In the world of The Beauty, not even an STD spreads without first turning a profit.

So far, the Ryan Murphy body-horror has shown a parade of grotesque human metamorphoses that eventually end up in literal hard-on-eyes explosions, and a peek into the ‘Corporation’, which is hell-bent on halting the spread of the virus without generating revenue from the beautified misery it leaves in its wake.

But one might wonder, who on earth even thought of inventing something that makes you look young only to have your body pop like a grotesque firework? No, it was not exactly The Corporation, aka Byron Forst, aka Ashton Kutcher.

Five episodes into The Beauty, viewers are finally taken back to where it all began.

Episode 5 picks up right at Cooper’s door, where the last episode cut out. After a few bedroom questions, Cooper is forced to accept the fact that Jordan has really molted into someone else entirely, which means, she too is infected and may end up like the other victims eventually. Elsewhere, Antonio and Jeremy continue their hunt for the infected.

Their next lead is Nate, who, thanks to his debauchery, has been spectacularly bad at not spreading the STD. Antonio kills him before the virus could make a spectacle of it. Then, under Byron’s orders, he heads out to visit Cooper. The scene cut to Jordan describing her time in the new skin to Cooper, and it was not pretty. At first, she did enjoy the easy validation, attention, confidence, and the quiet power that came with pretty privilege. Then it hollowed her out.

Jordan was not seen as human anymore, but just a body. She was something to be owned, bought, touched, and conquered. And soon, she ends up hating herself for ever liking it, even for a moment. 

As they reach home, Cooper and Jordan find a present left by Antonio at the former's apartment: a dead Nate with his chest torn open, a clear sign to 'back off'. 

Viewers were then taken three years into the past, where an older but just as rotten Byron is introduced, played by Vincent D’Onofrio. He is also the husband of Franny Forst, played by Isabella Rossellini. It was pretty clear that they both could not stand each other but stayed married anyway because separating would have been too expensive. Following a breakfast of hostility, Byron headed to a billionaire meetup at a private New York estate, where it all began.

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By now, history has taught us one thing for sure: nothing fruitful ever comes out when wealth follows secrecy.

Episode 5 introduces billionaires Axel Zufo, Waylen Lemming, Kitty Munson, and Ronan Wylde alongside Byron Forst, who, after being convinced by Dr. Ray, decide to test The Beauty on themselves. Following a painful transformation, the group of wrinkled billionaires transforms into their younger selves, with Byron turning into Ashton Kutcher. However, Byron being Byron, massacres everyone else in the mansion, sparing only Dr. Ray, because this monster knows you don't kill your Frankenstein.

The rest is history. The Beauty spreads fast, people infecting, melting, exploding, and the eventual epidemic we have been watching unfold over the last four episodes. 

The episode does give the much-needed backstory, but you still cannot help feeling it could have been trimmed. It does feel a bit drawn out. At this point, even the grotesque explosions and transformations have lost their edge, because we have seen so much of it. It is yet to be seen if the serialized release can keep fans invested at this pace.

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Is The Beauty still holding your interest? Let us know in the comments!