 American Horror Story Delicate Part 2 has continued with episode 7 entitled Ave Hestia and I've got a lot of thoughts about all of the revelations that came with it. But before we begin, I want to remind you guys to give this video a like because it would really help my chances getting recommended to new viewers and if you're not subscribed already consider doing so for all of the latest on your favorite horror properties. So this episode of AHS Delicate is made up entirely of flashbacks and it even contains what is now the earliest event in the timeline of the American Horror Story universe taking place in 42AD. Obviously we've got some immortal witches at play in this season and the more and more they come into the forefront in these episodes, the more that I'm into this stylish yet nefarious coven. That being said, this season has now officially gone completely off script from the novel that it is based on, Delicate Condition, by Danielle Valentine. But if you want to see me go into great detail about all of the differences between the book and the show then consider becoming a member to get my book to show comparisons for both episode 6 and 7. My opinions on the changes from the book that the show is making are actually positive like I like the changes that the show has made because although I really love the direction that the book went with its ending, it was clear to me that American Horror Story would need to add a few extra elements to elevate the material to the level of previous seasons, especially to the level of previous seasons of American Horror Story that contain witches. And I'm also enjoying being in completely uncharted territory having read the book. I have no idea where the show is going with these last couple of episodes. But there is one thing that was brought up in this episode that has me starting to worry that this may be another season of American Horror Story that is all leading up to the birth of another American Horror Story super baby. So what do I mean by an American Horror Story super baby? Well at this point in the series there have been a lot of seasons that result in the birth of a child that is usually gifted with some sort of supernatural abilities. Season 1's Murder House of course was the first instance of that which culminated in the birth of the Antichrist Michael Langton who would later return in season 8's apocalypse where the end of that culminated in the birth of another Antichrist who has yet to be seen again in the AHS universe. And then there's the quote unquote perfect alien human hybrid that is born at the end of Death Valley. There's a line in this episode of Delicate that gave me very bad Death Valley flashbacks where Ivy says that Anna will carry the most perfect creature or something along those lines. And while it's still not 100% certain what these creatures are, they definitely do not seem human at this point in time. So if this season does culminate in Anna birthing the perfect version of this creature and if it ends in a similarly open-ended way as Murder House Apocalypse in Death Valley did then I'm going to be left with a serious case of deja vu. The only logical explanation of why AHS has continuously gone down this path of a supernatural baby cliffhanger is that they must be setting up some sort of AHS baby Avengers. If you throw in Kit and Alma's kids from Asylum, The Gardener Baby from Red Tide, Bet and Dot and Jimmy's Kid from Freak Show, I mean the season just writes itself. Anyways back to reality and back to the episode. Since this episode is entirely flashbacks about what happened to Adeline there is no Anna in this episode which was definitely a shock after we've seen so many episodes featuring her and some of those episodes feature Anna in nearly every scene. That being said having Anna be the focus for so much of the season leaves a lot of characters fading into the background so I did enjoy getting to see some other characters bask in the spotlight. However it seems that even with Anna and Siobhan out of the mix the show still can't give the character of Theo anything to do. They get a couple of lines in this episode but it is not enough for us to actually get to know this character who as of now just seems like an afterthought in the writer's room. I also am missing Dennis O'Hare as Dr. Hill as well as Tabby Gevinson as Cora but based on the promo for next week it seems that we will be getting both of those characters in their long overdue returns. One thing that this episode did do a great job of doing is that it revealed a lot of information but it still leaves enough on the table for us to to be intrigued about these final two episodes. Episode 7 finally makes it clear that Anna is being targeted by an ancient coven of witches with the intentions of creating well we're not entirely sure but we can only assume it's some sort of sinister creature. We also discover that this ancient coven is taking part in the very satanic rituals that Virginia sued Dex senior over but we still don't know why Anna was chosen and we don't know for certain if Siobhan is the supreme of this coven and we also do not know how all of this ties into Anna's awards campaign. If this episode had reverted back to the pacing of episodes one through five and kept all of the things taking place all inside of Anna's head where anything can be interpreted as an hallucination then those final two episodes would be completely set up to be unsatisfying and rushed just like the last season that was split into two parts but with this episode giving us so much information I do have hope that Delicate may be able to avoid the rushed finale epidemic that has plagued so many other seasons of AHS. Annabelle Dexter Jones leads this episode in the dual role of Adeline Harding and Sonia Shawcross and she was nothing short of great in the episode. It was definitely refreshing to have her as a pseudo protagonist in this episode and she gave a really grounded and emotional performance in an episode that featured some performances that were a little off the walls. Cara Delevingne is that loose cannon to Annabelle's steady anchor but in American Horror Story that is definitely not a bad thing. I mean what other show can you be this unhinged and still come across as a threatening villain? Her performance was genuinely creepy at times but I would be lying if I didn't say that it bordered on being unintentionally silly but at this point in the season who am I to determine what is silly by intention and what isn't? Juliana Canfield as Talia is definitely getting better and better with each episode and she's made a really strong impression between episode 6 and 7 and I can't wait to see more from her. Mikayla J Rodriguez too is getting better and better with each episode as she's getting loads more to do. In this episode she's finally been fully unleashed as a villain and although it manifest in just a couple scenes it made me even more excited for what may come next from the character of Nicolette. Another strong point in this episode for me was the music. This season's score is done by longtime AHS composer Mac Quayle who has done some of my favorite television scores of all time but to be honest delicate score has has been a lot more understated than his work tends to be but in this episode there is a scene where the covens chanting becomes singing and we can hear a choir singing their chants and for me that was a really effective addition to that particular scene. It is also a bit reminiscent of the 2018 remake of Suspiria as are the movements that the witches make as they cast their spells. In Suspiria 2018 dancing and spellcasting are intertwined to an even greater extent and the score does have a very similar choral element and conveys a similar tone. I also wanted to note how similar this move by Ivy was to a move done by Fiona Good all the way back in Coven. Another similarity I felt in this episode was Adeline and Sonia's relationship which felt similar to the relationship between Winter and Kai Anderson in Cult. Both pairs of characters are siblings and one of these siblings is in deep with a cult-esque group and the other one's loyalty waivers and they both have some sort of game that they play with each other that seems tied to the cult. Winter and Kai have their pinky game and Adeline and Sonia have their knife game. Overall I think this episode along with last weeks did exactly what it needed to do in order to set up for an ending that has a great load of potential to be satisfying. They picked up the pace last week and this week they let the audience in on a bunch of this season's secrets. So with just a few lingering questions and a quickly escalating conflict, episodes 8 and 9 could turn out to break the rushed ending curse that we are all so familiar with. I really enjoyed this episode, it is taking a lot of risks and treading its own path in the lore of the series and I'm looking forward to seeing how these next couple of episodes wrap things up. Again if you want to see my book to show comparisons for this episode as well as last weeks consider becoming a member where you'll get exclusive uploads like that along with another new members exclusive video where I essentially pull random things out of a hat in order to create a fully randomized season of American Horror Story. Alright with that being said thank you guys so much for watching and I will see you next week.