Jordan and Cooper are called back to the U.S. after the editor-in-chief of Vogue explodes.
Jordan and Cooper have a weird relationship. They're "best friends" who have been intimate out of what both pretend is mere convenience, but there's clearly more of a connection there than either is willing to admit. Both are still bound to a lifestyle of casual sex with no attachments, preventing them from exploring any more serious options. This proves to be more of a problem for Jordan, but we'll get to that in a minute.
In the meantime, Cooper is confronted by two assailants on his way back to his hotel. Despite his best efforts, he manages to fend them off in a single, extended action sequence that forms a significant portion of "The Beauty" Episode 2. It's an intriguing choice to have Cooper be so physically capable, given that horror often thrives on vulnerability. The fight sequence, which spans such a short episode, is surprisingly well-choreographed and enjoyable, making it hard to be bothered by its length. Cooper is able to escape, but it's clear that he's being targeted personally. Similarly, Jordan is also being targeted, though in a different manner.
With Jordan, she's approached by a man with whom she quickly decides to spend the night. He's the gender-swapped version of Claire from the premiere. Their evening of passion goes well enough until Jordan wakes up with the same sweaty symptoms we saw Jeremy experience. She collapses, convulses, disappears into a chrysalis, and then emerges as someone else. But it's a more telling scene, as Rebecca Hall already looked good. She wasn't a basement-dwelling incel. However, her boob job in the premiere was clearly a setup. She wasn't satisfied with herself, and that's seemingly all it takes.
With Jordan infected, it seems that Rebecca Hall is now gone. She has been replaced by Jessica Alexander, which, to be fair to Ryan Murphy, is a pretty bold decision given Hall's impressive acting skills. It's a nice reiteration of the show's underlying thesis that it isn't just people like Jeremy who are susceptible to The Beauty.
