Monday, September 26, 2016

American Horror Story: Roanoke - Chapter 2



We're back to continue Matt and Shelby's terrifying journey into home ownership. They are about to get a crash course in why you should always Google the house you're thinking of buying.

We start this episode off right where the last one ended - Shelby in the woods with Wes Bentley and a guy who has had his scalp removed. She's obviously having a great night. She runs away as any sane person would do. There is some kind of ritual going on. Kathy Bates is chanting, people are drumming and some poor guy who is accused of being a thief and deserter is being dressed as a pig and roasted over a fire. Shelby is not the only one having a bad night.

We also get our first glimpse of Lady Gaga this season who looks NOTHING like she normally does.


Scary, right? I love that she went not at all glamorous this season.

Shelby, who has stumbled across this horrific ritual, makes a noise and draws the attention of everyone gathered. Kathy Bates calls for them to seize her and Shelby does the smart thing again and RUNS. She finally finds her way out of the woods only to be struck by a car that Lee is driving. 

Shelby tells the police all about the human sacrifices happening in the woods and they go investigate. They, quite logically, assume she is on drugs when they find no evidence of any crimes being committed. 

Matt finally agrees to move but Shelby says hell no. They are not moving. Perhaps the police finding nothing has convinced her that it is all a hoax because she now believes it is the group of mountain men who tried to scare them away from the house before the auction. She's so convinced it is them she tells Matt that they cannot give up without a fight, especially because all their money is tied up in this house now. Shelby is fighting mad and is not going to be walked all over.


Lee has a visitation with her daughter, Flora, during all this craziness. Probably not the smartest idea. Lee figures though if she keeps her inside and keeps a close eye on her that it'll be fine. It certainly starts out that way at least. Until Lee has to go get some lunch for the little girl and comes back to find her talking to herself. The little girl says she was talking to Priscilla, her friend. Lee assumes she is making things up because of the divorce. She read that kids do this sometimes. Flora is excited about the bonnet that Priscilla has promised her if they can help. When Lee asks what they are supposed to help with Flora says 'help make it stop' because Priscilla is 'tired of all the blood'. They hear a loud noise and Lee goes to investigate. She find a broken vase and a bonnet like promised. I would be running. Why are these people not running?

Shelby, rightly, questions the decision making skills of Lee when it comes to bringing Flora into their home when things are unstable. She tells Matt that Lee knows things have happened because she saw them for herself (even if Lee thinks Shelby is lying). Matt changes the subject and says that he agrees that they stay and fight until they can sell the house.

Later that night Matt is woken up by pig squeals. Shelby is also woken up and is entirely over it. She's pissed, and is not going to cower anymore. She grabs a baseball bat and goes out to confront what she assumes are the racist locals. Shelby is a bit of a badass and I love her. I question all of their decision making skills though because I WOULD BE LEAVING. Matt, of course, goes with her to investigate the noises. Sure, walk into the woods screaming for whatever is out there to 'show themselves' because nothing bad could happen as a result of this. Shelby (in interview format) tells us that she just wanted it to stop, and that is entirely understandable. Back in the reenactments part of the show Matt and Shelby get separated. Matt discovers an actual pig and Shelby discovers a large burning pyre in the shape of the stick men things left in the house earlier. This just happens to have a pig head at the top and is draped in meat (hopefully pig meat and not human).

Shelby says that the police cannot ignore them anymore because there is visible proof now. The police agree to go talk to the group of locals from the auction and provide police detail as protection. This only occurs after Shelby threatens to go to the press if they don't stop what is happening and do their job. She's fierce and Matt is a little in awe of her. He's also happy that they can finally get some much needed sleep. I would be too!

Later that night, Matt hears the phone ringing and answers it to hear someone asking for help as someone is hurting them. He discovers that they phone is actually unplugged and realizes he now hearing people talking inside the house. He follows the voices and discovers two nurses who are caring for an elderly lady named Margaret. She refuses to take her medication and so the one nurse shoots her as they both laugh. Matt, understandably freaked out, runs out the door to get the cops as one of the nurses spray paints "M for Margaret" on the wall in red paint.

Matt gets the police and wakes everyone up in the process. They police officer finds no nurses, or dead bodies in the house. It's basically Matt's turn to look crazy. They chalk it up to a dream. Lee is just afraid that if something actually happens the cops won't be so quick to respond next time.

The next morning Flora is being picked up by her father. They figure, since Flora cannot be found right away, that she is playing her own version of hide and go seek with them. It was something she did when they were still a family and part of the fun for Flora was seeing how long it took them to realize she was hiding.

They find her in the closet where she was talking to Priscilla last time. Flora is angry because Priscilla disappears when they open the door and tells them that she was offering to give Priscilla her doll in exchange for her family not being killed. Flora tells them that it is too late though. All of them will be killed with her being killed last.


Flora's father is beyond upset that his daughter is talking like this and, naturally, blames Lee. He rushes Flora out of the house promising Lee that she'll never see her daughter again. Lee breaks down crying and breaks her sobriety as a result. Matt and Shelby find her very drunk and a bunch of knifes stuck in the ceiling in the kitchen. They assume Lee had done it, but I don't understand why. They both know crazy things have been happening. 

Shelby sees a little girl outside the house and calls for Matt to come look. He sees her as well so they decide that they best thing to do is go investigate. She's disappeared by they time they get there, but they do see doors in the forest floor that open into a bunker of sorts. They decide to make more bad life choices and go down into the bunker. They quickly realize that someone lived down there. There is a bunch of camera equipment and a TV. They play the tape in the VCR and are told a horrifying story about the house they now live in. An author, Dr. Elias Cunningham (played by Dennis O'Hare), who was researching a book recorded these tapes. He too felt a presence in the house during his time there. He was researching a pair of sisters who were nurses who killed elderly people in their care. They opened an assisted living facility that only took those people whose family were tired of taking care of them. They also only accepted those with particular names. The sisters spray painted the first letter of each of their victim's names on the wall and as they wanted to spell out MURDER with them (including 'M is for Margaret') they only selected people with those first initials. They did not quite finish as they never got to kill the person for the last 'R' before they fled as the cops were called by some of the family members of the clients who became concerned. They police never found anyone, just the word left behind on the wall. Apparently the letters, no matter how much they were scrubbed, refused to be removed from the wall. *side note - this is apparently based on a true case and that makes it all the more terrifying*

Matt immediately puts "M is for Margaret" together with his earlier 'dream' and runs to check to see if the paint is where the guy in the video said it would be. He rips off the wallpaper to discover Murde written on the wall. With that proof in hand they go back to watch the rest of the tape. Dr Cunningham muses on the tape that he doesn't think that the sisters got away with murder. They didn't just flee with their work unfinished. He is convinced that something got them. Something made them stop. He calls this 'something' even more evil than the sisters and says that is everywhere - in the house, in the woods, in the air. The tape ends with him walking through the house calling for whatever is there to show themselves, and is met with, what looks like, the pigman before the tape cuts out. Shelby and Matt hear a thud and turn around to find a bloody cleaver stuck into the door frame of the room they are in.

Matt and Shelby are 100% done with the house and everything in it. Matt declares that the bank is going to have to just buy it back considering the new information they have. They are told however that they purchased the house 'as is' and should have raised any concerns or questions before bidding on the house. I am not sure how this works in the USA but I always thought you had to disclose previous deaths in any residence being sold. Anyways, Shelby brings up the fact that even if they wanted to Google the house before buying it to see what came up, the address had been changed by the bank before selling. This seems very shady to me. It was an obvious attempt to hide the horrors that happened there from potential buyers. Shelby is, once again, showing how fierce she is. The couple realizes that they are trapped, and that they will never recoup the full amount they paid for the house. 

Matt says things could not possibly get worse and pretty much ensures that they will in fact get worse. While all this was happening, Lee decided to drive and basically kidnap Flora in her panic. She brings her to the house. Matt is incredulous. He demands to know if Mason (Lee's ex) knows and if she is drunk. Matt mentions that Mason is a police officer and that means that there is probably an alert out on Flora already. Shelby takes a call from Mason and pleads for him not to call the cops on Lee. She tells Mason to come pick up Flora and manages to calm him down. Flora, who is doing her homework in the other room during all this, is lured outside by Priscilla. The grownups realize she is gone and chase after her. The only thing they find though is Flora's sweater high up in a tree and no other sign of the little girl. 


This season is definitely bringing the season one vibes, and scares. I am still not 100 percent sure what this season is, but I am excited to continue watching to see how it all comes together.

I've seen people bemoaning the fact that Evan Peters and Finn Wittrock have not made an appearance yet. I am right there with you! I do, however, think we've seen Evan. I think he's the guy in the pig mask in the videos. I totally think that, knowing everyone wants to see him, this is something they would do. Hide his face for most of the season. I predict we'll see him in flashbacks and learn how he came to be in that pig mask.

Now, I've heard a rumour about something happening later in the season. I'll enclose it in spoiler tags for those who do not want to know, so click for spoilers.



I am VERY happy if this is true for obvious reasons and the other part of that spoiler has me REALLY excited for the midpoint of this season.

What do you think of season 6 so far? Are you like me questioning why Matt, Shelby and Lee have stayed at the house after all this craziness (especially since Matt and Shelby both want to leave now)? Hopefully that is explained soon!

Until next time .... stay out of the woods.

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