Kim Kardashian Just Killed Her ‘American Horror Story’ Debut

The twelfth season of American Horror Story is here, which means spooky season has officially begun. This new chapter in the anthology franchise, subtitled Delicate, centers on an actress named Anna (Emma Roberts) who, when we meet her, is juggling her career ambitions and her deep desire to be a mother. But when she and her husband (Matt Czuchry) finally conceive, it sets off a series of unsettling events.

American Horror Story has leant on the body horror tropes associated with pregnancy many times before, and on first viewing it looks like this season will be borrowing heavily from Rosemary's Baby, the horror classic about an actor's wife who begins to suspect that her strange new neighbors have evil things planned for her unborn baby. (It's actually based on the novel Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine, the first season of the show to use external source material, but Rosemary's Baby is definitely present in the DNA too.)

Of course, this being AHS, that plot could simply be a red herring and the show might end up in a completely different place: no other show is as quick to jettison entire storylines and head off in new, unpredictable directions. It's one of the things that makes it such compulsive viewing.

Another facet of Delicate that drew in viewers like flies to a spider's web was the casting of Kim Kardashian as Anna's new manager, Siobhan. Prior to this, Kardashian's acting credits extended to Tyler Perry's Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor and the PAW Patrol movie, and a lot of pop culture fans were eager to get a glimpse of her screen presence outside the context of her family's famous reality show.

It turns out, Kardashian's performance was a highlight of the season premiere for many. "Kardashian is far and away the best part of AHS: Delicate,"wrote The Daily Beast's TK. "Though Roberts is bringing her oh-so-reliable screen presence back to the franchise... it’s Kardashian who, based on Tuesday night’s premiere, is going to make this season truly worth watching. Her affected line readings and familiar face might make it hard to take the show completely seriously, but that’s exactly what AHS needs: a season that has given up on trying to be anything more than good, campy fun."

It did also not go unnoticed that the character of Siobhan, a take-no-bullshit talent manager, appears to be modeled on Kardashian's own mother, Kris Jenner: the perfect AHS meta gag. Many viewers were delighted to see that, when presented with the chance to play a role so firmly within her wheelhouse, Kardashian nailed the assignment.

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