American Horror Story: The Morning After

"The Morning After" is the second episode of season eight of the anthology series American Horror Story and the eighty-sixth episode of the series overall. It was directed by Jennifer Lynch with a teleplay written by James Wong. It first aired on the FX Network on Wednesday, September 19th, 2018 at 10:00 pm.

Notes & Trivia

 * This episode is rated TV-MA (LSV). It contains scenes of violence, strong language and nudity. Viewer discretion is advised.


 * "AHS: The Morning After" redirects to this page.


 * Actor Riley Schmidt also portrayed the Rubber Man in the season one storyline, "Murder House".


 * This is Jennifer Lynch's third episode of American Horror Story as a director. It is her first episode from the "Apocalypse" storyline. She previously directed the "Great Again" episode from the season seven storyline, "Cult".


 * This is the thirteenth episode of American Horror Story written by James Wong. It is his first episode from the "Apocalypse" storyline. He previously wrote "Neighbors from Hell" from the "Cult" storyline.


 * It is revealed that Wilhemina Venable suffers from scoliosis in this episode, which is her secret shame and why she walks with a cane.


 * This is the first appearance of Morris, who appears in flashback only. He is one of Evie Gallant's gay dinner guests. Whether this character survived the attack on California is unknown.


 * This is the first appearance of Walter, who appears in flashback only. He is one of Evie Gallant's gay dinner guests. Whether this character survived the attack on California is unknown.


 * This is the first appearance of Mario Vestri, who appears in flashback only. He is one of Evie Gallant's gay dinner guests. Whether this character survived the attack on California is unknown.


 * Casting oddity: Evan Peters plays Mister Gallant, who has sex with the Rubber Man in this episode. Evan Peter also played Tate Langdon in season one, who wore the Rubber Man costume while seducing Vivien Harmon.

Allusions

 * This episode establishes the year as 2021 in the month of October. This information is provided on the emails seen on Michael Langdon's laptop. This also establishes that Los Angeles was not completely destroyed in the missile attack, as alluded to in "The End". This is because the Hotel Cortez from "Hotel" is still standing in the epilogue scene at the end of "Be Our Guest", which takes place in the year 2022.


 * The residents of Outpost Three have been quarantined for more than eighteen months, which means the attack on the U.S. took place in or around the month of May in the year 2019.


 * The appearance of the Rubber Man is a call-back to the season one storyline, "Murder House". The ghost of Tate Langdon wore the Rubber Man costume when he impregnated Vivien Harmon, who later gave birth to Michael Langdon.


 * The song that plays at the end of this episode is "Gold Dust Woman" by Fleetwood Mac. The lead singer of Fleetwood Mac was Stevie Nicks. Stevie Nicks appeared in season three as herself in the "Coven" storyline.


 * After Mister Gallant's torture scene concludes, the song "Time in a Bottle" by Jim Croce is heard playing. Gallant actor Evan Peters also played Pietro Maximoff in the superhero film X-Men: Days of Future Past. A popular scene in the film shows Peters' character running at super-speed while listening to "Time in a Bottle" on his ear-buds.


 * Reference is made to the Sanctuary in this episode, which is purportedly an impregnable instillation with enough food and resources to supply it for more than a decade.


 * Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt makes reference to the Hunger Games in this episode. The Hunger Games is a series of films based on a series of books that takes place in a futuristic reality where children are forced to participate in survival competitions for the betterment of their respective communities.


 * During Mister Gallant's torture scene, he shouts out the names of iconic gay radicals including Rip Taylor, Larry Kramer, and Greg Louganis.

Questions

 * Is Michael Langdon also the Rubber Man in this episode? Langdon denies being the leather-clad fornicator who has sex with Mister Gallant, and it is clear that Langdon was in another part of the outpost during the Rubber Man's encounter with Gallant. A possible answer lies in "Could It Be... Satan?", which establishes that Langdon does possess the ability to teleport.


 * What the heck is up with Miriam Mead? At the end of the episode, Timothy Shoots her, which reveals a wound of wiring and circuitry, implying that Mead is a cyborg or a robot. This is expanded upon somewhat in "Forbidden Fruit" and "Could It Be... Satan?".


 * Someone is lying, but who? Michael Langdon states that Wilhemina Venable has violated the rules of the Cooperative governing fraternization. Venable however, says that her orders come from on high. Clearly somebody is being a little less than honest.

Body Count

 * 1) Evie Gallant - Stabbed to death by Mister Gallant.

Quotes

 * Michael Langdon: If you lie I will know, if you try to trick me I will know.

....
 * '''Michael Langdon: No need for rules anymore. Chaos has won.


 * Michael Langdon: I wouldn't fuck you if you were the last man on Earth... and you almost are.

Crew

 * Todd Nenninger - Producer
 * Crystal Liu - Producer
 * Eryn Krueger Mekash - Producer
 * Lou Eyrich - Producer
 * Eric Kovtun - Producer
 * Manny Coto - Consulting producer
 * Adam Penn - Supervising producer


 * John J. Gray - Co-executive producer
 * Bradley Buecker - Executive producer
 * Alexis Martin Woodall - Executive producer
 * James Wong - Executive producer
 * Tim Minear - Executive producer
 * Brad Falchuk - Executive producer
 * Ryan Murphy - Executive producer