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.