The Ending of AHS Season 11 Was the Best Part

credit: AHS

To say that this current season of American Horror Story felt like a train wreck and one giant virtue signal would be kind, especially since every episode leading up to the finale didn’t have the same feel as the seasons that had come before it. But while the title might sound severe, the truth is that the two-part finale is that it finally brought everything to a close in a way that felt like a unified story that wasn’t fishing around in the dark for a reason to exist. Each character felt as though they’d only been partially fleshed out, the overall plot wasn’t cohesive enough to feel like a tightly-knit story, and honestly, there were too many plot holes that needed a lot of filling in. One could say that this is a theme that AHS has made popular since it started, but the truth is that not every season has been as effective as the most popular seasons that have come along. Like everything, unfortunately, AHS has taken to virtue signaling and creating a feeling that people should be giving extra attention to one point in history or another. But then again, that’s what storytelling is about. The end of this season told the story in a way that the rest of it couldn’t, unfortunately. 

credit: AHS

The ending of each character was well-written and shed a bit of light on why they were the way they were. 

It was interesting to see how two of the main characters were allowed to go out since both were shown to suffer quite a bit, but the fact is that their end was very telling, considering that Sam used people and created an encroaching darkness in his life that he couldn’t outrun. Patrick, on the other hand, had a stunning blend of light and dark that was depicted by his wife and the specter of Big Daddy, signifying that he’d known both good and evil in his life and had struggled between the two. While Patrick wasn’t an evil man, he definitely wasn’t innocent, and his ending shows as much. The actions that made him who he is in this story created a sense that his torment was finally over by the time his life was over, or at least the majority of it was. As for Sam, he needed to embrace the darkness he’d created to know even a minor amount of peace. As for their physical bodies, the ravages that the AIDS virus visited upon the affected are a part of history. 

There’s more feeling in the final two episodes than there is in the entire season. 

The idea that Gino survived for so long was indicative of the many gay men that felt the horror that was brought on by AIDS, as the image of the young men falling into the open grave was prophetic in a way that put the final nail in the coffin when it came to wondering if this virus was the main point of the season. It’s also a big reason why this season of AHS feels like a giant virtue signal since, despite not being entirely political, the AIDS crisis was something that became a real-life horror story for those who were involved. Since gay men were affected so heavily, with men of color being affected the most, according to various studies, it makes sense that this season was created to tell this story. But one can’t help but wonder why Murphy decided upon this subject, other than shine a light on something that people might have felt was misrepresented or forgotten. To be honest, the AIDS crisis has not been forgotten,  but whether people need to be reminded of it is in question. 

credit: AHS

The imagery used for the AIDS epidemic was interesting and, unfortunately, quite accurate. 

Watching as Gino was forced to endure the constant parade of death was meaningful, even if it was hard for those who might have been alive back in those days. The truth of the AIDS crisis is that people were dying in large numbers, and they had no idea why. The scenes in the hospital were heavily dramatized, but they were also a bit too real since no one knew how AIDS was being spread initially, and those who had the virus were being treated rather poorly. But the honest truth of this season is that it feels as though the showrunner was attempting to push this back into the spotlight for one reason or another that had little to do with the story and more to do with a personal statement that undermined the story in a big way. The ending was the best part of this current season because it not only brought things to a close finally, but it also placed a cap on a story that had spun out of control from the moment it started. 

To be certain, the AIDS epidemic was a horrible time for everyone involved, but the gay community was hit quite hard. 

This point, as made in the season, was horribly accurate, as it was the gay community that suffered the worst of this crisis. When all was said and done though, one can’t help but think that AIDS touched everyone in some manner, even if it didn’t create the same impact in every community.