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"When the Bough Breaks"
Series American Horror Story: Delicate
Season 12, Episode 3
American Horror Story 12x03 001
Air date October 4th, 2023
Writers Halley Feiffer
Director Jennifer Lynch
Producers Halley Feiffer; Ryan Murphy; Brad Falchuk; Alexis Martin Woodall; John J. Gray; Lou Eyrich; Karl Frankenfield; Scott James; Eryn Krueger Mekash; Franzis Müller; Todd Nenninger; Tanase Popa; Scott Robertson; Sara Stelwagen
Starring Emma Roberts; Matt Czuchry; Kim Kardashian; Annabelle Dexter-Jones; Michaela Jaé Rodriguez; Denis O'Hare; Cara Delevingne; Julie White; Maaz Ali
Episode guide
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"Rockabye"
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"Vanishing Twin"

"When the Bough Breaks" is the third episode of season twelve of the supernatural seasonal anthology series American Horror Story, and the 126th episode of the series overall. This season is billed under the sub-heading "Delicate". The episode was directed by Jennifer Lynch with a script written by Halley Feiffer. It first aired on Hulu FX on Wednesday, October 4th, 2023.

Plot[]

During the car ride home, Anna Victoria Alcott has an intense daydream. She believes there is a conspiracy of people attempting to prevent her from having her baby. She orders Kamal to stop the car, and she storms off on her own. She goes down a nature trail and into the forest. She spies Io Preecher in a tree who is singing "Rock-a-bye Baby". When she finally returns home, Dexter is extremely worried and tells her she has been gone for hours. Anna realizes that she is now losing time.

Anna and Dexter have taken up temporary housing in a large home in the Hamptons. Anna meets the new house manager, Nicolette. She finds a bowl of fruit on the table and becomes agitated. Anna loses time again.

Siobhan Corbyn comes over and Anna and she go for a walk on the beach. Anna discovers an old miniature doll in her likeness partially buried in the sand. She scoops it up and puts it in her pocket. From a distance, two individuals completely covered in black and walking a goat observe her.

Anna eventually goes back to the house and goes into the basement. Finding a bottle of wine, she chugs it down and then naps. She is awakened by a noise coming from behind a small door that leads into a tunnel. Anna enters the tunnel and she explores, she hears the sound of laughter. The tunnel leads into a larger room filled with lit candles as well as human fetuses in jars on shelves. The strangers with the black clothes emerge and tie Anna down to a chair. One of them injects something into her leg with a syringe. Anna later returns to the bedroom. She shows Dex the doll that she had found.

The following morning, Anna goes to a pharmacy and putters about with some baby clothes that she finds. She spies one of the mysterious black-garbed individuals passing through the store. She then meets the pharmacist, who is overly exuberant and notes that she knows that Anna is pregnant. Anna purchases a baby onesie that she had been sniffing at.

Kamal is driving Anna back towards the house when she suddenly spots Sonia staring at her from the sidewalk. She has Kamal stop the car, then notices Dexter on the street approaching Sonia, leading her into the building she was standing in front of. Suddenly, Io Preecher appears next to the car and shouts through the window, "Watch out for her!", meaning Sonia.

Anna returns to the house and begins sending out calendar messages on her mobile device. She is communicating with someone through appointment notifications. She inquires what the mysterious individual responding to her invites wants, and the messages come back with "I want to warn you. They did something to your baby. Your baby isn't dead".

Scared and concerned, Anna goes outside into the back yard. She stares down and sees the remains of a dead animal being eaten by maggots. From inside the house, Nicolette stares at her.

Cast[]

Starring[]

Note: Listings marked with a (†) symbol indicate cast members who are credited in this episode, but their character does not make an appearance.

Actor Role
Emma Roberts Anna Victoria Alcott
Matt Czuchry Dexter Harding
Kim Kardashian Siobhan Corbyn
Annabelle Dexter-Jones Sonia Shawcross
Michaela Jaé Rodriguez Nicolette
Denis O'Hare Doctor Andrew Hill
Cara Delevingne Ivy Ehrenreich †
Julie White Io Preecher
Maaz Ali Kamal

Guest Starring[]

Actor Role
Sarah Elizabeth Hewitt Drugstore employee

Co-Starring[]

Actor Role
None None

Notes & Trivia[]

  • American Horror Story was created by Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy and produced by 20th Century Fox Television. The series is unique from other such programs in that each season is a self-contained storyline with a different cast of characters and actors, though many cast members are recycled as different characters from season to season.
  • This season is an adaptation of the novel Delicate Condition by author Danielle Valentine, which was published in August, 2023. This is the first season of the series that does not feature original content.
  • This season is rated TV-MA. It contains strong language and scenes of graphic content. Viewer discretion is advised.
  • This episode is production code number CATS03.
  • This episode had a viewership of 366,000 people upon its initial broadcast, which is 48,000 higher than the previous episode.
  • This is the tenth episode of American Horror Story directed by Jennifer Lynch and her second episode from the "Delicate" storyline. She previously directed "Rockabye".
  • This is the third episode of American Horror Story written by series showrunner Halley Feiffer, and her third episode from the "Delicate" storyline. She previously wrote "Rockabye".

Allusions[]

  • The title of this episode is taken from a line from "Rock-a-bye Baby", which is a rather morbid nursery rhyme & lullaby about an infant falling to its death.
  • The over-arching theme of this season draws heavily from the 1968 supernatural horror film Rosemary's Baby by director Roman Polanski.

Quotes[]

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See also[]

External Links[]


American Horror Story logo
"Delicate"
This article pertains to an episode from season twelve of the American Horror Story television series.
This template will categorize articles that include it into the American Horror Story/Season 12 episodes category.
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