Niecy Nash-Betts is ready to shock Grotesquerie‘s audience a few more times before the end of the season, especially after the most recent episode had jaws dropping.
Talking with Decider following the release of Episode 7 (“Unplugged”), the actress — who plays detective Lois Tryon in the FX series co-created by Ryan Murphy — explained that while the big plot twist is one she is proud of, it’s certainly not the last for the series.
**Spoilers for Grotesquerie Episode 7 “Unplugged,” now streaming on Hulu**
In the show’s most recent episode, it was revealed that Lois, who spent the first six episodes slowly slipping into her alcohol addiction as she hunts the deranged serial killer known as “Grotesquerie,” has been in a coma the entire time and dreaming up the entire scenario. The dreamscape is complete with a roster of characters from her own life, each recast in new roles. For example, Sister Megan (Micaela Diamond) — the kooky but helpful nun who has been by Lois’ side the entire season as she investigates the killings — is really the police chief who Lois butted heads with on the job prior to her coma. Father Charlie (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) is actually a doctor at the hospital where Lois is a patient, not the priest who was capitalizing on the grotesque murders to put butts in pews as the audience was led to believe.
The reveal was especially surprising as “Unplugged” was nearly halfway done when we found the show’s protagonist to be lying still in a hospital bed. What’s more, the earlier parts of the episode had been all about the reveal of Father Charlie (with the help of Sister Megan) as the murderous Grotesquerie. The twist, in turn, revealed each actor playing two roles, which Nash-Betts said was a fun tidbit to learn as she was considering signing onto the project.
“Well, here’s the thing, in the mind of Ryan Murphy, if you show up in the universe, expect the unexpected. Period. Especially in this genre,” the Emmy-winning actress said.
“I did know that there was going to be a major plot twist which resulted in you actually seeing a duality in all the characters you had met up to that point,” she told Decider about learning the show’s big twist prior to filming. “And Ryan [Murphy] is a great collaborative partner so walking down what is happening and why it’s happening and who’s being influenced by it and all of those things were conversations that we stayed in and I’m grateful for.”
Just last week, Murphy spoke with The Hollywood Reporter and teased even more twists ahead for Lois and the other characters as the final three episodes release.
“Yes, there’s a big reveal here in episode seven — and then there’s another one in eight and nine and 10 [the finale],” the co-creator told the outlet. Grotesquerie Episodes 8 and 9 are scheduled to drop on Wednesday, Oct. 23 and Episode 10 will release on Oct. 30.
Nash-Betts agrees and explained that while Episode 7 packed a punch, things may not be as straightforward (or as straightforward as a split storyline within a dreamscape can be) as the viewers may think.
“Forthcoming, I would just tell you that nothing is as it seems, so expect more twists and a few more turns,” she said.
New episodes of Grotesquerie premiere Wednesdays on FX and the next day on Hulu.