American Horror Story: Roanoke promised a pivotal episode this week, and it did just that. This episode started with a connection to past season, Freakshow. Evan Peters portrayed Edward Phillipe Mott, the powder wig wearing ancestor to Dandy Mott. They weren’t kidding that the family tree was bananas.
Mott leaves Philadelphia and just happens to purchase the land and build the haunted home Matt and Shelby are plagued by. To make another twist, Mott is in a relationship with his houseboy. Not long after building the home, Mott is plagued by The Butcher. His beloved art is destroyed one night, and he blames it on his servants. From there he looks them up in an outside cellar. Mott is murdered by The Butcher that night, his lover goes to jail and the servants starve. This season really enjoys being dark.
This episode also proved everyone correct by mimicking past seasons as they correlate by episodes. This week went with Hotel. Easter eggs included Mott building secret tunnels as Mr. March did and the attack in the bed scene.
Lee makes a triumphant return this episode. Lee becomes aware that Flora is safe and in the company of Matt and Shelby. The group is trying to escape The Butcher, and run into Mott’s spirit. He leads them away from the house in one of his secret tunnels. Mott’s face flickers to a skeletal form as he ushers them to safety in the woods. In typical AHS fun, the group is attracted to a house, and then kidnapped by the Polk family who wanted to buy their home.
It turns out that the Polk safe cannibals. Oh, and Frances Conroy plays Mama, their leader. They pretty much are there to guarantee a blood sacrifice for The Butcher every year. Here we see that Elias is still alive, but not for long. They took his leg and then smash his face with a hammer—bummer I liked him. The Polk’s drive Matt, Shelby, and Flora towards their home, but they catch a bad hand. Matt and Shelby shot the one son. This brings Mama to smash Shelby’s ankle with a sledgehammer.
At the end pf the episode, Matt Shelby and Flora are delivered to The Butcher. Lee simultaneously arrives on the scene only to be abandoned by the frightened cop. The Butcher plans on killing Flora first, but her son betrays her in a twist and throws her in the fire. The Pig Man then goes for Flora and is stopped by Lee smashing into him with a car. The family escapes as we see The Butcher chase the car in flames.
Happy ending? I think not. Yeah, they all survived, but what’s next? We still have five episodes to go. Next week’s episode is supposed to be the episode that will change everything. Has the documentary been a disguise to switching into a found footage style? Until then, tune in this Wednesday to see where the season will go to now.
