American Horror Stories Season 3: Bestie Ending Explained

This article mentions eating disorders and the Pro Ana community.

American Horror Story "Bestie" is an American Horror Storiesseason 3 episode highlighting the horror of harmful online communities and toxic friendships that end in tragedy. It begins with Shelby (Emma Halleen) struggling with the grief of her mother's death and schoolyard bullies, eventually finding companionship with Bestie, a girl she befriends online who can never leave her house due to medical reasons. The pair talk daily, and Shelby comes out of her shell thanks to Bestie's encouragement to "face your fears." However, Bestie encourages her to do increasingly dangerous things as their bond grows.

After things go too far and Shelby injures herself, she befriends River, another bullied child at her school. As their friendship deepens, Shelby finds she has no further need for Bestie and her toxic friendship, but Bestie won't be deterred and finds a way to get revenge. When River invites her to a creepy abandoned house on a date, Shelby realizes too late it's where Bestie lives. When Bestie finally appears, it's clear that she's been manipulating River, and he murders Shelby to remain "best friends forever" with Bestie in this opener for American Horror Stories season 3.

Why River Killed Shelby – Death & Bestie Twist Explained

Bestie Was Manipulating The Emotions Of River & Shelby

Shelby being chocked by a black rope, blood on her outfit, face painted, in American Horror Sotry

After Shelby realizes that the creepy abandoned house River brought her to is where Bestie lives, she turns around to confront him. This moment is when he plunges his pocket knife into her chest. River admits to Shelby that when they first started their friendship, the same group of students who picked on her bullied him, and this made him feel powerless. For personal reasons and because of his love of horror, he thought Shelby poisoning the bullies during the school's Macbeth performance was justified and admirable.

Episode #	Episode Title	Director
1	"Bestie"	Max Winkler
2	"Daphne"	Elegance Bratton
3	"Tapeworm"	Alexis Martin Woodall
4	"Organ"	Petra Collins

He didn't have the courage to do something so graphic, but Bestie made him face that fear when he killed Shelby. Bestie ensnared River like she did Shelby - by preying on his feelings of loneliness and isolation. Whenever Shelby felt unsure about doing something, Bestie encouraged her by saying, "Face your fear," which, while an emboldening mantra at one point, was perverted into a decree that made Shelby do more and more dangerous things for Bestie's approval.

River told Shelby at one point that he'd been watching her the entire school year, which was about as long as she'd been talking to Bestie herself. So, assuming Bestie was also manipulating River at the same time, she probably told him to kill Shelby to prove his faithfulness.

How Bestie Got Close To Her Victims

Bestie Used Lies To Relate To Insecure Teenagers

Shelby making a funny face in makeup in American Horror Stories. — American Horror Stories season 3

Bestie got close to her victims by finding things to bond with them over, capitalizing on their insecurities, and focusing on things that isolated them from other people. Bestie bonded with Shelby because they both had "annoying dads." Even though Bestie lived alone, she invented a family life mirroring Shelby's in enough ways for her to feel closer to Bestie than anyone else. With River, Bestie used the fact bullies targeted him at school for his disabilities and their shared physical differences to manipulate him into a similar toxic friendship that gave her all the control.

Cyberbullying could appear in the guise of someone friendly, making it all the more difficult to detect.

Bestie used deception and lies to get what she wanted from people, so it's difficult to distinguish what was true. Considering her appearance, it's possible bullying and living alone turned her into someone who feared abandonment and judgment, so she put herself in a position where that could never happen. Bestie embodied the adage "hurt people hurt people" and shows how cyberbullying could appear in the guise of someone friendly, making it all the more difficult to detect.

Why Bestie Only Made Her Friends Do Bad Things

Theories Indicate Bestie Is An Evil Witch-Type Being

Shelby tries to break her own arm in American Horror Stories Bestie

Bestie convinced Shelby that she was confined to her room because of her appearance and physical ailments and could never experience some of the simple pleasures of being a typical teenager. Shelby offered to be Bestie's "avatar" and do some of the things she wasn't able to do, including egging a neighborhood house and stealing junk food from the local convenience store.

Eventually, these small acts of vandalism turned into more sinister deeds, like poisoning classmates during the Macbeth performance, showing up to school dressed as her music teacher's dead baby, and finally, breaking her own wrist with a hammer.

Bestie delighted in orchestrating chaos and pain while never having to suffer any of the consequences.

While it's possible that Bestie was just a lonely girl who wanted the world to pay for being callous and indifferent to her condition, there could also have been more to the fact that she made her victims carry out increasingly horrific deeds. Far from being a young girl, it's possible that she was some sort of ancient eldritch or demonic entity playing a game of strategy with human pawns. Bestie delighted in orchestrating chaos and pain while never having to suffer any of the consequences.

The Importance Of River & Bestie's Disabilities

Bestie Uses This Connection To Make River Do What She Wants

Bestie's house in American Horror Stories Bestie.

To understand Bestie's hold on River, it's important to understand what they bonded over. Being a person with a disability and having physical limitations, River feels ostracized and lonely. However, the Ana Rehxia community, specifically Bestie, helped him feel accepted. Being a person with a disability herself, Bestie understands the pain and anxiety that River is going through and manipulates his mental health to the point where he expressly seeks her validation and approval, just like Shelby, but for slightly different reasons.

In a bit of misdirection, the episode plants a red herring when Bestie explains to Shelby that she is adopted, and it seems possible that River is connected to Bestie's other family and is possibly her protective brother. However, based on their interactions at the end, it becomes clear she is controlling him just like Shelby by making him think he is helping her live a better life. His physical limitations are passable, while hers aren't. The part of River that wants to heal himself becomes protective of Bestie, who victimizes herself to make him feel altruistic.

Why Shelby Never Told Anyone About Bestie

The Online Connection Is The Only Thing That Makes Shelby Feel Strong

Shelby hiding under the covers in American Horror Stories Bestie

It might seem strange that Shelby never mentions Bestie to anyone, including her teachers or father, even after she makes her break her wrist. However, Bestie's control is strong. They meet through a community around Ana Rexhia, representing the toxic affirmations that are cultivated from a harmful online space.

"Pro Ana" sites that focus on reinforcing eating disorders in impressionable users tell them to keep doing harmful things to themselves even if it's hurting them and their loved ones. These people are vulnerable and online communities are sometimes the only places where they feel powerful and loved.

Shelby lost her mom and feels helpless and lost. The Ana Rehxia community and Bestie give her a sense of belonging. Bestie gives her the confidence to start wearing makeup at school and get revenge on her bullies. However, it comes at the cost of shutting out her concerned father and isolating herself. This episode of American Horror Storiesshowcases how shame, fear, and a need for control could keep victims like Shelby from telling anyone about their secret until they hit rock bottom. Shelby only shares her story with River because he understands what she is going through.

The Real Meaning Of The Bestie Ending

The American Horror Stories Episode Is About The Danger Of Toxic Online Communities

The American Horror Stories season 3 premiere explores the danger of toxic online relationships, especially concerning young and impressionable teenagers. As "Bestie" shows, Shelby felt like an outsider. Her mother died, her father became distant, and the bullies at school were relentless. This made her an easy target for a stranger online to target her. It is also a very different sort of cyberbullying since it was someone acting like a friend but manipulating her to do terrible things to others and to herself.

What is most disturbing about the "Bestie" ending is that Shelby dies due to her tormentor. Bestie could likely have convinced Shelby to take her own life if she kept communicating with her. She could possibly lead River to his death as well. This is what the worst parts of communities like this do to innocent people who feel they have no friends and no power. By exploiting the insecurities of these people, these online strangers get a grip and won't let go until a person is dead, and that is what this ending tragically leads to.

How The Bestie Ending Was Received

The Shocking Twists Were Seen As A Strong Return To Form For American Horror Stories

A group of highschoolers in the American Horror Stories season 3 episode Besties

The ending of the American Horror Stories season 3 episode "Bestie" was received incredibly well. Many critics and fans alike highlighted "Bestie" as a solid return to form for American Horror Stories, and the ending - as well as the wider narrative overall - was a key reason why. In particular, the many twists were commented on by fans online, praising "Bestie" for stepping away from the somewhat formulaic approach to storytelling which many felt had dragged down many episodes in American Horror Stories seasons 1 and 2.

In particular, the gut-wrenching moment that River reveals he's working with Bestie by stabbing Shelby was an emotional gut-punch that almost nobody saw coming - and many long-time fans of American Horror Stories and it's parent show, American Horror Story, were thrilled that the franchise displayed it still had the ability to shock. Many critics were equally full of praise for "Bestie", such as Daniel Kurland of Bloody Disgusting:

“Bestie” is one of American Horror Stories’ strongest episodes and exactly the type of tale that this series should be telling. It’s an incredibly uncomfortable experience, from start to finish, that works as well as it does because of its raw and vulnerable characters.

Like many of the reviews of "Bestie" and American Horror Stories season 3 out there, Kurland takes time to mention the shocking twist. There's also props consistently given to writer Joe Baken, a newcomer to the franchise, for the story itself. Kurland also echoed many critics and fans with their comparison of the "Bestie" ending to other American Horror Stories episodes. The death of the central character isn't uncommon for the franchise, but the way "Bestie" portrays this twist in the narrative is exceptionally well handled - as evidenced by the conflicted emotional reponse he and many viewers had after witnessing Shelby's final moments:

In most American Horror Stories episodes, a protagonist’s death is expected and sometimes even encouraged, but the final act of “Bestie” leaves a bitter taste in one’s mouth even if it’s an effective twist that stays true to the episode’s toxic themes. Max Winkler directs the hell out of this episode that’s as emotionally grueling as it is visually arresting.

All in all, the American Horror Stories"Bestie" ending was not only a highlight of the episode, or even of season 3, but has gone on to be regarded as one of the strongest climaxes in the show overall.