Delicate may not pack the same punch as the seasons that got you into this glorious, ominous mess that is American Horror Story, but you have to hand it to Halley Feiffer for not budging from the point the season is trying to make—it’s time for the mediocre white men to be cut down to size. Anna’s increasingly creepy experience with pregnancy and making it big in Hollywood has gotten her surrounded by some very powerful, aestheticized women (dare I say witches) of an inexplicable immortal “sisterhood.” The second part of Delicate isn’t too keen on sugarcoating the incompetence of the men around Anna. But who is she supposed to trust anyway?
Spoiler Alert
Anna’s dad wasn’t all that either, was he?
Well, it may not be one of the morbid accounts of the baby cult snatching yet another questionable newborn, but they certainly may be recruiting one as we’re yanked back to the late 80s. The Alcotts should take no pride in the men they pick, for sure. As baby Anna is cradled with love, frustration, and that creepy ol’ lullaby, her mom is met with the bitter indifference of her dad. From the looks of it, it hasn’t been an easy postpartum. Let’s just say it’s going as good as it can go with a new dad who doesn’t feel all that connected to the “potato with eyes” and doesn’t mind hitting his tired wife with an insensitive comment about how bad she reeks. But the urge to punch his teeth out that you feel now is nothing compared to the rage you’ll feel at his annoyance over his wife writhing in pain at night. It’s his dismissive nature that causes her untimely death, even though he’s ready to blame the doctor for not telling him that pulmonary embolisms are something that some new mothers die from. It seems like Ashley and Ashleigh aren’t the only mysterious women who’ve looked the same for centuries. With the same haircut and looking not a day younger, Talia’s house manager, Nicolette, picks up a crying baby named Anna. A nurse in the 80s and a house manager in the present? Not a regular being, I suppose.
What’s new in Anna’s haunted tale of pregnancy?
Siobhan doesn’t seem all that broken up about her Gen Z client’s ghastly death. And why would she be when she’s probably (read: definitely) the one behind it? But don’t tell anyone you’ve read this here until the big reveal, okay? The freaky Ashleys seem to be hellbent on fixing Anna’s perpetual state of crisis. This time, with a perfect speech for her to read at Babette’s funeral. Oh, the sound of all that approval! Who’s keeping her from winning that SAG award now? Anna’s starting to get that no one’s going to hand her her autonomy unless she snatches it from the world. So nary a hoot was given to Dr. Hill and Dex. But picking up an adorable stray feline at the Hamptons house was probably supposed to go better. The scratch she gets on her face is of much less concern to her than the sight of yet another Summer Day doll, this time with broken limbs. It’s quite a collection Anna’s making in the crib she hides in the basement of Talia’s luxury house. Nicolette has apparently opened her door to find another Summer Day doll on her porch, too. And what do the locations of all the Summer Day dolls line up to form? A pentacle. It’s alright, Satan; we’re not going to tell anyone that you’re growing inside Anna’s womb. But you might want to be a bit more subtle with the signs. It’s a touch too on the nose, with Anna’s pool time being interrupted by two black goats and a claw perforating her stomach from the inside. Who’s going to book her an appointment for an abortion?
What happens at Dex’s gallery opening?
Can you blame Anna for keeping the pool incident from Dex? He’s called her crazy in a roundabout way more than a few times. And from that one scene with his father, it seems like the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree. I mean, there are red flags, and then there’s Dex’s dad; making a distasteful comment about the dead actress on the screen; grumbling about the woke world stealing his rights to call his ex-wife crazy. Obviously, he’s only meeting his son to dissuade him from testifying against him in court. But Dex has enough on his mind with his brand new gallery opening, thanks to his trust fund friend Talia’s help. You have to admit that, under the circumstances, Anna is the most composed a person can be. But that dead fan from the Gotham Awards isn’t done with Anna. What an inconvenient time and place for a haunting! It seems to be a full house at Dex’s gallery with Ivy herself showing up—an intern this time—no plans of sticking a probe inside Anna and giving her another miscarriage, I’m sure. There’s something about Sonia that makes me want to trust her. Don’t get me wrong, the woman’s as weird as they come. But as she gifts Anna a painting and kisses all her boo-boos away, Sonia almost gives off a sort of motherly vibe. I doubt that it’s all in Anna’s head when she finds herself encircled by Sonia, Talia, Nicolette, and Ivy. With the painting taking on an eerie form and emitting the strange sound of a baby crying, Anna’s grip on her sanity gets a bit more loose.
Why did Dex’s mother kill herself?
Why must every character who’s about to blow the whistle on someone shady blabber about it beforehand? Had he not done that, Hamish would probably still be alive. Evidently, he didn’t call Siobhan to end their “relationship.” Riding the coattails of someone else’s work has been weighing heavy on Hamish’s conscience. He didn’t write “The Auteur.” And despite Siobhan’s staggering indifference in the face of his meltdown, the man has to make a symbolic gesture by burning a copy of the script. Seriously, what would that achieve? As his face soon pops up on TV as the great director who’s committed suicide, Anna’s path to that Oscar nomination poll gets even smoother. But more importantly, it gets all the more undeniable that Siobhan’s willing to go deadly for her client’s or best friend’s career. Of course, no one says it out loud. We don’t even have visual confirmation of Siobhan doing anything to Hamish. But we all know how comfortable Siobhan is with murder. Hamish should’ve just kept his mouth shut and gotten with the program.
Now, why would someone who’s at least planned, if not committed, multiple murders let Anna off so easily? Anna wasn’t wrong in wanting to quit all this madness. But Siobhan isn’t one to let her friend throw her dreams away, using motherhood as an excuse. That punch was uncalled for; I’ll give you that. But Siobhan’s points do make a lot of sense. Anna’d only grow resentful if she quit acting for her baby. And no baby deserves such a sad mother. Anna’s got a lot more immediate stuff to attend to, though. For starters, Preecher’s note warns her against trusting anyone. Anna was already done wearing that polite smile around Talia. It’s one thing to aggravate her insecurities by repeatedly mentioning how Adeline was all that, and Anna is a nobody. But to spy on her with hidden cameras? Now that’s crossing a line. Not that Dex would’ve been much help to Anna through all this, but as the ending of episode 6 suggests, he now has a tragedy of his own to deal with. A visit to Virginia ends on a traumatizing note. She’s slit her wrists in the bathtub. And yet another message of warning on yet another mirror can only mean that the threat’s way more vicious than both Anna and Dex are anticipating. Is Virginia’s death a suicide or a murder staged as one? Funny how Delicate never really answers a question without posing a new one. It’s possible that Virginia was finally done fighting after decades of abuse and possible intimidation. But why’d she give up when the case was just about to reach court and blow wide open? I smell a conspiracy.
