American Horror Story: Roanoke Recap: Deliverance From Evil

Adina Porter as Lee.

Adina Porter every bit Lee. Photo: FX

The all-time episodes of American Horror Story leave me with a handful of questions: What is going to happen next? How did I not see that coming? Who knew that Jessica Lange tin can sing? Nonetheless, the worst episodes besides leave me with questions: How exercise they look the states to believe that? Why the hell would the characters really do that? Is that really supposed to exist scary? This was one of those episodes that definitely left me with the second fix of questions. After last week's episode — ane of the all-time ever — this is surely a letdown.

The biggest problem is that we spend a majority of the episode with the Polks, who accept consistently been the most boring aspect of this season. Maybe this is foolhardy of me, just I have an easier time believing in a mansion full of crazy sus scrofa-headed monsters and bloodthirsty colonists than I believe that cannibal weed dealers are living in the woods. That is surely impossible. The body torture Hostel-esque scenes that Lee and Audrey and Monet suffer are so incredibly similar, it'south such a slog. Aye, the thought of someone pulling out your teeth without your consent (or heavy anesthesia) is terrifying, but I but didn't intendance nigh their well-beingness or this story. It simply didn't hit home for me.

The scenes between Lee and Jether (an unrecognizable Finn Wittrock) felt like they lasted forever and filled me with such snoozes that I actually fell asleep for a bit. Nosotros all knew that Lee was going to go out. In fact, I'd bet good money on Lee being the one who survives this whole ordeal. The only people left are her and two stupid, vain actresses who are more worried nearly the performances they didn't get to deliver than living for whatever real reason. Lee has to run across her daughter again. She has the decision to make it through, fifty-fifty if she has had big chunks carved out of her leg.

The 1 payoff is that Lee finally confesses to killing her husband Mason when he tried to take Flora abroad from her. Sidney said that is all he wanted from and he got information technology, just not in the way he wanted. One of the things that I'one thousand standing to love about this second half of the flavour is that the monsters aren't the ones doing the killing. Aside from Rory, whom the nurses killed to complete their "murder" anagram, the other characters are offing each other calendar week after week, whether because of Shelby's anger, everyone's poor treatment of Agnes, or Lee locking Dominic out of the bathroom so that the Hog Man could tear him apart. The real horror here isn't the monsters. It's other people, merely like Sartre told united states of america.

Merely I have and so many questions well-nigh the Polk scenes, the biggest of which is how, exactly, was this filmed? The problem with making these "establish footage" horror movies is that the source of this video is e'er incredibly suspect. I can believe that they'd be filming on their phones as long equally they thought that in that location was a reality show in the offing. Just the three women at the farm found Sidney dead. They know there isn't going to be a prove anymore. Why are they still on their cameras? The writers seem to know this is a problem, since they take Aubrey ask, "How is this phone non expressionless?" when she wakes up.

It's explained that the footage from the Polks' firm is security footage, but if that's the case, why would it be discovered along with the prison cell phones? How did someone get their prison cell-phone footage? Why were they then intent on filming this anyhow? And if this is security-camera footage, why is it so skilful? How was each scene filmed from and so many repetitive angles? Why isn't there footage outside of the house where we could encounter Monet running abroad? See what I mean? I accept questions.

Of class, they don't cease after Lee uses her feminine wiles to strangle Jether and Aubrey gets out and smashes Momma'due south head with a hammer. The biggest question of all is: Why the hell would they go back to that atrocious haunted business firm total of murders? Sure, Aubrey has some Oxy in her pocketbook, but you know who else has Oxy? Hospitals! When they wake up in the house — yes, they expect us to believe that Aubrey cruel asleep in that house of horrors — Lee proposes they go back to the Polks' to erase the tapes of them killing their captors, but what Lee really wants is to delete her confession. She says they're going to hot-wire a car and escape. Um, y'all were just at the farm, why not take ane of trucks? Instead, they go dorsum to that horrorscape full of pig-headed villains? That does not make any sense at all.

Equally stupid is Shelby and Dominic'due south decision to abscond through the hole-and-corner tunnel. Starting time of all, that necessitates them going into the basement. Why are these people always insisting on going into the basement? It's fifty-fifty worse now that Matt'southward headless corpse is down in that location, collecting flies and giving off an unholy stench. When they get to the passage, they don't find Edward, its guardian. Instead they notice the Chens, who assault them and transport them skittering back into the house.

I accept some questions about the Chens, likewise. It seems like anybody who died in the house — the nurses, the hunters, the Pig Man, the Butcher and her crew — all look like they did during life. Certain, they may be a fleck grimmer and scarier, but still look similar humans. What, exactly, happened to the Chens? How did they go from hapless Taiwanese family to a clan of ceiling-crawling spider people right out of a Japanese horror movie? Is it because they're Asian? Is turning them into Asian horror movie creatures just because they're Asian vaguely racist? Is information technology entirely racist? And why would the Chens exist attacking other people that alive in the house? Shouldn't they want to protect those people the ghosts would kill, like they needed someone to protect them?

It's all but likewise much. When American Horror Story doesn't lay the groundwork, nosotros're not left scared. We're left only with questions.

In the end, Shelby kills herself considering she couldn't stand the guilt from killing Matt. Lee (who is challenging Agnes for the highest body count of the season) kills Dominic considering she thinks he killed Matt and Shelby. And nosotros're left with fifty-fifty more than questions. Why the hell is Dylan (the actor who played the Butcher's son in My Roanoke Nightmare) dressed upwards as the Hog Man? Was this all a false also? Did Sid plan all of this out just to get a confession out of Lee? Are we going to discover out the entire sequel was simply as staged equally the original? Or possibly he'south just the world'southward latest actor? With only two episodes left, I don't even know if I take the energy to enquire anymore.

AHS: Roanoke Epitomize: Deliverance From Evil