The third episode of American Horror Story: Roanoke sees the show back at its full strength, with shocking deaths, contact between the living and the dead, and a look back into the violent history of the Butcher (KATHY BATES) and her colony. The episode keeps you on your toes, with plenty of twists and moments of horror and disgust, and is the best episode of the series so far.
With Flora missing, Lee (ANGELA BASSETT) is distressed by the attitude of the local police and their lack of investment in finding her daughter. With her past as a cop, an additional, heart-breaking difficulty is Lee’s all too aware of the statistics for missing children; how many hours before you’re looking for a body. During their search, Matt (CUBA GOODING JR.), Shelby (SARAH PAULSON) and Lee find both Flora’s doll ripped apart and positioned with a dead piglet, and an abandoned set of farm buildings hiding a shocking secret. Lee’s ex-husband Mason (CHARLES MALIK WHITFIELD) joins the search, and tensions between the two reach a peak with Mason accusing Lee of being behind the kidnapping in the face of losing custody.
While the search teams take a break overnight, the disturbing events continue with another body found by police. The security system Matt’s set up provides clues to events overnight, but implicates one of the main characters in the sinister events. A new face appears among all the peculiar goings-on, in the form of Cricket Marlowe (LESLIE JORDAN) who’s a clairvoyant, experienced in finding missing children. The addition of Cricket means the living and dead are now able to communicate, seen during a seance, giving us insight into the history and intentions of the Butcher (KATHY BATES) and her gang… And as you can imagine, it doesn’t spell good news for the modern-day residents of the house.
The episode culminates in a dramatic exchange between the Butcher and Cricket as the peace talks fail, and the Witch of the Woods (LADY GAGA) makes a reappearance in a disturbing, sexually-charged sequence.
This episode was again really strong, intriguing and has a fantastic cliff-hanger ending. For as many answers we get, more questions are asked and keep us on tenterhooks, drawn in by the mystery shrouding this series. The documentary style is utilised effectively, not interjecting with the re-enactment scenes too much, but hinting that there’s perhaps more going on in the present for us to discover. This is particularly evident during the seance, where one character is questioned by the interviewer about events from their past, catching them off-guard and provoking a very defensive response. For a moment the camera films the character ‘behind the scenes’, and we really get the sense of the different layers of the story, which I hope will come into play more in the coming episodes.
The only peculiarity in the episode is the behaviour and emotional responses of the characters playing out the events. While watching, I have to remind myself that anything unusual could be down to the fact it’s re-enactments so we can’t read too deeply into it, however it strikes me as very odd even for the re-enactment to have the three main characters as part of the search crew, and yet we don’t see anyone else looking; the police aren’t anywhere near them, or any volunteers, which seems both very unrealistic and suspicious if this is how the characters claim events took place.
I really feel the show is getting into its stride, propelling both the story-line involving the living and the family’s dynamic, plus that of the dead and their treacherous intentions, towards a dramatic climax. The flashbacks revealing the history of the evil spirits haunting the property, combined with the documentary’s interviews with the characters in the present, means scenes can cut in and out without seeming clunky and stays varied. Overall this is a great episode, and one that both fans of the series and anyone new to the show will be hooked by.
Verdict
AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ROANOKE AIRS IN THE UK, FRIDAYS AT 10PM ON FOX
