[1] In the near future, while heiress Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt gets her hair done by Mr. Gallant in Santa Monica, people are warned of an impending nuclear missile strike.
Miriam Mead, Outpost 3's sadistic warden, tampers with a Geiger counter so it detects traces of radiation on Gallant and Stu.
The critical consensus reads, "AHS returns in frightening form with "The End," a wickedly fun - if unfortunately witch-free - premiere that's equal parts camp, chaos, and Sarah Paulson chewing scenery like no one else can.
"[3] Ron Hogan of Den of Geek gave the episode a positive review, saying, "Ryan Murphy's shows tend to start out strong and then the cracks begin to show, but I think with the short season order (10 episodes) and the very strong premise, he'll continue his recent trend of stellar storytelling and not get too bogged down with aliens and assorted unrelated weirdness.
She also praised the costumes worn by the characters, saying that "everybody looks fabulous" and that the episode made "the apocalypse look like the world's greatest Prince tribute show".
[5] Vulture's Brian Moylan gave the episode a 5 out of 5, with a positive review, commenting, "this was one of the strongest premieres in American Horror Story history".
He said, "American Horror Story leaned into camp and comedy, including a couple of time jumps meant for laughs, to speed us through a sassy set-up episode that could have actually been disturbing and scary.
Somewhere down the line, the franchise stopped evenly mixing its sinister elements and snarky quips and it's worked to defang the show a bit.