American Horror Stories: Daphne

November 25, 2023 2:55 PM - Season 3, Episode 2

During lockdown, an isolated art dealer grows attached to his AI personal assistant, Daphne.

Will (Reid Scott) receives a prototype of a new AI personal assistant, Daphne (voiced by Gwyneth Paltrow). Gifted to him by a business associate (Christopher Fitzgerald) at the beginning of a lockdown for a new virus, Daphne quickly proves herself as not just a valuable asset but also able satisfy almost all of Will's needs during isolation. But as the world opens back up, Will and Daphne's connection becomes more fraught especially when Sarah (Annie Hamilton) seeks to rekindle her relationship with Will.

Directed by Elegance Bratton.

posted by miss-lapin (5 comments total)

This episode feels like someone took the movie Her and the Bob episode of Creepshow and put it in a blender to produce another Black Mirror-ish episode. The end genuinely surprised me. Overall, a solid ep.
posted by miss-lapin at 2:58 PM on November 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

Just watched this last night! We’re in the middle of a Veep rewatch so it was fun to see Reid Scott playing… well, the same character.

The AHS spin on this made this a worthwhile addition to the well-trod domestic-AI-gone-rogue canon. And I learned from IMDb Trivia that Gwyneth Paltrow, voice of Daphne, is married to Brad Falchuk, AHS co-creator!
posted by ejs at 4:00 PM on November 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

And by the way “AHS spin” includes “supercomputer that has no visible components or power source.” At least Black Mirror makes its impossible technology opaque…
posted by ejs at 4:04 PM on November 25, 2023

I dunno, I read it as that the hoax (rickrolling home appliance) was physically true and the guy really was just mentally/ emotionally affected by the "lockdown" (outside of China, was there... really, really?) and lost it.
posted by porpoise at 6:29 PM on November 26, 2023

The ending is such you can interpret either way. After the cops leave the interrogation room and Will is bewailing his fate, there's a momentary flash of light from Daphne like she's still operational. So either ending (AI gone rogue or Will lost his shit) is possible and to me that's what makes it truly horrifying as well as surprising.
posted by miss-lapin at 8:49 PM on November 26, 2023