Ryan Murphy has brought back a new season of his famously known series,American Horror Story, for its thirteenth season. The series follows numerous characters brought back from previous seasons, with actors such as Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Jessica Lange, Billie Lourd, Emma Roberts, and Angela Bassett.
The episode begins with a man, Ben DeSoto, counting the magazines on a table as he and his partner, Kira, wait for their therapy session. The girl gives him an ultimatum: if he doesn’t make the flight to celebrate her birthday, she’ll break up with him. Ben has a condition called triskaidekaphobia. He has a fear of the number 13, which makes things difficult because Kira’s lucky number is 13.
The next day, at the last minute, Ben decides to go on his flight even though he’s a nervous wreck, wanting to make Kira happy for her birthday party. During their flight, the plane catches fire from a storm. Next, we see Cordelia and Madison with their witch coven in New Orleans. Lana says that there’s a lot of death to come because of the storm. She says, “Something wicked this way comes.”
Ben meets with his new hospice client, who ends up living on the 13th floor. He meets Constance, who introduces Ben to Mr. Nas, the patient Ben will be taking care of. Mr. Nas cannot speak and is paralyzed. While in the bedroom, Ben also meets Mr. Phibes, Mr. Nas’ doctor.
Later, Ben tells Constance about the plane crash, and she applauds him for his survival. Ben takes Mr. Nas to the bathroom to bathe him, and Constance goes with them to help. Constance talks him through the bathing. When she tells him to clean Mr. Nas’ urethra, Ben is disturbed, but does as he’s asked.
That night, Ben checks on Mr. Nas, who’s asleep. While in his room for the night, Ben hears a thud and realizes Mr. Nas isn’t in his bed. Ben panics and turns in his bed to see Mr. Nas right beside him.
Overall, this was a semi-short but intriguing episode. A theme that stood out in this episode was fear. The entirety of this episode showed Ben being afraid and stressed out, not just because of his condition, but because of his situation and the new patient. Jessica Lange did an incredible job in this episode; reprising her role as Constance Langdon is exciting to see. What will happen next for Ben?
Rating: 8/10