WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for American Horror Story season 11, episodes 5 & 6!American Horror Story: NYC episodes 5 and 6 hint at bizarre connections to AHS: Double Feature’s alien and vampire stories. Although American Horror Story season 11’s serial killer story seemed to have very few connections to past seasons in the franchise, NYC episode 5 offers several thematic links to American Horror Story season 10, which was split between the vampiric Red Tide and alien-centric Death Valley. From blood-related deficiencies to government conspiracies and nightmarish alien babies, American Horror Story: NYC is hinting at indirect links to Double Feature’s themes.
As Hannah runs more tests on her blood samples from those affected by American Horror Story: NYC’s fire, she notices that each of them – including herself – has low red blood cell counts. As if she wasn’t already concerned about her health, Hannah and Adam go get a tarot card reading from Fran that predicts grim futures for both American Horror Story season 11 characters. Hannah’s cards are Queen of Pentacles, the Ten of Swords, and The Empress, which aptly signal connections to Earth, disasters, and feminine energy. Later that night, Hannah has a nightmare that she gives birth to a baby with tentacles, which calls back to AHS: Death Valley’s bizarre alien plot line.
Is Hannah Having An Alien Baby In AHS: NYC?
Hannah’s nightmare of having a baby with tentacles is an eerie callback to American Horror Story: Death Valley, in which extra-terrestrials abducted men and women and impregnated them with alien-human hybrids. Some babies from AHS: Death Valley also appeared with tentacle-like deformities, suggesting Hannah could be giving birth to a similar baby. Since one of the tarot cards she drew represented connections to the Earth, it’s possible that American Horror Story: NYC is further hinting at her baby being extra-terrestrial in nature. The timeline also aligns with the aliens' plans, as AHS: NYC takes place in 1981, with Death Valley's Mamie Eisenhower faking her death and aiding the alien's plans at Area 51 in 1979.
Hannah having an alien baby is highly unlikely, as her nightmare seems to actually be representing her fears of what could happen to her baby if she’s diagnosed with AHS: NYC’s mysterious illness. But, at the same time, American Horror Story season 11 hinted at the AIDS epidemic being connected to government conspiracies, which was the core theme of Death Valley and Red Tide. As such, it’s not too far out of left field for the AHS franchise to reveal that the medical alien government conspiracy in Death Valley has some link to the AIDS government conspiracy mentioned by Fran in NYC.
How Hannah's Low Blood Count Connects To Red Tide
American Horror Story: NYC episode 5 also features a moment of déjà vu when Hannah mentions seeing low red blood cell counts in the reports for herself, Adam, and the fire victims at the hospital. In AHS: Red Tide, those who took the Chemist’s Black Pills (which were conducted in an experiment for the US military) ended up having mineral deficiencies in their blood. In order to replenish their mineral levels, AHS: Red Tide’s black pill users had to drink others’ blood.
AHS: NYC’s blood deficiencies aren’t likely to lead to vampiric tendencies, but it is curious that blood is playing a significant role in both NYC and Red Tide. The low red blood cell counts in American Horror Story season 11 are seemingly associated with NYC’s AIDS epidemic, as Hannah is trying to figure out why so many of her patients in the gay community are being diagnosed with similar rare diseases. In real life, low red blood cell counts can be indicators of anemia, with Project Inform revealing that it’s not uncommon for HIV-positive persons to have low counts. Rather than a vampire reveal like in Red Tide, the blood-related discoveries in NYC are hinting at HIV-positive diagnoses.
How AHS: NYC Could Make Double Feature Better
While AHS: Double Feature is regarded as the weakest season in the series, AHS: NYC’s connections to its themes open the door for season 10’s shortcomings to be improved upon. Death Valley was meant to be American Horror Story’s exciting return to an alien theme after Asylum, but failed to connect to season 2’s mysterious extra-terrestrials. The aliens’ plan in AHS: Double Feature also didn’t make much sense, with the aliens and humans failing to have a compelling conflict. As American Horror Story: NYC hints at diving further into government conspiracies, season 11 has the opportunity to better explain the government’s purpose in agreeing to create human-alien hybrids and to finally connect the aliens of Death Valley to Asylum.
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