‘American Horror Story: Roanoke’ Recap ‘Chapter 2’
A lot of crazy stuff happened in this episode. Get ready.
The episode starts of pretty much where last week left off: with Shelby witnessing the horrors of the strange Forest Cult. And here, already, AHS is showing itself in all its camp glory. The dramatic re-enactment of Shelby’s encounter with the Forest Cult includes everything from ominous music and bad lighting to human sacrifice and Lady Gaga at Kathy Bates’ side. Wes Bentley also makes a brief appearance here.
At very first glance, it seems Gaga will be playing a less significant role this season, but AHS may later pull out all the stops with her since she proved to be so capable last season.
Back to Shelby.
The cult roasts a man alive, pig mask and all. Shelby watches in horror for a moment and then runs off into the road, nearly getting struck by Lee’s car. After visiting the hospital to make sure all checks out, Shelby vows to fight for her right to live in peace.
Meanwhile, Lee brings her daughter, Flora, to the home–an all around idiot move given the strange happenings in Roanoke. As soon as she gets there, Flora develops an imaginary friend named Priscilla who promises to make Flora a bonnet to match her own. The reason? Priscilla just wants to stop the blood. Nope, not creepy at all.
But the creepiness doesn’t end there. Later, a strange sound startles Matt and Shelby and they jump to investigate. They’re drawn drawn into the woods yet again and somehow find themselves at the site of what seems to be another sacrifice. They call the cops who, after some hesitation, eventually agree to station an officer outside their home.
That night, there are even more odd occurrences. Matt wakes in the middle of the night and sees a vision of two cackling nurses and a desperately ill patient. The nurses kill the patient on the spot…and all for sport.
The next morning, Flora’s father, Mason, comes by the home to retrieve her, but Flora is hiding somewhere in the house. After a few minutes of searching, Lee and Mason find Flora in a secret compartment talking to Priscilla. When asked what’s going on, Flora says that she wants to give her doll to Priscilla in exchange for everyone’s lives. Apparently Priscilla has promised to kill them all.
Startled, Mason promptly removes Flora from the home and threatens to petition for full custody. It’s no surprise that Lee falls off the wagon and goes on a drinking binge after that. This poses an extraordinary challenge to Shelby and Matt who are merely trying to keep their home and family in one piece.
After settling Lee down, Shelby spots someone in the yard. She and Matt investigate and are led to a cellar entrance. In the cellar, they find cameras, videos, and other clues that someone had been living down there. Curious, they take a gamble and push play. What they find is disturbing.
A man, Dr. Elias Cunningham (Denis O’Hare), had been investigating an assisted living facility run by two sisters. The sisters had gone on a killing spree and used their victims’ blood to spell out their favorite word: MURDER. That word still appears on the walls on Matt and Shelby’s home. As Matt and Shelby learn all this, an inebriated Lee sees visions of the two sisters at the foot of her bed.
As expected, Matt and Shelby are at a loss for what to do. But there’s no going back. There’s no way for them to get their money on the house back. No way for them to get out of this situation. They’ve just got to tough it out.
To add insult to injury, Lee brings Flora back to the home…which is technically kidnapping since Lee doesn’t have full custody. And again, Flora goes missing. No one, not even eight year old Flora, is safe.
Tara Martinez is a New York-based writer with a passion for pop culture and a penchant for analysis. She frequently covers film, television, and representations of women in the media.
