Episode 7 picks up with Cooper as he surprises Jordan by taking her to a new place he’s purchased for the both of them to stay at. In a tender moment, Jordan tells Cooper, “I love you.”
The episode shifts to FBI supervisor Meyer Williams at the hospital with his daughter, Joey, who has progeria. After a brief flatline scare, Meyer tells his wife, Juliana, that if Joey goes into cardiac arrest again, he wants a DNR order. Juliana refuses, going on to blame Joey’s condition as a result of Meyer’s older sperm.
The next day, Byron shows up unannounced at their home and lets himself in. Seated in their living room, he explains that he’s followed Joey’s story through Make-A-Wish and believes she is the perfect candidate for The Beauty. He then proposes that all three of them undergo The Beauty, promising it would give their family a fresh start. Revealing himself as Byron Forst, he makes his offer clear. But realizing there’s a catch, Meyer quickly handcuffs him to a chair. Byron admits he wants the FBI investigation shut down—specifically, for Meyer to hand over Cooper. He tells Meyer that Jordan, now infected, has been found and is being secretly kept by Cooper. In addition to saving their family, he even offers Meyer and Juliana an annual $10 million payment and a vacation home in exchange.
The episode then cuts to Antonio and Jeremy watching football together. Antonio calls Jeremy one of the few friends he’s ever had, and they finally exchange names. When Jeremy asks about Antonio’s eye patch, Antonio shares his past in a heartfelt moment. While working security for another billionaire, socialist activists attacked him with acid, leaving 80 percent of his body burned. Byron later saved him, offering The Beauty on the condition that Antonio work for him as an assassin. After the transformation, his eye remained scarred, so Byron gave him the sleek eye patch to cover it. Unable to reconcile life as both a father and a killer, he also chose to leave his son behind, calling it the only good thing he’s ever done. Jeremy admits how deeply he misses his own father, wondering if his father might have taught him how to be a better man. Suddenly, Antonio gets a text summoning them to the NIH to deal with Cooper and Jordan.
Cooper and Jordan enter the NIH, where Cooper reveals that Meyer has granted them one-hour full access. He guides Jordan, disguised as Agent Stone, through their plan: he will obtain a fresh tissue sample from Manny while she retrieves secret data from the encrypted servers in the data room. Together, they’ll use their findings to figure out the true nature of the virus and find a way to stop it before it advances.
Cooper successfully enters Manny’s hospital room, finding him unconscious on the bed. He snaps photos of Manny’s medical chart before collecting a tissue sample from him. He is interrupted by a nurse who appears to be checking on Manny—but the nurse is revealed to be Antonio, who injects a lethal poison that causes Manny to convulse and foam at the mouth. Alarmed, Cooper grows suspicious, and the two suddenly draw their guns on each other.
Meanwhile, as Jordan retrieves the data, Jeremy sneaks up behind her, pointing a gun to her head. A fight ensues, with Jeremy ultimately knocking Jordan down. He escorts her to the back of a truck. Jordan realizes that Jeremy is infected and warns him that he’s in danger.
Back in Manny’s room, Cooper and Antonio agree to put down their guns. They fist-fight. Cooper manages to throw Antonio down onto the floor. Antonio warns Cooper that before he proceeds, his sidekick has gotten Jordan. Cooper ultimately acquiesces and is escorted by Antonio to the same truck where Jordan is held. Handcuffed in the truck, Cooper flashes a smile to Jordan. He tells her, “I love you too.” The truck drives away.
The episode concludes with Meyer and Juliana confined in a small room. At this point, it’s implicitly understood that Meyer had orchestrated the entire NIH situation to hand Cooper over to Byron. Byron enters, assuring them that their daughter’s procedure has already begun and that she is safe. He then administers a dose to both parents, initiating their transformation. Moments later, their new versions step out, admiring each other’s appearances. Byron leads them to another room, where they are reunited with their healthy, transformed daughter. The family embraces, while a tearful Byron watches.
Episode 7 showcases The Beauty at its most intense, featuring the show’s highest stakes to date, rewarding payoffs, and intriguing, subversive character moments. Building off the previous episode, the show continues to explore new possibilities for The Beauty, highlighting its ability to cure terminal illnesses. By focusing on Meyer’s family, the episode examines the temptations of The Beauty through a deeply personal, familial lens. The true standout is John Carroll Lynch as Meyer, who expertly navigates his role as both a grieving father and an arbiter of justice.
Additionally, all the episode’s storylines converge as audiences finally see Cooper and Antonio clash. Yet, a few scenes before this anticipated confrontation, the show decides to include a heartfelt exchange between Antonio and Jeremy, where they open up about their pasts and personal struggles. The timing is strikingly effective: instead of delivering a predictable assassination scene involving the two that may be redundant at this point in the series, the episode offers an emotional moment that deepens both characters, showing them as more than one-dimensional antagonists. In many ways, their pain feels like opposite sides of the same coin. Even the episode closes on Byron’s tearful face as he watches Meyer’s newly transformed family reunite, hinting that he may be capable of caring for others beyond himself.
With Cooper and Jordan now in the hands of Byron and The Corporation, the stakes skyrocket, setting the stage for an exciting next episode.
Rating: 8/10
Photos credit: Courtesy of FX Networks