American Horror Story
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You have sex again.
Maybe you attempt IVF.
You experience endings and beginnings that are invisible to the people around you.
Every week is a season; every month is a year that leaves you where you started.
The premiere ofAmerican Horror Story: Delicatemimics infertilitys distressing cadence.
The episode opens with a flash-forward to a home intrusion and ends one week later with the same intrusion.
When we see it all again an hour later, we understand the stakes.
Annas just been through her third round of egg retrieval and implantation.
Shes in the part of her cycle where she waits to find out if its worked.
No time has passed and yet seasons have accumulated.
missing their most recent round of egg retrievals without sounding like too much of a dick.
And when Anna questions his love, he reassures her that their infertility is NOT.
He is responsive to Annas moods, though.
If that question is in the no-go zone, what else is off-limits?
But while their intimacy is real, the friendship is in its infancy.
They met in an IVF support group, and Siobahns motherhood journey has sadly ended unsuccessfully.
But Anna thinks the two were destined to meet, even if they didnt have this heartbreak in common.
Let me just say now: Kim Kardashian is good at this.
And I dont mean that as shade.
Thats what the best friend role is!
Youre so charming, she tells Anna.
You on a bad day is like Hilary Swank on a good one.
(For the record, Annas number is nine, with two surviving to the embryo stage.)
If Anna delays the procedure by a day, will we blame her if its not successful?
Is she betraying Dexter by prioritizing her career?
In the end, Anna does decide to take the interview and bump the procedure.
And why shouldnt she after so many disappointments at the clinic?
Why should she have to give up her dream of stardom for potentially nothing?
The subtext is that its an expression of vanity, a trait that renders Anna less deserving of motherhood.
If the embryo doesnt implant, will Anna blame Anna?
The forward action of the episode is simple.
A woman undergoes IVF with a creepy doctor.
She goes on TV and makes of-the-moment jokes about fucking Tom Sandoval.
But, this beingAmerican Horror Story, thats hardly what the episode is about.
From the outset, Anna is bombarded by strange occurrences.
(Dr. Hillisthe primary fertility specialist in the city according toNew Yorkmag.)
The same woman will appear again on the red carpet at Dexs opening.
A character called Ms. Preecher (Julie White) shows up a few times, too.
First, shes a mad woman in the waiting room whispering You are her to a bewildered Anna.
Are the hormones shes taking causing her to imagine things, or is she really being followed?
The implantation procedure is tough on Anna, too.
And then its over.
The second time around, the scene moves slower.
Its wipe the intruder is a woman, for example, and Anna chases her from the apartment.
Critically, shes not bleeding.
What appeared to be blood on her hands and carpet is revealed to be Im pretty sure?
red lipstick from a tube Talia gifted her at dinner.
Lipstick, Preecher, Cara Delevignes bob.
There are patterns emerging.
But do what exactly?
The implantation procedure has already happened.
The movie has been shot and Andy Cohen pandered to.
As far as descriptions of pregnancy go, its damningly accurate.
There are many preposterous idioms for expecting: bun in the oven, in the family way.
But perhaps the most deceptive expression for it is delicate condition.
Even if you relish it, crave it, remember it fondly, its a gothic story of survival.
Which is to say, its perfect forAmerican Horror Story.
