Sometimes, even as a woman myself, it gets a tad too baffling to wonder how women even do it. What’s “it”, you ask? Well, it’s just the simple matter of holding on to the pieces as every fiber of her body threatens to fall apart and doing a darn good job at that. If it’s American Horror Story, it’s bound to go a bit silly. But even amidst the sarcastic jabs and straight-up ironic back-and-forth, what Delicate is most dedicated to is telling the story of the perseverance of women. So, what did Anna hold her head high through on the 5th episode of American Horror Story: Delicate? And is there any help available?

Spoilers Ahead

Preecher’s Past

So it looks like we’re sticking to time travel for the cold opens. This time around, though, it’s much less royal. It’s just a designer giving birth in the 80s. Sounds like just another regular day. But it’s hardly as regular as you’d hoped. For the young designer in labor, a young Miss Preecher, has gotten mixed up in some nefarious deals with our goth witches. And who’s the one with the honor of testily overseeing the delivery? A very unfortunately mustached Dr. Hill. No wonder the man’s not nice to Anna. The trippy Manhattan clinic with eerie red walls has never heard a scream this loud. It only goes to show that the Satanic baby business has been active and thriving throughout different periods of time. God help Anna!

How Is Dex Connected To All This?

To have an alleged Satanist as a father and a mean, unstable woman as a mother can’t have been on Dex. And there’s something about Matt Czuchry’s barely-masked scowl that’s almost dying to spill the beans about the extent of his knowledge about the situation. But straying from the most cliched, denial-clad love a child of divorce feels for both his far-from-perfect parents, Dex’s pretty aware of the dumpster fire both his parents are. But Virginia’s making some quite convincing points that do make me want to tilt to her side a bit. Why’d a big-time lawyer who’d represented Harvey Weinstein’s victims take up a case without believing that his client’s telling the truth?

But American Horror Story can’t possibly pull the brakes on a reasonable amount of convincing theories now, can it? What’s the fun in stopping before we get to see Virginia’s terrified state, being haunted by the visions of satanic goats and a hell-hound-ish mutt? But the silver lining here, should you need one, is that it stalls her long enough for us to get a broader view of what really is going on. And here I come with the “I told you so” I really can’t help. Like the bane of her existence, Dex is apparently the root of all of Anna’s miseries. Or at least that’s what you’re likely to theorize if you take Miss Preecher’s conspiracy theories seriously. And if you do reckon that there’s some truth in the bizarre claims Miss Preecher is making, which warn Virginia of the existence of “those” who are targeting Dex’s family, then you might as well wonder if Miss Preecher’s long-lost baby isn’t among us already. There’s talk of defection. And where there’s defection, there’s often some form of revenge. If Adeline was one of “them” and betrayed her coven for a man, her wacky death might not have been an accident. An eye for an eye? But why should Anna have to suffer for it?

What’s Going On With That Weird Physical Therapy, Cora?

Now that you’ve stopped expecting anything remotely sensible to come out of Dr. Hill’s foul mouth, you’re sort of immune to the word-punches he throws at the poor pregnant woman in severe pain. Nothing a prenatal yoga session with Cora can’t fix, right? But what’s that about Anna being barred from traveling and having to pick and choose between a healthy pregnancy and the GG award she’s worked so hard for? Apparently, at least according to Dr. Hill, women really can’t have it all. The same visions as those of her distant MIL haunting her in the darkness of the clinic’s shower are hardly as scarring as Cora practically molesting her, though. And nothing like the utterly insensitive dismissal of her obnoxious husband to top it off. Anna really needs to surround herself with better people.

What Is Siobhan’s Plan?

Anna’s perseverance is humbling, if anything. To get over the major online backlash after her projectile vomiting incident at the Gotham Awards this fast and get herself hyped up for the GG nomination must’ve been some journey. But when life keeps hitting you with cannonballs one after another, I guess you’ve got to numb yourself to the impact of the relatively smaller ones. And that’s exactly what Anna’s doing with a box of gourmet pastries meant for Siobhan in her hands. Siobhan clearly means business, though. Anna made the mistake of thinking Siobhan’s help was exclusive. While it’s true that she has a business to run, I really don’t think Anna’s being unreasonable by hating the fact that Siobhan’s also helping Babette, a younger actress nominated in the same category. And judging by the way Siobhan lashes out at her supposed best friend, it’s hard not to see it from Anna’s insecure perspective. But choking on nails as she helplessly watches Babette grab the award she’s toiled for is too harsh a circumstance for Anna, even by American Horror Story standards.

There was one thing that Virginia was spot on in diagnosing her son with. Dex truly is as clueless as they come. Why else would he fall into Anna’s very obvious trap of inviting Sonia over for some “girl time”? And how could Anna resist when nurse Ivy’s eerie appearance and subsequent disappearance in the old picture of Adeline and co. basically asked her to get close to Sonia? There are, however, multiple ways that inviting Sonia actually ends up helping Anna. For starters, despite having a freakish resemblance to his ex-wife, Sonia doesn’t seem to be the kind of woman who’d have an affair with someone like Dex. But even if her being a staunch feminist and a healed survivor of familial abuse is not a facade she’s putting up, something tells me that she knows more than she’s letting on.

Moreover, Talia’s creepy house manager seems to be harboring some bitterness against the woman she claims resembles someone she used to know. Whether she comes out and admits it or not, the person she’s thinking of is most likely Dex’s late wife. What the ending sequence dunks our heads in, however, is a whole other mystery altogether. Earlier in the episode, Hamish was seen asking just the right questions for a change. There couldn’t have been any morally justifiable means through which Siobhan conjured up a script that now has a handful of Golden Globe nominations. If something dirty wasn’t at play, The Auteur wouldn’t have turned out to be the success that it is. And that brings me to another possible theory about the odd publicist. Chances are, Siobhan never really meant for Babette to flourish in her career. If getting her the Golden Globes award was Siobhan’s way of timing the accident right, she might just be playing a murderous game that involves lifting Anna up to grab the Academy Award. Decapitation, though? Seems to be too harsh a punishment for taking a lick of the frosting on the pastry. But Anna wants an Oscar as much as she wants a baby. And who better than her best friend to go to the darkest corner of hell to dig one out for her?