American Horror Story: Roanoke recap: Season 6, Episode 2. Now that the mystery of AHS’ sixth season has evaporated, we’ve had another week to settle into the most miserable house this side of Roanoke Island, North Carolina — which, yes, I’ve recently learned is not actually the same thing as Roanoke, Virginia, where apparently people are very upset Ryan Murphy has set narrative crosshairs on their least- favorite talking point in colonial American urban lore. The ghost colony of Roanoke is also fast becoming the least favorite topic for Matt, Shelby, and Lee, too, who spend this week’s episode denying their surrounding danger like a Rent fan in Moscow. We last left Shelby screaming in the middle of the woods, where she bears witness to the first of what I imagine will be many torch- laid circles dedicated to ceremonies, social events, and, in this case, human sacrifices (which theoretically does fall under social events). American Horror Story: Roanoke's “Chapter 7” does something too few found-footage fictions manage: It questions why the characters continue filming, and it. In the second installment of Ryan Murphy If you don't want to know anything about the sixth. It's all about ratings in the latest episode of American Horror Story Roanoke. Here's our spoiler-filled review. Kathy Bates’ character appears to be the leader of the tribe, and Gaga, her sort of forest- nymph sidekick, the rabid Tails to Bates’ possibly vaguely European Sonic. Shelby watches as Tribe Elder Kathy Bathes calls herself “the queen of every hive, the fire on every hill, the shield over every head” and orders the murder of a colony deserter and thief. It’s death by pig roast, apparently, as a giant pig’s head gets placed on the man, whose scream transforms into that same squeal we’ve been hearing creaking through the mahogany back in the house. And that’s all we get from this tribe of misfits for now, because, in keeping with the theme of uneventfulness this week, it may as well have never happened. That’s how much of an ostensible effect it has on convincing Shelby, Matt, and Lee that something is very, very wrong in Roanoke (and it’s not just that “Perfect Illusion” is underwhelming). Denial, denial, denial. How much can a person rationalize the irrational? So, we’re back in the house where Shelby and Matt are thoroughly convinced it’s just the mountain- men hillbillies trying to drive them away, and even though Lee witnessed the very scary break- in- and- flash- mob- decoration of the foyer last week, she decides it’s in everyone’s best interest to host her daughter for a weekend visit. Good idea, Lee.)RELATED: American Horror Story Stars: Then & Now. Unfortunately, Lee’s daughter Flora has a penchant for hide- and- seek, and horror movies have a penchant for children having imaginary friends. Combine the two, and you’ve got Flora suddenly corresponding with an unseen presence whom she’s calling Priscilla (which a quick Google search will tell you isn’t even on the top 5. Lee is spooked but girls will be girls! She leaves Flora to fantasize, because ghosts have not yet entered Lee’s threat consideration threshold just yet; instead, she’s more concerned with a vase that mysteriously breaks and a dirty old bonnet that falls out. If you didn’t know, bonnets are THE item for people in the 1. Everyone has a bonnet, from youngest baby to oldest living 3. If you didn’t have a bonnet, you wanted a bonnet. You can cool off with a bonnet! Get exclusive film and movie reviews from THR, the leading source of film reviews online. We take an honest look at the best and worst movies Hollywood has to offer. Protect your head in a bonnet! Use a bonnet to slowly weaken the fragile rehabilitated psyche of a mortal in the 2. Decorate a bonnet with lace! They are truly the most versatile. NEXT: “They’re going to kill us. And save me for last.”. Also known as Vilokan. American Horror Story season 6 premiere: EW review. The sixth season of American Horror Story launched on Wednesday night as a total mystery. No theme, no premise, not even a complete cast list was given in advance to prep us and pump us up, just a collection of viral teases paying homage to a variety of B- grade horror classics, from It’s Alive to The People Under The Stairs. According to FX, many were “misdirects,” designed to keep us guessing and buzzing. You could see such stunty secrecy as a sign of franchise strength or proof of super- producer Ryan Murphy’s clout. You could also see it as a sign of an aging, waning creative enterprise resorting to trickery to drum up attention. It certainly puts a lot of pressure on the show to deliver. I need more of a sample size to make a judgment: the premiere didn’t wow me, and it barely hooked me. There were some good jump scares, but none of it was intrinsically scary. The story suggested an interest in race, gender, and history, but did little than more flag them as potential themes. The most interesting thing about the premiere was its fuzziness. I’m still not sure what this season’s about, but the first installment did just enough to make we want to find out.“Chapter 1” presented as a TV show entitled “My Roanoke Nightmare,” a non- fiction series profiling an alleged supernatural mystery, told with interviews with the survivors and reenactments. We were introduced to husband and wife Matt and Shelby Miller, an interracial couple looking to reboot their lives after a mugging that resulted in the loss of their unborn child. Natch, they decide the ideal way to start anew is to buy an abandoned house in the sticks of North Carolina that might as well have “HAUNTED” written in big bloody letters on the door. Not long after they move in, the weirdness starts, most of it targeting Shelby. She sees specters walking through the halls. Dudes with pitchforks and torches try to drown her in the hot tub. A downpour of pulled teeth rains on her. Poor evil magnet Shelby! As stranger things intensify, they receive reluctant help in the form of Matt’s sister, Lee, an ex- cop haunted by trauma and addiction. In the interviews, Lily Rabe and Andre Holland played the couple and Adina Porter played Lee. In the reenactments, Cuba Gooding Jr. Simpson and Marcia Clark earlier this year in The People v. Simpson.) I can’t say their characters or plight were all that compelling, but it might be too soon to make assessments. We caught glimpses of Kathy Bates and Wes Bentley, but I have no idea who they’re playing. Ghosts? The points of reference for “My Roanoke Nightmare” seem to be true crime shows like Nightmare Next Door, inspired- by- true- story horror flicks like The Amityville Horror or The Conjuring, and the found footage classic The Blair Witch Project. In the best scene, Shelby and Lee went down into the basement to investigate eerie sounds, only to find them coming from a TV playing footage depicting people hunting a monstrous pig- man. The characters wondered if the video was a legit capture of wilderness weirdness or a hoax. We might wonder if the video was the actual video found by the real Shelby and Lee or if it was a reenacted version of said video. Maybe I’m making this more heady that it really is. But these kind of considerations might be part of the point. Robot and non- fiction spoofing Documentary Now!)RELATED: Hear More Theories About the New AHS Season. It appears that “My Roanoke Nightmare” has something to do with mystery of the Roanoke colony, whose residents disappeared in 1. American Horror Story mythology: back in season 1, spiritualist Billie Dean Howard, played by Paulson, told the story of Roanoke and cited it as an example of a possessed locale that had been successfully exorcised. In fact, there was a feeling of uncanny familiarity to “Chapter 1,” and not just because of returning actors playing new roles. The premise of a rebooting, troubled couple and physical features of their house, like the spiral stairwell, evoked previous seasons of the show, perhaps deliberately, for some as- of- yet unclear purpose. Is American Horror Story haunting itself? There was something enjoyably strange about watching recognizable actors (Rabe, Holland, Porter) play fictional characters and even more recognizable actors (Gooding Jr., Paulson, Bassett) playing fictionalizations of those fictions. Were we to wonder if Gooding Jr., Paulson, and Bassett are playing fictional versions of themselves? The reenactment scenes were well- acted and shot with panache — which is to say, like a typical episode of American Horror Story — as opposed to the poorly acted, chintzy quality you get from a real true crime series. Or was American Horror Story simply not interested in taking the verisimilitude that far?“Chapter 1” ended with Reenactment Shelby lost in the woods, the ground rippling as if reality itself was seizing, and a mass of people who clearly belong from a different time descending upon her. Is Shelby about to find herself transported back to early colonial times? Is American Horror Story about to go Outlander- in- America on us? I can’t say the premiere did enough to motivate me to make this season Must Watch for me. On the web and on Twitter, the speculation among fans was that each episode might be a different story with different characters altogether, at least for awhile, and then perhaps downstream, they’ll all come together in some fashion. I like the idea because it would represent a novel reinvention of the franchise, with each episode having a distinct identity, and because it would make the show a surprise from week to week. The use of mystery to market the season may have been contrived, but at this point, mystery might also be the best thing going for it, too.
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