Birth (American Horror Story)
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"Birth" is the eleventh episode of the first season of the television series ''
American Horror Story ''American Horror Story'' (''AHS'') is an American horror film, horror anthology series, anthology television series created by Ryan Murphy (producer), Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the Cable television, cable network FX (TV channel), FX. Th ...
'', which premiered on the network FX on December 14, 2011. The episode was written by
Tim Minear Timothy P. Minear (; born October 29, 1963) is an American screenwriter and director. He has been nominated for four Emmy Awards (2013, 2014, 2015, 2017) for his role as an executive producer on ''American Horror Story'' and ''Feud''. Life and ...
and directed by
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (sometimes Alfonso Gómez-Rejón; born November 6, 1972, in Laredo, Texas) is an American film and television director. He made his directorial film debut with the slasher film '' The Town That Dreaded Sundown'' (2014). He h ...
. This episode is rated TV-MA (LV). The episode was nominated for a
Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or a Movie. In this episode, Vivien (
Connie Britton Connie Britton (born Constance Elaine Womack; March 6, 1967) is an American actress. Her accolades include nominations for five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. She gained prominence for her roles in the television series ''S ...
) gives birth and her daughter Violet (
Taissa Farmiga Taissa Farmiga ( ; born August 17, 1994) is an American actress. Her numerous appearances in horror films have established her as a scream queen, alongside her older sister Vera Farmiga. Farmiga was encouraged to begin acting by her sister ...
) learn that Tate (
Evan Peters Evan Thomas Peters (born January 20, 1987) is an American actor. He made his acting debut in the 2004 drama film '' Clipping Adam'' and starred in the ABC science fiction series ''Invasion'' from 2005 to 2006. Peters gained wide recognition fo ...
) is the biological father to one of her new siblings.
Kate Mara Kate Rooney Mara ( ; born February 27, 1983) is an American actress. She is known for her work in television, playing reporter Zoe Barnes in the Netflix political drama '' House of Cards'' (2013–2014; 2016), computer analyst Shari Rothenber ...
and
Zachary Quinto Zachary John Quinto (; born June 2, 1977) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Sylar, the primary antagonist from the science fiction drama series ''Heroes (American TV series), Heroes'' (2006–2010); Spock in the film ''Star Trek ...
guest star as Hayden McClaine and Chad Warwick, respectively.


Plot

Tate cannot promise Vivien's baby to Nora, who Tate treats as his mother ever since she saved him from the Infantata and taught him how to make the ghosts leave him alone, for fear of revealing to Violet that he raped her mother, but Nora is resolved to take the child anyway. Ben picks up Vivien to take her from the ward to her flight to Florida, not understanding why Violet refuses to leave with him. The doctor tells Vivien and Ben that one of the twins is ready to be born imminently. In the house, Violet and Tate realize Chad and Patrick are planning to take the twins. Violet asks Constance for help, who confronts Chad and says he can have Ben's child, but her grandson is her own. Chad realizes that Tate fathered one of the twins. Constance and Violet enlist the help of Billie Dean, who teaches Violet a banishment spell. Violet tells Ben that she is dead and can't leave the house, and urges him to take Vivien away from the house and its ghosts before she gives birth, but Ben doesn't believe her. Meanwhile, Vivien goes into labor in the car and Constance appears and takes her into the house. The power goes out and ghosts destroy their car, forcing Ben and Vivien to have the babies there. Dr. Charles Montgomery handles the delivery. Violet recites the banishment spell but realizes it doesn't work. Chad tells her that Tate killed him and Patrick and also raped Vivien. Vivien gives birth, with the first twin being
stillborn Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without signs of life. A stillbirth can often result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. T ...
, and Dr. Montgomery hands it to Nora. Constance takes the second twin to wash it. Vivien begins to
postpartum hemorrhage Postpartum bleeding or postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is often defined as the loss of more than 500 ml or 1,000 ml of blood following childbirth. Some have added the requirement that there also be signs or symptoms of low blood volume fo ...
due to the larger child. Violet appears and urges her to let go and join her in the afterlife. Ben, unaware of Violet's presence, urges Vivien to live. Vivien dies and Ben finds himself alone. Violet confronts despondent Tate, revealing that she knows everything he has done and she forces him to remember the school massacre and then asks why he murdered Chad and Patrick and raped her mother, but doesn't answer rather than "I was different then. You changed me." Violet tells him she believes that she loves him, but she cannot forgive him. Feeling burdened and overwhelmed by guilt over his mistakes at what he did, Tate tearfully attempts to plead with Violet for forgiveness, only for Violet to lash out at him by saying "Go away". As he leaves, Violet becomes emotionally devastated and heartbroken, but Vivien's ghost appears and comforts her daughter to calm her down.


Production

The episode was written by consulting producer
Tim Minear Timothy P. Minear (; born October 29, 1963) is an American screenwriter and director. He has been nominated for four Emmy Awards (2013, 2014, 2015, 2017) for his role as an executive producer on ''American Horror Story'' and ''Feud''. Life and ...
, while
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (sometimes Alfonso Gómez-Rejón; born November 6, 1972, in Laredo, Texas) is an American film and television director. He made his directorial film debut with the slasher film '' The Town That Dreaded Sundown'' (2014). He h ...
directed. In an interview with ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'', series co-creator Ryan Murphy stated that he had told Connie Britton, early on, that her character Vivien would die this season. "We've really had the whole season mapped out from the beginning," he said. "In the meetings with the core actors, the three leads being Connie, Dylan cDermottand Jessica
ange Ange or Anges may refer to: Places * Angé, Loir-et-Cher department, France, a commune * Ånge Municipality, Västernorrland County, Sweden ** Ånge, the seat of Ånge Municipality * Änge, Jämtland County, Sweden, a locality * Ange (river), Ai ...
as we tried to snare them we were able to say this is where you start, this is the middle, and this is where you end up. So, yes, I was able to tell Connie really the whole run of the series."


Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
reports a 100% approval rating, based on 9 reviews. James Queally of ''
The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' was the largest circulation newspaper in New Jersey. It is based in Newark, New Jersey. The newspaper ceased print publication on February 2, 2025, but continues to publish a digital edition. In 2007, ''The Star-Ledger''s ...
'' commented about the episode, "For 10 episodes ''American Horror Story'' has ranged from ridiculous to ghoulish fun... but "Birth" is all execution, and quite frankly, that might be exactly what this show needs to be." ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' Emily VanDerWerff stated, "In general, I thought "Birth" was basically fine, just my kind of genre hokum/guilty pleasure. But at the same time, it was just a touch too sedate." In its original American broadcast, "Birth" was seen by an estimated 2.59 million household viewers and earned a 1.4 rating share among adults aged 18–49, according to
Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
. The episode was up in number of viewers but down in the age range from the previous episode.


References


External links

*
"Birth"
at
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...
.com {{American Horror Story episodes, 1 2011 American television episodes American Horror Story: Murder House episodes Fiction set in 1984 Television episodes about human pregnancy Television episodes written by Tim Minear Television episodes set in the 1980s