Commentary: ‘American Horror Stories’ Twists Shouldn’t Have To Be Explained
by Frank Martin
Twists are very useful storytelling tools, but they rely heavily on execution. A twist can elevate a story or act as a weird, out-of-the-blue turn included just for the sake of having a twist. They need to be subtle, yet profound at the same time. Because of this, stories may often be better served if they abandon the twist entirely and merely integrate that detail into the narrative from the start. If a twist becomes too heavy, it can weigh the story down. It becomes more of an obligation that has to be undertaken in order for the story to make sense. In which case, stories have to ask if the twist is a natural development or something that mealy serves the audience rather than the characters. A great example of this occurs in a recent American Horror Stories episode.
In “Organ,” a promiscuous man (Raúl Castillo) is proud of his female conquests through dating apps. He runs into trouble when a woman drugs him and he wakes up the next morning with stitches in his abdomen. He had an organ removed to sell on the black market, but something was also placed inside of him. In the episode’s closing moments, it is revealed that his boss and co-worker were behind the entire scheme in order to develop an organ that maximizes the life of the recipients. They planned to take it out of him and sell it for a hefty profit.
The episode takes a much more playful tone than other episodes in the series. It also has a bit of a spy vibe to it as the man infiltrates an organ auction to find the woman who drugged him. But the story suffers serious problems because of its twist and how it is revealed. The man is strapped to a chair and his boss and coworker explain to him in great detail their plan. This is completely unnecessary as the man is going to die in a few moments anyway. They had no reason to explain anything to him and they certainly didn’t care about his life enough for him to have the knowledge of his demise. This entire twist was done for the sake of the audience and so the characters were not acting for themselves. It was unnecessary and illustrates the wrong way to pull one off.
American Horror Stories is now streaming on Hulu.