The fourth episode of The Beauty delivers a stunning mix of body horror and emotional revelations. FBI Agent Cooper Madsen finds himself in a deadly hospital chase against an infected colleague whose body is falling apart. Meanwhile, the mysterious return of his partner, Jordan, in a completely new form brings the episode to a shocking close.
This episode, titled “Beautiful Chimp Face”, first aired on FX and Hulu on January 28, 2026. It pushes the investigation into the deadly beauty drug into terrifying new territory. The action focuses on Cooperโs attempts to contain the outbreak, leading to one of the series’ most graphic and intense sequences yet.
The Chase: Cooper Confronts an Infected and Rampaging Manny
Cooper’s investigation into the explosion at the Condรฉ Nast offices leads him to a high-security medical facility. His goal is to interview potential carriers of the virus, starting with Ashley Sanders, a magazine staffer who was in love with the victim, Harper. When Ashley confesses he was intimate with her, armed response teams quickly tranquilize and remove him, highlighting the authorities’ fear of the contagion.
Cooper’s next interview is with Manny, a Vogue editor played by Ben Platt. Manny was infected in the previous episode when Harperโs blood splashed into his eye. He is now restrained in a plastic-lined medical chamber, sweating and begging for release as his body temperature skyrockets. Cooper, suited in full hazmat gear, tries to calm him, but the virus takes full control.
The transformation is sudden and violent. Mannyโs eyes begin to bleed, and he convulses in pain. With a horrifying display of strength, he degloves the skin on his arm to slip out of his restraints. He then attacks the medical staff, killing one guard and smashing through the glass doors of his containment room. A frenzied chase through the hospital corridors ensues, with Cooper in pursuit.
โThat was one of the main reasons I signed on to do this,โ Evan Peters said about the fight sequences. โI thought it was going to be so fun to do all those.โ
The rampage turns into a tour of the facility’s horrors. Manny bursts into an operating room where a face transplant is being performed on a chimp-attack victim. He then flees into a macabre room filled with glowing vats that hold preserved skin and body parts, which a creepy doctor calls his “epidermis angels”. Here, Mannyโs transformation completes. He sheds his old skin entirely, emerging from a biological pod as a nude, muscular, and enraged new person, now played by actor Isaac Powell.
The new Manny blames Cooper for his fate, leading to a brutal, naked wrestling match. Cooper struggles to subdue him, eventually requiring a massive dose of sedative and a SWAT team with tasers to finally take him down. The sequence starkly illustrates the virus’s power: it doesn’t just change appearance; it grants victims dangerous, superhuman strength during the metamorphosis.
A Glimpse of the Past: Cooper and Jordan’s Romantic Flashback
Amidst the chaos of the hospital, the episode opens with a quiet, revealing flashback. It shows Cooper and Jordan during their trip to Rome, a time before her infection. They are seen at the Trevi Fountain, sharing a kiss and making a wish.
This moment completely recontextualizes their relationship. Their earlier conversations portrayed a casual, no-strings-attached partnership. This flashback, however, reveals a deeper, more romantic connection that neither was fully willing to admit. The tenderness of this scene casts Cooperโs current desperate search for her in a new, more heartbreaking light.
This theme of hidden vulnerability continues in Cooperโs interviews. When Ashley breaks down sobbing over his love for Harper, Cooper does something quietly profound: he reaches out and holds the manโs hand. Ashley thanks him for the kindness, noting that others have been treating the infected “like animals”. Later, with Manny, Cooper again offers a moment of humanity, holding his hand and talking calmly about their pets in an attempt to soothe him. These small acts of decency stand in sharp contrast to the grotesque body horror surrounding them.
New Jordan’s Shocking Arrival at Cooper’s Door
The episodeโs final moments deliver its biggest emotional punch. After the exhausting hospital battle, Cooper returns home. He is grieving, having just learned his cat died two months prior. He wakes from a nightmare where he sees a disfigured version of Jordan in a blue robe.
Then, there is a knock at his door. He opens it to find Jordanโbut not as he knew her. The woman before him is younger, played by actress Jessica Alexander. This is the “new” Jordan, having fully undergone the transformative, painful process of the Beauty virus that was shown in Episode 2.
The look on Cooperโs face says everything. Having just witnessed Mannyโs horrific transformation into a new person, he immediately understands what has happened to the woman he loves. This reunion is not a simple happy ending. It is a complex and frightening moment, as Cooper must now face the reality that the Jordan he knew is physically gone, replaced by a stranger wearing her identity.
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The Wider Conspiracy: Big Pharma and Assassin Training
While Cooper deals with the immediate outbreak, other storylines advance the larger conspiracy. The episode checks in with Byron, the head of The Corporation played by Ashton Kutcher. In a boardroom, he aggressively pushes to fast-track the beauty drugโs public rollout to coincide with “World Beauty Day,” despite knowing the fatal risks. His greed and dismissal of safety protocols underline the show’s critique of the beauty and pharmaceutical industries.
Across the world in Rome, the assassin Antonio continues training his new protรฉgรฉ, Jeremy. In a bizarre and darkly comedic scene, Antonio supervises Jeremy during a sexual encounter. He instructs him on how to have “safe” sex without exchanging bodily fluids, a necessary precaution to avoid spreading the virus he carries. This moment hints at a hidden subculture of infected individuals who have learned to live with and manage the condition, far from government containment zones.
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