‘American Horror Story: Double Feature’: ‘Death Valley’s Ending, Explained

In only four episodes, American Horror Story: Double Feature has gone from President Eisenhower hand-wringing to the the birth of a new alien species in 2021. Even by the insane timeline of this series, that’s pretty impressive. It just goes to show that you can’t predict anything when it comes to Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s universe.

The four-episode Death Valley was Double Feature‘s second story. Filled with regretful presidents, black-and-white footage, insufferable Millennials, and male pregnancy, the season felt like a roller coaster of insanity compared to the well-paced Red Tide. See? For its 10 year anniversary, American Horror Story delivered on its two drastically different speeds: subtle horror; and sheer madness. Here’s your guide to the creepy ending of Death Valley.

What Happened to President Eisenhower and President Nixon?

You know the drill this season… It all come back to the presidents. The first half of “The Future Perfect” predominantly focused on President Nixon (Craig Sheffer). In the world of AHS, the Vietnam War wasn’t a misguided American intervention. It was a distraction orchestrated by aliens so that everyday citizens wouldn’t notice how many of their neighbors were being taken. President Nixon tried to oppose the war, but that didn’t last long. At the height of his rebellion he was taken by the aliens for a “routine medical procedure,” something that was so horrifying it ended with Nixon resigning. Oh, also, it was revealed that Henry Kissinger was a lizard alien. That’s just a neat little detail thrown in for funsies.

That resignation? It was partially orchestrated by Mamie Eisenhower (Sarah Paulson). Noticing that Nixon was being less than cooperative, Mamie fed a reporter the insider information that would come to spark the Watergate scandal. Yep, Mamie Eisenhower was Deep Throat.

So what happened to former President Eisenhower (Neal McDonough)? While on his deathbed, Eisenhower was given the choice to live forever thanks to alien technology. Eisenhower refused, saying that he died the day he signed America’s treaty with the aliens and that his current death was a “formality.” As his wife and Valiant Thor (Cody Fern), the extraterrestrial being Mamie has been sleeping with, looked on, Eisenhower said his last words: “You two deserve each other.”

Chilling. But that rebuke didn’t slow down Mamie. After her Deep Throat shenanigans, Mamie asked Valiant to fake her death so that she could live forever in Area 51. He happily agreed, which means Mamie Eisenhower has been roaming around those too white halls this entire time.

How Did American Horror Story: Death Valley End?

With new life and certain death. Remember how in present day Cal (Nico Greetham) and Troy (Isaac Cole Powell) tried to take an alien baby as their own? That backfired spectacularly. Their baby was born with terrifying tentacles and murdered both Cal, Troy, and a random security guard tasked with finding it.

Desperate to find their friends, Kendall (Kaia Gerber) and Jamie (Rachel Hilson) went looking for Cal and Troy on the set of the moon landing. The shock of finding their mangled corpses caused them both to go into labor. That’s when Theta (Angelica Ross) stepped in. She delivered Jamie’s baby, but was disappointed in it. You know what that means: murdered child, murdered mom. But Kendall’s baby was a different story entirely. After 60 years of human experimentation, the aliens finally managed to create the perfect specimen thanks to this young woman. Kendall tried to fight back, but that didn’t last long. Kendall’s head was cut off and replaced by a robot one capable of controlling her body. Can’t get rid of the “perfect breeding machine.”

If this wasn’t horrific enough, Valiant Thor walked into the picture. He finally told his love Mamie the truth: the aliens didn’t land on Earth only to prevent their race from going extinct. They always intended to eliminate humans and take Earth as their own, because of course that was the plan. C’mon, Mamie. Stop inventing holidays and read some sci-fi.

For the first time this season, Mamie was horrified by her role in the end of humanity. To her credit, she tried to negotiate the benefits of the human race and brought up those lizard aliens. But Valiant had already thought this through. The lizard people are apparently really chill and play well with others, and humans don’t. Honestly? It’s hard to argue with him.

Mamie decided to finally make her late husband proud. After telling Theta what Valiant told her, Mamie recruited Calico (Leslie Grossman) to her cause. Together, she was confident they could kill the perfect baby and its mother, a move that wouldn’t stop the aliens from taking over but could give humans a few more years.

What Happened to Mamie Eisenhower?

Mamie wasn’t picky enough when it came to choosing her allies. Almost as soon as she hatched her plan, Mamie was confident that the half-human Theta was on her side. She was not. Turns out the half-alien woman who has devoted her entire life to creating the perfect specimen of her ancestors’ species was not thrilled about being part human. Theta waited until Mamie took a knife to the baby before she revealed her true colors.

There was a good speech about how humans have ruined the world and can’t even be trusted to take care of each other, then bam. Head explosion. Mamie Eisenhower is officially out of the picture.

What About Calico?

There was a third member of this rebellion: Calico. When Mamie was on the verge of killing the baby but frozen by Theta, Calico was given a choice. She could try to save humanity or she could become a mother for a new race of superior creatures.

Up until this point, Calico has witnessed the worst that both humanity and this alien race have to offer. She’s worked as a dancer and prostitute in Vegas and has been used as a baby-making machine by these creatures for decades. She chose Team Alien, and it’s hard to argue with her. At least when the aliens used her body they gave her nice white clothes and fed her Jell-O.

In the final moment of Death Valley, Calico was handed the latest baby. And since she’s immortal, we can likely expect to see her again.

Where to stream American Horror Story: Double Feature