WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for American Horror Story season 11, episodes 1 & 2!As serial killers and a rising illness target the gay community in American Horror Story season 11 character Dr. Hannah Wells (Billie Lourd) tests samples found on deer carcasses, realizing a virus is spreading through the isolated population too fast for their immune systems to fight it. Hannah then has all the deer on Fire Island killed, hoping it will stop the spread to humans if it hasn’t already. However, her efforts appear to have come too late once her human patients begin increasingly exhibiting symptoms of rare diseases.
While the series hasn’t explicitly said “AIDS epidemic,” American Horror Story season 11, episodes 1 and 2 have been exploring the scientific patterns that led to the understanding of the virus in 1981. As Hannah treats patients seemingly with HIV/AIDS in AHS: NYC, she realizes that the lesions and virus affecting the deer on Fire Island could be related. Hannah's belief that the virus mutated and jumped from the deer to humans hasn’t been proven, but their location on Fire Island s a connection between the two impacted populations in American Horror Story: NYC. Fire Island was known for being a haven for the gay community in the 1980s, with the area being hit early and hard by the AIDS epidemic.
Were Deer Ever Linked To The AIDS Epidemic In New York City?
The origin of the AIDS epidemic's spread in New York City was never linked to deer, nor was it thought to have begun on Fire Island. The New York’s Fire Island was still connected to the AIDS epidemic, but only based on the location being hit hard due to its presence of gay and lesbian resort towns. Despite Fire Island truly having a high deer population like in American Horror Story: NYC, they weren’t connected to the virus in real life.
Why The Fire Island Deer Are Still Linked To Controversy In Real-Life
Fire Island’s deer may not have been associated with the AIDS epidemic in real life, but they did become a focus of wildlife controversy in 1981 and subsequent decades. Similar to how Billie Lourd’s AHS character Hannah orders the deaths of the deer on the island, there have been real hunts in order to control the population in the area. There was even a big hunt on Fire Island in 1981, which is when American Horror Story season 11's timeline is set. While these weren’t linked to a virus, the hunts of Fire Island’s deer have spawned debate between those killing the deer and those trying to protect them.
The ethics behind killing the deer in American Horror Story season 11 is also discussed, as the troopers don’t associate the action with a typical hunt. Hannah deems the action necessary in order to protect the other populations, which is similar to how the National Park Service justifies the euthanasia and hunting of Fire Island’s deer today. It’s unclear what role the deer will continue to play in American Horror Story: NYC, but it’s likely that Hannah wasn’t successful in eradicating the virus from all deer on Fire Island.
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