American Horror Story: NYC’s eighth episode, “Fire Island,” picks up the show’s pace again with an action-packed episode full of tension, intrigue, and character conflict. The episode’s conclusion also takes a stylistic approach different from what else we’ve seen in the show thus far.

With Whitely dead, everyone thinks all should be peaceful, but despite the fact that Fire Island should be a relaxing getaway for all, everyone is still battling their own demons. Patrick, played by Russell Tovey (Doctor Who, Sherlock), sees the ghost of his ex-wife everywhere, and Gino, played by Joe Mantello (Hollywood, The Boys in the Band), is consumed with the fear that he has the mysterious illness that Dr. Wells keeps seeing manifest in her patients. 

Meanwhile, Henry Grant, played by Denis O’Hare (American Horror Story, American Horror Stories),  feels like he’s no longer desirable without his hand (which he sawed off in episode seven). Sam, played by Zachary Quinto (American Horror Story: Asylum, Star Trek), assures him that everyone on Fire Island is looking for something and has essentially an equal opportunity to hook up with whomever they choose. This encouragement of Sam’s ends up ringing true, yet not in the way that one would think (we’ll get to this later).

Aside from all of this relationship-based tension, it turns out that there is in fact another killer on the loose besides Whitely. The leather-clad muscle man is back, this time lurking in the shadows and in the homes of those at Fire Island. The leather man attacks Gino and Adam, who are both saved (once again) by Patrick, who shoots and kills him. However, when they return to the body to take off the mask and uncover his identity, the body is suddenly missing. 

It seems like no one can ever just catch a break this season.

Circling back to the conversation between Henry and Sam, Sam ends up drugging Theo, placed by Isaac Powell (American Horror Stories, American Horror Story: Double Feature), and rigging him up to be a body for Henry to just take advantage of, which is obviously incredibly concerning. Through Theo’s drugged haze, there’s a lot of discombobulation with the camera work, and he even has some hallucinations. It’s not entirely clear as to whether or not Theo dies (I think he may) and Henry may or may not be dead due to the leather man (but isn’t he supposed to be dead?). It’s all incredibly confusing, but sure to iron itself out in the coming episodes. A resolution is imperative.

Rating 7.5/10.0