Reddit user Notcreativenoughto proposed their theory about Karen's painting to the "American Horror Story" subreddit in a discussion thread about "Gaslight" following its premiere. "Calling it — that painting is the story of what's been happening in ptown and the cops find it," they wrote. A total of 55 fellow Reddit users upvoted the comment in addition to two users sharing their support for the theory in the comment's replies, suggesting that this idea is supported by a contingent of "American Horror Story" fans.
In "Gaslight," Karen is forced to take one of the pills to save herself from a pack of non-creatives-turned-vampire-zombies. Karen's first and only victim is Mickey (Macaulay Culkin), for whom Karen acted as both a muse and a friend. That said, Mickey left Karen for dead moments prior, so that she ends up the one to kill him is a sort of just deserts for Mickey. Karen, meanwhile, never wanted to take the pills, so rather than become enslaved to their thrall, she opts instead to harness their creative burst for a single painting before ending her life. According to this fan theory, then, the unseen painting somehow depicts the horrors unleashed upon Provincetown by the black pills, and will serve as a history of the resultant events once things inevitably reach a breaking point.
What that breaking point might be — plenty of death will likely be involved — should be revealed on September 22, when the "Red Tide" finale premieres.
