TV Review: ‘American Horror Story’ Season 11, Episode 9

American Horror Story has entered a crossroads of sorts this season. The previous episode seemed to be handling that crossroads well as it had what appeared to be an epilogue to the Mai Tai killer storyline. However, it was more of an epilogue in hiding. This week’s first episode started a true epilogue as it dealt with Theo’s (Isaac Powell) death and a peculiar time jump. It was merely a part one of a two-part episode, though, so it might be unfair to judge it solely by itself.

During Theo’s funeral, Sam (Zachary Quinto) passed out. He woke up in a hospital and Theo somehow appeared as his doctor. Theo then took him on a very trippy dream-like adventure to confront his past and his sins. Once Sam’s story was done, the episode jumped several years into the future, where Patrick (Russell Tovey) was also sick. He then went on a similar dream like journey confronting his past. The sequence ultimately ended in his death with Gino (Joe Mantello) by his side in the hospital.

The series isn’t a stranger to dream sequences. It loves taking its characters on bizarre, self-reflective journeys that force them to rectify the past as well as their sinful actions. This episode was split into two parts as it dealt with Sam and then Patrick. The time jump is an odd anomaly that will have to be settled in the second half of this two-parter. It’s unclear where the two-part story will ultimately lead as things are very up in the air. There is still a big mystery lingering overhead involving Big Daddy and the illness that is claiming so many lives. It wasn’t a completely terrible episode as it expanded a lot of characterization, but the payoff definitely needs to come next.

American Horror Story airs Wednesdays on FX.