While the third episode of American Horror Story: NYC titled “Smoke Signals,” mainly serves as a plot point episode to set up for bigger future plans, the unity of the murder and medicine subplots makes the lulls in this episode worth it. Actors like Joe Mantello and Charlie Carver continue to be stellar, and tension continues to be on the rise.

The episode opens with a woman telling Dr. Wells, played by Billie Lourd (Scream Queens, Booksmart), about experiments that used to be done when she still worked for the medical center. Homeless people and addicts would volunteer as experimentation subjects for money, but the ticks they were using escaped and spread their new disease past the reaches on the island on which they were all confined. Nonetheless, the woman warns Dr. Wells not to spread this information, as “conspiracy theories are dangerous.” The stress in the air is incredibly palpable, and this quote hints at the idea that a lot of things in the series thus far are word of mouth rumors which are easily spread and exacerbated to bigger issues.

As this is going on, Gino and Patrick continue to have their lover’s quarrels, but they’re escalating past that in terms of meaning. Being newly out, Patrick, played by Russell Tovey (The Good Liar, Grabbers), is still uncomfortable with a lot of parts of gay culture and even owning up to being fully gay given his career (NYPD), but his timidness gets on Gino’s, played by Joe Mantello (Hollywood, The Boys in the Band), nerves. The two men just have very different beliefs when it comes to what’s more important: being loyal to your community or to your career?

After his altercation with the murderer, now colloquially known as the Mai Tai killer, Gino manages to construct a portrait that somewhat resembles the man. As he pastes it around one of the local gay bars, the waitress recognizes the image and mentions that he fought in Vietnam, which only solidifies the fact that Gino has found the man that he’s looking for. 

All of this information is rather watered down with some unmemorable and unnecessary filler scenes and plot points. They may come back into importance later, but as of now it just didn’t pique my interest or make me feel like they were demanding my attention by any means.

The end of “Smoke Signals,” however, is one for the ages. Theo, played by Isaac Powell (American Horror Story: Double Feature, American Horror Stories), invites Adam, played by Charlie Carver (Hollywood, Ratched), to an incredibly upscale club. Whether the two are just friends or possibly something more is still up in the air. As the two are talking, the frame switches to a mai tai being delivered to their table, the killer’s M.O. Immediately after, it’s realized that the doors to the club have all been chained shut (how no one noticed this happening, I’m not entirely sure). Out of nowhere, there’s a massive explosion, burning and injuring many, the killer included.

Looking for the killer in the hospital, Gino learns that Dr. Wells and Adam have been conspiring to take the blood of Dr. Wells’ patients not only for medical research but also because of DNA for indictment purposes. With just their luck, they may be able to catch the Mai Tai killer once and for all.

Yes, this episode was a little slow compared to its predecessors thus far, but it still made for an enjoyable watch with a nail biting ending.

Rating: 7.5/10.0