S06.E05: Chapter 5

[Cowgirl]

I was just wondering whatever happened to Francis Conroy, and lo and behold! She shows up on this episode.  Love her.  Love Evan Peters. Wonder why they had him dye his hair red for this season, only to have it covered by a wig most of the time?  Like posters above, I noticed and loved the skeletal quality of his face in the torchlight in the tunnels. Glad the recapper captured it in a GIF.   Am also glad someone mentioned that Lee was in the not-so-burned car.  I somehow missed that fact and was left wondering where she got the car.  I thought maybe she'd stolen it from the sheriff after knocking him out or something. 

I also wonder if poor Dennis O'Hare's character will also survive the skull bashing? Heck, he's survived everything else. 

I'm looking forward to next week's plot-turning episode. So, was there some tie-in to episode 6 of Hotel in this episode? (Other than the fact that they finally made it to a hotel?)

[littlemommy]

I kept thinking that Lady Gaga would stop the crazies from killing the family because of her thing for Matt. I thought ahe might be pissed at the Butcher for wanting to kill her love interest. Instead she was totally absent.

I adore Evan Peters and his Macolm McDowellish face. I thought his new accent was veering very close to Mr, March territory however.

[rubinia]

This was episode 5, so it had the tie-in to the "Hotel" season (Evan Peters builds a building and kills people in it, gets killed, stays there for eternity; there's a motel at the end).  Episode 6, next week, will be when this season truly "begins," presumably.

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Oh, and what exactly does it mean to "rouge" one's nipples?

I assumed they meant they would literally put rouge on their nipples. Some 18th century women rouged their nipples because the necklines of their gowns were cut so low that they might have an "accidental" nip slip...and they wanted them to look nice and pink, I guess.

Edited October 13, 2016 by rubinia

[LoneHaranguer]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

And not for nothing, but if The Butcher can be burned in a fire, can't she also be shot by a gun? Seems like someone should have been able to dispatch her years ago.

Probably not. Fire has a "cleansing of evil" symbolism that lets you destroy something like a vampire or witch when shooting them doesn't work. There have been a few exceptions where the writer has invented special ammo for a story (e.g. bullets carved with an ancient symbol).

4 hours ago, Snookums said:

Even the Polks are glued into this endless cycle like flies on flypaper--their "way of life" is only as bearable as the efforts they put in to perpetuate it; dragging a victim or so up to the house in lean years so they can keep living in far worse conditions then their pigs do.

If they had the money to buy the house before Matt butted in, and they're not picky about living conditions, why didn't they just buy a place to stay somewhere else out of reach of the ghosts and warn people off the house? No more dragging victims to their deaths, and eventually the ghosts can't make their annual sacrifice and they're history. BTW, shouldn't a "sacrifice" involve sacrificing one of your own like the Aztecs and Incas did? Why would an ancient god be satisfied with grabbing and killing some unlucky stranger?

[The Real Real]

Did I see a shout out to "The Shining" in this episode?

[ShadowHunter]

8 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Maybe I'm the only one left still watching this season who thinks it stinks, but we're at the halfway mark now and I can definitely say Hotel > Roanoke. Hell, even Freak Show > Roanoke, and I didn't care for Freak Show either. Regardless of where they go in the next five episodes, the first five simply do not stand up on their own. They were marked by almost comically idiotic behavior on the part of the characters and unabashedly derivative of other horror films, like Blair Witch, Poltergeist, The Hills Have Eyes, etc. Talents of actors like Lily Rabe, Evan Peters and Wes Bentley were completely wasted while lesser acting by Cuba Gooding Jr. dominated. I just thought the whole thing was a mess.

It's possible the next five episodes will improve, and maybe even prop up the first five, but it was a struggle to get through them. I just didn't think it was very interesting or compelling.

I agree it was no fun watching Cuba more then Evan and Lily is capable of more. To be fair though I can't stand Shelby which sucks because I have wanted Lily back in a lead role.  I think or hope things are going to change. They seem to have finished with the reenactment so now its time to meet the real Sarah, Evan, Angela ect.  That opens the door for some possible good stories.  Imagine actor Evan runs into the real Edward Mott lol. 

I do think its a shame we didn't get to see more of reenactment Edward because watching Shelby scream MATTTTTT!!!! got old fast lol.  Even the Edward story may have been good for maybe one more episode before it ran its course.

I prefer Wes this season since his role is smaller I didn't care for him in S5 though maybe that's because John was not the best character. He didn't get interesting to me until the end.

[Yeldarbe]

20 hours ago, Negritude said:

Liked Evan Peters channeling Finn Wittrock's performance as Dandy Mott being that he was one of his ancestors.

Yes! That makes perfect sense. That wide eyed, frantic nature seemed familiar but I wasn't sure. Now I see where Dandy got it. ✔✔✔

[Yeldarbe]

20 hours ago, Xazeal said:

The rescue scene was ridiculous. So much so, in fact, that I don't believe it happened. At this point I am 99% convinced that Matt, Shelby, and Lee are lying, at least about certain details of the story, and have some ulterior motives.

Yeah really. I bet something else happened. They struck a deal. Like, hey, butcher hold up! Let us live and we will go find some crazy reality show to come here with their massive crew and you can have all the blood you want. Boom, then they can have legend spread from there and have all sorts of lookyloo blood for all of eternity. 

Also wtf was up with that historian character?? She sounded like a bored kid who got chosen to read aloud in class. It took me right out of the story. 

[PerfidiousAmber]

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Not sure how much sense any of it made, but I still liked it. The Grudge/Ring girl skittering around was creepy AF, and the Polks  (who the honey and I keep inadvertently calling the Peacocks, in all their inbred, horrifying glory) outcreeped her. Chaz Bono cracked me up. Poor Elias. To survive so long, then get arrowed, THEN survive that only to be cannibalized by the gruesome Polk family. I would rather have taken my chances with Kathy Bates and Gaga (where was Gaga?) et al than the Polks.

THIS. As I was watching I was thinking to myself.. oh my god this a total rewind of the X-Files' "Home'. In which, of course, Ma Peacock was worshipped as an absolute ruler by all of her sons AND had a baby by one of them (horribly deformed of course... wait a minute I believe the father of the the baby was a son that she sired with her oldest son, so he would have been both her son and grandson... yaa it was really fucked up) when she appeared to be in at least her mid to late forties, so who's to say that she couldn't have been the mother of Chaz's offspring, who looked to be about 10 and 12 or so? I know Frances Conroy is in her sixties but perhaps her character is meant to still have been in childbearing age at the time the feral children were born. Also taking me back was seeing a limbless Elias as the hapless victim, whereas Ma Peacock was the limbless one. (Great episode of the X-Files BTW, a true horror gem that was famously never rebroadcast after it was initially aired.)

[crowsworks]

Rouged Nipples? Just what it sounds like. In olden days they used Lip Rouge to dab on nipples to make them pinker and more obvious.

I kept thinking of Eddie Murphy's routine about who stays in a freakin haunted house.

"This house is beautiful. Hard wood floors...great yard...gorgeous view..."

"GET OUT!!!!"

".....too bad we can't stay!"

[Avaleigh]

On Wednesday, October 12, 2016 at 8:43 PM, rustyspigot said:

Shelby got her foot"Misery'd" and she had a simple cast with no apparent money to pay for it. I know. I need to stop thinking when watching.

This season feels extra stupid to me and that was just one of many reasons. Every season on this show has some kind of inconsistent weirdness, but this season is exceptional in terms of it being irritating to me.

Matt and Shelby seem too dumb to live. They don't jump in the truck to speed away? They run BACK into the fucking woods because Matt thinks it's their best chance at survival? I can just about buy one person making a stupid mistake like that but two adults and a child can't figure it out that it might be better to try to take the car or at least the freaking gun? I can't stand thaf kind of ridiculousness.

And again, what should have been scary and intense was completely nullified by the interview structure. I thought that there was a possibility that we would find out that Matt and/or Shelby were missing lower limbs but even that seemed like a stretch because they appear more in awe and wonder about their creepy experiences as opposed to broken and damaged. 

On the plus side, it's nice to see Evan Peters and Frances Conroy.

Ugh, the servant that fled without bothering to release the others or let anyone know what happened was sick. Why was he such an asshole especially when he seemed to feel bad for them and dared to 'look' ' at his employer directly in the face. 

I have to admit that I found it hard to believe that the Mott character wouod be comfortable openly kissing his lover in front of his servants when he has so many issues with being looked at and being judged. Obviously he's crazy, so there's some room for inconsistency but I still thought that was odd.

How did the Mott line carry on? I apologize for missing that explanation.

[Avaleigh]

18 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Maybe I'm the only one left still watching this season who thinks it stinks, but we're at the halfway mark now and I can definitely say Hotel > Roanoke. Hell, even Freak Show > Roanoke, and I didn't care for Freak Show either. Regardless of where they go in the next five episodes, the first five simply do not stand up on their own. They were marked by almost comically idiotic behavior on the part of the characters and unabashedly derivative of other horror films, like Blair Witch, Poltergeist, The Hills Have Eyes, etc. Talents of actors like Lily Rabe, Evan Peters and Wes Bentley were completely wasted while lesser acting by Cuba Gooding Jr. dominated. I just thought the whole thing was a mess.

It's possible the next five episodes will improve, and maybe even prop up the first five, but it was a struggle to get through them. I just didn't think it was very interesting or compelling.

iMonrey, I am right there with you. I'm admittedly watching, but I can't get over how exceptionally ridiculous it feels. I feel like very few people would behave like this stupid couple. The lack of suspense on a show called American Horror Story is just unacceptable. 

Even if Matt, Lee, and Shelby are in some kind false narrative or maybe the story eventually catches up to real time, there's still the fact that it was clear that they'd survive each of these episodes by the way they told the story. It's so far been impossible for me to invest in the story or fear for any of the central 'good' characters. 

Thank you too for pointing out how the Butcher's strategy doesn't make any damned sense. 

Ugh I think, this season is really is kind of terrible especially in comparison to the others. At this point I'd like them to shift stories completely and move onto other characters but I doubt I'll be that lucky. 

Angel Bassett is being wasted this season. Her character is easily the most boring one she's played on this show and that's saying something when I consider her character in Freakshow. 

[qtpye]

I totally agree with the people who are hating this season so far.  I adore Evan Peters, but this season has some the stupidest people alive.  Also, I just do not find Kathy Bates with a weird, but accurate accent, scary.  I know she got her start in Misery, but I just want to laugh at the ridiculous Pilgrim show.

I also miss the beautiful opening credits that have been by far the best part of the most recent seasons.  If I did not already know who they are, I would think that Sara Paulson and Cuba were bad actors.  The only person I was scared about getting murdered was Flora and I am glad that did not happen.

Ryan Murphy needs to watch the Conjuring to understand how to make a house in the woods terrifying.  When I watched the Conjuring, I actually lived in a house that was slightly secluded and felt like it was alone in the woods, even though it was off a main neighborhood.  My husband and I do not scare easily, but the Conjuring made us almost afraid to take the trash out.  We are actually afraid to watch the Conjuring 2, because we know it is going to be too good.

When I watch Matt and Shelby run into the woods for the millionth time surrounded by unflattering country stereotypes, I just get bored.

[TattleTeeny]

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Normally I'm not an Evan Peters fan but I have to say I loved him in Hotel and I loved him this season. I think he does a better job with eccentric older characters.

Same here. I was indifferent about him until Hotel and then I couldn't get enough of him! In fact, this season, I was like, "Where is he?!" I could also deal with a bit more Kathy Bates here too. 

[Mabinogia]

9 minutes ago, qtpye said:

Ryan Murphy needs to watch the Conjuring to understand how to make a house in the woods terrifying.  When I watched the Conjuring, I actually lived in a house that was slightly secluded and felt like it was alone in the woods, even though it was off a main neighborhood.  My husband and I do not scare easily, but the Conjuring made us almost afraid to take the trash out.

This, and that movie made much more sense as to why they stayed and they even went and spent the night in a motel at some point. AHS sometimes goes so over the top with the horror and gore that it becomes a parody of itself. This is one of those seasons. It is laughably bad, but not in a Rocky Horror low budget but highly entertaining way. It's more like watching paint dry but that paint is like puke green so it's not even turning a nice color as it dries.

I have no idea what direction we are going in now but really, I don't care. I've only been able to watch a few minutes of the last two eps before getting so bored I start doing other things and forget it's on. I am only sticking around here waiting to see what the big shift is going to be and if it's worth it to watch.

I think the recaps and this board are keeping me current enough to follow the storyline if it gets better. I'm not sure I get the crazy hillbillies trying to buy the house to keep others from buying it but then having to bring random people to the least scary Butcher ever even though she just pretty much kills anyone who looks at her to be slaughtered. Why waste your money? Just let randos come get killed and get on with your own lives.

[DFWGina]

17 hours ago, iMonrey said:

And as long as I'm racking up all the things that didn't make sense: Matt manages to disarm Chaz and shoot the driver, then he and Shelby get out of the truck and run into the woods with Flora. Why didn't they pull the driver out of the truck and take the damn truck???

I said this exact thing to my husband.  Yes there is a dead guy but push him out and drive off... Don't go hide at the edge of the woods.  DUH These folks know the woods and will find you....

2 hours ago, Avaleigh said:

How did the Mott line carry on? I apologize for missing that explanation.

They mentioned that his wife and baby were left behind while he came to North Carolina.

[qtpye]

10 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

This, and that movie made much more sense as to why they stayed and they even went and spent the night in a motel at some point. AHS sometimes goes so over the top with the horror and gore that it becomes a parody of itself. This is one of those seasons. It is laughably bad, but not in a Rocky Horror low budget but highly entertaining way. It's more like watching paint dry but that paint is like puke green so it's not even turning a nice color as it dries.

So true, I actually got distracted from a show about mutilation, haunting, cannibalism etc, because I was folding my laundry.  The Butcher is just a silly character, whereas after the Conjuring, I felt like Bathsheba was creeping up on me from every angle and was truly unnerved.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

American Horror Story Adds The Velveteen Touch Of A Dandy Fop

Evan Peters camps things up as the original builder of Matt and Shelby's murder house. Yay!

[LittleIggy]

Doris Kearns Goodwin! Wow, how did they get her? BTW, she is a lot smarter than Shelby, Matt, and Lee - she would never stay there.

I pictured the gang riding in that burning car like Steve Martin and John Candy in "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles"!

What is next?

[Mabinogia]

3 hours ago, qtpye said:

The Butcher is just a silly character, whereas after the Conjuring, I felt like Bathsheba was creeping up on me from every angle and was truly unnerved.

One of the most effecting scenes in The Conjuring was the music box. It was so subtle, and you knew something was coming but it was quiet suspense. The corpse hanging from the tree was creepy. The whole movie had a more subtle, quite horror to it that works better for me. Watching Cathy Bates hack into anything that moves is just comical. Watching little pig tails hanging from nails wiggle is silly not scary. And seeing limbs torn off is yawn inducing at this point.

Of course I'm not a fan of horror porn. I prefer the Shining to Saw, so maybe this isn't really the series for me anymore. Though it felt more balanced in earlier seasons. Pity. So much potential.

[Tipsymcstagger]

I am so beyond disappointed in this season for the myriad reasons already described here on this board. Ryan Murphy has always thrown about 800 different tropes at the wall to see what sticks. But at least there were elements that were generally suspenseful or scary. This season is a mess...a little Shining, a little Dead End/Deliverance, with a dash of The Grudge. And very little narrative cohesiveness. Just a mishmash. And even more frustrating is that he has completely wasted the talents of a lot of amazing actors. They all deserve much better.

At this point I'm watching out of habit and hoping there's some twist that makes this come together. But I'm not counting on it. If this season stays as ridiculous and contrived as it's been so far...I'm out for any future seasons. And I say this as a horror junkie.

[iMonrey]

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Fire has a "cleansing of evil" symbolism that lets you destroy something like a vampire or witch when shooting them doesn't work. There have been a few exceptions where the writer has invented special ammo for a story (e.g. bullets carved with an ancient symbol).

Well the point is these ghosts are corporeal or else they wouldn't be able to physically capture, gore and flambé their living victims. Whether that makes them vulnerable to the weaknesses of any of corporeal being is something that should have been addressed. If they're flesh and bone like anyone else but can't be killed they're more zombie than ghost. The Butcher was dragged into the fire with her son but eventually came charging out of the bonfire, although still aflame. Will she regenerate? Or will she appear as a severe burn victim from now on? Can she be vanquished altogether? The practicalities of these ghosts' condition were never taken into consideration.

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Ugh I think, this season is really is kind of terrible especially in comparison to the others.

I'm the first to admit this show has gotten increasingly campy since Season 2, so I was initially somewhat heartened to see this season take a new approach. Unfortunately, it turns out "campy" is the only thing Ryan Murphy does well, if this is his attempt at "serious" horror. 

[yourmomiseasy]

On 10/12/2016 at 8:18 PM, Straycat80 said:

And why did the butchers son all of a sudden decide he was tired of all the killing after a few hundred years? 

They focused on him making a face after she offered her condolences to Ma Polk for losing her son.  She was like for a mother all pain pales in comparison of the death one's child and I imagine he was thinking "bitch, I'm your child and you killed me (violently!)."  It's been shown that he's only been going along with her out of fear and in that moment maybe his anger overshadowed that fear.  

 

On 10/13/2016 at 0:50 PM, iMonrey said:

Mama, from the recap:

That doesn't make any sense either. You were trying to scare them away from the house because the Butcher doesn't like trespassers. But at the same time . . . she needs a yearly sacrifice so during years when "pickings are slim" you have to go find someone to sacrifice. Then why try and scare away the sacrifice???

And as long as I'm racking up all the things that didn't make sense: Matt manages to disarm Chaz and shoot the driver, then he and Shelby get out of the truck and run into the woods with Flora. Why didn't they pull the driver out of the truck and take the damn truck???

Ma Polk was also in the truck.  She's old, but she's probably pretty scrappy and fights dirty.  They'd have to get the dead body and Ma Polk out before Chaz Bono got up and walked over and did something.  All he would have had to do is grab Flora while Shelby and Matt dealt with Ma and dead guy.  Sure they could have taken the gun, but they were probably pretty resistant to shooting and killing someone on purpose even in light of their situation.  And was it even loaded after shooting the driver?  I don't have experience with shotguns, but don't most only hold a couple rounds at most unless you add a drum?

[islandgal140]

Evan Peters is the truth!  "Now, let us rouge our nipples" Almost made me wish I led a more debauched life so I would be able to utter this on occasion and mean it. 

Other than that, I am kinda in agreement with not loving this season. Still I wouldn't rate this as bad as Freak Show but it is just so ineffectual. One of my greater fears is being lost in the woods at night, which is why The Blair Witch Project messed my ass up, but this show managed to make even me yawn and reach for my tablet to play some cookie jam during those scenes. Also, I have not warmed up to the way the story is being told. I just don't care for the sit down interviews followed by reenactments. If Cuba absolutely had to be on this season, he and Andre Holland should have switched roles, with Cuba being the real Matt and Andre playing screen Matt to cut down on Cuba's screen time. 

[PerfidiousAmber]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

The Butcher was dragged into the fire with her son but eventually came charging out of the bonfire, although still aflame. Will she regenerate? Or will she appear as a severe burn victim from now on? Can she be vanquished altogether? The practicalities of these ghosts' condition were never taken into consideration.

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing myself. Just how exactly do you burn a ghost to death?

[PerfidiousAmber]

My thanks to Madame Recapper for the GIF of Grudge Girl as I had absolutely no fucking idea what I was watching despite rewinds, it was so dark. (And for an awesome recap in general.) Is this perhaps one of the Chen daughters?

[BuddhaBelly]

15 hours ago, Avaleigh said:

Ugh, the servant that fled without bothering to release the others or let anyone know what happened was sick. Why was he such an asshole especially when he seemed to feel bad for them and dared to 'look' ' at his employer directly in the face. 

How did the Mott line carry on? I apologize for missing that explanation.

Why didn't the slave stick around to save other people after seeing his master violently murdered by a mob? Would you stick around? Plus, as he openly glared at his master, Guinness was told that he was nothing but a slave and them being lovers didn't change his status.

I miss when this show was genuinely scary.I loved turning off all the lights and enjoying the episodes. Coven is when it went full on camp for me and just never seemed to recover. 

[LittleIggy]

What did the previews for next week show? Thanks!

[PerfidiousAmber]

2 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

What did the previews for next week show? Thanks!

Absolutely nothing other than Cheyenne Jackson as the behind the scenes tv producer walking around the set and saying to the cameraman "The camera never stops. No matter what anybody says, even if I tell you to stop, the camera keeps rolling, you got it?"

[Avaleigh]

15 hours ago, yourmomiseasy said:

They focused on him making a face after she offered her condolences to Ma Polk for losing her son.  She was like for a mother all pain pales in comparison of the death one's child and I imagine he was thinking "bitch, I'm your child and you killed me (violently!)."  It's been shown that he's only been going along with her out of fear and in that moment maybe his anger overshadowed that fear.  

 

Ma Polk was also in the truck.  She's old, but she's probably pretty scrappy and fights dirty.  They'd have to get the dead body and Ma Polk out before Chaz Bono got up and walked over and did something.  All he would have had to do is grab Flora while Shelby and Matt dealt with Ma and dead guy.  Sure they could have taken the gun, but they were probably pretty resistant to shooting and killing someone on purpose even in light of their situation.  And was it even loaded after shooting the driver?  I don't have experience with shotguns, but don't most only hold a couple rounds at most unless you add a drum?

There's no reason in my mind why they couldn't have taken her on but even if they were hesitant to do that, I feel like there's little to no reason not to attempt to grab the gun when they know these people are going to come after them with it. If they don't want to actually shoot then they could have either threatened them with or used the gun to bash them over their heads.

The fact that they don't even consider for a second to take the truck, like maybe make them struggle with moving the body as Frances Conroy's character attacks them only to then have them run into the woods as a last resort--that would have made more sense to me than the dumb claim by Matt that running into the woods was their only chance of survival. It's like, in what universe? Even if I didn't have some psychopathic cannibals after me and didn't know about the threat of the undead lurking in the woods, I know that if were trying to make a choice between running into some random woods at night without any provisions or taking the abandoned car so that I could seek help, I wouldn't hesitate on taking the car and can't imagine there are many people who would think that running into the woods would be the safer option and that's just on a normal pyscho-free day. 

Meanwhile we so have the Polks who seem to get nothing out of their deal with the Gaga nymph apart from her supposedly promising to leave them alone. I agree that it seems like they could live elsewhere and still do their sick thing without needing to put up the Nymph's list of bullshit. 

Then we have Edward Mott spelling out for us why the Butcher's rationale doesn't make any sense if she just wants to be left alone rather killing more people so that they'll stick around for eternity. 

Add in Lee bringing Flora to the house in the first place, (how did that help her or her daughter or her relationship with her daughter in any way?  It only made everything worse.) As a former cop, she has to know that what she did wasn't right and could have been handled in a more responsible way. 

8 hours ago, BuddhaBelly said:

Why didn't the slave stick around to save other people after seeing his master violently murdered by a mob? Would you stick around? Plus, as he openly glared at his master, Guinness was told that he was nothing but a slave and them being lovers didn't change his status.

When he was captured he started explaining about what happened but never bothered to mention what was done to the rest of the staff. 

Also, yes, I'd like to think that I would try to unlock the doors to free people that I'd lived and worked with for however long. If nothing else, they would have more of a chance of being able to stand and fight. Trying to save my own skin while knowing that a dozen people or however many it was were being left to die and I'm the only one who is aware of the situation? Yeah, I'm going to feel some level of personal responsibility over the matter. Those people might very well have been saved if he'd spoken up or attempted to free them himself. 

[Madding crowd]

I thought Evan's Mott was too much like Mr March in another time period. And what did the Japenese spider girl have to do with anything? Like others have said, this started out good but is getting into silly territory now. The biggest issue for me is what exactly are the butcher's rules? Does she want people scared away or not? If she got her sacrifice for the year is she done? 

Why are the Polks still around? Why were they trying to buy the house if they needed Matt and Shelby to be sacrificed? I will still watch and at least it's not as annoying as Hotel but I'm not hopeful. Meanwhile a real scary show like the Exorcist is on the verge of cancellation.

[Captanne]

I read my Twitter feed during the whole episode.  How did the wife NOT go into catatonic shock with that compound fracture?  That was so vastly unreal and comic-book-y it took me right out of the show.  Also, how bad is CBJ?  He won an Oscar once, right?  Has he always sounded like he has bronchitis?

I love Even Peters and he can do no wrong.  Not enough of him in my opinion except that his hokey makeup in the tunnel was also distracting.  Which is too bad, because this show is pretty reliable for good wardrobe/hair/makeup.

Granted, it's not "Hannibal" but that show was almost so over the top on atmosphere and ephemera, a main course or a bathtub would upstage the whole live cast.

After I retired out of the military and practiced law for a decade, I decided to become a full time historian.  I love me some Doris Kearns Goodwin but this is not her best venue, I have to say.  Stunt casting non-actors works sometimes -- but not, sadly, here.  

Not great, this series.  Which makes me sad.  Because I loved Hotel.

 

(OT, "Penny Dreadful" finally came up free-of-charge, and I'm binging the three seasons on Netflix.  So.  Much.  Better.  than this season of AHS it's not even funny.  I'm enjoying PD much, much more than I expected.)

Edited October 15, 2016 by Captanne

[Pixel]

3 hours ago, Captanne said:

I read my Twitter feed during the whole episode.  How did the wife NOT go into catatonic shock with that compound fracture?  That was so vastly unreal and comic-book-y it took me right out of the show.  Also, how bad is CBJ?  He won an Oscar once, right?  Has he always sounded like he has bronchitis?

This show is never going to win awards for realism, but in reality, adrenaline and fear can make you do superhuman things. Staying conscious and coherent after a compound fracture during an attack by ghosts? No problem for adrenaline!

Edited October 15, 2016 by Pixel

[LittleIggy]

Hate to tell you, Captanne, but Penny Dreadful has one of the worst series finales ever. I also think it went downhill after season 1.

Edited October 15, 2016 by LittleIggy

[Norasuke]

I was mostly into this episode, but when Ambrose said to Thomasin something like "I will not let thou continue to murder!" the linguist part of me pulled me out so fast I got whiplash. Luckily this happened long after the bulk of Evan Peters's scenes, because damn, Evan Peters!

[RedheadZombie]

On October 13, 2016 at 10:15 PM, ShadowHunter said:

I agree it was no fun watching Cuba more then Evan and Lily is capable of more. To be fair though I can't stand Shelby which sucks because I have wanted Lily back in a lead role.  I think or hope things are going to change. They seem to have finished with the reenactment so now its time to meet the real Sarah, Evan, Angela ect.  That opens the door for some possible good stories.  Imagine actor Evan runs into the real Edward Mott lol. 

I do think its a shame we didn't get to see more of reenactment Edward because watching Shelby scream MATTTTTT!!!! got old fast lol.  Even the Edward story may have been good for maybe one more episode before it ran its course.

I prefer Wes this season since his role is smaller I didn't care for him in S5 though maybe that's because John was not the best character. He didn't get interesting to me until the end.

How will we meet the real Evan?

14 hours ago, PerfidiousAmber said:

Absolutely nothing other than Cheyenne Jackson as the behind the scenes tv producer walking around the set and saying to the cameraman "The camera never stops. No matter what anybody says, even if I tell you to stop, the camera keeps rolling, you got it?"

I'm in no way spoiled.  But since they are throwing in every single horror trope, I'm hazarding a guess that it's the found footage trope.

3 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Hate to tell you, Captanne, but Penny Dreadful has one of the worst series finales ever. I also think it went downhill after season 1.

The finale has left me contemplating never watching any new show on Showtime.  I HATED it.   It didn't help that they kept the fact that it was a series finale secret until end credits. 

[ShadowHunter]

4 hours ago, RedheadZombie said:

How will we meet the real Evan?

 

Based on the previews for next week we are already stepping outside of the reenactment.   Since he was an actor playing Edward I assume that means we  will be introduced to the actors/characters who played the reenactment stories. I could be wrong but the end of this episode felt the finale of that storyline.

[Captanne]

Quick OT because the Penny Dreadful thread is all but dead:  I just wrote over there that I have permanently fallen in love with Rory Kinnear, that sneaky bastard.

I get to the finale tonight and approach it carefully and fully spoilt.  Forewarned is forearmed.

Sorry for the OT.

ETA:  Pixel, fair point about Shelby's adrenaline but it's a quick fix.  She was working for too long a time for only adrenaline to compensate, in my very non-medical and very, very amateur opinion.  It was not credible for me.

Edited October 16, 2016 by Captanne

[Mattipoo]

Blah! This season is SO rapidly losing my interest. Shelby and Matt are the stupidest couple that ever lived in a haunted house and the reenactment format pretty much makes me not care about whatever happens to them in the woods since we know they survived.

I agree with the poster upthread who said that even if there is a giant twist in episode 6, we shouldn't have to be made to sit through 5 episodes (half a season!) of drudge to get there! That plot twist better be hella good!

The best part of this episode: Evan Peters, who brought the laughs with his lines about rouged nipples and purple cockheads.

Edited October 16, 2016 by Mattipoo

[FanOfDorks]

*mega fangirl mode*

OK seriously is there any look Evan Peters cant pull off?

He looks hella hot in a pouffy wig *whatever that look is he makes it look good*

he even looks good in a bin bag *rubber man*

dude can probably even look good in a chuffing ball gown.

 

needless to say I was a very happy camper on Friday night lol.

[iMonrey]

Quote

 Even if I didn't have some psychopathic cannibals after me and didn't know about the threat of the undead lurking in the woods, I know that if were trying to make a choice between running into some random woods at night without any provisions or taking the abandoned car so that I could seek help, I wouldn't hesitate on taking the car and can't imagine there are many people who would think that running into the woods would be the safer option and that's just on a normal pyscho-free day. 

And we're using "running into the woods" very liberally as a description of what Shelby and Matt actually did, which was . . . run a few yards away from the road and then just basically sit down and wait to be re-captured.

[kj4ever]

My boyfriend was all "well that season went by really fast and it kind of sucked".  He thought that the show was done for the year...lol

[LoneHaranguer]

On 10/15/2016 at 8:26 AM, Avaleigh said:

Those people might very well have been saved if he'd spoken up or attempted to free them himself. 

It's possible that Guinness was on the outs with the rest of the staff (e.g. being harassed over his relationship with Mott) and not saying anything was his revenge.

[Daryleena]

I am, for the most part, enjoying this ride. Whenever poor writing takes me out of the element, ............such as when spidery-Asian-ghost-monster shows up randomly, or the son, Ambrose, once again turns on Momma, or Guiness leaves all the other servants in the cellar-dungeon to rot.....I simply chant ~poetic license~poetic license~   Very similar to when the feral pus suckling boys yelled CROATOAN....and I am back, enjoying the ride for what it is.

 

I am actually very interested in the next phase, and I have two loose theories.  

1.) Matt and Shelby (and maybe Lee) are fibbing on parts of the story, like maybe they hid Flora and did murder her Dad, but the rest of the supernatural stuff is real. Maybe they took advantage of all the crazy haunting stuff to keep Flora. 

OR

 2.) They (Matt, Shelby, Lee)  are now in a deal,  like the Polks, and have some deal with Momma Hatchet, and this is how they are bringing Fresh Meat to the Roanoke Colonists, via bringing in the camera crew etc.

 

Anyway, time will tell. CROATOAN,  and Goodnight!!

[IvySpice]

Quote

I kept thinking of Eddie Murphy's routine about who stays in a freakin haunted house.

"This house is beautiful. Hard wood floors...great yard...gorgeous view..."

"GET OUT!!!!"

".....too bad we can't stay!"

SO MUCH!! I'm only watching this season because my husband is into it, and I kept quoting this routine over and over. I was yelling at Cuba: "Eddie Murphy says black people aren't this stupid! Only white people stay in the house with the ghosts!"

[Sile]

I'm pretty much hanging all of my hopes for this series on emphasizing the re-enactment slant.  

I said in an earlier episode thread that I think the re-en actors are purposely chewing some scenery because they are basically C list actors doing re-enactments scenes for an ID show.  I'm hoping that we see the actors as their real selves now and all of a sudden Paulson, Gooding et. al are much more natural.

I'm also using that theory for why Matt and Shelby seem to be the stupidest people outside of the poor decisions Geico commercial.  That story is just that, it's some nonsense that was made up by the people involved with considerable tweaking by the production staff to give a little more "zip" to their documentary.

[Bruinsfan]

On 10/12/2016 at 10:43 PM, rustyspigot said:

Shelby got her foot"Misery'd" and she had a simple cast with no apparent money to pay for it. I know. I need to stop thinking when watching.

Emergency rooms have to treat you no matter if you can pay or not.

[spiderpig]

On 10/12/2016 at 8:06 PM, rustyspigot said:

I don't know. I kind of wanted Doris Kearns Goodwin to go to the house due to her terrible acting.

 

I have to give Doris points for being a good sport.  From noted presidential historian to documenting wacky colonial pig people and inbred cannibals.  

You go, girl!

[EDTV]

I almost had to stop watching after they killed the truck driver, kicked the hillbilly off the truck... and then... ran into the woods and left the gun with the hillbillies?...lol

I understand we have to suspend belief sometimes but that was the most ridiculous thing ever. Not sure I can watch much more of this show.

Edited May 2, 2017 by EDTV