Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/FX
When it was first announced that Kim Kardashian would star in the twelfth season of American Horror Story approximately 729 years ago in April 2023, I was left with only one conclusion: “This is going to be appointment television.” While I wouldn’t necessarily call Part 1 of AHS: Delicate “can’t-miss TV” now that I’ve seen the material, it certainly was an interesting way to spend five weeks. (Part 1 bowed its head tonight after five episodes; Part 2 will air sometime in the vast and unpredictable future, if ever.)
If you happened these first five episodes, here’s what you missed: A naive indie movie ingenue, Anna Victoria Alcott (Emma Roberts), is making the rounds on a promo tour after her surprise hit film The Auteur launched her modest star into the celebrity stratosphere. During that time, Anna and her boyfriend Dexter (Matt Czuchry) are trying to conceive a child, only to be confronted with strange happenings like stalkers, false miscarriages, and worst of all: phantom Google Calendar notifications. Luckily, Anna’s faithful publicist Siobhan Corbyn (Kardashian) has been there to hold her hand through every inexplicable occurrence—or maybe, throw her into them.
If that sounds like Rosemary’s Baby for TikTok-addicted Zoomers, you’d be right on the money. While not much has actually happened in the way of plot development in Part 1, it did affirm that Kardashian was indeed the sole reason to tune into AHS: Delicate. Week after week, she’s been dragging her stiletto across a tightrope situated between campiness and genuinely irresistible character work, outdoing all of her costars. (Yes, I’m being serious; no, the Kardashian-Jenner camp isn’t paying me, despite what people with two followers on social media might suggest!) But did Kim bring it all home in the Part 1 finale, so that we’ll actually want to tune into Part 2, whenever it may premiere? Let’s just say: Nothing can keep Siobhan Corbyn down!