S07.E02: Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

[AnimeMania]

16 hours ago, SHD said:

Did I miss understand?  Ivy's reaction to Ally's phone dying was to ask Pedro to bring over a charger...when she knew the power was out?

It might have been one of those chargers with the battery, that charge without being plugged in.

 

4 hours ago, candall said:

Fuck nooooooo, you can't go by yourself to "check out the alarm" at the restaurant, Ally.  You're having a psychotic break every five minutes.

And you crashed your car into a pole, I am not going to let you borrow mine!

 

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Are there really restaurants where they have dead animal carcasses hanging up in the freezer room?

It looked like the freezer was made out of glass so that everybody in the restaurant could see the bodies hanging on the hooks, that would make me lose my appetite.

I am pretty sure that giving someone a handgun is illegal, although I am not sure if giving someone a rifle is.

Do sponges have holes, probably not big enough holes to freak Ally out. Ally seems to like sponges a lot.

[ZoloftBlob]

Well, the resteraunt is called "The Butcher on (street name I don't remember) " so maybe part of the ambiance is seeing the meat?

Edited September 13, 2017 by ZoloftBlob

[Peanut6711]

12 hours ago, RedMal said:

The neighbors though were way too on the nose creepy. At least cover the blood stain with a carpet, if you want to seem normal.

Yeah, the neighbors are certainly rocking the whole cliched weird neighbor thing, although not nearly with the finesse of Jessica Lange's demented neighbor role in Season 1. These neighbors both encompass and defy various social-political stereotypes all while coming off as complete kooks (i.e. the blood stains on the floor).  I have no doubts they are involved with Kai's plan.  They have the potential to be developed into complex characters, but only time will tell.  I was at least glad to see them join the plot if for nothing else but an expansion of what seems like a small cast this time around.  Sarah Paulson is wearing thin.

[rubinia]

Ozymandias may be a reference to the poem, but I thought it was a humorous jab at the ultra-liberal lesbian couple naming their son something so over the top.

10 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Are there really restaurants where they have dead animal carcasses hanging up in the freezer room? That seems like it would be a huge health violation. This isn't a meat processing plant or even a butcher's shop. 

I think it *is* kind of an upscale butcher shop and restaurant. It's called "The Butchery on Main."

[ZoloftBlob]

Are we certain the blood stain and creepy not painted over Red John face was actually seen by anyone other than Ally?

[Surrealist]

22 hours ago, Last Time Lord said:

I'm glad you mentioned that Oz's full name is Ozymandias. In Alan Moore's classic Graphic Novel, Watchmen, Ozymandias is the superhero alias of the story's villain, Adrian Veidt. I wonder if that could be foreshadowing, anything.

The late 80's TV show Beauty and the Beast with Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman used many literary titles and themes in its episodes. In fact, one episode was called "Ozymandias" and it follows with what Percy Bysshe Shelley was talking about in his sonnet.  

Beauty and the Beast Ozymandias Review

I, too, am curious to see how the name plugs into this season. 

Edited September 14, 2017 by Surrealist

[CrazyDog]

2 hours ago, ZoloftBlob said:

Are we certain the blood stain and creepy not painted over Red John face was actually seen by anyone other than Ally?

Good question. Did Ivy react to it as well? I thought she did, but it should have been mentioned. 

[TexasGal]

4 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

 

Do sponges have holes, probably not big enough holes to freak Ally out. Ally seems to like sponges a lot.

I couldn't get past the middle portion of the security door that is pretty much all holes while she's talking to Kai.  It looked exactly like the hive that got her hyperventating earlier.

[Dobian]

"Lesbians, we're under attack!" has to be the greatest line I've ever heard on this show.

[Mattipoo]

Poor Pedro!

I definitely think Ivy, Winter and the creepy neighbors are all gaslighting Ally and trying to convince her to join Kai's cult by making her scared.

The nanny's relationship with Oz also reminds me of the movie "The Omen", which leads me to believe that Oz is somehow important to the cult. Just a wild guess but perhaps he is the devil baby from the "Murder House" season? Maybe the Jessica Lange character died, after which he was adopted by Ally and Ivy? That would certainly tie this season back to "Murder House".

Edited September 14, 2017 by Mattipoo

[rubinia]

12 minutes ago, Mattipoo said:

The nanny's relationship with Oz also reminds me of the movie "The Omen", which leads me to believe that Oz is somehow important to the cult. Just a wild guess but perhaps he is the devil baby from the "Murder House" season? Maybe the Jessica Lange character died, after which he was adopted by Ally and Ivy? That would certainly tie this season back to "Murder House".

Good point, and he did say he didn't know which of the moms actually gave birth to him when Winter asked.

[Madding crowd]

So far this is pretty creepy which I am enjoying. The show always goes off the rails after a few episodes though. I was annoyed that Ally and Ivy did not check on their son when they thought a crazy clown was in the house-you always check on your child first!  They also didn't check any of the other rooms or closets. I think Ivy is in on this; she always seems to be lurking nearby (except the store incident which could have been set up). Why would she send scaredy cat Ally to see about the alarm going off? Winter is kind of intriguing, but I have a problem with people doing things to little kids, even psychological things. I can't figure out why anyone would want to gaslight Ally and I certainly hope it has nothing to do with voting.

Evan Peters is great as usual but he seems more of a loner than a cult leader. The new neighbors are either part of the cult or anti-cult people who are keeping watch on Ivy and Winter-that would be more interesting I think. 

[GoneGirl]

8 hours ago, Fusion said:

Winter says "People are going to believe what they're going to believe.  The trick is figuring out what they want to believe and then giving it to them." When Oz is scared that the clowns will come back.  She says "They won't come back for you".  

She seems to be more in charge than they are leading us to believe.

Hmm. I'm not sold that she is the cult leader but interesting.

[GoneGirl]

Does anyone have a guess to what the new neighbors have in the blue barrels????

im guessing it's NOT ? honey.

[ZoloftBlob]

Quote

Why would she send scaredy cat Ally to see about the alarm going off?

Because Ozzy was starting to fuss that the mom who was comforting him (Ivy) was going to leave. And Ally volunteered. 

Quote

Does anyone have a guess to what the new neighbors have in the blue barrels????

In keeping with the Breaking Bad allusions, I suspect its some chemical starter for some sweet Heisenberg Blue meth to keep the culties in line.

To give a more serious answer in line with some things I suspect.... 

The blue barrels are water barrels. If you store water, and buy water barrels, especially from prep websites, they are usually made of blue plastic. Restaurants use blue jugs for water storage as well. That, coupled with the gas mask/containment suit/weird political themes/some imagery in the credits - makes me think we're gonna see some crazy preppers.

[Hazel55]

On 9/12/2017 at 10:13 PM, PBGamer89 said:

Ivy is in on it, convinced.

I agree 100 percent

The fact that the clowns Ally is seeing automatically disappear each and every time Ivy enters the room is simply too big of a coincidence to be credited. Furthermore, it goes against everything we know about mental illness. Because if the clowns aren't there, and Ally is just "seeing things,"why would her delusional visions have the internal logic to stop every time Ivy comes around to see what's going on? A seriously mentally ill person having vivid auditory and visual hallucinations isn't just going to stop hallucinating the moment a certain person is pulled into the room.

And the fact that the clowns know how to get in and out of Ally's house and place of work so quickly and so well suggests that someone very close to Ally (both at her work and her home) is providing the clown cult with some help getting to her. Since I'm doubting its the kid, I'm guessing it's Ivy.  

[ShadowHunter]

1 hour ago, Madding crowd said:

So far this is pretty creepy which I am enjoying. The show always goes off the rails after a few episodes though. I was annoyed that Ally and Ivy did not check on their son when they thought a crazy clown was in the house-you always check on your child first!  They also didn't check any of the other rooms or closets. I think Ivy is in on this; she always seems to be lurking nearby (except the store incident which could have been set up). Why would she send scaredy cat Ally to see about the alarm going off? Winter is kind of intriguing, but I have a problem with people doing things to little kids, even psychological things. I can't figure out why anyone would want to gaslight Ally and I certainly hope it has nothing to do with voting.

Evan Peters is great as usual but he seems more of a loner than a cult leader. The new neighbors are either part of the cult or anti-cult people who are keeping watch on Ivy and Winter-that would be more interesting I think. 

They have not fired Winter yet either so I see a pattern.

We don't know how many people are in the cult yet. It seems like a 5 people maybe 6. I could buy Evan having an affect on a few people.  Now it will start to grow I assume as he runs for City Council.

[Anela]

2 hours ago, Mattipoo said:

Poor Pedro!

I definitely think Ivy, Winter and the creepy neighbors are all gaslighting Ally and trying to convince her to join Kai's cult by making her scared.

The nanny's relationship with Oz also reminds me of the movie "The Omen", which leads me to believe that Oz is somehow important to the cult. Just a wild guess but perhaps he is the devil baby from the "Murder House" season? Maybe the Jessica Lange character died, after which he was adopted by Ally and Ivy? That would certainly tie this season back to "Murder House".

I started to say that this morning, and then deleted it. I got "The Omen" vibes, too. I hadn't  thought of the baby from the first season, though. 

[Hazel55]

After this episode, the biggest issue I'm facing is this: I find literally every character on the show (including the card carrying villains) more sympathetic and the hysterical, self deluding, increasingly violent, and (as we learn in this episode) laughably hypocritical Ally. The "evil" (and hilarious) neighbors, the possibly duplicitous Ivy, shady Winter, even the vile (but refreshingly honest) Kai-- I'd take any of them over Ally at this point. 

After the first episode, I found Ally to be a pitiable, if not exactly sympathetic, character. Her unusual, increasingly debilitating phobias and her steadily deteriorating mental state gave her some pathos, despite the fact that her "constant freak out mode" became quickly grating. But at first, she at lease seemed to be decent-- on the side of the good, self aware enough to know she might be losing it, and understandably concerned about how her own instability was effecting her wife and child. 

In this episode, she seemed to dial up the hysteria to an 11, as well as losing all her redeeming characteristics (all previous signs of self awareness, as well as all concern about how she was effecting those around her.) Even more disturbingly, this episode showcased her utter hypocrisy.

Because if episode one seemed to define Ally by her fears, episode two seemed to define her by the laughable difference between her stated beliefs and her actual life choices. Just to review, in this episode, we see Ally:

-Firmly state her opposition to anti- immigrant politics... only to allow a manager at her restaurant to throw anti-immigrant slurs ("speak english!", etc.) at a Latino worker. She looks down upon the likes of Kai for his anti-immigrant rhetoric, but won't prevent her own employee Pedro from being mistreated on account of his race. (She also falsely identifies him as "an immigrant," despite the fact that, as both Ivy and Pedro note, Pedro was born in America. Even though Pedro has worked for Ally for years, she's never bothered to find out where he's from; just makes the racist assumption he's "an immigrant" because of his skin color.) 

-Is a lifelong liberal almost surely against gun ownership, but buys a gun at the first opportunity. 

-Declares her fidelity to liberal "open minded" politics... then mocks her psychiatrist for being "a knee jerk liberal." 

-Professes to find the new neighbors "creepy"-- shortly after she's caught creepily staring into their window in their front lawn, uninvited. 

-Self righteously speaks of building bridges and cooperation, while barricading herself in her house, knife and gun on hand to greet somebody ringing the doorbell during broad daylight. (Kai could have been a girl scout selling cookies, for crying out loud.) 

-Looks down upon Kai, but basically lives by the standards he is professing (live in fear, don't bother protecting "immigrants" or the vulnerable, shoot first, ask questions later. Actually, that last one may just be something Ally thought up on her own.) 

At this point, Ally seems less like a character to me, more like a brutal caricature of all of the qualities stereotypically subscribed to the well educated, sheltered upper middle classes these days. (I'm not saying there's any truth in such a caricature; but I think most of us have heard these stereotypes before.)

In contrast, the new neighbors, with their apparently endless eccentricities, are very amusing and colorful. Kai's views are appalling, but his willingness to call Ally out on her B.S. was rather refreshing by that point in the episode. Winter is clearly up to something, but is nevertheless quite beguiling, and far more interesting than Ally.

 And Ivy. Finally Ivy. I'm honestly not sure if she's evil/ working against Ally at this point. I think we in the very least have reason to suspect her, thanks to issues people have already pointed out. All I know is that at this point, her levelheadedness, rationality, and responsibility come as a welcome relief after Ally's endless histrionics in this episode. And if she is working against Ally.... well, who can really blame her at this point? (I'm kidding. Mostly.) 

Edited September 14, 2017 by Hazel55

[AnimeMania]

7 hours ago, GoneGirl said:

Does anyone have a guess to what the new neighbors have in the blue barrels????

im guessing it's NOT ? honey.

Every media portrayal of "Crime Scene Cleaners" looks very similar to the garage scene, unfortunately, it doesn't look like they did a very good job.

[darkestboy]

Good enough episode, but enough with the Trump commentary and get the actual cult storyline moving already.

I'm starting to lose my patience with Ally as well. I get that she's afraid and that her paranoia is justified but at the same time, it already feels like the writers are milking this a bit much though.

Pedro being shot in the end was a bit obvious though. Not really sad about Roger though.

I can see both Ivy and Rudy having Ally sectioned at some point in the series. Oz also seems to be closer to Ivy than Ally as well.

Winter annoys me as much as Kai does. Her behaviour with both Ally and Oz was just creepy this week. Really liked the brief moment with Ally and Kai in this one as well.

Harrison and Meadow are way too eager to overshare but both characters intrigue the hell out of me and were the highlight of the week to be honest, 7/10

[GoneGirl]

9 hours ago, ZoloftBlob said:

To give a more serious answer in line with some things I suspect.... 

The blue barrels are water barrels. If you store water, and buy water barrels, especially from prep websites, they are usually made of blue plastic. Restaurants use blue jugs for water storage as well. That, coupled with the gas mask/containment suit/weird political themes/some imagery in the credits - makes me think we're gonna see some crazy preppers.

Good call!!! I think you are right. Blue barrels of water and then suddenly a huge blackout. Interesting.

[walnutqueen]

11 hours ago, GoneGirl said:

Does anyone have a guess to what the new neighbors have in the blue barrels????

im guessing it's NOT ? honey.

 

11 hours ago, ZoloftBlob said:

Because Ozzy was starting to fuss that the mom who was comforting him (Ivy) was going to leave. And Ally volunteered. 

In keeping with the Breaking Bad allusions, I suspect its some chemical starter for some sweet Heisenberg Blue meth to keep the culties in line.

 

10 hours ago, ZoloftBlob said:

To give a more serious answer in line with some things I suspect.... 

The blue barrels are water barrels. If you store water, and buy water barrels, especially from prep websites, they are usually made of blue plastic. Restaurants use blue jugs for water storage as well. That, coupled with the gas mask/containment suit/weird political themes/some imagery in the credits - makes me think we're gonna see some crazy preppers.

True Crime TeeVee taught me blue barrels are for dead bodies.

[MaggieG]

12 hours ago, Dobian said:

"Lesbians, we're under attack!" has to be the greatest line I've ever heard on this show.

This and the fact that they run a Nicole Kidman fan club made me really like the neighbors. 

[Dobian]

11 hours ago, Hazel55 said:

-Is a lifelong liberal almost surely against gun ownership, but buys a gun at the first opportunity. 

 

Every state has its own gun laws, but I raised an eyebrow when the characters seemed to ignore that Michigan has ANY gun laws.  I know the gun laws here in California, but needed to look up what Michigan has for private party gun purchases.  The buyer has to have a gun purchase license to do this, which I think is safe to say Ally does not have.  Handgun sales also require paperwork to be filed by the seller and buyer with law enforcement, and a background check done on the buyer.  Which didn't happen here.  So we have an illegal gun purchase and manslaughter with an illegal weapon.  Wonder how the show is going to run with that one.

Edited September 14, 2017 by Dobian

[ZoloftBlob]

Did she actually buy the gun? I thought Gay Husband just gave it to her.

[Last Time Lord]

4 minutes ago, ZoloftBlob said:

Did she actually buy the gun? I thought Gay Husband just gave it to her.

I assume that would require some

sort of documentation, as well. Perhaps even more than a private gun sale would. 

[Dobian]

Even if he gave her the gun for free it's still a "sale" and you have to do all the legal stuff for transferring the gun ownership.

[GoneGirl]

2 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

 

 

True Crime TeeVee taught me blue barrels are for dead bodies.

Right, Dexter is the first thing that came to my mind!

[ZoloftBlob]

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2014/06/daniel-zimmerman/nssf-yes-can-still-buy-gun-gift-probably-kind/ Technically yes, gifting a gun is still legal but in a real world "neighbor gives neighbor a gun and someone ends up shot in the head" scenario... the gifting neighbor would be in some trouble. That said - there's really nothing stopping Ally from just going to a gun store and buying a gun. She's not disallowed.

[Fusion]

13 hours ago, GoneGirl said:

Does anyone have a guess to what the new neighbors have in the blue barrels????

im guessing it's NOT ? honey.

I am not sure if it is related, but did anyone notice Harrison giving Ally a candle.  She specifically says she can't find candles and then moments later, Harrison gives her one and mentions its made from beeswax.  Could there be something sinister in the beeswax and that's what they're storing in the barrels?

[littlemommy]

I just assumed that when she burned that candle Ally would get dosed with a hallucinogenic of some kind and go crazy. Crazier.

[iMonrey]

Quote

Evan Peters is great as usual but he seems more of a loner than a cult leader. 

And who would vote for this oddball with the blue hair anyway? Even if his message appeals to you, he's too weird looking for the conservative voters that would agree with his attitudes towards immigrants, etc.

[Captanne]

Perhaps the idea is that he is so charismatic that he forms a cult despite his hair colour?  (Hence the orange cheeto face makeup.....the point being it doesn't matter what you look like or, for that matter, if you shoot someone on 5th Avenue.  You'll still form a cult and get elected.)

Perhaps.  I have no freakin' idea.

I'm still in shock over Killer Klowns.  I can't even.

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

And who would vote for this oddball with the blue hair anyway? Even if his message appeals to you, he's too weird looking for the conservative voters that would agree with his attitudes towards immigrants, etc.

This is a very low level political seat, you probably just have to send a flyer in the mail and most people will probably vote for you based on your party affiliation.

[LoneHaranguer]

2 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

This is a very low level political seat, you probably just have to send a flyer in the mail and most people will probably vote for you based on your party affiliation.

Postage is too expensive these days. What I see is people with signs at busy intersections, and outside polling places on election day. If somebody uses flyers, it's part of a door-to-door effort.

[Fusion]

6 hours ago, iMonrey said:

And who would vote for this oddball with the blue hair anyway? Even if his message appeals to you, he's too weird looking for the conservative voters that would agree with his attitudes towards immigrants, etc.

The same people who voted for Cheeto face? 

6 hours ago, littlemommy said:

I just assumed that when she burned that candle Ally would get dosed with a hallucinogenic of some kind and go crazy. Crazier.

I like the idea of hallucinogenic. If they have it in bulk supply, they could create mass fear and hysteria. 

On 9/13/2017 at 4:31 PM, AnimeMania said:

Do sponges have holes, probably not big enough holes to freak Ally out. Ally seems to like sponges a lot.

I have the Trypophobia and no sponges don't bother me. I'm not sure why. It's a weird thing. 

[GoneGirl]

2 hours ago, Fusion said:

The same people who voted for Cheeto face? 

I like the idea of hallucinogenic. If they have it in bulk supply, they could create mass fear and hysteria. 

I have the Trypophobia and no sponges don't bother me. I'm not sure why. It's a weird thing. 

 

2 hours ago, Fusion said:

The same people who voted for Cheeto face? 

I like the idea of hallucinogenic. If they have it in bulk supply, they could create mass fear and hysteria. 

I have the Trypophobia and no sponges don't bother me. I'm not sure why. It's a weird thing. 

So, hallucinating from the beeswax candles....that could be a good possibility. However, that only explains a small party of Ally's batshit craziness, IF the clowns are a hallucination (and I don't think they all are) she has been being drugged long before the candles....and by whom?

[willco]

So far I'm enjoying it. I doubt if any season can ever measure up the way Asylum did, as it's my all time favorite, but I always watch. I think I liked Hotel a lot more than most did, too.

I suppose it's no coincidence that this season has clowns and the "IT" remake just came out. Of course, unless he's psychic, there's not much way R. Murphy could have known it would be such a s huge hit right off the bat. He might have surmised that, though. Also, over the past year or so all of the internet pictures I've seen of creepy clowns lurking around houses and towns, well that just makes this that much more relevant.

 

Sarah screaming non-stop doesn't bother me in the least. I watch so many horror movies, I almost don't even notice it anymore. But, I have to admit I didn't see the cook getting killed coming. I recorded the show and wasn't really watching the time, maybe if I'd known it was almost to the end, I would have, but I didn't until right as he was at the door, then I got it. Sometimes, I'm glad when I don't anticipate everything in a show, it's more fun that way.

 

I'd give the episode at least an 8. Enough weirdness to suffice until next week !

[Fusion]

9 hours ago, GoneGirl said:

 

So, hallucinating from the beeswax candles....that could be a good possibility. However, that only explains a small party of Ally's batshit craziness, IF the clowns are a hallucination (and I don't think they all are) she has been being drugged long before the candles....and by whom?

I don't think Ally has been hallucinating either.  But why are they targeting her?  Because of her phobias and "fear is the new currency"?  

I am still hung up on two things.  In first episode, Chang noted that Hilary lost Michigan by the same count as the number of people in their town.  In the last episode, Harrison says "the hive is the perfect natural community, because every single member is completely committed 100% to a singular task. " I think Ally is important to show how fear changes a person .  But I think the cult has to be bigger than just a few clowns.  How much of the town is involved?

[SpaghettiTuesdays]

I'm getting serious vibes from "The Strangers" or whatever that home invasion movie was called. Every time the clowns show up, I get that feeling. The scariest thing to me is having someone in my house and I don't know about it. Seriously creeped out by that.

I also think the Not-Changs remind me of Count Olaf's troupe in "A Series of Unfortunate Events". They have kooky personalities and have this weird way they speak where it's like each of them is half of one brain (not intelligence-wise, more like finishing each others' sentences and whatnot). 

I had to laugh when the Ozy asked if he was asleep or awake and the clown turned and said, "you're asleep", then carried on doing murderous clown stuff. Someone on another forum said it sounded like Kai but I thought it sounded like the psychiatrist? Any thoughts on that?

[TattleTeeny]

On 9/13/2017 at 0:44 AM, GoneGirl said:

His name is Kai. I'm so sorry to get knit picky. I do own a Kia though. Sorry again, I am a grammar fanatic, that being said,  autocorrect doesn't seem to recognize the name Kai ....

Heh, I get paid to be a "grammar fanatic" (and if I had a buck for every self-proclaimed fellow fanatic I ran across, I wouldn't even need my job. On the other hand, if those claims were true, my job would probably not need me either). Typos happen...and happen...and happen. We'll likely never see a significant piece of copy that is error-free, and most people would notice only a small percentage of the errors that are there. In fact, I think someone on the show did that classic overcorrection of "s/he and I" when "me" would have been correct. (And, of course, nine times out of 10, when one opts to "school" someone else online, one will make numerous errors in one's own post. It's like some kind of editorial Murphy's Law or some shit.)

Quote

that last bit felt like the movie Halloween, until she shot Pedro. 

Same here; I was almost expecting a "go down the street to the Mackenzies' house."  Also:

"American Horror Story: Cult" mixed a little horror movie nostalgia with its clown mayhem on Tuesday's premiere, thanks to an amazing nod to the 1978 classic "Halloween."While the show is set in Michigan, eagle-eyed viewers may have recognized the neighborhood as the same one used as Haddonfield, Illinois in the John Carpenter film.

I'm fascinated by the cluster holes and trypophobia! I feel like I've only become aware of this in the last few years. One day, I was reading about it and thinking not that it was silly or anything, but more that it was unique, for lack of a better word. And then--and then!--while looking at images, holy hell (haha, that was totally an accident!) if I didn't get a belly-pit feeling at some of them! Not all of them, thank the gods (I do not need more quirks, thank you), but oof, some really gave me chills! 

Edited September 15, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[Princess Sparkle]

On 9/14/2017 at 10:26 AM, MaggieG said:

This and the fact that they run a Nicole Kidman fan club made me really like the neighbors. 

It killed me that the only gun they wouldn't part with was Nicole Kidman's gun from Cold Mountain.

[LoneHaranguer]

16 hours ago, Fusion said:

The same people who voted for Cheeto face? 

If you're referring to guys like Kai, who bought into the image presented by the fake news and liked what they saw, they probably did have a significant contribution to the outcome, but, would there be enough of them locally?

 

On 9/13/2017 at 9:05 AM, ClareWalks said:

When Ally shot Pedro I said "way to go, dumbass," out loud. It seemed odd to me that Ally even wanted a gun, since at that point she assumed she was probably hallucinating the clowns. Yeah, give the lady who has panic-induced visions an easy way to dispatch threats.

Did the Director screw up? The way the scene was shot, Pedro didn't at all represent a threat at that moment.

[TattleTeeny]

Quote

Did the Director screw up? The way the scene was shot, Pedro didn't at all represent a threat at that moment.

I think the fact that he was there at all, regardless of why, represented a threat to unnerved Allie. 

[BlancheDevoreaux]

4 hours ago, SpaghettiTuesdays said:

I'm getting serious vibes from "The Strangers" or whatever that home invasion movie was called. Every time the clowns show up, I get that feeling. The scariest thing to me is having someone in my house and I don't know about it. Seriously creeped out by that.

That movie is straight up terrifying.  Like you said, the idea of someone being in your home and you not know about it is a very creepy idea.  Then, at the end, when Liv Tyler's character asks them why they are doing what they are doing and they respond, "Because you were home." Oh. My. Gosh.  That movie ensures I will never ever answer my door in the middle of the night.

[ZoloftBlob]

I must say, and I am probably jinxing it, that I like that all the scares so far are real scares and not ghosts or whatever. It reminds me of Asylum where most of the scary shit was people being assholes and monsters and not all supernatural all the time.

[Florinaldo]

There are so many plot holes in this episode that watching it would probably send someone with trypophobia into Paulson-level convulsions.

The police not showing up on their own at the restaurant to investigate a blaring alarm (no one near the restaurant reported it?), the psychiatrist not telling anyone that someone acting like an overwrought loon has a gun in her house; the two mothers not noticing how strange their new nanny is; Ivy having to stay at the restaurant to look after the emergency generator instead to going to support her wife (is she an electrician or engineer and is there no one else who can look after such things?), etc. Of course that last one was just a convenient way to have Ally shoot Pedro; as soon as Ivy told him to go, the two words that came to mind were "red shirt".

They are still laying down the various elements of this season's story, but there was little new info this time around so it felt like they were running in place. I need to have at least a few answers quickly, for example what is the nature of the titular cult and if the clowns are real, imaginary, supernatural manifestations or a combination of all three.

Evan Peters is well suited for his role, much better than in Hotel, where he was asked to act beyond his age and abilities, saddled with a bad accent rivalling Wes Bentley's in Freak Show.

[TattleTeeny]

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There are so many plot holes in this episode that watching it would probably send someone with trypophobia into Paulson-level convulsions.

The police not showing up on their own at the restaurant to investigate a blaring alarm (no one near the restaurant reported it?), the psychiatrist not telling anyone that someone acting like an overwrought loon has a gun in her house; the two mothers not noticing how strange their new nanny is; Ivy having to stay at the restaurant to look after the emergency generator instead to going to support her wife (is she an electrician or engineer and is there no one else who can look after such things?), etc. Of course that last one was just a convenient way to have Ally shoot Pedro; as soon as Ivy told him to go, the two words that came to mind were "red shirt".

Just my opinion, of course, but I think it's a bit early to assume these are all plot holes; a deliberate and widespread (if implausible in real life) game being run on Allie or even an all-encompassing hive mind going on here could, in the realm of fiction, be the reason for all of those things. As far as Ivy having to stay at the restaurant, that part seems perfectly normal to me. It's essentially a mystery; shit's not gonna be revealed in episode 2.

Edited September 16, 2017 by TattleTeeny

[ZoloftBlob]

I thought Ivy staying at the restaurant was actually reasonable and an indicator that Ivy is getting tired of having to be the only grown up in the house. Her dialogue with Pedro prior was revealing - she took out a second mortgage on her home to restock the restaurant's signature meat because it all had to be thrown away due to the murder and now the power's out which means if it doesn't get back on, the business is likely royally fucked until insurance pays off and she has no home equity to mine.... and fucking Ally is having a breakdown at home over the lights being out. So does Ivy leave and let the only source of income go to hell? Or does she send someone Ally knows to check on Ally and chase away the imaginary ghosts?

I also think, based on the glasses and blonde hair, that we're going to find out that Ivy is Ozy's bio-mom.