The Ending Of American Horror Story Season 10 Explained

Contains spoilers for "American Horror Story: Double Feature"

Unlike any other season of "American Horror Story" thus far, "Double Feature" had two season finales. The split season was the anthology series' first time introducing two distinct themes, stories, and casts at once.

"Red Tide," the first six episodes of Season 10, takes place in a sleepy oceanside town where residents pop talent-enhancing pills, drink copious amounts of blood, and excessively sing karaoke. The new-to-town Gardner family struggles with the pills — Harry (Finn Wittrock) and his daughter Alma (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) thrive in their creative endeavors, but his wife Doris (Lily Rabe) flails and becomes a disgraced pale person.

The first half of the season ends with Harry's agent Ursula (Leslie Grossman) and The Chemist (Angelica Ross) taking the Gardner children to Hollywood, where they begin a successful talent agency. However, this spirals out of control when Ursula pressures dozens of people to take the pills and begins an unstoppable vampire outbreak that concludes "Red Tide."

While that finale comes with a tight, full-circle epilogue (though one door is left ajar), the "Death Valley" finale is more ambiguous. The four extraterrestrial episodes explore various timelines throughout American history and, according to most fans, ends way too abruptly.

So, let's unpack the ending of "American Horror Story" Season 10.

After being abducted by aliens during a technology-free camping trip, a group of college students discovers that they're all pregnant. A desperate appointment at the gynecologist ends with them waking up at Area 51, where the four young adults slowly realize they're part of a human-alien breeding experiment.

By "The Future Perfect," Troy Lord (Isaac Cole Powell), Cal Lambon (Nico Greetham), and Jamie Howard (Rachel Hilson) have given birth to botched hybrids and die shortly afterward. Kendall Carr (Kaia Gerber), the last member of the friend group to go into labor, produces what Theta (Angelica Ross) deems the perfect specimen.

The aliens have been working toward this human-alien hybrid for decades, and now that it's finally here, what's next for them? While some "American Horror Story" fans questioned Theta's role at Area 51 and dismissed the aliens as hypocrites, their reign over the human race couldn't be stopped — even with Mamie Eisenhower's (Sarah Paulson) last-minute rebellion.

Cloned and essentially lobotomized, Kendall becomes an incubator for the aliens to rapidly reproduce before they begin wiping out the human race. The finale of "Death Valley" is left open, with Calico (Leslie Grossman), promoted to being a stand-in mother, gently holding Kendall's second baby. It's unknown whether or not the remaining humans at Area 51 will be killed, or if some will be recruited to help with the takeover.

"Death Valley" leans into the messiness of American politics, portraying fictionalized versions of major political figures. From turning Secretary of State Henry Kissinger into a lizard person to President Richard Nixon's (Craig Sheffer) resignation prompted by an alien probing, "Death Valley" is unafraid to rewrite history in the most absurd ways.

President Dwight Eisenhower (Neal McDonough), who begrudgingly initiates the agreement to give up 5,000 Americans annually to the aliens, has no idea how damaging or long-term this treaty will be. With Valiant Thor (Cody Fern) acting as an arbitrator between the species, the aliens force the Americans into wars, commit political assassinations, and do whatever is necessary to prevent the public from finding out about their experiments.

By the finale, it's revealed just how deeply the corruption has run on both sides. American politicians were willing to sacrifice their reputations and the lives of the people they'd vowed to serve to avoid a conflict with the aliens, and the aliens never intended to follow through on their end of the deal.

"If you had a prize rose garden and the gardener let all of your roses wither and die, what would you do to him?" Val asks Mamie. "Earth is the garden, humanity is the gardener. We're firing you."

This betrayal shouldn't shock the humans, but it does. Calico later admits that humanity has destroyed itself and that it's someone else's turn to be in control. Had Theta not caused Mamie's head to explode, grappling with this statement might've done the trick.

While "American Horror Story" is often self-referential, the two stories in "Double Feature" appear to be unrelated. Many fans were hoping to see a connection in the finale of "Death Valley," though not even a slight nod to its predecessor was given.

If you look closely at the themes in "Red Tide" and "Death Valley," however, there is some overlap. Both bite-sized stories deal with the downfall of society through greed, corruption, and an insatiable hunger for power. For the blood-thirsty creatives in "Red Tide," that hunger is for fame, money, and acclaim. For the "Death Valley" politicians, aliens, and humans, it's a power struggle caused by the former giving in to a higher power.

Both halves of "Double Feature" appear to be standalone entries into the franchise, offering different possibilities for the end of the world. Of course, "American Horror Story" fans know that anything is possible on the show, and Season 10 might not be the last time we see these characters and storylines.