Kaia Gerber Weighs In on ‘The Shards’ Cliffhanger and Her Horror-Inspired Scene
In an interview, Kaia Gerber discusses the season finale of FX’s ‘The Shards,’ where all main characters become police suspects in the Trawler case. She acknowledges that her character Susan could be the killer or the person who pushed Terry off a balcony, and she believes the show will eventually reveal the killer’s identity. Gerber also reflects on her scream-queen moment inspired by ‘The Shining.’
The FX adaptation, produced by Ryan Murphy, adapts Bret Easton Ellis's novel, with the season finale covering roughly one-third of the book's narrative and plans for three to four seasons. Gerber's casting stems from her prior collaboration with Murphy on American Horror Story, which provided her first professional acting opportunity.
The finale places all central figures under police suspicion for the Trawler murders. Gerber acknowledges Susan's potential guilt in both the killings and Terry's balcony fall, while noting the show expands Susan's perspective beyond the novel's first-person narrator. She also references a scream-queen sequence paying homage to Shelley Duvall in The Shining.
This cliffhanger could intensify audience engagement with the streaming series, driving speculation and social media discourse among fans of literary adaptations and mystery narratives. Viewers may debate the show's divergence from the source material, potentially boosting viewership for subsequent seasons. The casting of a prominent model-turned-actress like Gerber could also broaden the show's appeal to younger demographics, influencing cultural conversations around celebrity casting and complex female characters in prestige television.