#gino barelli

SMOKE SIGNALS ...

Last week we got two killer episodes of American Horror Story: NYC and I'm still feeling pretty good about the direction of this season. Adam and Gino continue to be my favorite characters thus far, but Russell Tovey's Patrick is starting to grow on me as well. Before I launch into my reaction to episode number three, I must say, I was initially skeptical about most of this cast being newcomers to American Horror Stories. All those doubts are officially gone because Charlie Carver, Joe Mantello, and Russell Tovey are definitely holding their own acting alongside AHS vets like Leslie Grossman, Denis O'Hare, and Billie Lourd.

Okay, let's talk about the episode. We start off with Fran (Sandra Bernhard) and Dr. Hannah Wells (Billie Lourd) at a diner after the latter's run-in with Big Daddy in Central Park. At the end of last episode, Fran told Hannah the government is responsible for the virus she is currently studying. She further elaborates by mentioning something called Operation Paperclip. Apparently, back in the 1952, the United States used Nazi scientists to create new viruses made from both human and animal diseases to use against the Russians during the Red Scare. They did manage to come up with a good virus but it was too big to be airborne. However, it could be transmitted via mucous membranes.

Naturally, Hannah pushes back against this and asks Fran why the government would wait nearly thirty years later to release the virus. Fran tells her that the Cold War is heating up, so the United States is bringing back the virus that was created back in 1952 and testing it out on people who are considered undesirable, i.e., drug addicts, homeless people, and prisoners. They also used ticks to help transmit the virus but the virus broke free of the island and it's now starting to spread amongst the gay population in New York City. Hannah asks Fran what she's supposed to do with this information. Fran tells Hannah that she believes some of her patients are infected with the virus and she should go to the press about it. Hannah tells Fran that in order to do that she will need proof. Fran tells her she needs to think of something and think of something fast because the government is on to her.

Meanwhile, Stewart (Taylor Bloom) escapes the cage he is being imprisoned in and flees Sam's apartment. It should be noted that when Stewart heads out into the hallway, Big Daddy is standing sentry by Sam's apartment door. Stewart acknowledges Big Daddy's presence, and my theory is that we know Sam has the same virus that several of Dr. Hannah Wells' patients have and if he hooked up with Stewart, chances are he passed on the virus to Stewart. I believe Big Daddy is a manifestation of the virus that will become known as AIDS and those who have the disease are able to see Big Daddy while those who don't have the virus can't see him.

Stewart goes to the police station and Patrick takes his story. Stewart tells Patrick that he answered a payphone outside of a leather bar which is how he ended up at Sam's apartment. Patrick is a wee bit judgmental, but he does go to Sam's apartment to investigate. Sam (Zachary Quinto) is having a party and when confronted by Patrick, they head down to his basement where his sex dungeon is kept. Sam knows that he can't be arrested because according to him, what transpired between him and Stewart was consensual. Patrick insists that something unsavory did take place and he tells Sam that Stewart is worried about his reputation. Sam throws this back in Patrick's face and strongly insinuates that he is well aware of Patrick's own vices and how they could affect his reputation. Patrick backs off because he doesn't want to risk getting outed at work.

Patrick talks to Gino about his encounter with Sam and Gino speculates that perhaps Sam is the one who held him prisoner. Patrick assures Gino that Sam is not the guy. Gino shows Patrick a sketch of the man he believes abducted him but Patrick seems unconvinced. Gino justifiably gets frustrated because he believes this is Patrick yet again not wanting to lead the charge towards finding the person responsible for recent rash of murders. Gino also is having a difficult time trusting Patrick because Patrick lied about his leather fetish. Patrick admits to liking leather bars and tells Gino he used to go to leather bars before they got together. These two could benefit from some couple's counseling. Patrick needs to be more open about what he's thinking and feeling and as much as I love Gino, he needs to be a little less judgmental. It's the classic case of someone having to come to terms with their sexuality early on and not allowing others to have their own journey towards self-discovery. Gino tells Patrick that he should check out the payphone outside the leather bar but Patrick reminds him he's not a private detective and therefore he has to have cause for doing such things and he doesn't think he can rationalize to his coworkers why he needs to stake out a payphone. Gino, in order to motivate Patrick, appeals to his desire to be dangerous and reckless which surprisingly works because the next scene we get is Patrick standing next to the payphone.

Patrick continues to wait by the payphone for what feels like hours until he gets a phone call from Whitley (Jeff Hiller). Whitley gives Patrick an address to go to and Patrick is led to an underground party. We see Hans (Casey Thomas Brown) giving a performance. Patrick wanders further into the venue and heads into a darkened passageway. He sees an unmasked patron (played by Zach Meiser) wearing the same kind of leather gear that Daddy wears. This is clearly not Big Daddy because even though this guy is quite muscular, he is not hulking like Big Daddy. Patrick aggressively confronts the bespectacled man and finds a switchblade on him. Rather than further interrogate him in regard to all recent murders, Patrick starts kissing him. He then turns the guy against a wall and uses a cat-o-nine tails to beat him. I believe this scene is here to show us just how deep Patrick's leather kink runs. It's important to point out that it does appear that his behavior is consensual.

We then see the performer Hans heading into a very empty subway. He sees an older, unkempt, heavyset woman standing on the other side of the platform and for some reason he decides to follow her.

Over at the Native, Adam asks Gino if he knows why his captor let him go instead of killing him. Gino tells Adam that the guy saw his United States Marine Corps tattoo on his chest and then thanked him for his service. He then shows Adam the drawing he had made of what the guy looks like. Adam speculates that there are two killers - the guy who abducted Gino and Big Daddy. Adam tells Gino he has a date at a bar and Gino tells him to be careful, especially if he's going around inquiring about the Mai Tai killer. Gino doesn't want Adam to become the next victim. He then asks Adam who he's seeing, and Adam tells him it's Theo. Gino tells him that he's heard some pretty dark stuff about Theo's partner, Sam.

Gino goes to The Ditch and talks with Alana (Rebecca Dayan) who is busy cleaning blood off the sidewalk outside the bar. He shows her the drawing of the man who abducted him, and she confirms that he's been at the bar. She mentions that when she encountered him, he had a dark aura about him. She suggests that maybe he was in Vietnam. Gino tells her that he needs to be captured and begs her to let him put some flyers up in the bar. Alana does acquiesce and she tells him that if he's going to hang up flyers, to be careful not to tear the paint off the walls.

Adam arrives at another local bar called Ascension and is greeted by the hostess, Dunaway (Sis). She tells him it's a member's only establishment, but Adam tells her that he's with Theo Graves (Isaac Powell) and she immediately ushers him inside. Adam asks if he can put up some flyers, and Dunaway tells him 'no'. He asks her if she's heard of Big Daddy, and she answers back that she hasn't but if he ever finds him to send him her way. I love Dunaway! I hope we get more of her this season!

Theo arrives at Ascension and Dunaway takes him to Adam. We do see Big Daddy standing behind Theo in the doorway but neither Dunaway nor Theo acknowledges his presence. There is some flirtatious banter between Adam and Theo. Adam is quite taken by Theo and the feeling seems mutual even though Theo is currently in a relationship with Sam. Adam shows Theo the drawing of the man who abducted Gino. Meanwhile, Gino is at the Brownstone talking to Henry (Denis O'Hare), showing him the same drawing.

Henry recognizes the man in Gino's drawing and tells Gino that he was at the Brownstone the night before. Gino asks him why he didn't call the police and Henry insinuates that the police wouldn't have been much of a help. I loved Henry's story about how he ran away from home at age 13 and ended up in New York City. He talks about how he was nearly murdered three times and how he's lost so many friends, acquaintances, and lovers over the years to violence. He tells Gino that if he had tried to figure out what happened to each of those men, he would've ended up dead himself. I find this story so important because people like Gino tend to see inaction as laziness. For men like Henry, inaction, not getting involved, is a matter of survival.

Gino tells Henry that the last night they spoke, he ended up being drugged, kidnapped, and tortured, but Henry remains unphased by his story. Gino gives up and leaves the bar. Meanwhile, back at their apartment, Patrick goes into his closet and puts on his leather gear. it should be noted in this scene, while Patrick is flexing in front of the mirror, he notices some sores on his shoulder. 

Back at Ascension, Adam interrogates Theo about Sam and Big Daddy. Theo assures Adam that Big Daddy is dead. While the two of them continue to talk, a man in leather gear, who looks a lot like Big Daddy, locks the main doors preventing anyone inside from getting out. What follows is an exciting sequence where Adam is given a Mai Tai by an unknown patron at the bar. He looks up and sees that the guy at the bar is the same man in Gino's drawing. At the same time, Dunaway discovers they are locked in and while Adam tries to go after Whitley, Theo manages to kick open the front door. At that moment, the man in leather gear tosses a Molotov cocktail inside the bar setting the whole place ablaze. The man then adjusts the chains and locks on the door and walks off leaving those inside to burn to death.

Hannah meets with an official at the local hospital and her request to draw blood from patients exhibiting signs of the virus she's been studying are denied. As she is leaving the hospital, she sees several patients arrive from Ascension. Hearing that the patients are coming from a gay bar, Hannah springs into action.

Adam and Theo manage to escape from the inferno with minimal injury. Adam suffers from smoke inhalation while Theo has some burns on his extremities. Other patrons like Dunaway, aren't so fortunate. I felt so bad for Dunaway who appeared to have third degree burns all over her body. When a nurse tries to check out Adam who is suffering from respiratory distress, he starts to freak out. After he is restrained, he begs Theo to call Gino.

Theo calls Gino, and Gino shows up with Patrick in tow. Adam tells Gino that the Mai Tai Killer was at the same bar he and Theo were at before the fire and tells him that he needs to find him. Gino shows a nurse the drawing of Whitley and she tells him that she saw him in one of the triage rooms. When Gino and Patrick arrive at the room, they discover that Whitley is gone. Gino suggests that he and Patrick split up so they can find him.

Hannah talks with Dunaway who tells her that she saw the man who started the fire and that he is not only coming for the gay men, but he’s also coming for everyone. This piece of dialogue stood out to me because it further confirmed my theory about Big Daddy being a manifestation of the AIDS virus which has yet to be named.

The biggest twist of the episode came when Hannah went to see Adam and we learn that they already know each other. We don't get much insight into their relationship, but Adam tells her that he feels good about what he and Hannah did. Now that I know that these two characters have a history, it sort of changes how I feel about Adam. He knows more than he's letting on but a part of me still believes that he is the good guy and whatever he and Hannah are working on is something good.

Hannah goes to Whitley's room and draws a sample of his blood. Whitely is paranoid and immediately leaves. He heads out the front door and is confronted by Gino. Whitely pushes Gino down and runs back into the hospital. Without waiting for Patrick, Gino pursues him and is led to the morgue. Gino is subdued by Whitley and locked inside one of the freezer drawers. What is it with American Horror Story and burying people alive? We saw it with Madame LaLaurie and Misty Day in "Coven" and then we saw that poor couple in "Cult" get locked inside twin coffins. The episode ends with Gino screaming and begging to be let out while Whitley gets away.

At this point, I'm sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happens next. Thankfully, I don't have to wait long because while I find it odd that FX is releasing episodes of American Horror Story two at a time, I'm also grateful because there's no way I could have waited an entire week to see if whether or not Gino would be okay.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE ...

I know I'm a wee bit late with this reaction but I wanted to share my thoughts about "Thank You for Your Service" before I jump into episodes three and four. Things pick up right where they left off in the previous episode. Gino Barelli (Joe Mantello) regains consciousness and discovers he is bound and gagged in an unfamiliar room. It should be noted that a dark book handkerchief is used to gag Gino. His captor uses a hypodermic needle to inject something into his fingernail beds, which made me squirm, but when he sees the United States Marine Corps tattoo on Gino's chest, he thanks Gino for his service and tells him that he's sacrificed enough. Rather than continue with his planned butchery, he sedates Gino, again, and the next time Gino comes to, he is in a booth at an adult arcade. Gino stumbles out of the place and collapses on the sidewalk. We then get our title sequence.

We hop over to the office of Dr. Hannah Wells (Billie Lourd). Her patients include Sam (Zachary Quinto), KK (Clara McGregor), and a guy named Mr. Whitley (Jeff Hiller) who looks exactly like the guy who kidnapped Gino and held him captive. Hannah tells Sam that he has a sexually transmitted disease she's recognized in four other patients and recommends he takes medicine, rest for three days, and abstain from having sex. When it's Whitely's turn to see Hannah, he tells her he has a persistent rash, the same persistent rash the other patients have. 

Adam Carpenter (Charlie Carver) goes to see Gino at the Native. Gino recounts his abduction and torture as well as his attempt to file a report with the police department. Perhaps the most heartbreaking part of Gino's story is how Patrick (Rusell Tovey) pretended to not know him when he saw him at the police station. I get that it's not safe for Patrick to be out at work, but it's still pretty shitty that he turned his back on his partner in his hour of need.

Never one to be deterred, Gino writes in great detail about his capture. Adam suggests establishing a hotline where gay men can report information anonymously without fear of retaliation from the police. Gino ends up hiring Adam and the younger man starts placing flyers with the hotline number up around the city. It doesn't take long for the phone calls to start rolling in. Adam gets brought into the police station where he is interrogated by Patrick, Detective Mulchahey (Brian Ray Norris) and Mac Marzara (Kal Penn) in regard to the Gino's article which features the interview he gave to Gino at the Native. They demand he retract the interview because it shines a negative light on the police but he refuses. Adam is put in a holding cell as punishment and Patrick goes to talk to him. He tells Adam that he will be released. Adam asks if any of the other police officers know that Patrick's gay but Patrick avoids the question. He gives Adam his business card and tells him to call him if he sees anything out of the ordinary. He lets Adam know that he does care about everything that's going on and that he is quietly investigating the murders. 

Gino and Patrick's ex-wife, Barbara Read (Leslie Grossman) run into each other on the street. She gives him a small, wooden box she found in storage and tells him it belongs to Patrick. The contents of the box include poppers, some bondage gear, and handkerchiefs. Barbara tries to tell Gino that Patrick has been lying to them but he accuses her of being jealous. Gino stalks off but he is obviously rattled by the revelation.

Meanwhile, Adam is released from the holding cell and he is picked up from the police station by his friend Morris (Kyle Beltran). I love the conversation between the two as Adam recounts his horrific experience with the NYPD. Morris reminds him that this sort of thing happens all the time to people of color, especially queer people of color, and that perhaps Adam has been able to turn a blind eye to the NYPD's mistreatment of their community because his white privilege shielded him from it. He then invites Adam to a warehouse party.

Back at Gino and Patrick's apartment, Gino is upset because the detective he talked to about his capture accused him of making it all up. He is upset at Patrick because he feels like he isn't doing enough to investigate. While I sympathize with both men, ultimately I'm on Gino's side. I get Patrick's initial reservation about taking interest in cases involving gay men but now it's personal. At some point he is going to have to choose between his job working for the NYPD and his relationship with Gino because in this particular social and political climate it's next to impossible for him to have both. Gino suggests the two of them go to a nearby leather bar to gain some intel. 

We then see a young man named Stewart (Taylor Bloom) sitting at a bar. Someone sends over a Mai Tai but he declines the drink. He heads outside and hears a payphone ringing. The man on the other end of the line is Sam and he invites Stewart to come over to his place. Not to pass any judgment, but I must say, I do find it interesting that this guy is obviously savvy enough to decline drinks from strangers, but he's willing to show up to a complete and total stranger's house for sex. Very, very interesting. 

Adam and Morris go to a warehouse party which reminded me of a scene straight out of Velvet Goldmine. The master of ceremonies, a guy named Cameron (Gideon Glick), invites Morris onto the makeshift stage along with another performer named Hans (Casey Thomas Brown). It should be noted that Cameron is wearing a powdered wig and is looking very much like the Edward Mott character in "Roanoke". Cameron injects himself with an unknown drug and I must say, if "Hotel" didn't give me a phobia about needles, this season definitely will. Cameron recites some slam poetry and warns the audience that something's coming. He looks right at Adam as he says this which prompts Adam to leave the venue. Adam runs into Theo kissing another man and Theo follows him outside. 

I really dug the conversation between Adam and Theo because I have been both of them at some point in my life. Adam wonders aloud why Theo goes from one man to the next when he is supposed to be in a relationship with Sam. Theo explains that for him, sex is biological. For him sex and love are mutually exclusive, and he can love Sam while seeking sexual satisfaction from other men. Adam counters this by asking Theo if he thinks he can do better. For Adam, sex and love aren't mutally exclusive. Theo hints at wanting to having sex with Adam, but Adam suggests they go somewhere to get something to eat, have a drink, and talk. I love that this interaction was included in the episode because the gay community, or rather the queer community, in general, has often been maligned as hypersexual, and while sexuality and sexual expression are an important part of the community, there are queer people who share Adam's philosophy. I don't think one perspective is particularly more valid than the other. I think both should exist, just as they do with straight people.

Meanwhile, Gino and Patrick arrive at a leather bar called The Ditch and they immediately split up. Gino goes to talk to the bar's manager, Alana (Rebecca Dayan). These two clearly have a friendship and mutual respect for each other. Alana asks Gino what he's writing about these days and he tells her he is reporting on the string of murders. Alana agrees that what's going on in their community is awful, she asks that he not mention the bar because the bar is owned by the mob and they wouldn't take kindly to be associated with the murders. Gino promises he will not mention The Ditch in any of his articles. 

Patrick gets propositioned by the bar's bouncer but rebuffs his advances. The bouncer is sent a drink, a Mai Tai, and comments that it's an odd drink to be serving in such an establishment. He downs it without even thinking twice. 

Gino and Patrick meet back up and sit at the bar. Gino tells Patrick about his run-in with his ex-wife, Barbara. He tells Patrick that he knows about his leather fetish. Patrick is frustrated that Barbara is getting involved in their relationship. Their argument is cut short when the bouncer is stabbed in the neck by Whitley who disappears into the shadows of the club. Whitley is getting bolder and bolder with his killings. Killing someone inside a crowded bar is kind of reckless but it's also kind of genius in a way because everyone seemed too preoccupied to notice what he was doing. Patrick goes into cop mode to access the situation while Gino looks on in horror. 

Later on that night, we see Hans, the performer from the warehouse party, walking home. We also see Big Daddy following him. We also see Dr. Hannah Wells at her office reviewing the lab work from her patient Whitely. She gets a phone call from Fran (Sandra Bernhard) who asks her to meet her in Central Park. Fran tells Hannah she has information about her patients and the deer on Fire Island. Hannah heads over to Central Park, at night, and is accosted by a leather-clad man wielding a chain. He chases Hannah but she ends up running into Fran. When she tries to show Fran where the man was, there is nothing to be found. Fran tells Hannah that the disease she is studying was deployed by the government as a way of attacking the most vulnerable populations in the city. 

We see Sam return to his apartment. Big Daddy is standing outside his door but he walks by as if he doesn't see him. We then see that Sam is holding Stewart captive in a cage. Stewart asks to leave but Sam decides to keep him locked up. I'd like to take a moment to say I don't think Sam is the one reponsible for the murders. I do think he's quite sadistic and something tells me he's going to get his comeuppance by the end of this season.

The next morning, Patrick and Gino talk about the murder at The Ditch. Gino laments that once again, a gay man is murdered and the police aren't doing anything about it. Patrick tells Gino there weren't any drugs in the drink the bouncer drank before he was killed, but Gino thinks Patrick is holding something back. Patrick gets a call and heads over to yet another crime scene. Marzara points out six severed hands, each of them belonging to six victims. That's where we end the episode.

Finally! The moment we've been waiting for all year is here! The latest season of American Horror Story debuted last week. This new season of AHS called "NYC" features a mix of old and new. We have AHS alums Billie Lourd, Denis O'Hare, Leslie Grossman, Patti LuPone, Sandra Bernhard, and Zachary Quinto joining some newcomers to the series - broadway actors Joe Mantello (Angels in America) and Isaac Powell (West Side Story) and television actors Russell Tovey (Being Human, Looking) and Charlie Carver (Desperate Housewives, The Leftovers, The Boys in the Band). We also have a new setting - New York City. 

Having watched the first two episodes, I have some thoughts as well as some theories about where this season is going. So, let's talk about it!

SOMETHING'S COMING ...

It's very rare I start a new season of American Horror Story not knowing the premise. I think not knowing what to expect is one of the main reasons as to why I thoroughly enjoyed both episodes. Speaking of episodes, let's begin with episode one, "Something's Coming". Without any fanfare, we're dropped right into early-80's New York City - 1981 to be exact. We see a pilot named Captain Ross (Lee Aaron Rosen) and a few flight attendants exit a cab and enter a hotel. While walking to his hotel room, Captain Ross is confronted by one of his coworkers, Tawny (Kelsey Lea Jones), and she comes on to him like gangbusters. Captain Ross flashes his wedding band and tells her thanks but no thanks and proceeds on to his hotel room where he proceeds to shower and dress in his finest leather gear. 

Captain Ross makes his way to a sketchy part of town and goes into a seemingly abandoned warehouse where men in various states of undress are hooking up in darkened passages. The last time we see the captain alive on screen is when we see him being watched by a muscular, masked man dressed in head to toe leather. The next thing we see is a headless body by the river. The NYPD, including a cop by the name of Patrick Read (Russell Tovey), are on the scene investigating. And if I didn't already know we were back in the 1980's, then it was made abundantly clear the moment one of the cops made a derogatory joke about the victim who is presumed gay. It's a harsh reminder that even though this scene is taking place over 40 years ago, homophobia is still an issue in 2022. 

To make matters even more bleak, we head over to Fire Island where a scientist and doctor by the name of Hannah Wells (Billie Lourd) is investigating a new virus that is threatening to wipe out the deer population on the island. Hannah suggests killing off the remaining deer before the virus has a chance to jump to humans. With this being 1981, I have a sneaking suspicion what this new virus could be.  

We learn that Patrick is gay and is living with his older partner, Gino Barelli (Joe Mantello). The two appear to be polar opposites. Patrick used to be married and is now living as a gay man, though he is closeted at work for obvious reasons. Gino is an openly gay and works as a journalist for a newspaper called 'The Native' which reports on issues concerning the gay community. They both have different approaches when it comes to the string of murders involving local gay men. While Patrick is content to quietly investigate, Gino wants to use the newspaper to shine a huge spotlight on the issue. There's obviously some tension between these two but they do seem to genuinely care about each other. 

We then meet Adam Carpenter (Charlie Carver), a young gay man currently in the middle of a breakup. His friend and roommate, Sully (Jared Reinfeldt) attempts to cheer him up by taking him to a cruising spot in the park. What I like most about Adam is his innocence which is a striking contrast to many of the characters we are introduced to in this episode. He's a romantic at heart and isn't really interested in anonymous hookups.

Adam is left alone after Sully goes off to hookup with a total stranger and that is when he sees the same muscular, masked man in the leather get-up we saw earlier in the episode. He runs away calling after Sully. Sully goes after him and is confronted by the mysterious, possibly murderous leather daddy. We hear him scream and that is the last we ever see of Sully.

Adam reports Sully's disappearance to Patrick at the police department. Adam thinks that Patrick doesn't want to help him but Patrick assures him that he does care about the situation and he does want to help but he can't and it's not because Sully is gay, it's because he hasn't been missing for more than 48 hours. He tells Adam to come back if Sully hasn't turned up in a couple of days and Adam leaves the station. 

Patrick then goes to talk to the captain, Mac Marzara (Kal Penn) about Sully and all of the recent murders but gets nowhere. I do find it interesting that we have a POC character in a position of power who could honestly give a shit that a bunch of homosexuals are being murdered. I imagine it couldn't have been easy for him to get to the position he is currently in, yet he seems intent on shitting on an entire community instead of trying to do right by them. P.S. - I love Kal Penn as an actor and as a person but the character he is playing in American Horror Story: NYC is a garbage human and I hope we get to see his comeuppance by the end of the season.

We then head over to Neptune Baths Health Club where the resident chanteuse Kathy Pizzaz (Patti LuPone) is performing "Fever" by Peggy Lee. Adam arrives and takes a seat at the bar. He notices a black and white photo of the same leather man ran into at the park and asks the bartender if he knows who the guy is. The bartender says he doesn't know who the man is but he knows who took the photograph. He points out Theo Graves (Isaac Powell) who appears to be pretty popular amongst the clientele.  

At the other end of the bar, Gino overhears the conversation with Adam and the bartender. He beckons him over and introduces himself. Gino tells Adam that the police won't help him but he will. He gives Adam his contact information. Adam goes to Theo's studio the following day and learns the identity of the masked man he saw in the park as well as in the photograph he saw in the bathhouse. Adam tells Theo that he thinks the same guy is hurting people and gives him his number to call if he finds out any more information on him. Theo rushes Adam out of the studio just in time for Sam (Zachary Quinto) to arrive. 

Sam is Theo's manager and boyfriend and it only took one line (no pun intended) for me to know this guy is bad news. Sam is every besuited businessman snorting coke off the coffee table we've ever encountered in an 80's movie and he and Theo have a really effed up romance. Sam accuses Theo of using him for his money and is trying to pressure him into going the porn route while Theo is content with the type of photography he is currently doing. Theo also senses that something dark is coming, which is where we first hear the title of the episode, but Sam seems unconcerned. Meanwhile, Patrick asks Gino about the significance of a blue handkerchief (a blue handkerchief was stuffed in the mouth of the severed head found earlier in the episode) and Gino tells him about the hanky code, a way for gay men to communicate their sexual interests. Patrick then tells Gino he is not authorized to investigate the recent murders and that he has to be careful about leaking information. He asks Gino to go to The Brownstone Bar on his behalf to gather information.

Patrick meets with his soon-to-be ex-wife named Barbara (Leslie Grossman) and presents her with divorce papers. The two of them have a pretty decent relationship considering the circumstances behind their relationship coming to an end. I also get the sense that Barbara is being as suportive as she can regarding Patrick being gay. She asks him why he married her and his answer seems genuine. Patrick, like so many gay men of his ilk, wanted to have the wife and family but ultimately he couldn't make it work. He tells her that he still loves her. It's a bittersweet scene but ultimately both of them seem better off apart than together. 

Gino heads over to the bar and chats with a regular named Henry (Denis O'Hare). Henry refuses to go on the record for Gino but he does give him a valuable piece of information: all of the serial killer's victims drink Mai Tais. When Gino goes to leave, he realizes he's been drugged. As he stumbles out of the bar, he is ushered into a car by a strange man. 

Sam is also at the Brownstone Bar and he's talking with an up and coming actor named Freddy (John Bubniak), arranging for him to be photographed by Theo as a means of garnering him exposure. Freddy arrives at Theo's studio and what starts as a homoerotic photoshoot turns into something a bit more scandalous when Sam flips over a wooden stool and asks him to sit on it. Freddy does follow through and Sam is pleased with the photos. When Freddy leaves, Theo asks Sam about Big Daddy. Sam gets upset and tells Theo that Big Daddy is dead. It should be noted that Big Daddy was standing outside of Theo's studio and that Sam seemingly acknowledges his presence. 

Adam meets up with Theo at the bathhouse and tells him about Big Daddy. Adam is perplexed because the person he saw in the photo is the same person he saw at the park the night Sully disappeared. Theo lives to go hook up and Adam is propositioned by Freddy. Adam declines his offer for sex and Freddy heads off to the steam room where he runs into Big Daddy. We end the episode the way we started with a very bleak scene and a sign of things to come. We find ourselves back on Fire Island with Dr. Hannah Wells as she watches a group of infected deer get slaughtered by the police. It's a harsh reminder of the storm that's about to come in the form of the AIDS epidemic. 

I'm gonna pause my reaction here and do my reaction to episode two in another post. This first episode feels very different from previous first episodes of American Horror Story. The characters, whether you loved them or hated them, felt really grounded. I really like Gino and a lot of that is due to Joe Mantello's acting. I also like Adam who reminds me a lot of myself in my earlier years. It's fun to see Leslie Grossman play someone so understated this season and I wonder how Barbara will be used in future episodes. The only character I dislike and it has nothing to do with the actor is Sam. Sam is a sleeze ball and I wonder what dark secrets he's hiding. The only character I'm truly on the fence about is Patrick. Patrick is giving me John Lowe (Wes Bentley) in "Hotel" vibes. I get the feeling he's a troubled individual but is he a bad guy? Cops, historically, on this show have turned out to be bad guys.

As for the episode itself - it felt surprisingly restrained in a way I'm not really used to with American Horror Story. As an avid fan of the show, I can also be one of its biggest critics. I've been a fan of Ryan Murphy since Popular and I have no problem admitting that while he swings big when it comes to film and television, he has just as many misses as hits. The same can be said about this show. Many would argue the show has lost the magic of the original seasons, but I think this episode is a promise of that magic returning. We're off to a great start. I just hope the writers can stick the landing at the end.