Thoughts on Race related to Women’s March on Washington

I was dismayed to hear negative comments regarding the Woman’s March on Washington not from the Trump supporters but from Black Lives Matter.  A photo has been circulating on Twitter, one picture of an African-American woman confronting police in riot gear and the other of our very own Portland marchers with police taking selfies in pink hats.  The angry poster of the tweet stated, “No caption needed.” But as the wife of a former photojournalist, I can tell you a caption is ALWAYS needed.  Context writes the narrative but it seems that BLM wants to fit everything into their narrative, which seems like, “white people hate us and are privileged and all police are monsters who hate minorities.”

I felt it was important to research and caption those photos.  The photo of the African-American woman, Ieshia Evans a thirty-five year old mom and practical nurse was taken in July 2016 in Baton Rouge, La.  The two thousand protestors had been non-violent but than a large group started blocking the highway and police in riot gear were brought in.  Ieshia decided to ignore police instructions to not move forward and was subsequently arrested. Obviously she surrendered peacefully but was heard saying just prior, “I’m going to get arrested.” This was her choice, to not follow orders in full knowledge of the consequences.  I have no problem with her actions and the resulting photo is powerful but does not tell the whole story.  The police in riot gear weren’t there for her, but for those blocking the highway, to restore the flow of traffic and public safety. (I sourced this information from UK Daily Mail, NY Daily news and CNN.)

The Woman’s March on Washington had permits for their event. In my experience Saturday, it wasn’t just a march for white women; the Portland march was organized by an African-American woman and attended by all races and genders, including Black Lives Matter advocates.

The Portland event had a permit from the city and a parade route.  The photo showing women with Portland police was something I personally witnessed.  The women thanked the police for “keeping us safe” and asked to take photos with him. The officer was happy to oblige and even donned a “pussy hat.”  I thought it was great, I never noticed the skin color of those in the photo.  If you want to yell that’s because of my “white privilege” so be it, but I fear that’s missing the point.

This is just the beginning of the resistance movement against Trump and his agenda. I realize it will not always result in peaceful non-violent marches.  Arrests may happen; Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. were both arrested numerous times. Their movements succeeded, especially in King’s case is that he sought to change legislation and law of the land.  We must keep our eyes on how to successfully enact change, blocking freeways just angers and alienates people whom otherwise may have supported our cause.

I feel its important now more than ever to not divide this country any more. Especially hurtful is when women fight amongst themselves. Divided we are always weaker and that’s what the current government wants. So please, consider moving past what you feel divides us to work for the greater good before none of us enjoy any of these rights.

Taboo, episode 2

Taboo, episode 2

Last week laid a nice foundation of mystery and tension as the viewer followed James Delaney’s return to London after the death of his father.  Macabre elements were woven into the dark tapestry, James exhumation of his father’s corpse, his visions of ghost slaves and his chanting in an obscure language whether alone or in private.  The “villains” are those employed at the British East India Company, an unknown hit man, and James’s brother-in-law Thorne Geary.  Throughout this second hour, James is steadfast in his desire to reclaim the glory of his father’s business and hang on to the Nooka land in the far away Pacific Northwest.

The episode opens with Sir Strange throwing a wad of paper at the hapless Mr. Pettifer.  When the big man bends to pick up the paper, Strange yells at him, “At least it appears you are capable of following orders!”  Sir Strange threatens him, if he does not kill James Delaney within two days he will be fired from the company.

James rides his white horse outside of London.  He unearths a bag, which he had buried in the previous episode.  James returns home.  Brace grumbles as he deposits a large safe on his desk.  Brace balks when James gives him a pistol, muttering that he again finds himself in the company of a “mad Delaney.”  James inquires about his father’s last days.  Brace informs him that his father hardly ate, subsisting on beer, which was brought to him from a pub on Featherlane.  James wants to find this pub owner but learns the man is dead and his wife has fled town. (Perhaps they were responsible for poisoning the father with arsenic.)  James opens the muddy bag to reveal a cache of large clear stones. (Diamonds)  He locks them in the safe.

James walks with purpose to an auction of ships.  He bids eight hundred pounds on a seized Spanish vessel know as the Feliz Adventurera. (Translates to happy female adventurer.) James declares the ship now belongs to the “Delaney Nooka Trading Company.”

At the East India Company, Wilton relates the auction story to fat Pettifer.  Sir Strange listens impatiently, “Why defy logic and the King?”  Strange is dismayed that James knew about the secret peace talks in Ghent.  He deduces that James much have contact with American spies.  Strange also wonders where James got such a large sum of money.  Sir Strange wants the James “taken care of” as soon as possible.

When James leaves the auction he finds a note with the name “Atticus” on it where his horse was tethered. He enters a rough looking pub and calls out for Atticus.  A man with a compass tattooed on his bald-head appears.  He pumps James for information about his African travels, stating he’s planning to write a book.  James impatiently asks for his horse to be returned.  Atticus wants money James’s father owed him, he states he has information regarding the old man’s death.  James tries to get Atticus to give him information.  He agrees to be James’s “eyes and ears” for the fee of fifteen pounds.

A man named Coop is presented to the King. (King George III, whom suffered from mental illness and a blood disease known as porphyria which effects the nervous system and the skin.) The King looks unwell and complains about his stomach and his toe.  The King is distracted by Coop’s presentation of the naval positions in the Atlantic.  The King insists a red not blue “X” should have represented the English ships.  Instead of listening to military strategy, he tells Coop about a dream he had in which he was an island and surrounded by shrimp who were gnawing at him. The King interprets the dream to mean the Americans are the shrimp, trying to eat Britain. He wishes to attack offensively.  Coop states he has other news regarding the East India Company, King George exclaims, “Fuck them as well!”

James ventures out to the docks at night.  A teenage girl approaches him and introduces herself as Winter, stating she lives at the brothel but does not take part in it’s business.  She informs him Helga has a man sent to kill him, so that she can get her brothel back.  Winter offers to show James where the man is moored on a boat with but for a prostitute.  The pair row off in a small boat.  Winter asks him about Africa.  Winter tells him she dreams of going to America.  James asks her again who has sent this man to kill him but the girl does not answer.  He asks her to wait as he swims towards the larger vessel.

Once aboard, James lights a lantern and wanders the empty vessel.  He sees ships hanging to dry, and sniffs a powder in a container.  He spreads the gunpowder and sets the cabin ablaze.  He quickly abandons the ship.  A huge explosion destroys the vessel.  James climbs back aboard the canoe but it appears Winter has left.

James returns home at dawn still wet from his adventure. Brace notes how his behavior is similar to his father’s.  James inquires where his father stored important documents in the home.  James needs to find the treaty.  Brace quips the treat will be “his own death.”  James has a pragmatic need for the treaty, without it the Crown may seize his land as a “spoil of war.”

Brace believes the land is best left alone.  The servant is certain the East India Company will kill James for it.  James mutters again in an unknown language. A brief vision of a ghostly woman dressed in black with a white painted face appears. (Is this perhaps his native mother?)

James continues to search through his father’s papers.  He finds a theater advertisement for a show called the “Painted Savage.”  The drawing of the “savage” has tattoos, which resemble the one’s on James’s body.  A name “Lorna Dow” is circled on the program.  A portrait seems to stare down at him in disdain.

James takes to the streets again heading toward the dock offices. Despite the eviction notice Helga is still using the offices to “entertain” men.  James interrupts her with a client.  She thanks him for the disturbance.  James asks if she has a “mulatto” girl there.  Helga denies it, stating she’d love to have such a girl because “The Danes will pay double.” James removes the madam’s blond wig to reveal her shorter darker hair.   He tells her, “I like to see what lies beneath.  I know you have goodness inside you yet.”  He deduces that Winter is her daughter that is why she doesn’t participate in the “business.”  James implores Helga to work with him.  She crudely asks for physical affection but James simply asks instead “Where is the silver tooth man?”  Helga says she’ll ask after the “Malay.”  James curtly thanks her and leaves.

James signs papers of ownership to complete his purchase of the Spanish vessel.  He ventures inside and finds red beads on the floor.  He lies down on the floor and finds chains bolted on the floor. James speaks to himself in the foreign tongue and undresses completely.  On the floor, he has flashbacks to slaves in chains drowning in the sea. He carves a bird on the ship’s floor, it matches the one tattooed on his upper back.

Dressed again, James wades into the water and throws handfuls of the beads he gathered from the ship's floor into the river. 

James returns home to find his servant furious with him for his unpredictable behavior.  He informs Brace “Someone has been sent from London to kill me. I need to find out why.”

James sets out again, this time to a hospital.  He is searching for a doctor named Dumbarton.   He is led to an office where he tells the doctor he was wounded by a Yankee bullet.  Dumbarton (Michael Kelly, House of Cards) asks if he should call him “comrade” in an American accent.  James is fascinated to find the doctor busy dying linens. Dumbarton explains, “In times of war there is much need for changing flags.” James notes he’s a doctor, merchant and a spy.  Dumbarton warns James the “shoulder wound” is no longer an acceptable password.  James wants a conference with the Americans.  James tells Dumbarton the British are trying to kill him and to get a message to Carlsbad.

Upon hearing this name, the doctor draws a pistol on James.  James remains calm, asking, “Do you treat illnesses of the mind?” Dumbarton pauses, sizing up James before slowing lowering the gun.  The doctor notes, “We are an angry nation!” James replies, “I’m counting on it.” 

Zilpha receives a note but there are no words, only a large clear gem within.  She deposits it into her locked jewelry box.

James meets his father’s attorney Thoyt at his office.  James states he intends to use the land.  He tells Thoyt the ship he purchased used to belong to the East India Company.  James notes the beads he found on the floor were used for trade in Africa. (England banned the slave trade in 1807, although people still owned slaves throughout the empire territories until they abolished slavery roughly thirty years later.)  James chastises Thoyt for “reporting his father’s business to the enemy.” Thoyt defends his actions, noting the East India Company is God, with more ships and weapons then the entire British empire.  Thoyt adds his choice is pragmatic, “I’m merely submitting to what the world has become.”  James replies, “Even the mighty East India Company wouldn’t follow me to Boston.”  Thoyt admonishes his words as treason against Country and the Company.

Thoyt is reading the will to the assembled and rowdy public. The older Delaney died with many debts.  Thoyt confirms that Zilpha will receive nothing; James is the sole heir to the property and business. Throne yells in disgusts and he and Zilpha exit.  Thoyt explains that James does not inherit his father’s debts.  But James dumps a bag of silver coins on the table, stating he will pay every debtor if they line up in an orderly fashion.

A woman approaches James and the lawyer. The crowd laugh, thinking she is a prostitute still owed. The woman states, “I am owed a lifetime of care and everything that is owed to a wife.” She states her name is Lorna Delaney, and she claims to have married the father in Ireland two years prior.  Thoyt escorts her and James into a private office.

Alone in the office, Lorna repeats to herself, “Calm, pretty, certain, fragrant.”  The men join her.  James recalls her name from the program of a show called the “Painted Savage.” (Does he have a photographic memory?) Thoyt asks the former actress if she married Delaney before or after his madness.  James notes his father’s health was ailing and asks for “proof of consummation.” (How on earth can this be proved?) Lorna states she has passionate letters from the deceased, which proved he loved her.  Thoyt requests to see the letters and the actress stammers.  Finally, Thoyt requests to obtain a copy of their marriage certificate and testimony from the priest who married them in Dublin.

Outside, James meets with some rough looking men, including Atticus. They claim the man sent to kill him was present at the will reading. “He’s the man who said your legacy is a death sentence!” Thorne uttered those words as he left.  He hardly seems capable of murder but his hatred for James is clear.

Sir Strange heads a meeting of the East India Company with Thoyt also in attendance.  He chides a young man named Godfrey to read the news about the “Delaney widow.” The young man explains an actress has claimed to be the Delaney widow and their marriage certificate has been found to be valid.

Strange asks if anyone can explain the significance of this development to their plans for James.  Pettifer offers, “The girl is an opportunity, for she will have a shared ownership of the Nooka land.”  Thoyt notes the widow must file a suit to claim such ownership.  Strange adds, the widow would have sole claim on the land in the likely event of James’s death, which maybe “imminent.”

James approaches a grand home where an orchestra is playing Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony.  James eyes his half-sister in attendance.  Their eyes meet.  Moments later, Zilpha joins James outside. “Please don’t!”  James is bemused by her aversion to him. He notes how she used to “Straighten her skirts afterward and walk away like nothing had happened.”  With that one sentence, the viewers learn that they had an incestuous relationship, one that Zilpha is determined to remain “buried deep down.”

Zilpha looks at James deeply, “Did you really eat flesh in Africa?”  He offers to tell her the whole story if she comes with him.  She resists, stating she can’t stand even standing so near him.  James replies, “I’ll always be this close to you.” He leaves down a dark deserted alley.

A figure in black with a veiled hat follows James. A knife is brandished, James is stabbed in the gut. James wrestles with the attacker, breaking his neck. As a final act of rage, James bites the man’s neck savagely. As the man lies dead in the street, a silver tooth shines in the moonlight.

James collapses in the street, badly wounded. He has flashbacks to Africa, where warriors found him in the savannah.

The preview for next week shows that our protagonist is not dead, but will seek out the help of the American doctor. 

This hour continued hint at James’s mysterious past. Having relations with his half-sister certainly is one “taboo” behavior he has engaged in. It seems the East India Company had a hand in murdering his father and now has tried to kill James. Knowing there is an assassin out looking for him, why did he go almost everywhere in this episode alone? Does he want to die? How does James’s know so many of the United States's secrets? Hopefully we will get more answers and meet the mysterious Carlsbad in the coming weeks. So far the story is interesting but a bit coy at sharing its secrets with the audience. 

Taboo, Season 1, Pilot

Taboo brings together many talented actors of the big and small screen tells a tale of gothic horror set in early nineteenth century London.  For those saddened by the demise of the “Penny Dreadful” series on Showtime, this creepy series may help fill the niche for strange and weird television.  The show stars Tom Hardy as the prodigal son, “back from the dead” who returns to London after the passing of his highly eccentric father.  Onna Chaplin, (Game of Thrones and Charlie Chaplin’s grand-daughter) co-stars as his half-sister Zilpha.  Christopher Pryce (Game of Thrones) appears as Sir Stuart Strange, the president of the British East India Company and Franka Potente (Run Lola Run, and The Bridge) appears as a colorful prostitute.

The cinematography is beautiful throughout this episode.  The opening scene is of a man being rowed by a tender to the rugged shoreline.  He appears in dark, hooded oilskin. Once the man reaches the shore, he pauses to dig in the mud.  It is unclear whether he is digging something up or burying an object.  He then leaves on a white horse to a large city visible in the distance.

In a tomb-like room, a corpse is laid out with coins over each eye. (To pay the ferryman over the river Styx.) The hooded man enters the room and looks at the body.  He removes the coins from the eyelids and mutters an incantation in an unknown language.  Finally he says out loud, “Forgive me father, for I have indeed sinned!”

The title sequence is shown, it contains of montage of bodies floating through dark water.  A slow ominous music box tune accompanies the swirl of bodies, including chained slaves and a torn early American flag.

London, 1814.  Gritty daily life occurs on the docks.  From this scene a funeral procession marches past with a man announcing, “Behold, a good man!”  Behind the carriage containing the coffin, a woman rides wearing a black veil over her face. When she is seated inside a church, a man asks whether they would like to pay an extra few shillings to ensure her father is buried deeper, to prevent grave robbers. The woman’s husband is dismissive of this concern.

The tall man enters the church and murmurs erupt,  “There walks a dead man!”  The woman gasps, recognizing him, “James Keziah Delaney, my brother!”  James deposits the coins absconded from his father’s eyes and deposits them into the church’s coffers.  The funeral starts.  The procession follows the deceased to the churchyard for burial.  The priest proclaims, “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust…” Meanwhile, James can be heard muttering a prayer of his own in an unfamiliar language.  He rubs a red dye on the right side of his face.  The other attendees observe his behavior with alarm.

After the service, James, and his brother-in-law quibble about the depth of the grave. James’s sister Zilpha states, “He is buried to the depth of my love.  In the last years, he disgraced me!”

At the wake guests whisper about James’s returning from Africa and discuss wild rumors about his conduct there.  They, (Nicolas Woodsen, Poirot Mysteries) the lawyer of the estate leaves the gathering to look for James under the guise of using the outdoor facilities.  James follows the older man out to the privy; a man butchers large quantities of meat nearby.  After the old man leaves the privy he asks James how he knew his father was dead.  James replies, “I heard he was sick and got on a ship.”  Thoyt describes how his father would light fires and call out for James.  James claims to have “heard him calling.”  Thoyt explains that James is the heir to his father’s land, held in a treaty by the Nooka tribe.  Thoyt notes the land is a “wasteland of rocks and Indians.”  The lawyer offers to “relieve him of this asset” and promises to send a detailed proposal.  James turns away stating,  “They’re my rocks now.”

The wake attendees have grown loud, eating meat and kissing.  Zilpha’s husband complains that whores have descended on the gathering to prey upon the older men.  James decides to leave, telling his sister, “I still love you, if you need me, I’m here.”  James departs.

Men have gathered at the East India Company to read the will. Sir Stuart Strange begins, “May Delaney rot in Hell!”  The gathered men laugh.  Thoyt addresses them, noting that Delaney’s son James has returned from Africa.  The men review James’s history; he was a cadet then soldier for the East India Company until about ten years ago.  He had started out a good soldier but developed behavioral problems, including attacking officers and committing arson.  His fellow soldiers documented that James began to talk about seeking treasure and fortune and in 1802, he left for Africa.

Sir Strange notes that Delaney left his son everything and that their “delicate negotiations” with his sister have been in vain.  One man suggests they burn the will but it is noted that James would still be the heir, “according to our law and God’s law.”  The boat James purportedly sailed to Africa on had sunk so he had been presumed dead.  The men discuss the rumors that James engaged in “awful and unnatural acts” while in Africa.  They are unwilling to share the details with Sir Strange.

James wanders the docks followed by a large dog.  After dark, James travels to a large home where he opens the door with a skeleton key.  James uses a lantern to navigate the large dusty home. He gazes a portrait, presumably of his father. The eyes look startlingly lifelike.  A man calls out to him in the darkness.  James embraces his old servant Brace.  Brace offers James tea but the younger man requests the butler drink brandy with him.  Brace expresses regret for missing the funeral. The butler chastises James for not writing his father, recounting how his father was mad with grief near the end of his life.  They discuss the “gulls” looking to scavenge the deceased man’s wealth.  James is aware of the situation, “I know what they want, a piece of land belonging to my mother’s tribe.”  Brace is surprised that James knows the secret of his mother’s identity.  James notes, “He bought her with gun powder and beads.”  James says his mother’s name was Salish.  Brace warns him that the owned land is cursed. James replies, “I’ve sworn to do foolish things.”

James continues to explore his father’s ledgers and logs by candlelight. He burns some parchment while gazing out the window into the mist.  Suddenly, a woman dressed in black with painted white skin appears.  She laughs at him before disappearing.

James continues to work when Brace brings him tea. He asks the servant about the other business logs his father had. The butler states his father burned them all in the later years.  A note has arrived from Thoyt, offering to buy the Delaney shipping business.  Brace notes that James’s father would send Thoyt horse droppings as a response to this request.  James promptly burns the message, asking if a similar reply can be sent.  James notes that there are thirty-two years left on their lease of the docks and he intends to go reclaim this part of the business.

James heads off to the busy docks and opens the door to a large warehouse with a key.  Helga, an older rough looking prostitute opens the door. (Franka Potente) He remembers she was the one who took his virginity but that doesn’t warm him to her.  She is using the warehouse as brothel and offers him half of their daily earnings plus “extras.”  James wants her out, in two hours so that he can restore the shipping company’s offices.  Helga tries to tempt James by offering him men or boys or certain “taboo” activities.  James says he’ll kill them if they don’t vacate.  Helga shouts at James, “I heard if I give you a girl, I’d never see her again!”  James sneers, “You heard right!” He leaves, with a parting warning to “Be punctual!”

Zilpha looks out at the rain as she finishes her note in a sitting room.  Her husband Thorne enters and reads the note.  He insists she change the note to offer James fifty pounds to leave England or he’ll kill him.  He explains to Zilpha that her brother is a “savage” (using a word I won’t quote here but begins with an ‘n’).  Thorne rips up the original note and asks his wife to “try again and show disgust.”

James walks by the docks with a dog following him.  An older man walks up to him surprised that the dog has taken a liking to James.  He notes the wild dogs feed on the flesh of suicide victim’s form a nearby bridge. (Quite the visual.) The man is there to discuss the continued care of James’s son, noting he has never received money for taking the boy in ten years prior.  James promises to deliver the money personally.  The man, Ibbot, scoffs that James hasn’t even asked how the boy is fairing.  James walks on.

Under the cover of darkness, gravediggers exhume a body.  James’s father is taken back to a stone room filled with medical instruments.  A young man takes a drink and introduces himself as a graduate of the Royal Academy of Surgeons.  He describes the procedure he will perform, removing some of the stomach contents and testing them.  As the surgeon begins to work, James has a flashback, seeing several corpses lined up in a morgue.  He speaks to them, “I have no fear to feed you!”  The body of chained African man rises from one of the tables.  James speaks to him, “I have no guilt for you! Today I have work to do!”  In the following moments the room is empty.

The surgeon lights the stomach contents on fire through an instrument.  He places a glass near the flame and a film forms, confirming arsenic poisoning.  The doctor notes that heavy doses of arsenic will cause madness.  He deduces large quantities of the poison had been ingested.  James threatens the surgeon to bury his father again and not use his body for other purposes. (Grave robbing was a huge business to provide cadavers for medical study.)  The young surgeon asks if he wants “words to be said over the body” when returning it to the ground.  James replies, “No, no one is listening.”

Zilpha works on needlepoint when Thorne returns from a meeting with the East India Company.  The news is grime; due to James’s return they are to receive no inheritance.  Zilpha laughs which agitates him further.  “He should have stayed in the jungle!”  Zilpha agrees, “He doesn’t belong in this world.”

James rides a horse to a mill in the country.  He asks to see his son but stays at a safe distance while the youth shovels hay in the barn.  James hands Ibbot an envelope of money, stating it is for the “past, present and future” of the boy’s life.  He advises Ibbot to put some money aside “In case he grows up to be rash like me!” Leaving, he states he never wishes to see his son again.

James arrives to meet with members of the East India Company.  James is introduced around, first to Mr. Pettifer, the chairman of the African desk than to Sir Strange, the head of the company.  Mr. Pettifer begins by offering his condolences to James but James urges him to get to the point, the land.  The members explain how the land has become a “point of contention” between the United States and Britain whom are currently at war.  James is aware of the conflict and the secret peace talks under way in Ghent.  The land is on the border, on Vancouver Island.  James is well aware that this location is strategic as not only a border between two countries but as a “gateway to China.” 

Sir Strange implores James to behave as a “loyal British subject” and sell his land to Britain.  James is firm; the land is not for sale.  James directs his ire at Strange, railing against the brutal tactics of rape and plunder practiced by the East India Company.  A man named Wilton interjects that if they can’t appeal to his patriotism perhaps they can appeal to his greed.  They present him with an envelope containing a “very generous offer.”  Strange notes that James’s father was crazy but he has no such “excuse” to refuse them.  James rise to leave, the envelope falls to the floor.  James tells the men tersely, “Good day!”

Once Delaney has left, Strange instructs the men, “I tried to appeal to reason, he’s all yours now.” (Implying the next offer won’t be in an envelope. They will likely try to kill him.)

James returns home in the evening.  He has received another letter from Zilpha, this time not filtered through her husband’s concerns.  She implores him to keep their family secrets buried in a “deeper grave.”

It was a compelling first episode with hints of some brilliant performances by an all-star cast.  Perhaps it is trying to capture viewers who’ve missed having the second half of American Horror Story in the early winter months.  The season is only eight short episodes and I have no idea whether this will be a stand-alone season. There is potential to explore the darker side of colonization in a loosely historical context. I’m hoping for an interesting, abet disturbing journey.

AHS, Season 6 Roanoke, Finale

The tenth and final hour of the season was a disjointed array of not one but three more “reality shows” and a “Comic Con” type event.  The suspense regarding the “reality” of the previous four episodes was explained but in a very unsatisfying way.  The finale did tie Roanoke to the vastly superior Asylum series by bringing back investigative journalist Lana Winters.  Unfortunately, the viewer also had to endure “episodes” of “Crack’d” and “Spirit Chasers.” (The later being a lampoon of Ghost Adventures.)  All the deaths depicted in the previous episodes were real and Lee Harris has the distinction of being the lone survivor of Roanoke.  The finale tried to tie up many loose ends but the season was one big ugly knot trying to be “meta” and clever by mocking social media and celebrity culture.

The hour opens with a flashback to a March 2016 fan conference entitled “Paley Fest” featuring the cast and crew of  “My Roanoke Nightmare.”  A drag queen with an enormous bouffant wig hosts the event.  Fans wear Pig Man masks and wield fake “Butcher” knives.  The cast members are treated like rock stars.  A woman from London asks Lee a question before presenting her with a drawing of Lee and Flora.  Rory enjoys attention from women in the crowd, much to Audrey’s chagrin.  Agnes notes that she feels the Butcher has more of a story to tell and hopes she will return for the rumored Season 2.

The London fan appears on a YouTube video stating, “It’s been a year since “My Roanoke Nightmare” and everything has gone to shit.  Season Two turned an artistic achievement into something crass.  Many questioned whether it was real or not but people died!”  In this manner, it is confirmed as wild as “Return to Roanoke” appeared it did happen.  Although Season Two did not air as planned, it is presumed that fans eagerly consumed the “found footage.”  I share the woman’s opinion that "Return to Roanoke" ruined "My Roanoke Nightmare.".

Lee is on trial for the murders of Monet, Jether and Mama Polk.  Another YouTube video pops up with Lot Polk sitting in a tractor holding a gun.  He says, “The courts won’t do shit!  Polk’s ain’t ever got justice. They took my babies!  If the law won’t deal with her, I will!”  The video ends with him cocking his weapon.

A special episode of “Crack’d” airs focusing on the life and trial of Lee Harris.  It sensationalizes her biography of a cop turned mother.  It describes how Lee cracked under the burdens of her addiction, divorce and loss of custody of Flora.  District Attorney Phillips is interviewed.  “We had no smoking gun but I knew that Lee Harris had killed her ex-husband in cold blood.”  The show highlights Lee's trial for the "Return to Roanoke" murders.  The defense had the testimony of a toxicologist. “The Polk strain of marijuana made you hallucinate.”  The conclusion was drawn that Lee’s stressful ordeal coupled with the drugs made her not culpable for her actions.  A juror states she believed Lee had “diminished capacity” during the commission of her crimes.

Lee was acquitted of the “Return to Roanoke” murders.  The decision split public opinion just like the infamous O.J. Simpson trial.  The D.A. Phillips decided to go forward and prosecute Lee for Mason Harris’s murder.  During this trial, the “confession tape” and Matt’s security footage was shown to the jury.  The prosecution calls Flora to the witness stand.  She testifies she saw her mom and dad fighting in the woods.  She claims her mom picked up a rock and proceeded to hit her dad repeatedly until he was motionless. “You killed Daddy!”  Lee whispers something to her female attorney.

Lee’s attorney approaches Flora to cross-examine her.  She tells Flora that her father thought her mother was hiding her but that wasn’t true.  She asks Flora why she chose to hide in the woods.  Flora states, “I felt safe.”  The attorney wonders how she could feel safe all alone in the woods and Flora replies, “I wasn’t alone, I was with Priscilla.”  The lawyer asks, “The ghost girl from television?”  Flora confirms she was happier with Priscilla than with her mom and dad.  The lawyer concludes Flora is an “imaginative girl from a broken home.”  The defense has cleverly discredited Flora in order to dismiss her damning testimony.  The jury deliberates for sixteen days before rendering a “not guilty” verdict.

The D.A. disgusted with the verdict calls Lee a “good actress.”  Lee tries to call her daughter after the trial but is not able to speak with her.  The D.A. continues, “No one won this case, Lee may have lost a lot more.”  He implies while Lee won the case, it came at the price of her relationship with her daughter.  The Crack’d logo appears again, signaling the conclusion of the show.

The next show to feature Lee Harris, “the most revered and reviled woman in America” is Lana Winters.  Lee has been working as a paid speaker, promoting her “tell-all” memoir.  Lana Winters has come out of retirement to conduct this exclusive interview with her.

Lana’s first question to Lee is simple, “How are you doing?”  Lee explains she continues to hope and for her hope is Flora.  Lee explains how her desire to be with her daughter has kept her going.  Lana points out that Lee has had a “spare relationship” with her only daughter.  Mason’s parents retain full custody of her.  Lana probes further, “People see you as a murderer, and you basically called Flora a liar.”  Lee replies defensively, “I didn’t come here to be put on trial again!” Lana asks why Lee chose to do her show, after declining to be interviewed by other famous journalists such as Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer.  Lee explains she chose Lana because of what Lana endured, murdering her own son.”  It’s Lana’s turn to become defensive, “I killed a psychopathic murderer.  I did what I had to do!”  Lee nods, “So you know there are extenuating circumstances.”

Lana shifts the conversation back to her guest’s problems.  Lana notes Flora won’t talk to Lee and gives Lee the opportunity to address Flora on television.  Lee faces the camera and pleads, “I want to tell you from my heart, I love you, and that will never stop until we are together again.”  Lana confronts Lee, stating Flora has been missing for the last hour.  Lana fears Lee has staged the interview to cover up her kidnapping of Flora.  Lee rises from her seat stunned.  She begins to leave stating, “I have to find my daughter.”  Her statement is punctuated by the sound of gunfire close by.  Lot Polk shoots down the door of the interview room.  Lana attempts to diffuse the situation but Lot has committed to killing Lee as justice for his family.  Lana urges him to “tell his truth” reminding him they are on live television with millions of people watching.  Lana encourages Lot to speak about his mother and put the gun down.  Feed up with the host, Lot uses the butt of his gun to strike Lana down growling, “She talks too much!”  Seconds later, Lot is shot by law enforcement.  The screen displays color blocks with the text “Technical difficulties.”  Lana Winters knows how to make interesting television.

The viewer is now presented with yet another television show related to Roanoke. “After much consideration and the approval of the surviving members, this network has decided to air the controversial November 18^th episode of Spirit Chasers.  Viewer discretion is advised.”

The “Spirit Chasers” excitedly report that this will be a special episode focusing on the Roanoke mansion.  The hosts are two white young men named Bob and Dave joined by a woman named Tracy and a paranormal investigative team.  To add interest, they’ve invited the re-enactor Ashley Gilbert, who portrayed Cricket in “My Roanoke Nightmare.”  The mansion has been blocked off, with both the public and the media denied access onto the property.  Bob proudly shows his audience that they plan to cut the fence and trespass in order to conduct their investigation.

Ashley helps led the team through the mansion.  The home is a mess; graffiti covers the walls with messages like “Satan lives here!”  Tracy shows off the special thermal cameras they’ll be using.  Ashley states he was glad he wasn’t in the second season. (Or he’d be dead!)  The cameras are in place as night falls on the “Blood Moon.”  Dave notes the magnetic readings are “off the charts” in the spot where Rory died. Curtains flutter and loud bangs scare the investigators.  Ashley finds Priscilla’s bonnet in the debris.  Shadows appear in the hallways.

Lee Harris walks up to the Spirit Chasers crew asking, “Are you crazy?” She is there to try to find Flora; the girl has been missing for over two weeks. The crew offers to help her but she yells at them to get out of the house.  A loud crash is heard; the computer techs see an image of the Chen girl crawling on the ceiling.  EVP readings pick up loud groans. Bob states, “Chasers don’t run!”  Bob follows the sound of laughter, seeing a ghostly apparition of Priscilla on camera.  In the hallway, Pig Man appears. Ashley yells, “Croatoan!”  The Pig Man butchers the short actor.  The Chaser’s flee in all directions.  Dave has his back against the wall but is suddenly grabbed from above by the Chen girl.  Tracy runs away abandoning her friend.  Bob sees the dead nurses and flees outside.  Emergency sirens are heard in the distance.

The next action sequence happens at a frantic pace. Outside the mansion, Tracy and a cameraman are intercepted by the Butcher and murdered.  Bob makes it to the front gate to warn the cops of the danger but he and several officers are shot with arrows.  The Blood Moon hangs overhead.

Inside the home, on the third floor near the heart shaped window, the thermal camera picks up a human figure.  Another figure joins the first. Lee says to Flora, “I just wanted to keep you safe!”

News broadcast airs; stating Lee and law enforcement have been involved in a fourteen-hour standoff. (But it is still dark outside?)  At the television studio, the actor who portrayed the professor is interviewed.  He adds little to the discussion besides stating he “decided” not to take part in Season Two.  A handsome young male reporter interviews Lana Winters from her home.  He describes her as a “national treasure” but notes her and Lee’s propensity to attract trouble.  Lana bristles but states, “I understand Lee.  We both have the capacity to be singular of thought. For Lee, her motivation has always been Flora.”

Flora draws a picture in the thick dust on the floor.  Lee speaks of her desire to settle down, someplace safe, just the two of them.  She urges her daughter to eat something.  Lee tries to explain how hard she’s tried to be a perfect mother but acknowledges her failures.  Flora states, “You killed Daddy.”  Lee counters, “A girl needs a mother, Daddy didn’t understand.”  Lee states she lives to be with Flora.

Flora explains she wants to stay with Priscilla instead.  Lee is horrified, “You can’t survive!” Flora reasons she could if she “became like her.”  Flora reasons she could help protect Priscilla and others from the Butcher.  Flora has asked for Priscilla to “make me like her” (kill her) but the ghost has been reluctant.  Lee offers to take her daughter’s place in death. “What if I stay fought the Butcher?  Priscilla can kill me and you can go live with your grandparents.”  Flora approaches the ghost girl with Lee’s plan.

Outside, SWAT forces storm into the mansion.  An explosion blows out a window.  Flora walks out the front door unharmed.  Lee moves to take the ghost girl’s hand in death.  Other explosions rock the mansion and the whole house begins to burn.  Flora is a safe distance away, blankly watching her mother burn inside.  SheF slowly waves goodbye to Lee and Priscilla.

From a vantage point above the property, the Colony approaches chaos surrounding the burning home.  The Blood Moon hangs overhead.

The Roanoke season has been unique in the American Horror Story franchise.  Many say it’s their favorite of the series but I disagree.  I appreciate the attempt to call out the “found footage” and the public’s obsession with reality television.  However, I found its execution has been quite unbelievable and heavy handed.  It was hard to care about most of the cast who ended up as casualties of a “slasher” type film.

There remain some plot holes and lingering questions.  Why did Lee eat the pig heart last episode and appear to be working with the Butcher only to vow to fight the Colony in the finale?  Did the Return to Roanoke ever air and if so how could all the murders be shown on television?  If the paranormal activity in the first season was all orchestrated by the producers, did the showrunners ever believe Matt and Shelby’s original story or did they just think it would make a sensational “reality show?” 

I sincerely hope next season will return to stories revolving around a singular theme or location with the same talented cast members.  The only part I enjoyed in tonight’s finale was seeing Lee sacrifice her life for Flora.  Lee’s final moments felt authentic within a very “trumped up” season of deceit and lies.

AHS, Season 6, Roanoke, Penultimate episode

The final hours of this curious season promised to be brutal and bizarre.  The viewers are subject to shaky camera work and “found footage.”  It seems likely that the finale will reveal the preceding episodes were all part of an elaborate television production.  Ongoing clues are the continued footage of “static” cameras in various locations most notably at the Polk’s farm.

Three hikers venture near the woods surrounding the Roanoke house. (Definite Blair Witch Project vibe here.)  They all wear helmets with mounted cameras directed at themselves.  The young woman named Sophie chatters excitedly about her enthusiasm for the “My Roanoke Nightmare” series.  Sophie has her friends photograph her near the “No Trespassing” sign.  They hope to obtain “likes” on their Instagram page.  Sophie opines about how the show touched on major themes such as “post-racial” relationships and how the Butcher represents a strong matriarch.  (Things you’ll hear in any Woman’s Studies lecture.)  The trio finds the tree where Flora’s hoodie was found.  Suddenly, a disoriented woman bleeding from her head appears.  The young group attempts to talk to her and offer assistance but she runs away.  The group finds a black car flipped over with the woman’s body inside.  It appears to be Diana, the production assistance whose car flipped as she fled the set in episode six.

Back at the mansion, Dylan has surprised Lee and Audrey.  Dylan acted as the Butcher’s son in the series.  He explains how he has been sequestered in a local hotel for days without hearing from Sidney.  He was supposed to arrive to dressed as the “Pig Man” to provide some drama for the remaining episodes.  The frantic women ask if he drove to the set but he arrived by Uber. (The brief scene shows Matt Bohmer driving Dylan in the Pig Mask toward the mansion. What a waste of Matt Bohmer this season!)

Audrey grows frustrated with Dylan’s complaints about the production of the series. She screams at Dylan, “It's real! Everybody is dead, don’t you get that?”  The women show Dylan the bodies of Shelby and Dominic.  Lee speaks, “It’s the most dangerous night to be here.” (The full Blood Moon.) Dylan reveals he’s an Afghan war vet and a Navy Seal and therefore tough enough to get them back to safety.  Lee explains her plan to go back to the Polk farm, get the videotapes and steal the hillbillies’ truck. They also fear Monet is still being held captive there.  Dylan would rather go alone but Lee insists they go together.  (Lee’s primary objective is to destroy her confession tape.)  Dylan assures the women, “Everything is going to be fine.”  Famous last words!

The local authorities are interviewing Sophie after their experience in the woods.  The officer is skeptical of Sophie’s story, noting that she runs an Internet fan site known as “The Army of Roanoke.”  Todd, (Jake from Glee) tells the officer interviewing him, “I didn’t believe any of it until that moment.” (When they saw the body in the car.)  The other young man named Milo describes his experience as “freaky awesome.”  He goes on to describe the woman in the woods whom he feels must have been a ghost.  The officer interviewing Sophie informs her no body was found in the car wreckage.  The officer accuses the trio of a “prank” performed to create a viral video.  Milo notes, “This is how every horror movie goes, the cops don’t believe it until it’s too late!”  Todd is confident they have captured all their experiences on camera and that proves their story is true.  The police warn the group to stay away from the property.

Dylan, Lee, and Audrey approach the Polk property.  Dylan is intent to simply take the truck and flee but the women want to attempt to rescue Monet.  Lee’s mission is to locate the tapes while Audrey looks for Monet.  In addition to the shaky handheld cameras, their approach to the Polk buildings is captured on a stationary camera. Audrey enters the “grow room” and quickly finds a revolver.  She hears a noise and finds Monet bound to a chair.  Lee enters the room with the tattered Confederate flag.  She finds the camera Jether used to tape her confession. “Where is the damn delete button?”  Outside, Dylan has hot-wired the truck.  A man sneaks up behind him and bludgeons him to death.

Ismael finds Audrey and Monet.  He yells at Audrey, “You killed Mama! I’m going to murder you real slow!”  Audrey makes him repeat the statement (to exonerate herself from blame) then shoots the old man in the head.  Hearing the shot, the man outside yells, “They’re coming! There is no one here to protect us now! Mama’s gone!”  The man pushes Dylan’s body aside and flees the farm in the truck.  The Colony can be seen approaching the farm with their torches blazing.  Lee stands nearby filming their approach.  Monet and Audrey take off running towards the mansion.

Once the actresses arrive back to the Roanoke mansion, Monet implores Audrey to calm down.  Neither knows what happened to Lee.  Audrey assumes she is dead, just like her beloved Rory.  They take a moment to view the tape retrieved from the Polk farm. They are horrified to listen to Lee’s confession to the killing her ex-husband.

Lee writhes on the ground in the forest.  A grainy camera captures her movements. A wild boar briefly appears in the frame.  A shaman type person offers Lee some fruit, which she devours hungrily.  This was the same way the Butcher came to have immortal powers.

Sophie, Milo, and Todd have refused to stay away from Roanoke.  Sophie babbles about how the moon represents fertility and female power.  The men are excited that their most recent video featuring Diana’s apparition and corpse has gone “viral.”  As they search for the mansion they stumble upon the site where Mason’s body was burned.  They spot Lee, whom they recognize from the series.  They call out to her but she doesn’t respond.  Suddenly, Lee moves quickly towards Todd and slashes him with a knife.  Sophie and Milo scream as their helmet cameras capture a swirl of activity.  They hold each other and look up to the trees to find the twine totem dolls dangling around them.

Sophie and Milo run further into the woods until they discover the carnage around the production trailer.  As they absorb the scene, Dylan sneaks up behind Sophie only to be brought down by an unseen force.  Milo and Sophie seek shelter in the production trailer.  Soon, there is a loud pounding on the door.  The fans recognize Dylan from his portrayal of Ambrose on the series.  Sophie notes most of the cast were coming back for season two.  Milo studies the monitors and notes, “Most of the cast are dead!”  They see the lifeless bodies of Dominic and Shelby on the multiple camera feeds from the mansion. They also see Audrey and Monet are still alive.  Milo wonders, “Is anything even real?”  Monet wants a drink for courage and Audrey argues against it.  The young adult fans note Lee is walking slowly towards the mansion wielding a knife.

Sophie tries to call the police to have them protect Audrey and Monet against murderous Lee.  The police dismiss their call as another prank regarding the series. Sophie decides they have to try to stop Lee themselves.  Milo reminds her Lee has just killed their friend Todd.  They exit the trailer together.  They fail to see Dylan wounded lying on the ground nearby. (Is he another ghost in search of mortals for help or another spirit out to wreck havoc on the Blood Moon?)

Monet wants to turn the confession video over to the police as soon as possible. Audrey theorizes Lee must be dead if she left such damning evidence behind.  The women hear a noise and are surprised to find Lee inside the house staring at them. Lee speaks as if in a trance, “You don’t belong here! Your vile presence defiles this sacred ground!”  Monet states that she always knew Lee was responsible for the death of Mason.  Lee throws her doppelganger down three floors where she is impaled with a wooden object.  Lee directs her ire towards Audrey, “The grounds must be cleansed!”  Audrey runs away and exits through the front door.

Sophie narrates as she and Milo make their way towards the mansion.  She notes the dramatic blood moon overhead and states, “Lee Harris just killed my friend and the police won’t listen!”  Milo doubts they will be able to find it.  But soon they see the back of the mansion looming before them in the moonlight.

Audrey runs for the safety of the root cellar.  Lee is quickly upon her and slashes Audrey’s left shoulder before pushing the actress down the ladder into the darkness below.  Lee closes the door to the cellar.

Milo and Sophie film near the house as the Colony approaches.  The Butcher disembowels Dylan, pulling his intestines out into the dirt.  The young couple turns to flee only to be confronted by Lee with a large cleaver in her hand.

A text warning appears. “What you are about to see was recovered from the iCloud account registered to Todd Allan Connors.  Presented in its raw form, the images are graphic, violent and deeply disturbing.  Sensitive viewers should refrain from watching.”

Sophie and Milo are taken by the Colony.  Lee stands before them.  Sophie pleads for her life, explaining she has dreams of becoming a doctor.  Lee assists the Colony in sacrificing the couple.  They are impaled on large wooden stakes and burned alive. Their screams fill the night.

The next day, multiple police cars rush towards the mansion.  In the front yard are the charred remains of Sophie and Milo. (The camera stamp states it is from RCPD body camera.) The footage shows the police finding the bodies within the mansion. Outside, they find a woman whimpering in confused pain.  Lee is on the ground bleeding and babbling.  The police try to question her, but she is too shaken to answer.  Finally, she screams, “Get me out of this hellhole!”  They led her towards a police car.

Audrey stumbles out of the root cellar.  She looks up, dazed by the sunlight and asks the policeman, “Are you real?”  The officer assures her he’s “flesh and blood” and moves to help her up.  Lee approaches Audrey and she reacts by pulling out a revolver and aiming it at her calling her a “murderer.”  The cops shoot Audrey dead.  (Without giving her a chance to drop her weapon. How she would have still had the weapon after her fall in the root cellar is also unclear.) The episode closes with an aerial shot of Audrey dead from gunshot wounds to the chest.

The sole survivor is Lee.  Why did she take the part in the Colony’s activities and act the part of another Butcher?  Was she similarly possessed when she killed Mason?  Are episodes 6-9 yet another elaborate production of the Roanoke series? Will the viewer see the entire cast alive and well in the finale?  If so, will we feel entertained or duped?  Frankly, I’ll be happy to wrap up this season.  I prefer my horror weird, campy and decidedly fake.  Television used to be the realm of dreams and now we are bombarded with having “reality” feed to us even when it’s just as fictional.  Our reality now includes a “reality show” star President-elect.  It’s enough to make you question everything.

AHS Season 6, Roanoke, episode 8

The remaining episodes will be typical horror story fare, watching almost ever character being killed in unique ways.  Given this inevitable conclusion and inclusion of “shaky cam” footage, these last few hours will be hard to watch.  Will there be a final twist at the end?  It may still be revealed that the last few episodes were also a carefully illustrated “reality.”  Perhaps the final curtain will reveal all cast and crew alive and well and having a tremendous laugh at the audience’s expense.  Frankly, I would find that a cheap and divisive ending.

The episode opens with Dominic looking in horror at the scene in front of the mansion.  The Butcher has just killed her re-enactor Agnes.  Dominic has finally come to the conclusion that recent events are no longer being orchestrated by the show.  He addresses Sid via the camera in the room. “I just wanted to be the ‘good villain’. Get me out of here!”  Shelby replies cryptically, “No one is coming!”  Dominic makes eye contact with the Butcher through the window.  They decide they have to escape the house through the tunnel.

Dominic’s necklace camera provides shaky footage as the couple rushes down the stairs.  Shelby encounters Matt’s corpse and she almost can’t go on.  Dominic urges her forward to the tunnels. (Stationary cameras provide images in the darkness.) Ahead in the tunnel appears a figure.  Shelby assumes it to be Mott, who had helped Matt and her flee the first time.  But suddenly, distorted figures covered in blood crawl towards them.  The Chen’s chase the living down in the dark.

Mama sharpens her knife as she instructs her sons on the unique art of butchering Lee alive.  Lee spits back, “I’m not an ‘it’, I’m a human being! People don’t eat people!” One of the boy’s responds, “The Polk’s eat people.”  It doesn’t appear they will be diverted from their task.  Mama proudly begins to tell Lee the history of cannibalism in their family. It was during the depression, and “hobos” ate their last hog.  Enraged, the patriarch decided to tie up and eat the culprit.  Mama boasts, “We had found our power, our place!”  She slurps, woefully reminiscent of Hannibal Lector in “Silence of the Lambs.”

Lee promises them they will receive the death penalty should they go through with torturing her and consuming her.  Mama laughs, relating that the police are paid by the family and leave them to their “business.” Lee screams as one son cuts her.  Her severed ear is dropped into a pickling jar! Realizing in horror what just happened, Lee asks the boy “Jether” why he took her ear.  Jether states the ear is a prized Christmas present. He describes other Polk traditions such as letting the boys “cuddle with Mama” (incest is implied) and receiving weapons and ammunition.  Lee cries that she wants another Christmas with her daughter, Flora.  She asks Jether to remove a photo of her daughter from her back pocket. (Lee is planning something to get away.)  She tells the teen, “Every mother loves their children.”  But Jether counters, “Not every mother.”  Jether is upset he wasn’t chosen to be on television like his older brothers.  Lee promises she can help him achieve this dream.  She tells him about the new show.  “I can help make you famous if you help me!”

Jether tells Lee the story of the most famous member of the Polk family, Kincaid Polk.  He brought his pigs to Chicago for slaughter around the same time as the 1892 World’s Fair. (In last season’s Hotel, the Patrick March character was modeled on real- life serial killer H.H. Holmes. Mr. Holmes operated his “Murder Hotel” preying upon young un-chaperoned women attending the Chicago World’s Fair.)  Jether explains Kincaid would don a pig’s head and slaughter people. He had seen how the Butcher sacrificed people for the Colony in a similar fashion. The “Pig Man” we’ve seen this season is this Polk ancestor.

Lee makes another plea to the teen, “You could be even bigger and more famous!  Let me go!”  Jether becomes agitated, “I can’t ever leave, shut up!”  The camera zooms out, making it seem that the show also placed cameras at the Polk’s property. Jether snorts a white powdered substance and offers some to Lee.  Lee declines, explaining that she is an addict in recovery.  However, it dawns on Lee that she is not going to make it out of this situation alive.  She asks Jether why they torture their victims in this manner.  The boy explains it comes from “tradition” before refrigeration and has been kept because “fear makes for a good tang in the jerky.”  Lee accepts the offer of drugs.

Dominic and Shelby have barricaded the tunnel to keep out the Chen’s.  As the couple makes their way upstairs, Dominic hurts his arm in a slamming door.  Shelby opines, “We are going to die! There is no escape!”  Dominic tries to give her hope, “I’m going to get a spin-off and you are going to open a yoga studio!”  Shelby states she thinks Dominic is a “really good actor.”  Despite the walls crashing in on them, the actor can’t help but embrace this complement. “You really think so?”  The Pig Man appears in the kitchen; Shelby is able to stab the creature with a knife before running away.  The Chen’s daughter appears in the doorway as the chandelier from the third-floor shakes and crashes to the floor, narrowly missing Shelby.  The nurses pursue the couple as they rush upstairs to seek refuge in Matt and Shelby’s former bedroom's bathroom.

Once locked in the bathroom, Shelby bursts out laughing much to Dominic’s consternation.  Shelby cries she’s killed the only man she ever loved and there is no place left for her.  In a sudden motion, Shelby cuts her throat with a knife from the kitchen, killing herself. (And my prediction she might be the lone survivor of the series.)

Lee calls to Jether to get the picture of Flora out of her back pocket.  Jether covers Lee’s wounds with a towel.  He removes a large portable camera and begins to film the scene.  Lee gazes at her daughter’s face. “I love you, and I always will. I have to tell you the truth; I killed your daddy, alone.  He was going to take you from me and I couldn’t let that happen.  One day, I hope you can forgive me.  I need you to go on, and rise up!”  Jether confesses he’s never killed anybody before; his brothers liken it to butchering a pig.  The boy reckons it’s his turn but he doesn’t want to hurt Lee, “I like you.”  Lee seizes on the teen’s inexperience and offers him to let him touch her in a sexual way.  The boy asks if he can tape the encounter so he can “watch it later.” Lee coos, “I want to make you feel good!”  Once the boy frees her hands for the encounter, Lee is able to grab the boy in a tight headlock until he loses consciousness.  With Jether passed out, Lee gets up and grabs the boy’s knife before fleeing.

In the bathroom, Dominic sits across from Shelby’s motionless corpse.  He addresses the camera, “Sidney, why are you doing this? Save me!” He continues to bemoan the fact he had first class airline tickets to Thailand for a vacation next month.  No matter the circumstances, the actor’s of Roanoke are selfish to the core.

Audrey and Monet cry to their captures that they are “actors” whom should not be punished for the actions of Matt and Shelby.  (Whose discovery of the “feral children” had them removed from the Polk’s custody.)  Monet entices the hillbillies to go after the real Matt and Shelby.  Monet states they can find them back at the mansion. The Polk’s are unmoved, “The Others (The Colony) will get them soon enough!”  The Polk’s are gathering teeth for the “rain teeth” tableau seen in the earlier episode, which they explain “honors” the human sacrifices made by the Colony.  They fear they don’t have enough teeth and look at Audrey and Monet as a good source for more teeth.

The older man readies some pliers to pull Monet’s tooth but she is able to resist him, break the chair and flee.  Audrey pleads with Monet not to leave her there, as she is certain she will die. 

Mama enters moments later and is furious to see her kin on the floor and one of her prisoners has escaped.  She instructs one of her boys to “Go get it!”  Audrey pleads with her “I didn’t do anything.”  As Mama peers in Audrey’s mouth, the actress spits in her face, “I paid good money for these teeth!”  Mama sneers that she could have strung her up like her young husband.  At the mention of Rory, Audrey is further enraged, “You’re not good enough to say his name, pig psychopaths!”  Audrey continues to insult Mama’s children.  Mama moves to pull Audrey’s teeth out with pliers.  

Ismael pursues Monet through the woods. (Through the point of view of a shaky iPhone camera.) Monet screams and runs.

Back at the Polk compound, Lee knocks out Mama.  Audrey continues to scream wildly, alerting any other Polk’s in the area to what is happening in the shed. Audrey retrieves her wedding ring then focuses her hammer on Mama’s head, bashing it in savagely killing the old cannibal.

Audrey and Lee flee back to the mansion via the tunnels.  Lee confesses she snorted oxy with the Polk’s and is in desperate need of something to alleviate her pain. Audrey promises she has some drugs in her luggage.

Lee is shocked to discover her brother’s badly beaten corpse in the basement. Audrey implores her to keep moving upstairs.  As they make their way upstairs, they are puzzled by the broken chandelier and lack of living people in the home.  When they make it to Audrey’s room, Lee breaks down.  Audrey offers her a joint and states she’s sorry about Matt.  Audrey is fixated on the loss of her “perfect” teeth.

Audrey finds Shelby dead in the bathroom and wails, “I feel like a part of me has died!”  Dominic sits on the floor nearby; he explains that Shelby committed suicide.  He asks, “Did you find Sidney?”  Audrey screams her reply, “Sidney is dead, and there is no help coming!” Lee is suspicious that Dominic is responsible for Shelby and Matt’s deaths. (Cuba played O.J. last spring in American Crime Story, a man accused of killing two people with a knife!)  Dominic explains Matt was having sex with “that thing” and Shelby killed him.  Lee doesn’t believe Shelby could have killed her brother.  Dominic insists it’s all “on the tape.”  Lee calls him a liar and yells at him to get out.

Audrey notes, “Shelby is way too self-centered to have ever killed herself!  I know I played her for six months!  I know her better than I know myself!”  Audrey continues to act as a perfect “reality” star in turning the focus of all events back to how they relate to her.  Lee pushes Dominic out the door, locking it behind him.  Pig noises are heard outside.  Audrey wants to let her former co-star back in but Lee stands firm.  Lee sneers, “It’s his fault they’re all dead!”  The Pig Man kills Dominic in the hallway.

Audrey wails, and then continues to film a message for her fans. “If I die, just know I had so many wonderful performances waiting for you! I love you, always.”  The house around her is dead quiet.

Somehow, Audrey and Lee have made it through the night.  Lee has a bold plan to return to the Polk’s in order to destroy the evidence of their crimes.  Audrey protests that Monet and she were clearly tortured, even force fed bits of Lee’s leg. (The real reason Lee wants those tapes is because of her confession of killing Mason.) Lee explains that even with taped evidence a corrupt legal system could sway a jury to find Audrey at fault for “killing an old woman with a hammer.”  Lee’s plan is simple, “Destroy the tapes, hot-wire a truck and get out of here.”

Audrey gives Lee some more pills for the journey.  The actress looks at Dominic’s corpse mournfully as they leave. “He was a wonderful scene partner!”  Lee doesn’t want to see Matt’s body again.  They will exit out the front door.  As they go to open it, a man wearing a pig head stands before them.  He quickly removes the head. Audrey exclaims, “Dylan?”  It appears he was a reenactment actor who played the part of the “Pig Man.”  Why he’s there is a mystery.

Next week’s preview offers more shaky camera perspectives of the remaining players inside the house.  The authorities might finally be on their way to the scene of multiple grizzly crimes. Will they believe how these deaths occurred? I suppose it's not over until the last survivor emerges from the mansion.  It still seems possible the “Return to Roanoke” is yet another fictionalized drama. Sidney may have the last laugh…