S06.E03: Chapter 3

[Tara Ariano]

No description.

[Straycat80]

Well, I thought this episode was interesting. We finally find out about the Kathy Bates character. And thanks to Cricket the psychic we find out a little more about Priscilla who has Flora somewhere. 

I wish they had elaborated more about Lee's other daughter, Emma. And poor Mason, no one seemed too upset about his gruesome death. 

those pig kids were really disturbing! I think I've seen scenes of dead pigs to last me a lifetime now *shudder*

[Valny]

Pigs, so many damn pigs! I agree with Straycat80. I've had my fill of dead hogs.

This ep was lots better than last week, and maybe the best of the three. It felt a little more American Horror Story-ish... with the various disturbing images like the two dirty kids sucking on the pig, plus a wtf sex scene with Matt and GaGa(do we know her name?). And more Kathy Bates always makes things better. Liked seeing some of her backstory, she sure has a way with that axe! Do not piss that woman off!

The little psychic guy with the bad white wig, he was in Coven too right?

Edited September 29, 2016 by Valny

[ajsnaves]

10 minutes ago, Valny said:

The little psychic guy with the bad white wig, he was in Coven too right?

 

Yes.  He forgot about the melon baller.  I love Leslie Jordan.  He makes everything better.  For a second, when he walked in, I thought it was Zelda Rubenstein back from the dead.  I do so hope he proclaims "This house is clean" at some point.

[tomsmom]

Beverly Leslie!!!

[Snookums]

Well, hell, that was good! 

This is the kind of role Gaga should be playing--creepy, discombobulated. Her scenes reminded me of the film The Witch, which is amazing and unsettling as hell if you haven't seen it. She clearly is controlling the hillbillies in some way--are they descendants of the settlers? Fighting with Kathy Bates' group or joined with them? And did she coerce Matt into sex to control him, to freak out Shelby, or what? That whole scene was sooooo upsetting. And for once sexual assault was played for both the horror of it and to enhance the bizarre wrongness of the scene rather than just shock value. The family is being split up into three warring factions, to match the three apparent groups of power around the house so far: the hillbilly family, Thomasine's group, and the nurses (whom I did not miss at ALL; I think their introduction may have been a mistake but we'll see.)

The Emily name drop was the right kind of bombshell--where you think you've got a handle on these people and then BOOM! And now you've got to rethink what you know about Lee. She's been played so far as a very direct, go-ahead person and to suddenly hear such a thing about her makes you mistrust her deeply. To misquote The Importance of Being Earnest-- to lose one child may be regarded as misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness. Or worse.

Can't poor Wes Bentley ever get a role on this show that doesn't involve having a second face, being a serial killer, or betraying his mom? And where the heck is Evan Peters hiding? Maybe he's the narrator/questioner of the show but that didn't sound like him.

Loved loved LOVED Cricket and his toddling displays of petulance and power. Just when you think he's cute or a con he lets out that little laugh and your neck hairs stand up. 

Edited September 29, 2016 by Snookums

[WhosThatGirl]

Wow. This episode. So disturbing, but in a good way. the disturbing stuff makes sense, unlike the stuff in Hotel, half of which never made sense and was just around to shock us. 

So, I guess Shelby called the police on Lee and said she had something to do with Mason's death? Damn Shelby... that's cold. I mean, I get that she was angry and shocked at seeing Matt and Gaga, but whoa, she just went rapid fire on that. 

[Xazeal]

It feels like this episode gave us a big chunk of story and a real sense of what this season (or at least the reenactment, assuming the season goes beyond that) is going to be like. And all of it still feels consistent, focused, and properly paced!

We have the colony ghosts, we have the still unknown Priscilla, we have the pig stuff, we have whatever Gaga is supposed to be, but all of those different elements work together beautifully unlike recent seasons where it's just been a discombobulated mess. It feels more like Asylum in that sense, and just like Asylum I expect at least one of these things to never get explained - possibly the pig stuff. I don't actually mind it too much - I like a bit of mystery. 

Still, I 100% expect the format to be changed up at some point. This episode confirmed it for me. Cheyenne Jackson was the interviewer asking Lee questions, and they wouldn't use him as just an occasional disembodied voice. 

[luna1122]

Quote

Cheyenne Jackson was the interviewer asking Lee questions, and they wouldn't use him as just an occasional disembodied voice. 

Oh, was it? I missed that! Did we see him, or did you just recognize his voice? 

I am more than ready to see Evan Peters.

There is an Anne Rivers Siddons book, a horror novel she wrote as a sort of homage to Shirley Jackson's "Hill House"...called "The House Next Door", a true haunted house story. This house--which is sleek and new, not old and falling down--seizes upon the weaknesses, fears, guilts, etc of its occupants and uses it against them in the worst ways. In one scenario, a man is caught in flagrante delicto with a neighbor wife, but his, and her, faces are described as being shocked, empty--there is no passion, no joy, no pleasure, they have been forced to do this thing by the house. That's what Cuba's face looked like, it's what the scene called to mind. Creepy as hell.

Leslie Jordan!! I love him!!

Edited September 29, 2016 by luna1122

[Pixel]

Gaga's character strikes me as a sort of demon puppetmaster.  Also, I know she's supposed to be bizarre looking on the show, but she's fascinating to me in that she can easily be beautiful or bizarre and frightening looking in real life, depending on how she feels like presenting herself.  

[darkestboy]

That was so much better. We're finally getting hints of darker sides with Shelby, Matt and Lee and they're starting to look a little more unreliable as narrators.

We need to see Cheyenne Jackson onscreen but hearing his voice was nice too. Can we also see Evan Peters and Finn Wittrock as well this season now please?

Nice to know that Bates character is Thomasin/The Butcher and the backstory with her son, Ambrose, the Colony and Gaga's witch/Enchantress 2.0 character as well.

Speaking of Gaga, of course we had to have Matt having sex with her and not remembering it. Shelby calling the cops on Lee over Mason's death seemed cold too.

Leslie Jordan was entertaining as Cricket. 7/10

[AngryCarrot86]

This episode finally connected some dots for me, namely the geographical discrepancy of Roanoke Island and where the house seems to be located, farther inland.  I’m compelled by Gaga’s character.  Is she some native demon?  I’m interested to find out more about her.  What I’m really confused about now is the hillbillies.  Was I supposed to assume that was them (because…flannel shirts…DUH) watching Matt and Gaga? What’s up with the feral pig-feeders?  Are they being controlled by Gaga or the ghosts?   I have a feeling it’s that storyline that goes off course this season…

Shelby needs a throat-punch.  After all she’s experienced, and after she says she fully believes Cricket, she goes and calls the police on Lee?  I didn’t really understand that.  For the character most accepting of the fact they’re being “haunted” somehow, she should have given Lee the benefit of the doubt for now.  Especially when they were so close to finding Flora. 

Poor Mason.

[sugarbaker design]

11 minutes ago, darkestboy said:

Speaking of Gaga, of course we had to have Matt having sex with her and not remembering it.

To be fair, Matt claimed to not remember it.

[darkestboy]

I got the feeling he was genuine about it but we're starting to see cracks with Shelby, Matt and Lee now.

[BuddhaBelly]

Well Shelby lost me. She's the only reason they're still in that house at the moment and she went all scorched Earth forgetting that Flora is still missing in the damn woods. There's a level of shock and then there's a moment when you have to think...where did this woman in the middle of the woods even come from. YOU KNOW THERE ARE GHOSTS, FOOL!

I'm holding out judgement on Lee. I know she lost her first child, who I firmly expect to show up again now that she's been mentioned, but we know Flora's been taken as a playmate.

[Wryly]

Ladies and gentleman, the ick factor has hit the ceiling.

[Empress1]

That sex scene, complete with hillbilly circle jerk, was so fucking gross.

[JyDanzig]

I have loved AHS and I have hated AHS, but one way or another I've always been engaged.

I've worked on several of these paranormal recreation shows in the past, and this season my only reaction is a dreary, weary "ugh, I feel like I'm at work."  I never thought my reaction to any AHS season would be one of completely bored tedium!

I'm hanging in there because I just can't imagine them carrying this format through the entire season, but it's really becoming more and more of a trial.  The most frustrating part is, I keep thinking how this could be such a satisfying haunting house story if just told straight, without the recreation/documentary narration framing device.  I remain hopeful there will be a twist that redeems it all.  I just hope they get there soon!

[MadyGirl1987]

Um, Shelby... When there is paranormal stuff going down in and around your house and you find your husband in a trance having sex with a weird witchy woman in the middle of the night when he was just with you and a group that went into the woods without any prior knowledge you guys would be in the woods and thus had no ability to set up a rendezvous wth anyone, and says he doesn't remember anything; it's probably safe to believe him.

I understand her being hurt and shocked but it obviously is the paranormal activity to blame! Does she seriously believe he just decided to wander off to pick up a strange woods woman in the middle of the night? It's not like he would have had time to contact any person he was having an affair with since there wasn't much time between "we are going into the woods" and actually going. And why would he willingly go off when there was his wife, sister and  the psychic who would notice his going off and he would for sure be caught.

It all just seems so contrived!

[Wryly]

11 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

To be fair, Matt claimed to not remember it.

He looked kind of in a trance during it. If I was in a trance that I couldn't explain, I'd probably have claimed not to remember, too.

In Shelby's shoes, I would've whipped out my phone and filmed it. My horror at what I was seeing would not have overpowered my need to prove that horror was justified. "You don't remember? Well, here, let me show you..." Even if Gaga was a ghost and didn't show up on film, it would still have shown Matt humping air, and those hillbillies... spectating enthusiastically. I bet Shelby owns a smart phone with a decent night setting.

What I'm wondering is if it was some kind of ritual or sacrament. Is Matt somehow bonded to Gaga now? Is he under her thrall?

[iMonrey]

Quote

I never thought my reaction to any AHS season would be one of completely bored tedium!

Same here. This may actually be the first season of AHS I bail on. In fact I turned it off halfway through to watch Samantha Bee, and then came back and watched the second half later.

I sat through all of Coven and Freak Show, both of which were abysmal, story-wise, but at least they had fun, engaging moments. They seem to have sucked all of the fun out of this season and I'm tired of watching Sarah Paulson and Cuba Gooding Jr. every week. Where the hell is Evan Peters? Where is Finn Whitrock? Where is Matt Bomer? Where is Cheyenne Jackson? We've only gotten a little bit of Wes Bentley and Denis O'Hare. Where is Mare Winningham? Why are the best actors in the company sitting on the back burner? Why are they wasting Lily Rabe on this thankless talking head role?

Yeah, they seem to be fleshing out the story a bit more but . . . I'm just not interested. They can't really subsist on shock imagery either, they've pretty much blown that load on the last five seasons. I need more reasons to keep watching and they're not giving me any.

[Snookums]

luna2211, I've been meaning to read that for years! Ever since Stephen King wrote about it at length in Danse Macabre. And I think you're right: the house and grounds (along with Gaga's witch character) are making the main characters do these things. 

And for me that includes Shelby. I get why people are furious with her and yes, she's the latest person to insist they stay, but I do think the house is manipulating their thought processes. She isn't thinking straight at all, at least not right now. I'd bet she wakes up in the morning with either no memory of calling the cops or absolutely no explanation of why she did it. After all, Lee had nothing to do with what Matt did. Why take it out on her? It's the kind of spiteful, "cut off your nose" act that comes from giving into short lived ragey impulses.

[Primetimer]

There's more lost colony backstory, more dismembered pigs, and way more bad news for Lee.

View the full article

[Pixel]

4 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

To be fair, Matt claimed to not remember it.

I believe him. He looked like an automaton. I'd say he got demon-raped.

[califred]

I'm thinking she called bc Lee said she was burning down the house but then you'd think he'd have been arrested as well.  

 

This episode was at least more interesting than the first two.

[candall]

Okay, who immediately thought that was the late Zelda Rubenstein (Poltergeist '82) standing in the hall?

14 hours ago, ajsnaves said:

For a second, when he walked in, I thought it was Zelda Rubenstein back from the dead.

HA!!  I wrote that while I was watching the rest of the show and hadn't checked the comments yet.  High five.  (Watching this show works best for me if I have an alternative place to look at the same time.  My squick quotient is about 1/3 as high as Ryan Murphy's so I need to dilute the experience.)

 

The witchy figure speaking to head-cage Thomasin in the woods was Gaga??  But wasn't she all black be-goo'ed with a silver eye hole?  And completely different from hello-fucking-your-husband Gaga?  Damn, that woman does have a variety of looks! 

[Snookums]

I think she was gooey from the wild pig blood--she slaughtered the thing and offered the heart to Thomasin in exchange for her soul.

[caracas1914]

Kathy Bate's accent is distracting, and not in a good way. 

[morgankobi]

Is this re-enactment/documentary going to be on Skinamax?! That's two overly graphic sex scenes (Matt and Shelby when they first moved in as the first) in the "re-enactment."  

Seriously, though, that's part of why this format isn't working for me. Well, that and the amount of outdoor, nighttime scenes that make it harder to see. The show labels part of this as "dramatic re-enactment," but it isn't shot as such and is way too intimate for that. It just seems like they wanted to double-up the actors, but didn't really care about how well they pulled it off.

Edited September 29, 2016 by morgankobi

[tennisgurl]

So now things are actually happening! And Shelby...what are you doing? What what WHAT are you doing? Set the house on fire and collect on the insurance (I have no idea if they have insurance for their house, but if they dont they should)! A kids life is more important than staying in your evil murder house! And I have no clue what she is thinking with Matt having creepy trance sex with Demon Gaga. So, she imagines that her husband wandered off from communing with the dead to rescue his niece who was kidnapped by the ghost of a pilgrim girl to have sex with a creepy looking woman wearing a skull hat while hillbillies watch? Does that seem like something he would be into? Come on! I call demon rape. Its three episodes into a AHS, its about time for a creepy supernatural rape scene (or just a regular one), so I guess we are back on schedule.

Poor Mason. He was the only person with any sense, so of course he got burnt alive. 

So, what do the hillbillies and the feral kids have to do with the Pilgrims? And who is demon Gaga? Right now they all seem connected, but I am on sure how. Well, everyone but the nurses, but they might be our random creepy murder freaks that every season needs to have. 

I liked the flashbacks, I LOVE creepy historical stuff. It just adds to the weird atmosphere. I just hope it all has a point. Please have a point. Also, we finally broke the interview format a bit when Lee started freaking out about her daughter (interesting...), so I figure that eventually we are going to leave this format permanently. 

[Pixel]

I was obviously way off on my previous prediction that the Polks weren't bad guys and were trying to warn people off buying the house to protect them. Wayyyyyyy off. 

[candall]

2 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

So, she imagines that her husband wandered off from communing with the dead to rescue his niece who was kidnapped by the ghost of a pilgrim girl to have sex with a creepy looking woman wearing a skull hat while hillbillies watch? Does that seem like something he would be into?

SO funny!

[bosawks]

"I pledge my eternal soul into peril!"

Well yeah, it's called going to work Cricket....

[iMonrey]

Quote

Okay, who immediately thought that was the late Zelda Rubenstein (Poltergeist '82) standing in the hall?

Everybody if the writers and director did their jobs correctly. He's clearly meant to be a derivative of Tangina in Poltergeist. So far most of the plot points have been derived from other, well known material.

[LittleIggy]

What the bleep has to happen before those people leave that property!

I knew Shelby would find Matt screwing Gaga!

Cricket looked like Truman Capote in an Andy Warhol wig.

[Lady Iris]

So the warnings said 'sexual content'. Ok, I wasn't expecting that. The glazed zombie look in Matt's eyes was beyond disturbing along with the hillbillies hovering was just eww. Next time, I'll heed the viewer discretion a bit more seriously.

[Armchair Critic]

LOL at the short guy

[Empress1]

10 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

What the bleep has to happen before those people leave that property!

I knew Shelby would find Matt screwing Gaga!

Cricket looked like Truman Capote in an Andy Warhol wig.

Yeah, there comes a point where you have to cut your losses. I know it's their life savings, but Matt has a job, Shelby can work at Starbucks to get them some extra income, and they can rent a one-bedroom in Charlotte or something. Actually, she can probably teach yoga in Charlotte - as I said, she should be chomping at the bit to leave that house, as she has nothing to do in that town. When she's not terrorized, she's bored. No way to live.

[Boilergal]

18 hours ago, caracas1914 said:

Kathy Bate's accent is distracting, and not in a good way. 

Better than whatever accent she used in Freak Show.

So far I'm enjoying this season - it doesn't seem so ADHD

[SuzWhat]

This was the first episode that went by fast for me this season.  It kept my attention.  Not sure what that says about me.  ?

Spoiler

 

[MaggieG]

Someone on the boards mentioned last week, that Gaga looks like Enchantress from Suicide Squad so now that's all I see.

When Cricket appeared I kept thinking "Beverly Leslie" in Karen Walker's voice.

I'm a little confused as to why the settlers put that weird spike mask thing over Kathy Bates' head and left her in the woods. Was it to punish her? For what?

Those feral kids were creepy as hell.

[Mattipoo]

Is Leslie Jordan playing the same character from "Coven"? I don't remember whether his character from that season was also named Cricket, but he did say he lives in New Orleans.

The 2 hillbilly boys eating raw pig meat was scary as hell, and the sex scene with Cuba and Gaga in the wood and hillbillies watching was disgusting. I am guessing she is supposed to be a mythical demon from the Croatoan tribe that was mentioned during the episode?

Edited September 30, 2016 by Mattipoo

[psychoticstate]

20 hours ago, morgankobi said:

Seriously, though, that's part of why this format isn't working for me. Well, that and the amount of outdoor, nighttime scenes that make it harder to see. The show labels part of this as "dramatic re-enactment," but it isn't shot as such and is way too intimate for that. It just seems like they wanted to double-up the actors, but didn't really care about how well they pulled it off.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't figure out half the stuff that's happening during the nighttime scenes.  

This was the first episode that didn't hold my attention.  Well, I was working at the same time I watched some of it but still.  

Shelby started the series as a competent, intelligent person.  What the eff?  If I knew that I could stop visions, stop human teeth falling from the sky and onto my porch, murderous ghostly nurses, unexplained banging and noises and the return of my niece by burning down the house, let me get my lighter.   She didn't even like the house in the beginning.  I had speculated the house was controlling thoughts and emotions an episode back so it's got to be that or very lazy writing.   Regardless, it's hard to root for the characters when they do stupid, idiotic and out of typical character things. 

[Dobian]

Beavis and Butthead in the barn was a sight I didn't need to see. 

I hope they're not doing the entire season in dramatic re-enactment format.  I want to see Lily Rabe get out from behind the camera and do something.  I want to see the "actors" get caught up in the nightmare for real, not just on tv.  I want to see some real weirdness.  Give me Freak Show and Hotel over this season so far.

[rubinia]

16 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

What the bleep has to happen before those people leave that property!

I knew Shelby would find Matt screwing Gaga!

Cricket looked like Truman Capote in an Andy Warhol wig.

I knew he'd be screwing *someone* because the show was almost over and the TV rating promised me sexuality.

[iMonrey]

Quote

When Cricket appeared I kept thinking "Beverly Leslie" in Karen Walker's voice.

Yup. And I kept waiting for him to say "Way-ell, way-ell, way-ell." He essentially plays the same character no matter what show he's on. 

[Madding crowd]

I enjoyed the Beverly Leslie sighting, but he seems too comical for this story. I don't get the big fascination with pigs, but I guess we will continue to see them. I'm still wondering where Evan Peters and Finn Witrock will fit in. This episode was ok, I didn't expect Mason to be killed so that was kind of shocking. And I can live without ever watching Hillbilllies jerking off again. 

[caracas1914]

12 hours ago, MaggieG said:

 

I'm a little confused as to why the settlers put that weird spike mask thing over Kathy Bates' head and left her in the woods. Was it to punish her? For what?

I got the impression is that it was to let her starve to death because she couldn't eat with it on...plus alot of torture or shaming masks from the middle ages punished people for gossiping, arrogance, etc..  Thomasin might have been a "HIllary" I"m not slamming her but what she represents to some) in that the men resented her being put in a position of authority and power over them.

[novemberjenny]

10 hours ago, Dobian said:

I hope they're not doing the entire season in dramatic re-enactment format.  I want to see Lily Rabe get out from behind the camera and do something.  I want to see the "actors" get caught up in the nightmare for real, not just on tv.  I want to see some real weirdness.  Give me Freak Show and Hotel over this season so far.

 

On September 29, 2016 at 8:37 AM, Xazeal said:

Still, I 100% expect the format to be changed up at some point. This episode confirmed it for me. Cheyenne Jackson was the interviewer asking Lee questions, and they wouldn't use him as just an occasional disembodied voice. 

So I've been re-watching Murder House and know who was a guest star on episode 4? Adina Porter! She was the super boring lady Ben Harmon thought he killed, Sally. I wonder what they're up to with this supposed huge plot twist? 

[Daryleena]

Ok, so, I do not think the feral pre-teen kidlets were "eating" the dead tethered pig. They looked like they were suckling on the teats for milk, which was probably 'kind-of-sort-of-somewhat-not-too-bad-ish' while the pig was alive and giving off fresh nutritious pig milk. But, now, what I assume is soooo much time later (based on the total filth level of the kidlets) the momma pig has now died, likely quite awhile ago, and she has started to rot, as dead mammals like pigs tend to do. It seemed to me that they are now suckiling on the decaying pig and the yummy nutritious momma-pig-milk has become pus. Since dead momma pig is now chock full of bacteria, being dead and all, and is rotting and full of pus.

 

So, since I have obviously thought too much about all this, I think the hillbillies had set this kids up to "survive" by having the opportunity to suckle milk from the momma pig, but whatever the hillbillies' role is in all of this, they did not expect to be gone so long that the kids would be left with only a dead rotting pig full of pus to feed on.

 

I could be wrong, and I may have analyzed this far more than the actual writers have....but this is my theory for now.

 

(edited for grammar and spelling)

Edited October 1, 2016 by Daryleena