S08.E06 Return to Murder House

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Madison and Behold travel to the Murder House to uncover the origins of Michael Langdon.

Original air date 2018.10.17

[Primal Slayer]

Just finished the episode and it was so.damn.GOOD!

Great way to get us more story on Michael, great way to wrap up the Murder House characters and great Madison building episode. 

[Cobalt Stargazer]

"I'm Constance Langdon, and this is my fucking house."

[sashayshante]

But...Tate raped Vivienne to give Nora Montgomery a baby. So we're just gonna forget that so Tate and Violet can have a happy ending?

Good episode but not what I had hoped.

[Straycat80]

Very good episode. My favorite so far this season. 

[Indigo Luna]

I'm not sure whether I loved it or hated it being 90% fan service and 10% plot. 

 

They really glossed over the Fourth Child plot hole from season one and gave us an un named ghost kid for Constance. Would've loved a line or two explaining who she was and how she died, or at least more of a hint than badly CGI eyeball sockets. Sigh we can't have everything. 

[Primal Slayer]

2 minutes ago, sashayshante said:

But...Tate raped Vivienne to give Nora Montgomery a baby. So we're just gonna forget that so Tate and Violet can have a happy ending?

Good episode but not what I had hoped.

I think we're supposed to walk away with that Tate was used by Satan to do this.

[WednesdayAddams]

I could have done without the first 30 minutes. Felt like filler. I didn't need the whole maid/Mother bit. I was hoping this episode would show us how Ms. Meade met Michael so I'm happy we got that. Why would Connie Brighton think she could kill Michael? Especially by waltzing into his room. He's obviously all knowing!

I absolutely love how Michael's voice changes throughout the different phases in his life. I think that, beside being baby faced makes it believable that a 30 year old can play a 15 year old. I love his voice after the apocalypse as well. So calm, yet nerve wracking in a way. Cody Fern is brilliant!

[Primal Slayer]

Just now, Indigo Luna said:

I'm not sure whether I loved it or hated it being 90% fan service and 10% plot. 

 

They really glossed over the Fourth Child plot hole from season one and gave us an un named ghost kid for Constance. Would've loved a line or two explaining who she was and how she died, or at least more of a hint than badly CGI eyeball sockets. Sigh we can't have everything. 

The entire purpose was to find out more about Michael which we did so it was very plot heavy.

[ShadowHunter]

It was so nice to see Murder House again I am sorry we are leaving it again.

They even had some of the ghosts who did not have big roles back.

I am surprised Tate was waiting when Constance emerged as a ghost he did not seem to care much for her but I guess they wanted to show he was different now.

This episode was a lot of fan service though lol.  Tate and Violet getting back together, Moira being set free.  Finally showing the 4th Langdon child. 

Though most of those endings may be taken away now that Michael ended the world.

Ugh Ben crying lol memories.

"May I have a glass of water" Haha good line.

Billie Dean did not need to show up.  It felt like she was thrown in because it was Sarah.

Nice seeing Tate and Ben in therapy together again lol. Good season 1 stuff.

Not surprised Ben and Vivian had problems again. 

It was good of Tate to save Vivian. It was the least he could do.

[peridot]

I'm glad Moira was finally able to get free of the house, though I enjoyed seeing her rile up Constance.

Wtf at Constance's fourth child though!  She was born without eyes?!

I laughed when they actually made the crying jerk-off session from season 1 as Ben's daily impulse.  I hated how they tried to whitewash Tate though.  I don't buy that happy ending.

The backstory of Michael was good.  Are Kathy Bates' eyes really that blue, or were they contacts?  I'm not sure why, but all the blue eyes in this episode creeped me out.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

2 minutes ago, Primal Slayer said:

I think we're supposed to walk away with that Tate was used by Satan to do this.

That's what I got from it. Vivienne told Madison and Behold that she didn't believe Tate or Ben fathered Michael, that something else did, and Madison told Violet that she thought the house used Tate to bring about something a lot worse than anything Tate could do. Even if we decide that for once Madison was trying to not be a bitch, Constance and Ben both tried to help Michael, no matter how unsuccessfully. After Michael burned up those two people, Ben tells him he'd been foolish to even try and do something for him, so IMO he had been a lost cause as soon as he aged a decade overnight.

[Primal Slayer]

It was so weird but good to see Madison grow as a character. She was all up in her feelings that I had to blink twice in the beginning.

[TobinAlbers]

Vivian seemed like a very heavily medicated ghost. Poor crying, dumb, Ben. At least Vivian is talking to him again. Sorta. And I oddly get Ben needing a kid that actually grew up and lived. Being trapped for eternity with a crying baby? Not fun.

Lange reminded me of how good she can be and I enjoyed her return. Constance was twisted and nutty to the end - and yet drew the line at unnatural evil. She had something of a code.

Anyhoo, Michael can not only retrieve souls from hell but obliterate them in an ultimate death. That's....that's a badass foe.

Behold and Madison we're actually a better pairing than I thought they'd be.

Pepper actress was the other Church of Satan lady that stabbed the poor girl at Black Mass.

Now is there any way they can cram an Asylum nod in before the end? We did have demon possession with Sister Mary Margaret and Michael is the son of Satan so...there is a way to connect them.

[DangerousMinds]

4 minutes ago, Primal Slayer said:

It was so weird but good to see Madison grow as a character. She was all up in her feelings that I had to blink twice in the beginning.

What does this mean? That she seemed emotional?

[HunterHunted]

7 minutes ago, ShadowHunter said:

Ugh Ben crying lol memories.

Ben crysturbating. Ha! I love how Ben was fine with masturbating at the window, but he wants to lose the crying. And for me, the two are a package deal when it comes to Ben.

[Primal Slayer]

3 minutes ago, DangerousMinds said:

What does this mean? That she seemed emotional?

Yes. She felt sympathy for others. 

[Valny]

27 minutes ago, Cobalt Stargazer said:

"I'm Constance Langdon, and this is my fucking house."

That was such a great opening line!  So I guess that's the last we'll be seeing of Murder House and more importantly, Jessica Lange...which really bums me out since I have been looking for her return for years actually.  Unless Fiona makes an appearance. But I will take what I could get, and she was awesome as usual.  Although I didn't quite like some of the earlier camera angles they used when Madison and Behold were first talking to her. Paulson directed right?

I never was a big Madison fan but her and Behold were a fun pairing. I laughed a bunch of times, especially in the opening scene in the office.   Behold's "tear jerker" was too funny. I liked how they basically made fun of Ben and his crying/jerking off by the window callback from season one.  But I didn't need to see it again thank you very much.

Did anyone say, hey that's Pepper! when the three satan worshippers or whatever you call them came to Murder House?  I love when they bring back actors.   And whoa, that was a brutal scene with that poor girl getting stabbed and her heart ripped out.
 

Quote

They really glossed over the Fourth Child plot hole from season one and gave us an un named ghost kid for Constance. Would've loved a line or two explaining who she was and how she died, or at least more of a hint than badly CGI eyeball sockets. Sigh we can't have everything. 

I didn't even remember anything about that little girl.   

Oooh and  when the ball came rolling in I forgot what's his name was still in the house. Beau?

Really enjoyed this one.

Edited October 18, 2018 by Valny

[Indigo Luna]

8 minutes ago, Valny said:

I didn't even remember anything about that little girl.   

Thats because they planned on writing the fourth child into season one, but for one reason or another that plot got scrapped and we never actually saw it. It was just mentioned in passing a bunch of times. This was our first glimpse at it. 

[Primal Slayer]

8 minutes ago, Valny said:

That was such a great opening line!  So I guess that's the last we'll be seeing of Murder House and more importantly, Jessica Lange...which really bums me out since I have been looking for her return for years actually. 

Nezt season is the shows 100th episode so im sure she'd return for that.

8 minutes ago, Valny said:

[owenthurman]

I didn't love Murder House, so the fan service didn't do much for me. And we got more insight into Michael's upbringing, but it didn't seem particularly insightful; none of his childhood vignettes felt surprising. I do like the way he cries and seems remorseful at times, and I'm hoping that comes up in the season's storyline; fer cryin' out loud, our Big Bad is a seven-year-old child!

[DangerousMinds]

Cody Fern trying to play a teenager was ridiculous.

[Gmoney1994]

I have a question and I hope someone can help because I’m confused.  I thought this season was about the end of the world and only a few humans remained.  If that’s the case how is it that the one warlock was killed pumping gas at the gas station and Madison was able to buy the murder house from a real estate agent?  It seems like the real world is back to normal to me. Am I the only one who noticed this?  

[laschifosavita]

I couldn't stop thinking that a lot of this episode might have been really cheesy if it hadn't been years since I saw Murder House.

[HunterHunted]

6 minutes ago, DangerousMinds said:

Cody Fern trying to play a teenager was ridiculous.

I don't think it was that ridiculous and certainly not more ridiculous than 47 year old Susan Lucci playing 14 on All My Children or any of the times Jessica Lange has played younger on the Ryan Murphy traveling circus.

[Zanne]

5 minutes ago, Gmoney1994 said:

I have a question and I hope someone can help because I’m confused.  I thought this season was about the end of the world and only a few humans remained.  If that’s the case how is it that the one warlock was killed pumping gas at the gas station and Madison was able to buy the murder house from a real estate agent?  It seems like the real world is back to normal to me. Am I the only one who noticed this?  

These episodes have been flashbacks to how Michael reached the point where he could end the world.

[Gmoney1994]

12 minutes ago, Zanne said:

These episodes have been flashbacks to how Michael reached the point where he could end the world.

How could this episode be flashbacks if Madison was the one that purchases the murder house?   Madison was resurrected after the world ended. 

Edited October 18, 2018 by Gmoney1994

[Bama]

No, Madison being resurrected was also a flashback.

[Zanne]

3 minutes ago, Gmoney1994 said:

How could this episode be flashbacks if Madison was the one that purchases the murder house?   Madison was resurrected after the world ended. 

The last "current" event was the three witches walking into the bunker to resurrect their three dead sisters (Mallory, Coco, and Adina). Since then, it's been flashbacks.

[DangerousMinds]

40 minutes ago, laschifosavita said:

I couldn't stop thinking that a lot of this episode might have been really cheesy if it hadn't been years since I saw Murder House.

It WAS really cheesy and campy. Like a spoof of something that was once great.

38 minutes ago, HunterHunted said:

I don't think it was that ridiculous and certainly not more ridiculous than 47 year old Susan Lucci playing 14 on All My Children or any of the times Jessica Lange has played younger on the Ryan Murphy traveling circus.

Not sure how Susan Lucci relates to this show, but an obviously 30-year old man trying to pass as 15 is ridiculous to me. Same with Evan Peters attempting to look like a teenage Tate.

Edited October 18, 2018 by DangerousMinds

[JakeyJokes]

Emma Roberts and Billy Porter continue this show's tradition of unlikely pairings turning into comic gold. I don't know who was funnier - Behold's grimace after Madison talks about how excited she is to make babies, or Madison's eyes bulging out when the realtor says 36 people died in the house.

[Ms Lark]

That was freakin' awesome! Best ep since Asylum (my favorite season). Return of Jessica Lange made me realize how much she really did add to this series. Although, my favorite part was Moira reuniting with her mother Molly and escaping the house. (OK, Frances Conroy is a favorite of mine, so yeah.) I didn't mind the happy ending for Tate and Violet at all. Carlo Rota (a HITG and always good) as Anton LaVey with Kathy Bates and Naomi Grossman! So much packed into one ep, I can't cover it all.

Definitely worth a rewatch.

[ShadowHunter]

This was the original character that was supposed to be the 4th child of Constance. Ryan said he cut it because the pilot had too many monsters and characters. They have never released this scene even years later. 

[LoveLeigh]

What was that music at the end? Oh, Carmina Burana. 

Edited October 18, 2018 by DakotaLavender

[AgentRXS]

Emma and Billy really play well off each other. I figured their pairing would either be really awesome or really awful. I'm glad that it turned out well.

Poor Violet and Vivian, what sucky afterlives. Violet for spending all this time heartbroken over Tate, and Vivian for being stuck with a newborn for all eternity. No wonder Viv looked so out of it.

I loved Tate's reaction to Michael. Tate has zero emotional maturity so of course he couldn't handle being a "father".

I will always love Murder House, so even though this was cheesy at times, I still loved it.

However, that was just enough of Jessica that was needed for the season, IMO. I was so absorbed in Michael's backstory that the scene chewing didn't bother me too much.

There was zero point in showing Billie again, in fact, she was absolutely annoying and aggravating. I was so close to yelling "Shut up and get out of the way. I want to find out what's up with Michael".  (Side note to Ryan: I love you and your shows 1000% but Sarah does not need to be included in every ep of AHS, for crying out loud. Please stop shoehorning her in. Thanks.)

[HunterHunted]

58 minutes ago, DangerousMinds said:

Not sure how Susan Lucci relates to this show, but an obviously 30-year old man trying to pass as 15 is ridiculous to me. Same with Evan Peters attempting to look like a teenage Tate.

Because examples work best when one provides them. You feel strongly that Cody Fern is too old to convincingly play a 15 year old and that his attempting to do so was ridiculous. I don't have the same opinion. I have countered with the unbelievable instance when Susan Lucci was a couple of years from getting AARP the Magazine and attempted to play a version of her character that was 33 years her junior. It was made even worse by kitting her out in a pinafore and giving her the speech patterns of an 8 year old. Or as I also said, situations where Lange played much younger.

No one has to agree with anyone else, but it seemed pretty clear what our respective positions were. We don't agree. It's ok.

Edited October 18, 2018 by HunterHunted

[methodwriter85]

I feel like I've definitely seen much, much worse with 30-ish guys playing teenagers.  Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 2. Cody Fern's face doesn't really seem to have deep crow's feet around his eyes yet. I agree he doesn't look 15, but I'd buy him playing college in a heartbeat.

In any event, this isn't a teen oriented show so I'm not really expecting "teen" characters to really look like teenagers.

Cody Fern is having a ball. Man, I love watching him work. He is so utterly adorable!

Edited October 18, 2018 by methodwriter85

[theschnauzers]

To put it mildly, this was not a dull episode. It did manage to tie up the loose ends of Murder House, but keeping track of it all was an effort in a good way. I agree with the theory that Satan used Tate to father Michael, after all isn’t that the obverse of the Jesus being the son of God in Christian theology? 

And Cody Fern may just get an Emmy next year for his work this season, on top of his Versace role. No matter what weaknesses Ryan Murphy’s plots will have from time to time on his various series, the casting is just first rate, and if there are any weaknesses in plot, the strength of the casts takes care of those.

Overall, an excellent episode. Perhaps one of the best of the AHS series.

Edited October 18, 2018 by theschnauzers

[speedroc]

1 hour ago, theschnauzers said:

Overall, an excellent episode. Perhaps one of the best of the AHS series.

I feel the same way. The look on Behold's face when Madison said she couldn't "wait to make babies" was awesome. I had got distracted and didn't see Britton's name in the opening credits so I was shocked when she (also PEPPER!!!) showed up. Lastly, kudos to the SFX department whether through practical make-up or CGI had all the characters looking spot on from their respective seasons.

[llewis823]

8 hours ago, TobinAlbers said:

Pepper actress was the other Church of Satan lady that stabbed the poor girl at Black Mass.

Oh, I knew I recognized her from someplace, but couldn't remember from where. Thanks!

7 hours ago, Valny said:

Behold's "tear jerker" was too funny.

Epic! I laughed out loud at that one.

[Chaos Theory]

Murder House is not my favorite but it is in the list of the genuinely good ones so even if you call this episode “fan service” it was good fan service.  I really enjoyed Constance’s story of raising Michael.  I think my favorite lines of hers was actually “I was put on this earth to raise the monsters.  “Up until that point I thought I was raising a garden vairiety serial killer.  Maybe even a gifted one.”   Her resignation horror and love were all well done.   And I have no problem with Cody or for that matter Evan being aged down.  The show has done it plenty of times with Jessica Lange.  If you can age up an actor why can’t you do the reverse?  Besides the Tate/Viloet shippers wanted a happy ending and I am ok with that.  It was the house.  It was always the House.  I can actually buy that as an explanation.

i don’t read spoilers so I was happy to see The Harmorns.   The crossover would not have been the same without them.  DM showed up pretty quick but I was actually kinda worried that RM wasn’t able to booK Connie Britton.  I actually screeched like a little girl when I saw her.  

This was a fun episode.

Edited October 18, 2018 by Chaos Theory

[llewis823]

6 hours ago, AgentRXS said:

(Side note to Ryan: I love you and your shows 1000% but Sarah does not need to be included in every ep of AHS, for crying out loud. Please stop shoehorning her in. Thanks.)

SO Tired of her turning up as so many characters in one show. Geez.

[sashayshante]

7 hours ago, Indigo Luna said:

Thats because they planned on writing the fourth child into season one, but for one reason or another that plot got scrapped and we never actually saw it. It was just mentioned in passing a bunch of times. This was our first glimpse at it. 

the fourth child was actually a gay albino son. There are deleted scenes out there that show him with Tate. They cut the character because  - wait for it- they thought he was too disturbing.

[sashayshante]

4 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

I feel like I've definitely seen much, much worse with 30-ish guys playing teenagers.  Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 2. Cody Fern's face doesn't really seem to have deep crow's feet around his eyes yet. I agree he doesn't look 15, but I'd buy him playing college in a heartbeat.

In any event, this isn't a teen oriented show so I'm not really expecting "teen" characters to really look like teenagers.

Cody Fern is having a ball. Man, I love watching him work. He is so utterly adorable!

The Emmy nominations for Versace were included in this past year's awards ceremony. Literally every cast member was nominated - even Ricky Martin - except Fern. I do expect him to get at least one or two Golden Globe nominations this year, though. Held be eligible fir three. - AHS, ACS, and House of Cards.

[WednesdayAddams]

So I'm curious if a certain email will be explained in this season. In episode 2 or 3? The perfect DNA couple goes through Michael's laptop. There's an email on the side that states "another failed attempt at gestating fetus" or something like that. I wonder why there's been so many failed attempts. A product of the nuclear apocalypse, even with non infected people? Will the show even get into it, or will they continue focusing on the past? I feel like there's a lot of questions that may not be answered by the last episode. This story line really could have been more than one season. 

[Cobalt Stargazer]

I don't remember that email, but Michael's birth killed Vivienne and Constance had to take over the duties of being his mother. If we go from the idea that carrying Satan's spawn is fatal to the mother, it might be fatal to the baby as well. If the house itself possessed Tate into attacking Vivienne, being born in the house might have been what let Michael survive where she didn't. That's a lot of conjecture on my part, but given how much they've delved into how Michael (d)evolved into who he is now, it fits in my head.

[darkestboy]

Loved that episode. I wasn't the biggest fan of Constance but seeing her back along with Moira, Billie, Tate, Violet, Ben and Vivian really worked a treat for this episode though.

Michael's backstory is hardly shocking, we've known it for ages but seeing Madison and Behold's reaction to it was sublime though. I loved Madison/Behold as a team in this one and the episode did a bit to humanise Madison a little more, which I'm fine with.

Moira got a happy ending, didn't hate the Tate/Violet reunion though I have never gotten the appeal to that pairing, Vivian and Ben had some good moments in this one too. 

Great use of flashbacks and music in this one but the story does need to get back to the present day, 10/10

[100Proof]

Welp, I could ignore the whole murder house and all its characters and plot that I have zero memory of cuz I saw it a long time ago and just paid attention to Michael's 'origin' story.

Whats going thru my head.... 'who's this guy?'  'who the hell is that?' 'what are these people doing here?' 'now what are they talking about?' 'this guy apparently impregnated that other guy's wife and had a baby that's not one of the other's that are running around.'  'oh wait, that one must be Michael then.'  'Tearjerker has a daughter?' 'Wife raper guy and her were boyfriend and girlfriend? That why she's mad at him?' 'Who the hell is this Billy ya'll all on about?'  lol

Edited October 18, 2018 by 100Proof

[Stallion12]

Loved the episode, though I too was bothered by the tate whitewashing, my other gripe was Nora didn't show, I would have preference her over billy. 

[Chaos Theory]

I didn’t mind the Tate Whitewashing at all.  If you accept the fact that the house itself is evil and you remove the evil from the house what do you have left?   Ben murdered at least one person.  Constance was the worlds worst mother and used and abused people to get in the house.  Hell she murdered Moira and buried her on the property to keep her from moving on.   The house played on people’s worst instincts and if you remove the worst part of the house which is what made Michael you leave the possibility of what Tate really is.  

Edited October 18, 2018 by Chaos Theory