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Well that was some season finale, wasn’t it? I suppose your tolerance for the last episode of American Horror Story: Roanoke will be based on how much you enjoyed the previous nine episodes that lead us on a dizzying ride through the television landscape. But let’s take one quick step back to Chapter 9 before we continue.
The ninth episode of the season brought three video bloggers to the Roanoke property where they experienced all kinds of terrors, culminating in their gruesome deaths at the hands of the ghostly settlers (why do people keep visiting this area during the Blood Moon? They watched “My Roanoke Nightmare”!). The main focus of the story was Lee and her presumed possession by The Butcher, as she hacked and slashed her way through what remained of the cast.
We knew going in that only one of the cast members survived the ordeal, and of course the smart money was on Sarah Paulson’s Audrey since none of Paulson’s characters have been killed off on any season of the series (although technically her Sally character from “Hotel” was already dead when we met her). So it was quite the surprise when Lee took a meat cleaver to Audrey’s shoulder and pushed her down into the bunker, only to see her rise in the midst of all the mayhem as the police arrived. With her rage at being attacked boiling over, she attempted to charge at Lee only to be gunned down by the police. Leaving Lee to be the sole survivor.
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This season of American Horror Story has already played with TV conventions with the reality/re-enactment series “My Roanoke Nightmare” in the first five episodes, and the sequel, RealWorld-esque reality series “Return to Roanoke” … which never aired because of the fates of the cast and crew. But those four episode basically wrapping up that story, where on earth could the final chapter take us?
Interestingly it started off with a video of a Paley Center event — co-hosted by RuPaul’s Drag Race star and superfan Trixie Mattel — Q & A with the cast of the first series meeting their fans. It was nice to see all of the principle cast together again, even the actors who played Cricket Marlowe (Leslie Jordan) and Lot Polk (Chaz Bono). All of this happened before the sequel series, but the event video led into a fan video talking about how everyone died so the sequel never aired, and that Lee was responsible for several of the deaths, including her ex.
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That then segued into a true crime series with interviews from lawyers involved in Lee’s case, courtroom footage and re-enactments. Lee actually had two trials, the first of which involved the death’s of her co-stars and which the jury acquitted her due to lack of evidence … even though there were camera recording everything. She was spared because of the footage of her torture by the Polks and traces of hallucinogenic drugs Mama Polk was smoking that most likely impaired Lee. But, Lee was tried again because of her confession footage regarding the death of her ex. It didn’t help that her daughter Flora also related how she saw mommy and daddy fighting in the woods and mommy smashing daddy’s head with a rock. But her testimony was also in question as the defense successfully painted her as a child influenced by all she’d heard and created this scenario, of which there was no video evidence except for Lee leaving the house that night. Once again, she was set free.
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But Lee still has a story to tell, and she chooses to tell it to Lana Winters (Paulson reviving her “Asylum” character, out of retirement). The interview brought a couple of twists – Lana revealed that an hour before the live show aired, Flora’s grandparents reported her missing. Did Lee take the child again, fearing she would lose custody to her ex’s parents? Before she could answer, the real Lot Polk burst into the hotel room, machine gun blazing but Lana was able to talk him down … until he hit her in the face with the butt of his gun. But police showed up in the knick of time and shot Polk before he could kill Lee. She escaped justice yet again.
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Then we changed channels and ended up in a ghost hunter show with a team (including The Walking Dead alum Emma Bell) once again at the Roanoke house … on the night of the Blood Moon! And they brought along Ashley, the actor who played Cricket (who was a bit perturbed that he hadn’t been asked to participate in “Return to Roanoke” … and then was grateful he had not). Now Ashley was a bit of a puzzle. Was he merely an actor playing a role on the original series, or was he a genuine psychic? He found Flora’s bonnet, was certain it was not the prop from the show and felt the pain and sorrow connected to it. And then …
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Surprise! Lee shows up, convinced after two weeks of searching, that this is the one place Flora could be hiding (and why did it take two weeks to figure that out?). But with the Blood Moon rising, the eternal residents of the house have other plans for the ghost hunters with Piggy Man materializing and killing Ashley and the Roanoke settlers taking out the rest of the crew. Leaving Lee and Flora in the house as the sun rose and the house surrounded by police (which then took us into live, breaking news video). Flora refused to leave because she felt safe with Priscilla, and her friend would keep her safe from The Butcher. But Lee knew there was only one way Priscilla could keep Flora safe, and instead convinced the girl that it would be best for her to stay and to be a mommy to Priscilla, willing to sacrifice her life to save her daughter, promising that she could come visit any time except for during the Blood Moon. Priscilla agreed to take Lee instead.
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And to make sure no one else would ever experience what Lee, her family, the actors and producers of “My Roanoke Nightmare” went through, she burned that house to the ground. The last image a bittersweet one as the police drove Flora away, Lee and Priscilla standing by watching them go. Of course, there was still the matter of the Blood Moon which was rising with a final moment of the Roanoke settlers returning, screams heard in the distance as we watched from high above the scene.
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In the past, producers Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have had issues giving viewers a satisfying ending to the season, seeming to rush to a conclusion by senselessly killing off the cast, but I think this finale was a total tour de force that fit well with the rest of the season, combining all of the various genres of reality television into that final hour. And, of course, it leaves the door open for Flora to appear in a future season, perhaps as an adult returning to Roanoke or inhabiting another story altogether. The season also featured strong performances from the AHS family, particularly Kathy Bates, and newcomer to the series Adina Porter stole the show.
Viewers have complained about the style of the show all season (but it seems that people really just like to complain) and this will surely divide them, but this viewer thinks they finally pulled off a whopper of a finale that stayed true to its season that played with the conventions of reality TV. American Horror Story: Roanoke is now one of my top three favorite seasons of the series.
What did you think of the finale? Tell us in the comments below!
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