Friday, October 07, 2016

My Review of American Horror Story: Roanoke: Chapter 4


Written by John J. Gray
Directed by Marita Grabiak

Matt (re the Butcher): "Her message was clear. We were next."

Well, this was one episode that continued to escalate things. Flashbacks, gory deaths, lapsed memories and a good history lesson with a bit totty thrown into the mix. Needless to say, I enjoyed this episode a lot.

Flashbacks first though - thanks to Cricket we learned a lot about Lady Gaga's Witch of the Woods character or Scathach. Mainly that she's pretty ancient, powerful, got burned at the stake centuries ago for witchcraft and is the real power behind the Butcher but to be honest, the last episode more or less confirmed that one. Oh and she has a thing for Matt.

The last bit was made abundantly clear as she refused to entertain Cricket's curiosity until he agreed to get Matt for her and when he did, Scathach gave the dodgy psychic a little history trip that didn't end particularly well for him as this one came to another abrupt but violent conclusion.

Cricket might have been somewhat dodgy and happy to play on Matt and Shelby at their most vulnerable but he did manage to help locate Flora, even if by the end of the episode he paid a heavy price for it. Let's just say that the Butcher doesn't exactly mince her words. If she wants you dead, she's definitely going to do it herself.

Cricket got one hell of a gory onscreen death and in flashbacks we also got to see those murdering nurses from two episodes back suffer a similar fate as Shelby and Matt were told by Elias Cunningham about some of the ways in which the previous occupants were taken out by the colony spirits. Unfortunately even Elias himself didn't survive the episode as he sacrificed himself to save the couple.

As for Shelby and Matt, was it me or did it seem like their conflict disappeared a bit too quickly? I'm not complaining but I do think Matt could've confronted her a bit more on shopping Lee to the cops and Shelby did quickly believe that Matt lost his memories when he was having sex with the witch, something which he also did for a second time this week.

However between some violent deaths and flashbacks, we do have one more voice added into the mix in the form of a hunky Uber driver named Rhett Snow (possible relation to Myrtle?). When Rhett wasn't being asked if he was "gay for pay" by Cricket, he did see his fare go off into the woods chasing after Flora. I'm not sure if the character will appear again but it was nice to have another witness outside the three we've had so far with this series.

- Lee didn't appear in this episode and we've still only gotten a voiceover role for Cheyenne Jackson.
- There was a link made to Freak Show with the Mott family getting a mention in this episode.
- The Butcher killed the Colony at the behest of the Witch, thus starting the whole legend in the first place.
- Chronology: from where the end of the previous episode left off.

Chapter 4 certainly had the gory moments but I do feel like the show just killed off two potentially interesting characters a bit too quickly for it's own good though. On the plus side, the Uber driver was hot and the flashbacks continue to be the best part of this season, even if the protagonists are in solid need of a kick up the backside.

Rating: 7 out of 10

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