Evan Peters' character ties directly back to the history of the house. Right to the beginning of its history in fact. Evan is not playing the pigman. He is also not the interviewer behind the scenes of this 'documentary'. Evan is, in fact, playing none other than Edward Mott ... at least in the dramatic reenactments. You may recall that we found out Edward Mott built the house and was the first person to go missing. He also happens to be the ancestor to Dandy Mott (who we met in season four/Freakshow).
We begin the episode with a history lesson. A historian is being interviewed and she is recounting what exactly happened to Edward. Edward was a rich art collector. The historian details that he had severe social anxiety which lead to him purchasing the land and building the house of horrors. The construction of the house was plagued with curious incidents and odd stories of seeing things, and items being moved.
We also learn that Edward left his wife and heir behind to be with his art ....
and his lover, Guinness (who also happens to be his servant)
There is something hot about the way Edward grabs his shirt to pull him in for a kiss. Just saying.
One make out session in a tub later, we begin to see how truly eccentric Edward is. It is not hard to see how Dandy could have come from this family line. Not at all. There is a madness that is just barely below the surface with Edward.
We quickly see that things began to go very wrong for Edward. First his beloved art was destroyed which made him VERY sad and angry. The servants are rounded up and he demands to know which one of them has done this. He screams and throws a temper tantrum There is a bit of Finn Wittrock's performance as Dandy in Evan Peters' Edward. I am instantly reminded of Dandy's 'I hate you, I hate you, I hate you' speech. It is reminiscent of a petulant child throwing a tantrum. After he smacks one servant across the face another tries to tell him that she saw a 'white woman and a young man' outside the house just before he screamed when finding the paintings. He accuses her of lying ('lies, lies, lies' he screams) and rounds all the servants up and puts them into the cellar like area that Elias eventually camps out in. He locks them in as punishment much to Guinness' dismay. Edward, however, will not be reasoned with or judged. He tells Guinness that he is nothing more than a servant (even if Edward does enjoy his tongue). The poor guy leaves insulted and Edward throws another tantrum yelling after him to not show is face again that night or Edward would kill him. Dandy definitely came from this family line.
Later that night while Edward tried to sleep he is attacked in his bed by the members of the colony. Edward is dragged out while screaming for them to let him go and that they are trespassing on his land. Tomasyn does her usual monologue that she owns the land and his blood will consecrate it (blah, blah, blah). They impale Edward with a very large stake and use it to put him into the fire. Guinness is the one who told people about what happened that night. He had run off during all of this and ended up in jail for killing Edward as nobody believed his story. Guinness also never told anyone about the servants who were locked up resulting in their deaths. We learn that the house remained in the Mott family trust for years thanks to the family money. The house went up for sale when the Mott family line ended when the last Mott died 1952 (Dandy shout out!). Madness definitely runs in this family.
Now that we've had a full backstory for what happened to Mr Mott, we now rejoin Matt and Shelby on the worst night of their lives. We join them right where we left off with them having just witnessed poor Cricket's death. Ambrose does the 'our land, spill your blood' speech this time. Matt and Shelby decided to make some smart life decisions and make a plan to leave. He is going to distract the mob and Shelby is going to run with Flora to the car. How Matt is going to join them is a mystery but that is not the point. The point is they actually have a plan. Sadly, Flora is snatched away from Shelby before they even make it downstairs by something that looks a lot like the girl from the Ring movies. They chase after Flora and eventually she is let go by the creature. However, they are herded by the past victims of Tomasyn's into the centre room. They decide to go into the basement instead where they are greeted by Edward who offers to help them escape. He shows them the tunnel he had built so that he could remove his art in an emergency. The tunnels lead them away from the house. They realize who their saviour is and that he is not alive. Death has not help Edward hang on to any sanity he did have. He is apparently angry that all of these souls have joined him when he just wants solitude. That means that murder house rules apply to this house as well. Nobody who dies on the property can leave, so all of Tomasyn's victims are bound there. This has to be because of the ritual she did with Scathach.
Shout out to the effects team for some of the effects used her. Whenever light is cast over ghost Edward's face this is what happens...
Creepy but kind of perfect. It was unmissable, even if it was a subtle effect.
After exiting the tunnel, Edward decides to be a douche and not lead them to the road. He just abandons them with no light, food, or supplies in the middle of the woods. His last words to them make it very clear that he expects they will die in the woods, away from him, and they also make it clear he views this as a kindness. He calls dying in peace a trophy and a prize.
Shelby and Matt's night quickly keeps getting worse as they find themselves at the Polk farm. The locals from the auction are still not happy about the whole house thing (turns out they were just trying to keep the land empty for The Butcher) but they are extra not happy that the kids were taken away thanks to Matt and Shelby. They are captured and brought into a workshop of sorts. They find out that Elias was taken by the Polk's and kept alive so they could use him for meat. Yup, gross does not even begin to cover it. 'Momma' is the one who cuts off the body parts. Elias begs to be killed (and Shebly is crying during the interview at the memory). 'Momma' Polk comes in (who is played by Francis Conroy). She attempts to offer them food which any sane person would not accept. 'Momma' tries it herself and determines the meat is tainted, so she kills Elias. Matt offers to sign over the house to them, but the Polks have other plans. Turns out that they made a deal with The Butcher. They would bring people for her to sacrifice and since Tomasyn really wants Matt and Shelby, the Polks are happy to deliver.
Meanwhile, we finally learn what was happening with Lee since she got taken by the police. The police questioned her for 48 hours. She finally demands they let her go. She stresses that she is not strong enough to have killed her husband the way he was killed. In the interview she mentions that if you always tell the truth you don't have to remember the lie. We still don't know where she was for that missing time, but whatever. She leaves the police office to discover a whole bunch of messages from Matt that are not very coherent.
After Matt, Shelby and Flora were put into the Polk's truck they realize they have to escape. They wait for the perfect moment and after scuffle (and some gun shots) manage to escape. They run into the woods to hide, and Matt ignores a call from Lee who is worried enough at this point to ask an officer for a ride.
'Momma' finds them and is angry that one of her sons died during their escape. As punishment she is going to ensure they will not run away again. She takes a sledgehammer to Shelby's foot ensuring that Matt won't run and that Shelby can't. They put everyone in the back of the truck again and Matt and Shelby soak in every last minute together that they can. Matt is being a good husband (which he normally is) and offering comfort to her. It's actually rather sweet.
They arrive at the house and the colonists are still outside with a fire burning. Tomasyn offers her own version of condolences to 'Momma' Polk on the death of her son. As soon as the Polks drive away the colonists grab Flora and prepare to sacrifice her. Lee arrives at this point with basically the best timing ever (even if the cop who drove her turns around and drives away instead of helping). Tomasyn starts her usual spiel about blood, concentrating the land and etc. However, it appears many of the colonists have had enough of all of the killing. Ambrose in particular is entirely over it. He yells at his mother, hits her over the head and drags her into the fire. Edward Mott frees the Millers and tells them to escape. The pigman goes after Flora before they get a chance to even get up. Lee chooses this moment to run the pigman over with a car and yells for them to get in. Matt, Shelby and Flora get into the car and they all drive off to safety with Tomasyn emerging from the fire to run after them.
Now that the Miller family is safe, and their story fully told, the question becomes what is next for the show. Episode six is rumoured to be a big episode for this season and there has been a big twist teased. My guess? Now that the 'interviewer' (who is, without a doubt, Cheyenne Jackson) has heard this horrific tale, does he want to go to the house himself? I could see them doing exactly that and it being a very bad decision. We'll have to wait until next week to find out for sure, but it seems very likely that this is the direction the story is headed.
See you next week when everything changes!
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