There are a lot of burning questions about The Beauty on Hulu, like “why are you doing this?” and “that doesn’t make sense, right?” But the biggest, burningest question out of the latest chunk of episodes is: will Ashton Kutcher age gracefully into Vincent D’Onofrio?
Spoilers for this week’s episode of The Beauty, “Beautiful Billionaires,” past this point, but after four episodes of setup we finally rewind the clock to give an origin of The Beauty, the virulent STD at the center of the show that causes people to goopily become their best selves. And also sometimes explode. That origin? An acquisition of Byron Frost, who we’ve seen played in the “present” by Ashton Kutcher… But in the past was Vincent D’Onofrio.
So yes, D’Onofrio is the billionaire Byron Frost/The Corporation, the man behind the massive, global conspiracy that has been plaguing the world of The Beauty since the series premiere. And this also explains Kutcher’s bizarre, off-kilter delivery of lines throughout the series so far… He’s trying to sound like Vincent D’Onofrio, who is in a class of his own in terms of how he delivers his lines. So, nice try, Kutcher.
That’s not the end of the parade of celebrity cameos in the episode, though. The thrust of the plot is D’Onofrio discovers The Beauty, and brings a bunch of his fellow billionaires to his mansion for a summit so they can all be sold on the product and give it a try. That includes Peter Gallagher, Billy Eichner, Julie Halston, and David Pittu, who ultimately all get a dose of The Beauty, transforming into their best selves… And subsequently getting gunned down by Forst — now in the form of Kutcher — so he can be the sole proprietor of the new drug.
Granted, we the viewers know the drug has gotten out into the world and mutated rapidly. But hey, it’s a good plan, right? Kill the competition and corner the market?
The bigger question after this episode, though, is whether the 47-year-old Kutcher will age into the 66-year-old D’Onofrio in real life. I’m gonna say “probably not,” which is one of the weirdest parts of The Beauty: it doesn’t seem remotely concerned with whether your “best self” looks anything like your “actual self.” There’s perks to that, which is the pre-Beauty actors don’t need to wear mounds of prosthetics. And then there are negatives, like saying that Rebecca Hall somehow morphs into Jessica Alexander. Or more to the point, Vincent D’Onofrio turns into Ashton Kutcher, which raises questions about what it would be like if D’Onofrio hosted Punk’d. Probably a lot more pranks about sugar water.
Regardless, now we know what’s up with Forst, why Kutcher is being so weird, and also what it looks like when Vincent D’Onofrio gets a blowjob in a car. Because when it comes down to it, this is a Ryan Murphy show. Can’t not have D’Onofrio getting a blowie, right? Right.
The Beauty Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
New episodes of The Beauty premiere Wednesdays at 9 pm ET on Hulu, and 9 pm ET/PT on FX. The season will premiere with three episodes on January 21, followed by a staggered release schedule until the Season 1 finale.
Here’s what we expect from the full list of episodes in The Beauty Season 1, with premiere dates.
Wednesday, January 21, 2026: The Beauty, Season 1, Episode 1, “Beautiful Pilot”
Wednesday, January 21, 2026: The Beauty, Season 1, Episode 2, “Beautiful Jordan”
Wednesday, January 21, 2026: The Beauty, Season 1, Episode 3, “Beautiful Christopher Cross”
Wednesday, January 28, 2026: The Beauty, Season 1, Episode 4, “Beautiful Chimp Face”
Wednesday, February 4, 2026: The Beauty, Season 1, Episode 5, “Beautiful Billionaires”
Wednesday, February 11, 2026: The Beauty, Season 1, Episode 6, “Beautiful Patient Zero”
Wednesday, February 18, 2026: The Beauty, Season 1, Episode 7, “Beautiful Living Rooms”
Wednesday, February 25, 2026: The Beauty, Season 1, Episode 8, “Beautiful Brothers”
Wednesday, February 25, 2026: The Beauty, Season 1, Episode 9, “Beautiful Evolution”
Wednesday, March 4, 2026: The Beauty, Season 1, Episode 10, “Beautiful Beauty Day”
Wednesday, March 4, 2026: The Beauty, Season 1, Episode 11, “Beautiful Betrayal” *Season Finale*
Where To Watch The Beauty
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