American Horror Story: NYC (Sort Of) Unmasks Big Daddy In Devastating Two-Part Season Finale — Grade It!

Another season of American Horror Story came to an end on Wednesday with the two-part finale of AHS: NYC, which jumped several years into the future to reveal the fates of Patrick, Gino and more.

It was an absolutely heartbreaking night of television, one that offered an unflinching look at the devastation of the AIDS epidemic, while emphasizing the importance of education, activism and hope.

In true Horror Story fashion, these final episodes featured the deaths of some of this season's most pivotal characters. And while we may never have a definitive answer as to exactly what Big Daddy represents, at least we got the dramatic unmasking we were hoping for.

Read on for a breakdown of everything we learned in the two-part AHS: NYC finale "Requiem 1981/1987":

The finale opened with Theo's funeral, but that beautiful boy — still frolicking in the afterlife with his man-deer brethren — wasn't the last character to die this season.

SAM | After falling to the ground in the middle of Theo's funeral, Sam awakened in his own twisted version of A Christmas Carol, where Theo served as the stoic specter tasked with giving him a glimpse into his own tragic future. A leather-clad Henry then took Sam on a trip through his abusive past, making him relive the indignities he suffered at the hands of men like his father and his first boss — men who looked down on him for being gay, despite Sam feeling like the one who "should be feared." He then found himself running from Big Daddy on the beaches of Fire Island, where he eventually agreed to stop running and surrender to the darkness. (Much more on that later.)

PATRICK | We then caught up with Patrick in 1987, whose condition had progressed to permanent blindness, among other unspeakable ailments. He also had a dream-like experience in the hospital, with ex-wife Barbara (#LeslieGhostman) guiding him through some of his most formative moments, for better or worse. Mostly worse. Like the time he and another cop were caught kissing, and Patrick threw him under the bus to look like the victim. Or when Patrick's father accused him of being "limp-wristed" during a particularly traumatic hunting trip. "The shame, the lies, the violence — it's a cycle, Patrick," Barbara told him, before drawing a chilling comparison between Patrick and the sentinel that Whitely created, constantly falling to pieces and putting himself back together. With Gino by his side, Patrick took his last breath, entering the afterlife to the sweet sounds of Kathy singing Jevetta Steele's "Calling You."

HANNAH | The finale's second hour picked up with Adam arriving at Hannah's apartment, only to see her being taken out on a stretcher. The police told him that she died of "natural causes," though a coroner's report would come to tell a more complicated story.

GINO | We picked back up with Patrick's lover, who was thankfully managing his symptoms with AZT. Despite Big Daddy's constant presence, Gino remained steadfast in his efforts. He protested. He got the word out. He fought the good fight. The years passed — 1989, 1990, 1991 — and he remained an active defender of his community. Sadly, the day came when Gino could no longer fight. With Big Daddy standing over him, he died.

Happy endings are rare on American Horror Story, and while it's probably a stretch to say that anyone ended this season happily, at least these characters lived to tell the tale:

KATHY | Patti LuPone's character played her final show in the finale, explaining to Adam that it "doesn't feel safe" there anymore, not knowing the specifics of why her patrons keep dying. "You are way too young to be thinking about how not to die," she told him. "Don't forget how to live."

ADAM | While mourning Hannah's sudden loss, Adam also pored over her research, which concluded that [1] this disease is sexually transmitted, and [2] she believed she contracted it from Adam. He set up an appointment to confirm her suspicions, urging his doctor to spread the word throughout the medical community. He also took it upon himself to pass out flyers encouraging condom use. He even lived to deliver a tearful speech at Gino's funeral, which served as the final shot of the season.

It's probably fair to assume that several other main characters, like Fran, also survived, despite previously seeing Big Daddy on Fire Island.

The biggest mystery plaguing viewers this season was, of course, the "Big Daddy" of it all. Did the masked man actually exist in reality, or was the leather-clad killer — as many assumed from the beginning — merely a metaphor for the all-consuming death of the AIDS epidemic? Here's every clue we got from the finale:

* Upon realizing that running from Big Daddy was futile, Sam eventually submitted to him in Episode 9, at which point Sam removed his mask to reveal... a blond adonis (pictured above)?! His certainly wasn't the face I was expecting to see, even under the assumption that this was merely part of Sam's fever dream.

* Big Daddy next appeared in the hospital room while Patrick was dying, then again in Hannah's apartment while Adam was mourning the mother of his child, both adding fuel to the theory that he's some portent of death.

* We saw Big Daddy in yet another curious position atop Episode 10. When Adam learned that his illness was sexually transmitted, he thought back to all of the unprotected sex he had in Central Park, imagining Big Daddy as the one giving it to him. In every sense of the word.

* Big Daddy showed up yet again at Patrick's memorial service, scaring the crap out of Gino while he attempted to speak about his lover. This cued up a haunting montage of Big Daddy digging a grave, and countless faceless men walking hopelessly, helplessly into it.

* He generally existed to create chaos around Gino after that, figuratively killing his lovers and even shooting up the newsroom. But unlike other characters, Gino demonstrated the ability to shut him out without having to physically fight him off. AIDS-specific or not, Big Daddy definitely represents something — fear, death, etc. — that fans will likely debate for years to come.

FX promoted AHS: NYC as being "a season like no other," and it certainly was, right down to these final episodes. It was also fair to call this "the deadliest year," even if it technically took place over multiple years.

And now it's over. Was it everything we expected? Nothing we could have anticipated? Are we satisfied? We know you have thoughts, so grade the finale and season in our polls below, then drop a comment with your full review of AHS: NYC.