AHS, Season 6, Episode 7, My Roanoke Nightmare, Return

Three hours left of this season.  Warning to those this epilepsy and vertigo; the remaining story will utilize tons of shaky camerawork.  Last week we learned only one person will escape alive.  Who do you think has the skill to evade the horrors of the Blood Moon?  Oddly, I think it maybe Shelby because she seems so weak, maybe she has returned to boldly face down her demons.

The episode begins with an exterior shot near the production trailer hidden in the woods.  A fawn appears and behind it there is a flash of Priscilla on the film.  Inside the trailer, Sid marvels at what the cameras have captured so far.  He cheers when he sees Matt and Dominic get into a physical altercation.  Alissa the production assistance brings food to the group.  She notes Diana hasn’t been seen for days but Sid is unconcerned.  A cameraman looks up at the multiple monitors and notes Rory has been stabbed and is now unseen.  He leaves to investigate followed by Alissa, soon a scream is heard outside.  Sid runs outside, asking for a camera.  He finds Alissa on the ground, bleeding from a mortal wound of her neck.  The Butcher emerges from the woods and kills Sid as the camera guy runs away, filming.  Agnes proclaims, “I am the tree and the lighting that strikes it!”

Inside the mansion, Audrey walks up to the third floor calling out for Rory.  There is no answer.  Downstairs, Matt tries to explain “R” is for Rory to the re-enactors but Monet lashes back at him, reminding him Rory is Audrey’s beloved husband.  “If you’re so spooked why did you come back?” (Fair question.)  Monet suggests they all go upstairs and make a thorough search for the missing actor.  Lee is filming herself with the hand-held camera, when questioned she claims she wants to be sure that her story is captured through her eyes this time.

Dominic finds a puddle of red liquid near the armoire, he knows the difference between corn syrup (fake) blood and the real thing, and he’s convinced it’s Rory’s blood.  Monet wonders if it’s truly his blood, where is Rory?  Audrey believes that Rory has left to “meet with Brad Pitt.”  She accuses Sidney is playing a joke on them to punish him for leaving.  Audrey yells at Sid (now deceased) through a nearby camera that these antics are “not funny!”

Audrey steps into the “confessional.” She relays her fears about Rory’s fidelity due to their fifteen-year age difference. “For a man, fifteen years is nothing, for a woman, its like climbing Mt. Everest, the conditions need to be just right.”  Continuing her metaphor, she wonders if Rory “ran out of oxygen.”

In the root cellar, The Butcher (Agnes) broods after killing three people.  She mutters that she liked Alissa, and feels guilty killing the young mother.  Her voice weaves in and out of character.  Her thoughts swing from “What have I done?” to a cold rant in the Butcher’s accent about “legacy and destiny.”  Is Agnes truly two personalities, or has her role unleashed darkness, which was always part of her?  Agnes mutters at how she was a fan favorite and added her role was added on for two more episodes.  She then switches to Gaelic ranting.  The light goes out in the cellar and she screams.  When the light returns, twig totems hang all around her.

Lee continues to film in the room with “MURDER” on the wall.  Monet enters, drinking at dawn.  Dominic joins her and defends Monet against Lee’s criticisms.  Lee scoffs, “Giving an alcoholic a drink is like giving a murderer a loaded gun!”  Dominic taunts her back that she would be an expert on killing, implying she killed Mason.

Shelby is alone in the kitchen.  Dominic joins her; he explains he “Just had to see you again.”  He caresses her arm and says he’s there for her.  Matt enters the kitchen during this seemingly intimate moment.  He yells to Dominic, “You can have her!”

Dominic takes a turn in the “confessional.”  He admits he loves playing the “bad guy” in the series and compares his performance to other reality stars such as Puck from the “Real World” or Omarosa from “The Apprentice.”  Dominic brags Sid asked him back to boost the sequel’s ratings.  He shows off a special body camera he was given which appears to be a necklace.  He adds, “What’s more important than screen time?” (Living!)

Shelby sulks alone in her large bedroom.  Agnes soon joins her wielding a huge butcher knife.  Agnes declares that she just had to be on the show.  The older woman strikes Shelby with a fierce blow to the right shoulder.  Shelby falls to the ground but holds up her camera to “Document who killed me!”  The scene continues from this camera’s point of view.  Dominic rushes in and fights of Agnes.  Dominic goes to comfort Shelby.  In the meantime, Agnes has disappeared.

In the aftermath of the attack, Audrey dresses Shelby’s wound as she brags she played a nurse once in a show on the West End. (Do these people ever stop talking about themselves?) Matt and Dominic continue to squabble.  Dominic addresses Sid directly via the camera, imploring him to send medical assistance for Shelby.

Monet enters the “confessional” box appearing very agitated and intoxicated. “It’s been an hour and there has been no message or help.  I’m scared.”

Without a response from Sidney the group tries to develop a new plan.  Matt asks Dominic to go and find help while he stays at the mansion to care for Shelby.  Lee offers to go and is armed.  Audrey suggests they take the secret tunnels out.

Monet, Audrey and Lee brave the tunnels, where they find even more cameras. Audrey expresses her surprise at Agnes’s attack on Shelby, believing the attack was sparked by jealously regarding the Saturn award.  Down the hall, Mott appears. Audrey, believing it to be Rory calls out to him happily.  Mott rushes towards the group and Lee shots at him four times.

Suddenly, they are outside again and Audrey and Monet are in near hysterics. Audrey doesn’t understand what that “thing” was down in the tunnel and why it couldn’t be shot. (She remains a skeptic.)  Lee yells at them, “This is real!”

Shelby and Matt lay together, serene in the large bedroom.  Matt offers, “I did love you.” Shelby replies, “And I ruined it.”  Matt explains their relationship was doomed the day they moved into the house.  Matt states he has felt lost, and that’s why he agreed to return.  Shelby states, “We both lost something here, we can get it back!” It’s amazing how Shelby can remain calm and optimistic after being attacked.  She must really love her estranged husband.

We walk along with Lee, Audrey and Monet.  The shaky camera work through the woods is nauseating.  The light is leaving and the group fears the rising Blood Moon. Lee insists they press onwards until they reach a production trailer or the town.  The group finds the trailer after dark.  The bodies of Sid and Alissa lay side by side. Crows linger near Sid’s disemboweled corpse.  Audrey screams, “I’m not an American! I’m not used to this carnage!” (It’s all about her!)  Lee is the only one not in hysterics; she retrieves the keys from Sid’s pocket and asks Audrey to try to start the car. Audrey calls back that the car is completely dead.  (So much for the Audi product placement!)  Black and white footage appears shot at the ground level.  Perhaps it is the cameraman’s large camera filming posthumously?

Agnes rushes out of the woods towards the group.  Lee shots her in the midsection and she falls to the ground.  Lee urges them to keep running.  Flashlights appear nearby and the group heads a different route.

Audrey films herself, crying.  She addresses her message to Rory, “If you find this, you gave me the best months of my life!”  Monet notices blood is raining down on Audrey’s face.  The women look up in the trees to see Rory’s body dripping blood on them.  Audrey cries and her panic overwhelms her.  Lee continues to film despite Monet’s distaste.  Flashlights near the group and Lee implores them to run but Audrey doesn’t want to leave Rory.  Shaky cameras capture men speaking, “You like taking pictures young lady?”  A cattle prod buzzes in the darkness.  It seems the real Polk’s are eager to make an appearance on the “Return” series.

Agnes has made it back to the root cellar despite being shot.  She continues to rant on in the Butcher’s brogue.  She uses a clamp to remove the bullet and cauterize the wound.  Highly unrealistic, even for an old lady turned serial killer!  She states the Blood Moon will allow all to be purified with ashes and fire.

Matt and Shelby are asleep in the bedroom.  Matt awakens in a trance like state and leaves the bedroom.  (Reminiscent of Paranormal Activity.)  Dominic notices him and follows his doppelganger down the basement stairs.  The images appear to be filmed from Dominic’s “necklace cam.”  Matt approaches a crouching figure in the basement saying, “I’ve been waiting for you!”  The Witch is there to seize his body for her pleasure.

Dominic wakes Shelby up and asks her to follow him.  They enter the basement where strange moans and screams can be heard.  Shelby sees Matt and the Witch and yells at him.  Matt replies, “I came back for her, I’m in love with her!”  In a blind rage, Shelby grabs a crowbar and begins to strike Matt over the head.  Dominic watches until its clear Matt is dead.  Only then does he pull Shelby away from her husband.  (Is this on purpose too? Dominic, not knowing Sid is dead still wants to make “great television”?)

Lee has been tied up.  She pleads with the hillbillies that she can offer them money for her freedom.  Mama Polk enters.  (The “real” one, not placed by Frances Conroy.)  She instructs the men to cut away Lee’s right pants leg.  The men bare her flesh and proceed to massage her leg with peanut oil and moonshine.  Lee is destined to become more “human jerky.”  They laugh as they tell her they are “tenderizing her meat.”

Shelby is in shock with her husband’s blood covering her face.  She tells Dominic, “I came back for him.” He eases the crowbar out of her hands.  She screams, “Oh God, he’s dead!”  Dominic states he “tried to stop her.”  Shelby weeps, stating, “I didn’t mean to.”  Dominic replies, “Sidney’s watching, they know it’s you.”  He suggests she turn herself in and confess the murder.  Then, he tenderly wipes the blood from her face.

Dominic hears a noise at the front of the house and figures the women have returned with help.  Instead, he spies Agnes in the front yard pouring cans of gasoline.

Monet and Audrey are tied up in the middle of the Polk’s “growing operation.”  These actresses do not handle real drama very well.  Mama enters and offers the pair “fresh meat” that she insists they eat.  Raw looking slices of flesh are presented in a stainless steel bowl.  Monet asks where Lee is and the men just laugh.  The women promise they won’t tell anyone about what they’ve seen but hillbillies seem unconcerned.  The actresses realize the meat is Lee, but it is forced into their mouths.

Dominic watches Agnes continue to pour gas and rant outside in Gaelic.  The Colony appears behind her.  Agnes bellows, “You will soon feel the wrath of the Butcher!”

Dominic asks Shelby how they should stop her, but Shelby just states,  “You can’t.”

A dark haired woman in colonial attire appears behind Agnes.  Agnes realizes it’s her “maker” and kneels before the woman.  Agnes pleads with the real Butcher, “I just wanted to be on television.”  The real Butcher cleaves Agnes’s skull in two.  

There are only two more hours of this crazy season.  In next week’s preview Shelby and Dominic are tormented in the home by the Pig-Man.  The actresses continue to endure the Polk’s crazed torture.  It’s hard to know which is worse!  After last week, how do we know that anything shown in this week’s episode was “real”?  This is the most polarizing plot twist in the American Horror series. I sincerely hope we can return to “regular” horror next year.

AHS, Season 6, Episode 6. Return to Roanoke

The first half of the season is over and the veil has been lifted.  This episode shocked viewers into the “reality” of making a reality type program.  The question is, how do the viewers continue with the series believing anything that’s presented to us as fact?  “Found footage” has factored into tonight’s episode but again, whom can the viewer believe?

The episode opens with script stating “My Roanoke Nightmare” finale was a huge ratings success, outperforming The Walking Dead, football and Empire.  Like any success, the creators of the series are hoping to keep the money flowing by the creation of a sequel.  Sidney, (Cheyenne Jackson) instructs the cameraman as he enters in for a meeting with the network big wigs, “The camera never stops!”

Sidney and Diana enter a meeting to pitch the sequel idea.  Sidney recounts the success of Roanoke in terms of ratings, advertising and social media buzz.  He introduces the sequel’s name; Return to Roanoke, 3 Days in Hell.  The plan is to have the original cast and re-enactors to stay at the Mott mansion during the October Blood Moon.  Sidney is confident the “Big Brother” type situation will be a hit with viewers.  The corporate boss brings up the negative reactions to “Nightmare” because viewers believed Lee to be responsible for Mason’s murder.  (This was a comment I was noting in other recaps and comments.)  Sid reveals he owns the Roanoke home, having purchased it from Shelby for pennies on the dollar.  The series will be thirteen episodes; the only problem is Shelby has not agreed to participate.

Sid and his entourage visit Shelby at her yoga studio.  Shelby agrees to an interview. She laments the hate directed at her after the show; she receives threats such as cleavers left in the door of her business.  Shelby thought the show would be “healing” for her and Matt after the trauma they experienced.  However, the stress of “reliving it” caused them to separate. (Like many reality television couples, Jon and Kate, Jessica and Nick, etc.)  TMZ footage is shown, capturing Shelby going out with “Dominic” (Cuba Gooding Jr.)  Shelby admits she and Matt’s re-enactor had a brief affair.  Shelby doesn’t really want to do the show, but agrees to for a chance to reunite with Matt.  After the meeting, Sid confirms that Dominic has agreed to return for the sequel. (Shelby won’t be pleased.)

Sid and Diana are on location at the Roanoke mansion in North Carolina.  Sid instructs the cameras to be somewhat hidden in hopes the cast will forget them.  A man shows them some “special effects” he’s rigged up in the kitchen.  The sink faucet shakes, the water turns on and then a shower of water erupts while cupboard simultaneously jump open.  The smell of sulfur will be released to heighten the terror.  The man brags he has many more “surprises”, like the windows blowing out. Sidney smiles and drawls, “That’s a call back to Cricket’s séance!” (As a viewer, do you feel a little outraged that you believed any of the “paranormal events” which were presented in the first five hours of this season?)

The special effects man shows them a television he has rigged in the living room to go off with a video of a “victim” of the mansion.  This recalls the video Shelby and Matt discovered in the basement of Elias.  Diana questions whether they want the sequel to be a series of cheap “jump scares.” (This is a problematic issue in most horror today; relying on jump scares rather than develop a plot.)  Sid dismisses her concern.  His plan is to use fear as a way to break Lee down into a confession of killing Mason. (Just like the Jinx achieved with Robert Durst, if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend the series.)

Sid chides Diana for not hiding the production trailers in the woods.  His goal is to have the cast feel isolated, alone and afraid.  A crewmember motions Sid and Diana over to nearby tree.  At the base of the tree is a ring of fetal pigs covered in blood. This display is unexpected and Diana wonders if the Polk’s could have done it but its stated that the hillbilly family is “in the wind.”

The production crew heads to a retirement home to visit the Butcher re-enactor, a woman named Agnes.  Sid interviews her.  Agnes states she’s grateful for “the role of a lifetime.”  Her performance was nominated for a Saturn award.  Sid notes the viewers “loved to hate” her character.  Agnes beams it was a “Privilege to play a historic figure.”  Sid prods her about the toll the role took on her mental health. Agnes concedes that playing the Butcher was “extremely taxing.”  Sid addresses the “elephant in the room.”  The viewers are shown footage of Agnes, dressed as the Butcher on Hollywood Boulevard wielding a cleaver.  As a result, Agnes spent six months in a mental facility, diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and charged with assault.  Agnes promises all her problems are in the past and that she is doing well with a medication regime.  Sid confronts her with the picture from the set of the fetal pigs.  Agnes denies involvement.  A police officer appears to serve her a restraining order, banning her from the set.  Sid antagonizes her further by stating “only real” characters are allowed on the current set.  Agnes follows the entourage out of her building, speaking in the Butcher’s brogue. “You can’t keep me away!”

Diana is upset after their visit.  She warns Sid that they may not be able to control her.  Sid smirks, “I hope not!”  The whole purpose of their visit was to antagonize Agnes and hopefully increase the drama in the series by having this mentally unstable woman crash the set.  (All in the name of ratings.)  Sid may be the worst villain we’ve encountered this season.  The template for the new series is displayed for the first time; it’s the house, covered in blood with the title, “Roanoke, Return to Hell.”

E-News interviews Lee in her opulent home.  Lee confirms her participation in the sequel.  The interviewer asks her about her custody battle with her in-laws for Flora and the murder accusations.  Lee states the custody battle is her true “Roanoke nightmare.”  She confirms with the interviewer she is receiving a large sum to take part in the sequel.  Lee claims she’s just a single mom trying to provide for her child. (Kate Gosslin defense!)

Sid meets with the corporate boss to go over liability insurance for the series.  The boss notes the actress that played Lee in the re-enactments, Monet Tuteslime, has had problems with alcohol and has been in and out of sobriety.  Sidney is dismayed they might have to restrict her from “knowingly” drinking.  Sid quips, “We all know alcohol is the secret sauce of reality shows.”

Sid and Diana are called back to set with the news of a “horrific accident.”  An ambulance in on scene, a body bag on the stretcher with a disturbing head sized lump in the middle.  The video of the “accident” is very confusing.  A man using a chainsaw inexplicitly turns it on himself resulting in decapitation.  Sid confers with the union representative on-site.  She states its up to him whether to keep the crew working for the day.  The cast is due to arrive in three hours.  Sid decides to press on, casually stating, “Shit happens!”  Diana is shocked.  “Something horrifying is happening in this place!”  She enters her car and leaves the set.  This scene mirrors two scenes from earlier in the season.  Like Mott, Sid dismisses deaths surrounding the home.  Diana, like Shelby, is sensitive to the negativity surrounding the property and flees. 

Diana records herself as she drives off in anger.  She reports that it’s October 12^th at two fifteen in the afternoon.  She states she’d rather be known as a “crazy bitch” then continue to be involved. “Too much creepy shit is happening!  I’m not going to get killed making this show!”  She sees a woman dressed in “colony era” clothing on a nearby hill.  She becomes upset further, stating she doesn’t even want to know why that woman is there.  Suddenly, the Pig-Man rises from the back seat and attacks Diana viciously.

The text on the screen informs us, “Footage from Diana Cross’s camera was found three months later by police.  Her body has not been found.”  Where and how this footage was found is not explained.  Is this “real?”

Shelby’s re-enactor introduces herself on the set’s red velvet lined “confessional” booth.  “My name is Audrey Tindall,” she says in a markedly English accent.  A flashback of the “Nightmare” series is shown when Shelby and Matt were escaping through the tunnels with Mott.  In the clip she falls and is helped up by the Mott re-enactor.  He shyly asks her out on a date.  “Mott” joins Audrey in the confession booth.  He introduces himself as Rory in a faux English accent and announces they are engaged. (Like the real Evan Peters and his co-star from seasons 3-4 Emma Roberts!)

A clip accredited to “Wedding Keepsakes” shows the wedding of Audrey and Rory. Audrey wears an old fashioned white dress with an empire waist.  She offers a heartfelt vow to her new husband.  Rory seems more casual, with fiery red hair.  He promises to “Love the shit out of her!”

Audrey and Rory are the first couple on set and they claim the largest room, which belonged to Matt and Shelby.  Rory explains he may have to leave for a bit to “go back and do a screen test with Brad Pitt.”  The Roanoke cast is not supposed to leave the set.  Audrey tells the camera she trusts her new husband, even if their careers force them to live apart.  Audrey walks through the dark kitchen.  A shadow figure moves across a window.  Rory asks Audrey if she saw it, which she denies.  Suddenly, the Butcher appears and the window breaks.  There is a knock on the front door; Shelby opens it to let Sid and some members of the cast and crew inside.

Audrey, shaken by seeing the Butcher, questions Sid.  “Did you do this?”  Sid denies doing anything and Audrey proclaims that Agnes was on set.  Audrey is upset, “I won’t go through this again, she’s crackers!”

A 911 call from March 20^th 2016 is played.  Audrey calls for assistance, explaining to the dispatcher, “She’s outside my house with a huge knife trying to steal my Saturn!” The dispatcher thinks she means a car but Audrey clarifies it’s her Saturn award which she won instead of Agnes.

Sid denies Agnes is on set.  Shelby takes a moment to congratulate Audrey and Rory on their recent nuptials.  Shelby takes heart although her marriage fell apart, another one was created.  Audrey’s experience has proven to Shelby “It’s never too late.”  Audrey is offended at Shelby pointing out the age difference between the pair and Shelby tries to explain she was referring only to herself.  Matt and Lee enter the room, causing an awkward silence.

Sid gives everyone a phone for recording individual videos.  The casts’ real phones have been confiscated. (As is done on many reality shows like the Bachelor to increase the cast’s sense of isolation.)  Sid encourages them to video themselves as well as any “paranormal” activities.  Tension arises when Sid informs Matt he will be sharing a room with Shelby.  He refuses, insisting on sleeping in the basement.

Lee lashes out at Shelby, accusing her of being “weak and self involved” and blaming her for the continued suspicion regarding Mason’s murder. “’Cause of you, everyone thinks I’m a cold-blooded murderer!”  Shelby admits turning in her sister-in-law to police was a “mistake” but she’s tired of apologizing for it.  Shelby directs her anger at Matt as well, stating she’s “Done being punished for being weak and human one time.” (Referring to her affair with Dominic.)

Audrey coos, “Fiery and pathetic, exactly how I played her!”  Rory applauds his new wife’s performance.  They laugh.  Shelby overhears the rude comments and heads upstairs.  Audrey goes on to say that nothing out of the ordinary ever happened when they filmed the series so obviously the Matt and Shelby’s account was false. Matt asks what time of year was the series shot.  Audrey replies in the summer.  Matt opens the current and implores her to look out upon the Blood Moon.  Unimpressed, she and the other re-enactors laugh.

The text on the screen explains, “Over the next three days during the Blood Moon, every participant in the series died under mysterious circumstances, except one. The show planned by producers never aired.  This is the assembled “found footage.”

Again, the show is asking the viewer to accept the found footage as real, when it may be just as created as the “original series.”

Audrey and Rory enjoy the hot tub.  Shots of the spiraling staircase are shown, giving the feeling of a vast space between the characters.  Matt sets up his lonely post in the basement.  Monet drinks vodka alone in her room.  Lee walks down the hallway.  A severely burned man passes behind her, she senses but does not see the man.

Audrey leaves Rory to go take a shower.  Shelby slinks behind her sister-in-law in the kitchen to reach the basement.  Once downstairs, Shelby implores Matt to come and join her upstairs, noting they are still married.  Shelby is confident staying in the house this time because there are so many people and cameras watching.  Matt disagrees, “It will happen again, and this time, I don’t know if we will survive.”

Lee and her doppelganger have an awkward meeting in the kitchen.  Lee chides Monet for drinking and doesn’t think they look alike.  The actress fires back, “You are the reason I’m drunk!”  Monet thinks Lee is guilty of killing the father of her child.

In the basement, Matt suggest to Shelby they just leave.  There is a knock at the door, Matt’s re-enactor Dominic has arrived.  Matt wastes no time confronting the man and soon there is a physical altercation.  Rory and Lee enter the fray to separate the two men.  Shelby stares directly at a camera, “Fuck you Sidney!”

Audrey showers but hears something and calls out for Rory.  Lee tends to her brother’s wounds in the kitchen.  Exiting the shower, Audrey stares at her reflection in the steamed up mirror, she sees the Pig-Man behind her.  Audrey runs through the house screaming, angry with Sid for “Sending someone to scare me!”  Dominic hugs her and Rory goes back up to the bedroom to investigate.  Rory finds nothing in the bathroom, and looks around the bedroom carefully.  While inspecting the armoire, the murderous nurses appear and murder Rory with knives.

Matt takes a video of something in a downstairs room; on the wallpaper is the completed word “MURDER” in red spray paint.  Matt enters the room where the re-enactors are comforting Audrey.  He tells them cryptically, “’R’ is for Rory.”

It seems the final episodes will continue to play with these notions of what is “real” and what is part of the “reality show.”  The preview shows the characters declaring, “This is real!” But at the same time, the viewer is shown that Sid is thrilled with the “results” of the sequel.  Were the cast really murdered?  Who do you guess is the lone survivor of the season? (Lee or perhaps Matt?) Has the magic ended this season now we’ve met the “Wizard behind the curtain?” Are we really supposed to believe they would ever release footage of people being murdered one by one?  There are no ends to the questions of reality and imagination in Roanoke.

American Horror Story, Season 6, My Roanoke Nightmare, Episode 5

Last week found our protagonists cornered in their haunted home and almost all out of options.  I wondered what more horrific things could happen, it seems as if the story was all but concluded.  All that seemed left was “Night of the Living Dead” homage as our couple fought off the supernatural forces while holed up in the mansion.  Tonight’s ending confirmed my suspicions.  This season is becoming the most unpredictable yet, and perhaps that’s part of its appeal.

The episode opens with a cameo by presidential historian Doris Kearns-Goodwin. (Please search for some of her excellent interviews on the Daily Show; she’s a wonderful storyteller.)  She provides the background on the home’s infamous history, quoting one of the decedents of the original owners, “It was place of joy and suffering, emphasis on the suffering.”

Edward Mott, (Evan Peters) is an eighteenth century dandy and art lover who suffered from severe social anxiety.  We observe him at an art auction, flaunting his wealth by buying up the entire lot of rare expensive paintings.  His goal was to build a refuge away from the social society in Philadelphia, where he could be alone with his paintings and servant/lover.  To protect his art collection, he built an extensive series of underground tunnels leading out of the mansion.  During the building of the main house there were strange accidents and paranormal incidents.  None of this deterred Mott, he wished to flaunt his wealth and art collection no matter the human costs.

Alone with his lover, Mott explains his love for art, “It never judges, it stays frozen in beauty forever.”  He admits he cares for his art more than any lover, especially a new painting by Peale, which he has placed above the mantel.  One night Mott is awakened by a loud noise and sees a cleaver puncturing the wall near his bed.  As Edward makes his way around his home, all his paintings have been vandalized, the portraits cut from their frames.  Edward flies into a rage, gathers his servants together demanding the guilty party confess.  One woman states she saw a man and a woman flee just before she heard Mott scream.  The irate Edward does not believe her; he strips the clothes off his staff and places them in the root cellar without food until they confess.  He spares his lover but spits at him, “Do not judge me!”  The moon is blood red.

Goodwin continues that night was the beginning of the end of Edward Mott.  His lover Guinness was the only witness to the fate of Mr. Mott.  Edward is again woken when the canopy from his bed falls down on him.  Edward flees out the front door to find the Colonists waiting for him with a fire alter prepared.  The Butcher makes a speech about the land belonging to the Colonists’ and demanding a blood sacrifice.    Edward Mott is impaled with a large wooden stake through the heart and burned alive.

Guinness flees on horseback and recounts what he witnessed.  He is not believed and is charged with murdering his master.  Mott’s body was never found.  Guinness never mentioned the fate of the other servants.  Their skeletal remains were found much later in the root cellar.

Goodwin concludes that the Mott family continued to own the home for the next century or so but their family line was plagued with mental illness.  The last Mott died in 1952 in South Florida. (Where all the crazies find a home!) Other owners only stay a short time in the subsequent decades.  The interviewer asks Ms. Goodwin if she believes in ghosts.  She laughs, stating she’s a historian.  She does agree that she would never stay in the house overnight on a full moon.

The story flips back to our protagonists, Matt’s call to 911 is played as he begs for help with the “mob outside of his house.”  The Butcher calls to Shelby and Matt, “Deliver yourselves onto me and I shall grant you a merciful death!” (An offer you can’t refuse!)

Matt knows he has to flee.  Ambrose speaks next, “The Blood Moon demands to be consecrated!”  Matt instructs Shelby to take Flora in the car while he goes out to the Colonists to “distract them.”  Flora is terrified but her uncle begs for her to “be brave just a little while longer.”  Shelby and Flora descend the stairs when dead older sister Chen drops from the ceiling onto the stairs and tries to grab the girl.  During this creepy development, Matt sees the Colonists’ have burned both their vehicles.  Shelby and Matt find Flora at the bottom of the stairs, bruised and shaken.  The Chen woman crawls up the ceiling, like a contorted, undead spider.  All hell breaks loose.  The victims of the Butcher congregate in the house, including the hunters, the Pig-Man.

Matt narrates the events, “The Butcher’s victims do her bidding.  They were corralling us up for an easy slaughter.” (They seem to be a fairly easy slaughter without the ghosts, cars destroyed, unarmed in the middle of nowhere.) The group cowers in the basement when the ghostly specter of Edward Mott appears.  Shelby recognizes his name as the original owner of the house.  He offers them a way to escape but Shelby questions why he would want to help.  Mott explains, “You are my bane, my ruin, my solitude is all I have.”  In short, he wants them gone so he can enjoy what’s left of his mansion.

The group walks for approximately a mile of tunnels, which smell like a grave.  They exit into some unknown part of the woods.  Shelby whines, “What are we supposed to do now, we’ll die of exposure out here!”  Mott’s appearance turns more ghostly, he chides her, and  “The living cling to life above all but the trophy less prized is to die in peace.”  In other words, the group dying of exposure is not his problem and preferable to death by the Butcher.  Mott disappears.

Shelby narrates about her fear of animals and worse in the dark forest.  Her fears are soon realized when a bearded man knocks them out with the butt of his rifle.  It seems like our group has jumped out of the fire and into the frying pan.

When the group wakes up, they find themselves in the house where they rescued the “pig-boys.”  They see Elias strapped onto a wooden board.  He is in bad shape. “Mama” removed the arrows from his chest but had amputated portions of his right arm and right leg.  Elias screams at them to get out before “Mama” returns.  He whimpers he wants to die.

Narrating, Shelby cries quietly at the memory of seeing the professor in such a state. Moment’s later; “Mama” returns and offers the group “fresh jerky.” (Frances Conroy, we have missed you!)  Elias pleads them not to eat the meat, his own flesh!  Mama complains the meat tastes rancid and throws it on the floor in disgust.  She instructs one of her sons to kill Elias, as he has no more use.  The son smashes Elias in the head with a hammer.

Mama turns her attention to Shelby and Matt.  She states they should have never bought the house.  Matt weakly offers to give her the deed to the house but Mama states it’s too late.  Mama explains the Polk’s and the Colony have an arrangement that goes back generations.  The Colony protects the land from prying eyes and the Polk’s sometimes help them “procure” victims for the Blood Moon sacrifice.  Mama is protecting their crop of Carolina cannabis. (Another reason to legalize it people, bring production out of the deep hillbilly shadows!)  Matt promises to not tell the police about their operation but Mama has already thought of a way to insure their silence.  Mama is going to take the three of them back to the Colony to be sacrificed. Shelby states the obvious in her narration, “The only place worse then the Polk’s was our house.”

The police have been questioning Lee for nearly forty-eight hours.  She continues to retell her story, taking solace in the words of Mark Twain. “If you tell the truth, you don’t need to remember anything.”  She knows they don’t have enough evidence to charge her.  The cop concedes that she couldn’t have lifted Mason up on the “alter” without help.  Finally, Lee is released but still unaware that Flora has been found. Scrolling through her text messages, she learns Flora is safe.  

Meanwhile, Matt, Shelby and Flora are on the move as well, riding in the back of the Polk’s pick-up truck.  The man who killed Elias keeps his shoot gun trained on their heads.  Matt fears the shoot gun might go off accidentally given the rough road.  Matt decides he must act; he grabs the end of the shoot-gun and manages to shoot and kill the driver of the truck.  The truck swerves; Shelby kicks the man with the gun off the truck bed.  Matt, Shelby and Flora run back into the woods.  (Why didn’t they attempt to steal the pick up truck?  Horror movie logic, I suppose.) The man with the gun soon finds them, aided by the buzzing of Matt’s phone. (Lee is calling.)  Alarmed that her brother isn’t answering his phone, she asks the police for a ride back to the house.

The recaptured group is taken back to the Polk’s home.  Mama is livid that one of her son’s is dead and wields an ax menacingly.  She wants to insure Matt and the family won’t run again.  For a second, it looks like she will amputate one of his legs, (reminded me of Roots) but she turns the ax on Shelby and breaks her ankle badly with one blow of the ax.  The Polk’s proceed to tie up Matt and Shelby and put them in the back of the truck.  Flora rides in front to “protect her innocence.”  Shelby narrates that she doesn’t remember much after her injury.  Matt confesses he “Gave up after that.”  He knows when the truck stops, they are dead.  He kisses Shelby to try to make the most out of his last moments.  Matt’s attempt to play “hero” has only served increase the amount of terror for the family.  The truck approaches the mansion.  The Colony has gathered with torches, ready for the human sacrifice.

Shelby narrates how she felt when the truck stopped, crying. “I thought I was going to die and there was so much I wanted to do, grow old with Matt, be a mother, have my own yoga studio.  I thought I had all the time in the world.” (Don’t we all?)

When Mama exits the truck, the Butcher acknowledges the recent loss of her son as something “no mother should bear.”  The Pig-Man waits nearby.  The Butcher grabs Flora over Priscilla’s protests, “You said she’d go last!”  The Butcher calmly replies, “Now she goeth first!”  All Matt and Shelby can do is scream.  Lee arrives, takes in the horrific scene and implores the officer to call for backup.  Instead, the officer flees.  Lee runs toward the fire.

The Butcher makes a speech about the importance of the blood sacrifice. (This is a reoccurring flaw in villains from Shakespeare to James Bond; the need to explain how evil your plan is, allowing the protagonist to spoil the plan.)  Ambrose, disgusted by the sacrifice of innocent girls, knocks his mother into the fire.  In the confusion, Edward Mott appears to untie Matt and Shelby.  “Go and make your grand escape!”  He commands.  The Pig-Man moves to seize Flora when Lee runs him over with a car.  (I guess the cars were not both completely destroyed.)  Lee growls at the stunned group to “Get in!”

As Lee drives away, the Butcher runs after them, clearly on fire.  Matt narrates that his sister’s arrival was nothing short of a miracle.  Shelby recalls that the months of hell were over and she was grateful to never have to see the house again.

Lee and family take their remaining funds to check into a motel and order pizza. Shelby explains her sister was going to wire funds so they could return to Los Angeles.  Shelby’s ankle has been casted but she insists on having a turn in the shower.  Shelby approaches the shower to see steam rolling out from under the door.  When she opens the door, the Butcher plants a cleaver in her forehead.  But, that was just a dream.  Shelby describes it as her reoccurring nightmare, and part of her PTSD from the Roanoke incident.  Shelby adds, “To this day, I’ve never gotten over it.”

The episode concludes.  It appears “My Roanoke Nightmare” the mockumentary is over.  Is this the “happy ending” frequently depicted in horror before the monsters reappear?  The preview for next week was extremely brief, just a man stating, “The film never stops rolling.”  Will the next episodes continue to follow Matt and Shelby or will it tie into other elements of American Horror Story Murder House or Hotel which both occurred in Los Angeles?  There have been rumors about a “Damien” like child, will it be son of Shelby and Matt?  I’m definitely