Written by Ned Martel
Directed by Angela Bassett
Sidney: "The Butcher is not real. We only want real people this year."
Agnes: "I'm a real person."
And just like that we've somewhat predictably gone into Scream 3 territory. Back when this season started, there was also the suspicion that we'd move from re-enactments to real life with both worlds colliding and in this episode, that's exactly what happened.
Cheyenne Jackson finally appeared on camera as My Roanoke Nightmare creator, Sidney Aaron James and he was every bit the cliche of a sleazy producer you'd expect but I mean that in a good way. Knowing that his show was a smash hit, Sidney didn't waste time in pitching the sequel series - Return To Roanoke: Three Days In Hell and getting it as well. Warning though: everyone died and the series never made it to air.
Now this is where things get a little nuts - Sidney's second series meant getting the original Shelby, Matt and Lee back into the house along with their re-enactors, Audrey Tindall (Sarah Paulson's British accent though), Dominic Banks (whom the real Shelby had an affair with), Monet Tumissee (who seems to despise the real Lee) and Edward Mott's re-enactor, Rory Monahan who actually married Audrey and ended up dead by the murderous nurses at the end of this one.
Seeing both world collide certainly was an interesting experience. The actors themselves come across as a tad vacuous but even with the meta roles, there's no denying that Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Cuba Gooding Jr and Angela Bassett were having a blast as their characters slowly began to realise they were really stuck in a haunted house.
However if there was a performance of the week, then it was certainly Kathy Bates. Taking method acting to a whole new level, Bates was an absolute delight as Agnes Mary Winstead who took to playing the Butcher a little too seriously that she terrorised Audrey over a Saturn award and was told by Sidney that she wasn't allowed to be a part of the second show. I think we all know that's not going to stop Agnes, especially now that the real fun has actually begun in the house.
- Angela Bassett directed this episode and she did a brilliant job as well. Given that Kathy Bates has previously directed for Six Feet Under, I hope she gets a chance to helm an episode of this show.
- My Roanoke Nightmare was apparently beating football, The Walking Dead and Empire in the ratings.
- There's still no title sequence for this season. I know I go on about it, but I miss having one this year.
- Chronology: Over a year since the events of the first five episodes/re-enactments.
Chapter 6 had a twist that we all speculated was going to happen but it didn't stop the episode from being a reboot within the season itself and it's going to be interesting to see how the rest of this motley crew are picked over the next four episodes.
Rating: 7 out of 10
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