American Horror Stories – Season 3 Episode 7 “X” Recap & Review

X

Episode 7 of American Horror Stories season 3 begins with a tollbooth operator, Malcolm, in the middle of the night, approached by a strange woman in a white robe. He calls in for some help but the woman is gone by the time he heads out.

Meanwhile, we meet Anna Henley. She’s at her wits end because the hospital is refusing treatment on her boy, who has cancer. He’s about to be kicked out the hospital, until he’s approached by Dr Nostrum, who points out he qualifies for an endowment from something called the Springhill Program. They’ll pay all the treatment… and apparently there’s no catch? Hmm…

The nurse here, Claire, is uneasy about all of this and discusses her concerns with fellow nurse Lilly. However, a patient comes stumbling in, covered in blood and with her mouth permanently open. This woman is seemingly dangerous, given she stabs one of the orderlies, Justin, in the throat and marks the wall with a big X.

The weird woman disappears though the next day and nobody seems to have seen her. Claire is traumatized by the event but in the bathroom, that strange woman shows up again. Claire wants to help and checking the tag on her wrist, finds out that her name is Alice Taylor. The woman though, is gone.

Wy is Claire working so hard to help? Well, it turns out she used to work at Mercy Hospital, where the spinal surgeons she worked with were charging Medicare for unnecessary surgeries. She ignored all of that and never spoke up. She feels responsible for it all, and now she wants to try and do right by them.

Lilly wants to pass this off to the police but Claire refuses, believing she can do better herself – and quicker – by searching the archives. There, they learn her attendant was Justin, the guy she killed, and apparently Alice was experimented on on the operating table. Only, she had skin cancer so it doesn’t quite add up.

Alice was moved to Ward X and now it becomes clear that Lilly signed the transfer form. It turns out every patient transferred there has never come back out. Lilly tried to cover everything up and now, she believes she deserves what’s coming next. Lilly tells Claire to go home before throwing herself off the roof, clutching the patient file in her arms.

An orderly picks up the file and takes off, while Dr Nostrum speaks to Claire in his office. Turns out Ward X belongs to him, and Springhill Program is all of what he’s doing. He believes they can save thousands of lives and if that means a few murders along the way? Well, according to him, so be it.

Nostrum pounces on Claire, who  ends up beating him down when he chokes her out. While Malcolm is grabbed and taken away by thugs, Claire rushes into the operating room to help Anna and her son. These are, of course, the pair from the beginning of the episode.

After saving the pair and telling them to run, Claire follows the strange lady down to the basement. She shows off the entrance to Ward X. With Nostrum’s ID card she snatched earlier, she heads on inside and sees the horror for herself. Malcolm happens to be in one of the cages too, but unfortunately Claire takes her eye off the ball and she ends up drugged and experimented on.

Dr Nostrum returns and he looks set to kill Claire, until Alice shows and kills the nurse. This gives Claire enough time to break free from her binds and stab Nostrum repeatedly in the face.

Detective Samuels shows after Claire awakens in bed, and she shows him down to Ward X… where he’s working with Nostrum and the others. She is, unfortunately, tied up and looks set to suffer the same horrific misfortune as everyone else.


The Episode Review

This episode is arguably the best of the whole season, although it does have a few narrative kinks to iron out. For large parts of this chapter, the Malcolm and Claire storylines feel disparate and we don’t quite get enough characterisation to really flesh him out. However, the black and white aesthetic actually works really well to heighten the tension.

The cinematography is so well done here, and the flickering lights, camera work and general ideas of a murder hospital all work together to create a deliciously dark and twisted thriller.

The ending does feel a bit rushed but honestly, that’s a minor point. I wish the rest of the season had this much care and attention put into the macabre horror because it’s easily a stand out in this show so far.

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