Grotesquerie just pulled off one of the most shocking plot twists of all time — but how will that change the trajectory of the show going forward?
The FX series, which premiered in September, followed Detective Lois Tryon (Niecy Nash) as she worked with a local nun named Sister Megan (Micaela Diamond) to figure out who was behind a series of heinous crimes in their community.
While the latest episode on Wednesday, October 16, picked up days after Lois unmasked Father Charlie (Nicholas Chavez) as the culprit, it turned out things weren’t what they appeared to be.
The season started with Lois caring for her comatose husband, Marshall (Courtney B. Vance), while trying to build a bond with daughter Meritt (Raven Goodwin) and struggling with her alcohol addiction. But viewers were asked to forget the previous six episodes because apparently they were all a dream. None of what happened took place anywhere except in Lois’ mind — she was the one who was actually in a coma as her family contemplated pulling the plug.
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Lois gained consciousness at the last minute, however, and now that she is awake, the real story can begin.
“I haven’t ever written a season of television just on my own or for fun, just to do it. So I was interested in writing about something that I was feeling, which is this sort of existential crisis,” Murphy told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday. “I feel ultimately that we live in a very cynical time, but that this reveal — and what happens after it — is really about people fighting for love and connection, which I certainly do every day.”
Murphy hinted that the real show — which isn’t actually a murder mystery — is meant to feel timely.
“There was also this urgency to it. It just was about something. It was really about where we’re living now and in the run-up to it,” he noted. “I really wanted all of it to air before the election. I thought that was also an interesting part of it. There’s something very of-the-moment about it.”
As fans question what comes next, Murphy offered some teases about the conclusion — and even revealed whether Taylor Swift could ever make an appearance. Keep scrolling for answers to some of the biggest questions about the next chapter of Grotesquerie:
What Comes Next for Lois Now That She’s Awake?
“What it really is about is a person waking up from a state that was a living nightmare, which all of us are living in,” Murphy explained to Variety. “So she wakes up and what she’s trying to do is fight for herself and fight for her family and fight for survival. And she realizes that the only thing that’s going to get her through this experience is love, and that’s what I feel.”
He added: “That’s my worldview. It’s interesting in my work. If you look at my characters throughout the times, they do outrageous things, they say outrageous things, they wear outrageous things. But what they’re really all fighting for is either to love or to be loved. That’s what I’m trying to put out into the world.”
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Were There Hints About the Plot Twist All Along?
According to Murphy, there were intentional Easter eggs alluding to the truth.
“My work is based on a lot of interests and curiosities, and I’m wanting to learn something about either myself or the world when I make something,” he continued during his interview with Variety. “This to me, felt like a real meditation on the world that we’re living in. I wanted to write about what I’m living in right now, which is global warming, women’s reproductive freedoms, the election, war, identity, politics, all of that stuff.”
Murphy urged viewers to go rewatch past episodes, adding, “Once you get this twist, if you go back and look at episode 1, you see the opening shot is her hospital curtain is on fire. The cherries Leslie Manville is eating our blood clots. I have a list of like, 100 easter eggs. In every episode, there’s around 10 to 20. A car backing up will be a medical noise. It’s not a car, it’s a medical sound.”
Will Lois and Ed Fall in Love?
In Lois’ dream, she crossed paths with an orderly named Ed (Travis Kelce) who she never fully explored her feelings for yet. Turns out in her actual life, Lois had an affair with Ed, who’s her daughter’s husband.
“Niecy and Travis had the most amazing relationship on set, because he was wonderful and a little nervous, and she instantly was like, ‘We got you. You’re good. Come here.’ So she sat with him between takes, and they’re such good friends, and remain good friends,” Murphy told Variety. “And they do have sort of — I don’t want to say anything to piss off the Swifties. I have to be careful!”
When asked about a potential sex scene between Nash and Kelce, Murphy replied, “They have a wonderful chemistry, and I think you’re probably picking up on that. You never know!”
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How Involved Was Travis With His Role?
“When I hired Travis, I said, ‘You are playing dual parts here. You’re playing kind of a guardian angel.’ When you see him, he’s lit like he’s God. It makes no sense that there are acres of flowers in that hospital set that we brought in and designed [in his first scene]. I lit him and dressed him like that,” Murphy recalled to THR. “But then when he did the turn and played the character with the mullet who worked at Cinnabon [in episode 7], he was really involved in, ‘OK, I want my mullet to be here and I want to wear this.’”
He continued: “Because Travis is funny and it’s just kind of great. It was kind of a fascinating thing to work with all of these actors on that. I think it’s the reason why actors like playing twins, because they can do two things. They all couldn’t wait to play the second character. Because they were either very different, or the circumstances were the same but they were still very different.”
Could Taylor Swift Ever Make an Appearance?
While Kelce’s character is in love with Nash’s on the show, in real life the athlete is currently dating Swift. Murphy is aware of the connection and he didn’t shut down the idea of making something happen on the show.
“I’ve talked to Taylor’s people about various things through the years, and all I will say is that I think she’s great and if she ever has time to do it, I would do it in a heartbeat. I think she’s one of the greats. I was so shy talking to Travis about her,” Murphy admitted to THR. “But he’s very sweet about it and respectful. They are a pop-culture phenomenon. It’s a very interesting dynamic, the way they’ve captured the imagination of the world.”
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Are More Twists Coming?
“Yes, there’s a big reveal here in episode 7 — and then there’s another one in 8 and 9 and 10 [the finale]. In the TV landscape, I’ve had all types of rollouts. You can do a binge. You can do one week at a time,” Murphy said to THR. “Based on what I can find out internally about who is watching and how they’re watching, people like the idea of consuming. If there are cliffhangers involved: What’s the next one? What’s the next one? So in the storytelling, we were thinking that way as we were breaking the episodes.”
