#American Horror Story Season 10 Episode 3 Review: Thirst

We need to talk about Alma.

American Horror Story Season 10 Episode 3 kicked off with the youngster being scolded for feeding on a rabbit in the cemetery, but by the end, she made her first kill and had some bowls of blood for her and her father.

If you watch American Horror Story online, you know the thirst that comes with taking these pills that seemingly send the creative mind into overdrive, and with Alma now a full-blown bloodsucker, well, things are going to get pretty gnarly.

The image of Harry returning from the hospital to see that his daughter had transformed into his worst nightmare was something, but hey, at least she kept him a bowl of blood.

That’s the only positive in this scenario, right?

We don’t fully know the extent of the ramifications the pill has on children, and the way Austin and Belle reacted certainly suggested, there was uncertainty surrounding it.

Still, the wider issue would be that Alma wouldn’t just want to play Paganini in the winter: She is ready for world domination.

The kid is a liability to everyone in town, and the arrival of Holden as an interior designer who loves Provincetown in the winter suggests there’s going to be the ultimate battle to maintain the secrecy surrounding the pill.

Holden clearly took the pill in the Winter and returned to the big city with lots of ideas for his projects, in a similar vein (hehe!) to how the writers are getting all of their best material.

Ursula took me by surprise. I pegged her as the mastermind behind this operation to get a string of creatives under her belt and, well, make a lot of money in the process.

I wasn’t entirely wrong, but I was wrong about the timing. Ursula wants all of these people to put her name on the map and, of course, make her a lot of money.

It highlighted the fact that she didn’t care where the scripts came from. She desired to get these scripts into production.

Leslie Grossman is one of the best actresses in the franchise, and Ursula is her best role to date. Seriously, Grossman went above and beyond to turn in this riveting performance.

With three episodes of the story left, it makes me wonder whether we should prepare for a war between Harry, Alma, Mickey, and Ursula against, well, everyone else in town.

Austin and Belle had a good deal. Their sub-par work turned into some of the best work in the world in those winter months, and their decision to bring Harry in could be their ultimate undoing.

That’s what they get for helping people they don’t know. Then again, did they really help Harry? There appear to be some elements of them wanting to control him, and it’s hard to imagine them not forcing him to pay them anything off of what he makes from the scripts.

What does The Chemist actually make in this scenario? We now know some of the mythology surrounding the pills, and it wasn’t a surprise that you can have the right ingredients, but you need to cook them in the right way.

This is another exciting role for Angelica Ross. Coming off American Horror Story Season 9, I was concerned she would get a terrible character because this franchise is not entirely consistent when it comes to giving the all-star cast good roles, but The Chemist could blossom into Angelica’s best yet.

As we delve into the second half of this tale, The Chemist is clearly going to play a huge part in the events, but it will be fun to see where everyone lands.

Austin and Belle will not want to leave the town with Alma, Harry, and Mickey still alive. The trio is detrimental to their future, but there’s also the Doris of it all to consider.

Lily Rabe’s character took a backseat on “Thirst” to allow the other storylines to flow, but Doris is not going to be able to come to terms with the fact that her husband and daughter have been killing people.

How will she be able to get away from the place safely without her or her unborn child getting harmed? That’s one of the more intriguing questions at play here.

Mickey will likely choose the side of Ursula and Harry because he desperately wants to become a screenwriter, and there is a lot Ursula can do for him.

However, if Ursula does escape town with a healthy dose of the pills, she’ll probably cut Mickey loose. She’ll have many friends back in Los Angeles that she’d want to make into overnight stars.

The power will go to her head. We know American Horror Story doesn’t mind going meta to tell a story, and something tells me we might get a scene or two in Los Angeles with other creatives in the know about the pills.

As for Chief Burleson’s death, it was going to happen sooner rather than later.

She was asking too many questions and posed a threat to the existence of the Gardner family, so if Alma was going to make her first kill, she was best doing it to someone who wanted answers.

At least Burleson was a detective that wanted answers. She had bodies popping up everywhere, but she really should have delved deeper into the pale-looking men roaming the streets.

“Thirst” was the perfect follow-up to the premiere. It successfully sent the narrative in a compelling new direction and delved deeper into the characters’ wants.

What did you think of Harry being kidnapped? Are you surprised how much Ursula wants the drugs?

What’s your take on The Chemist?

Hit the comments below.

AHS continues Wednesdays on FX.

Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.