Review: Viral Vanity: Ryan Murphy’s ‘The Beauty’ Is the Body-Horror Fever Dream We Deserve

If there is one thing Ryan Murphy knows how to do, it’s take a societal obsession and turn it into a neon-soaked, blood-splattered nightmare. His latest FX-on-Hulu venture, The Beauty, premiered its first three episodes on January 21, 2026, and it’s already clear that this isn't your standard procedural. Based on the 2015 Image Comics series, this sci-fi thriller imagines a world where "perfection" is a sexually transmitted disease. It’s shallow, it’s gross, and frankly, it’s the most fun we’ve had with a scripted series since American Horror Story actually had a plot.

Episode 1: "Beautiful Pilot" – Paris is Burning (Literally)

The series kicks off with a cold open that sets a high bar for the "gross-out" factor. We open at a Balenciaga show in Paris where Ruby, a supermodel played by the very meta-casting of Bella Hadid, goes from runway-ready to a literal human grenade. The "Beauty" virus, which makes you thin, chiseled, and glowing has a nasty habit of causing the body to combust once it hits its expiration date.

Enter our leads: FBI agents Cooper Madsen (Evan Peters, returning to the Murphy-verse with his trademark brooding intensity) and Jordan Bennett (Rebecca Hall). They are tasked with investigating why the world’s elite are suddenly popping like overfilled balloons. The standout moment, however, belongs to Jaquel Spivey and Jeremy Pope. We watch the painful, bone-crunching transformation of an "average" man into a physical god. It’s Cronenberg-lite body horror that reminds us that beauty is, quite literally, pain.

Episode 2: "Beautiful Jordan" – The Ultimate Face-Swap

By the second episode, The Beauty leans hard into its conspiratorial roots. The investigation shifts to the canals of Venice, but the real story is happening under the skin of Agent Jordan Bennett. In a twist that managed to stay under wraps during production, it’s revealed that Jordan is already infected.

Watching Rebecca Hall navigate the internal terror of her own impending "perfection" is a masterclass in acting, right up until the moment she is "replaced." In true Murphy fashion, the transformation results in the character being played by Jessica Alexander for the remainder of the series. It’s a bold, slightly insane creative choice that forces the audience to grapple with the show's central theme: if you change everything about your exterior, are you even the same person? It’s deep stuff for a show that also features a scene where a man’s jaw detaches because he smiled too hard.

Episode 3: "Beautiful Christopher Cross" – Corporate Greed and Pop Stars

The third hour brings us back to the states, specifically a gritty, high-fashion version of New York City. Here we meet the man behind the curtain: Byron Forst, played by a tech-bro-coded Ashton Kutcher. Forst is the CEO of "The Corporation," the entity that marketed the virus as a miracle cure for aging and obesity.

This episode gives us the series' most chaotic sequence yet. A Vogue editor's assistant (Amelia Gray Hamlin) loses her mindand her cellular integrity throwing a character played by Meghan Trainor out of a skyscraper window before exploding in a cloud of glittery viscera. It’s peak TV Cave fodder celebrity cameos, high stakes, and absolutely zero chill. We also get our first real look at "The Assassin" (Anthony Ramos), a cleaner who seems to be the only person who knows how to handle the "Beauties" when they go rogue.

Is It Worth the Infection?

The first three episodes of The Beauty succeed because they don't try to be prestige television; they try to be addictive television. The pacing is frantic, the visuals are expensive, and the social commentary on our current Ozempic-era obsession with quick-fix physical perfection is pointed enough to draw blood.

While the "virus as a metaphor" trope has been done to death, Murphy and co-creator Jeremy Pope (who wears many hats here) inject enough stylistic flair and genuine horror to make it feel fresh. The chemistry between Peters and the "new" Jordan is still finding its footing, but the world-building is top-tier.

If you’re looking for a show that asks the big questions like "Is being hot worth exploding?"then The Beauty is your new Wednesday night obsession. Stay tuned to The TV Cave as we continue to recap the season and track just how many more celebrities Ryan Murphy can blow up before the finale.

What did you think of the first three episodes? Are you Team Natural or Team Beauty? Sound off in the comments below!

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