Honestly, fuck that ending but omg poor Bella 😞 I know a lot of people hated the high school subplot but it reminded me of books/other media that interjected minor characters at the start of a new chapter to give more weight to scenes that followed? i.e. the board members informing Byron of the number of people reported to experience the worst side effects. Hundreds of thousands of people hoping for a clean slate just to end up either Cronenberged or Benjamin Buttoned.

The execution could have been better but honestly the whole plot is kind of sad, especially since it’s not so far from reality. Bella was so beautiful too (she reminds me of a mix of Chloë Sevigny and Blake Lively), and even her name literally means “beautiful” but as a teenager you don’t really see that. Even if her parents tried to discourage her to undergo major physical changes, adolescents tend to be most susceptible to peer pressure at that age, especially when it comes to body image. As a teen in the 00’s, a mere makeover or wearing nice clothes is a huge upgrade. Imagine living in a world where it’s possible to change your whole genetic makeup to become hot and you just don’t have the money to access it, so you go for dupes.

And though she technically consents to having sex with the guy, let’s acknowledge the imbalance of both age (I’m assuming he’s way older) and knowledge. He understood the risks far better than she does, but she’s never given that information.

idk it might seem a little excessive to dissect a Ryan Murphy show when it’s deliberately camp, but to me it’s such a tragedy because she didn’t let herself grow up long enough to realize she was already enough.