After months of mystery and a compelling premiere, tonight
we launch further into the “true story” of Matt and Shelby. The first episode offered familiar themes of
the “true horror” genre. For example, a couple
that have suffered loss or tension make a new start by moving into an old
spooky home. One partner begins
experiencing paranormal phenomena while the other partner, (almost always the
man) doubts their stories. A third party
is introduced then corroborates the paranormal events. Angela Basset is an excellent
counter to the flighty Shelby and Matt can’t so easily dismiss her version of
events. I loved that for the first time
in many years American Horror Story actually managed to scare me. The tension between the characters and
unfolding strangeness hang in a perfect balance.
The episode opens where we left off with Shelby screaming in
the woods at a strange scene. Kathy Bates chants and is clearly the leader of
the group. A man is tied to a large pole
and brutalized. Shelby runs away,
narrating that she “never thought about what could be lurking in the woods.” The old woman explains that they are there to
“punish a traitor.” A pig’s head is
placed over the man’s and the old woman continues that he must be “purified.” The group proceeds to burn the man alive. Shelby is noticed spying on the scene and the
old woman commands she be captured. Shelby
runs out into the road and is nearly hit by an approaching car. Fortunately for
her, it’s her sister-in-law. She takes
Shelby to the hospital.
Matt continues the story. He states his wife described the
human sacrifice she had witnessed. The doctor’s checked her blood for
hallucinogens but she was clean. Matt
visits Shelby, bringing her a small stuffed bear as a present. Matt promises they will find another place to
stay but Shelby now insists it was probably their strange neighbors who staged
the scene. Shelby vows, “If it’s a fight
they want, it’s a fight they were going to get.”
Lee continues to detail her past addiction and how it led to
losing custody of her daughter. Her
ex-husband drops Flora off at the home. Lee
explains she was eager to spend time with her daughter despite the strange
events. She hopes if she can just keep her daughter inside the home under a
watchful eye, she’ll be safe. Flora soon
wanders off and Lee finds her talking to an invisible presence the girl calls “Priscilla.”
Lee blames the stress of her divorce for the girl’s creation of an “imaginary”
friend. This is another familiar theme
in horror; a child is able to make contact with the paranormal more easily. Flora tells her mom Priscilla promised to make
her a bonnet if she can help “stop all the blood.” Lee searches around for clues and finds a
broken vase lying next to an open window with a dirty white bonnet on the
floor.
Shelby is concerned about her niece’s presence given recent
events. Matt assures they will stand up
against their neighbor’s aggression, at least until they can afford to move. Shelby feels guilty because she knows Matt
initially loved the home. She theorizes it was easier to believe someone was
pranking them then to believe these things were truly happening.
Shelby hears the pig-like groaning outside and goes to
investigate followed by Matt. She tells her husband she wishes to “stop the bullying.” The couple soon loses each other in the dense
woods. After a few moments, the couple
finds each other near a bizarre burning cross, topped with a pig head and
draped with meat. Matt says, “It was
beyond a cross being burned on your lawn, it was something demonic.”
The couple alerts the authorities. The sheriff promises a car will posted on
their property as they try to locate the neighbors for questioning. Shelby is still angered by the lack of
immediate action. Matt feels the long
overdue police protection made him feel safer.
Later that night, Matt descends the stairs to answer the
phone. On the other end is only static and he sees the phone line has been cut.
An old woman cries from a nearby room,
“You’re hurting me!” Two women dressed
in white nurse’s uniforms taunt the distraught old woman. One nurse grabs a small pistol, advising the
woman she’d been warned and shoots her in the head. Blood and brain matter cover the wall behind
her. One nurse spray paints an “M” on
the wall, they laugh hysterically stating M is for Margaret. (Nurses were a
small part of Season 1 Murder house; a crazed intruder strangles a young nurse.)
Matt goes out side to summon the sheriff deputy. The man comes inside to investigate but finds
no trace of the scene Matt was describing. Lee and Shelby observe from a distance. Lee narrates that she is concerned that her
brother and sister-in-law are gaining a reputation as “kooks.” She fears if there is a point they truly need
law enforcement their irrational behavior will inhibit them gaining assistance
in a real crisis.
Lee’s ex-husband Mason arrives to pick up their daughter
Flora. The girl is hiding and her mother
explains when Flora was three she liked to play a special game of hide and
seek; she wouldn’t tell her parents she was hiding and see how long it was
before they would seek her out. On the
third floor, Lee hears the girl chattering behind a closed closet door. Lee opens the door, triumphant that she found
her but Flora is distressed that her mom made Priscilla disappear. The girl explains she was about to give her
“funny dressed” friend her doll Mandy. Lee
asks her why. Flora explains, “So they
won’t kill us. They are going to kill us all and save me for last.” Her calm declaration terrifies both parents. Mason carries his daughter out to the car,
vowing he’s going to sue for full custody. He squarely places the blame for Flora’s
behavior on Lee and promises to never come back to the house.
Losing her visitation rights prompts Lee into a relapse. In the morning Matt hears his sister banging
around in the kitchen, an empty vodka bottle by her side. As he helps his sister up to bed he looks up
at sees knives stuck in the ceiling. He
assumes his sister did this while intoxicated but she denies it. Matt is worried about her relapse. He considers Lee to be “the rock of the
family.” Matt leaves her in bed as Shelby summons him downstairs. As he exits, the nurses enter Lee’s room.
Shelby stares out the window at a figure of a girl in a long
cape. (Priscilla?) She asks her husband
if he sees her too. The go outside to
look for her and discover a wooden door in the ground. They open it to find a ladder descending into
the ground. Is it a secret passageway to
the home or storage cellar or perhaps a portal to hell?
In the house, Lee feels the presence of the nurses despite
her inebriated state. This discomfort
prompts her to leave her bedroom. Near
the spiral staircase she sees bloodied severed children’s arms affixed to the
walls with knives. The disembodied arms
seem to wave before the image disappears.
Lee screams, and looks into the hallway mirror only to be further
traumatized by the image of a man with the pig’s head.
Matt and Shelby explore the underground dwelling. It appears as if someone had lived down there
many years before. Jars of dusty food
line the shelves and most items look very old except for a video camera. The couple watches the tape of a bearded man
with wild eyes. (Denis O’Hare) He begins, “I am not what I am!” He describes the tormenting forces he
experienced in the house including being physically attacked by “malevolent
forces.” Fearing for his life, he fled
the house to live in the cellar. Shelby
thinks she recognizes the man from the previous video in which his head was
covered by a raw pig head.
The man tries to explain he’s not crazy but a professor and
writer, Dr. Elias Cunningham. The
recording is from October 1997. He was
writing a book entitled “Helter Skelter” based on the murderous crimes of two
nurses. (Helter Skelter is a book written by the prosecutor of Charles Manson
case. Manson believed the Beatles song
was instructing him to start a race war, which would bring on the end of times.
Is this reference a link back to Los Angeles
and the Murder House or Hotel?)
In the late 1980’s, the nurses, named Bridget and Miranda
used to work together until they fell under suspicion after the mysterious
deaths of multiple elderly patients. The
pair quit their jobs before they could be investigated and opened up their own
“assisted living” facility in the house.
The nurses selected their clients based on strange criteria. First, the family had to be tired of caring
for the person and simply looking for a place where they could be “parked”
until death. Second, the pair was
looking for first names that would spell out their favorite word. Matt remembers the vision he had and how the
pair laughed as they said, “M is for Margaret!”
Matt runs back to the room where he saw the nurses. He claws at the wallpaper to reveal the word,
M-U-R-D-E, crudely spray painted in red. Shelby narrates, “Everything that guy said was
true.” Matt and Shelby continue to watch
the video. The man states the “official
story” is the two nurses killed five patients and fled. But he is convinced a force even more
sinister, which lives in the house, stopped the pair. Elias leaves the cellar and films as he goes
inside the dark house. He says he isn’t
sure if he’ll survive. The camera shakes
as he addresses the presence in the house to “Show yourself!” He follows loud noises to the top of the
stairs, close to the little closet where Flora was hiding. He opens the closet door and the face of old
women flashes in the darkness before the video stops. Matt hears a noise nearby. The front door of
the house swings open and a bloody knife is stuck below the door handle.
Shelby and Matt are convinced they have to leave the house
immediately. They blame the bank for
lying about the history of the home. The
bank representative explains it was their obligation to research the property;
all auctioned properties are sold as “as is.” (In most states, unless the
history of the house affects the structure in some way, there is no need to
disclose its history.) Shelby is
frustrated; they’ve put their life savings into a place they can’t sell, not
even to the hillbilly neighbors.
Lee arrives home with her daughter. Matt is livid, knowing his sister has
essentially “kidnapped” Flora. Shelby
whisks the girl to another room so Matt and his sister can talk. Lee states she
didn’t plan it, she just wanted to see her daughter. Shelby calls Mason, she tells him Flora is
safe and begs him not to involve the police. He agrees and leaves to pick up Flora. Lee thanks Shelby for her help. Lee knows she made a mistake but it was out of
love for her daughter.
Flora sees Priscilla out the window and follows her “friend”
outside. The adults panic when they
notice Flora is gone. The three adults
run outside calling for the girl. One
tree holds bloodied severed arms attached to the bark with knives. Lee looks up an eighty-foot tree and screams. Flora’s jacket flaps empty from the branches
nearly sixty feet off the ground.
This week the inclusion of Flora intensified the level of
peril. Her calm acceptance of the
paranormal is reminiscent of many horror movies including Poltergeist or The
Shining. The introduction of Denis
O’Hare’s character added another layer of authenticity to the couple’s
struggles. Is Priscilla trying to
protect Flora or is she using the girl to lure the whole family to their doom?
The episode’s pacing was good and there were a few moments where I gasped in
surprise. I'm looking forward to more
interaction with the past colony in the coming episodes.
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