What is going on with this family, and why is everyone shouting Croatoan?!
Source: American Horror Story / FX
We start off with the search for our missing little girl Flora, with an interesting twist on Lee Miller’s head interviews, where she dissects her daughters disappearance by time span,like a detective, and adds creative way to provide context. [Spoiler alert: in the interviews Lee sounds like they find her and everything is fine, but she is still missing at the end of the episode]
Source: American Horror Story / FX
During there search over the next days the Millers find a small barn in the woods, “that shouldn’t be there.” Suspense ensues as they search the house and, until they hear shouts from the barn and find two creepy, dirty boys. The boys are taken in for questioning, but the only word they can say is “Croatoan”
Source: TMZ of AHS Roanoke Set
Then this plot twist is abandoned and we move forward to the discovery of a burnt body nailed to a tree, that Lee identifies as her ex Mason, so no need to worry about him anymore
Source: American Horror Story / FX
Unfortunately for Lee Matt catches her on his cameras leaving around the time of of Mason’s death and it starts a spiral of mistrust among the family, but this is quickly overshadowed by Leslie Jordan famous psychic, Cricket Marlow, quite literally walking into their house and dishing out some spirit connections and giving enough detail to disprove our families skepticism enough to let him perform a seance [the most terrific idea to exist in all the world]
Source: American Horror Story / FX
He attempts to contact Priscilla, Flora’s imaginary colonial friend we hear about in episode 2, but ends up summoning up an angry Kathy Bates (who can’t seem to decide on what her accent should be, which stands out when no one else with a speaking role is doing an accent)
Source: American Horror Story / FX
Fortunately, she reveals Priscilla is hiding the girl from her (hey she’s alive for now) and eventually Cricket gives us details on the backstory of Kathy’s character, “The Butcher.” This all happens in the less exciting second half of the episode after the seance ends violently and with Cricket shouting “Croatoan”
So dramatic!
Source: American Horror Story / FX
The rest of the episode focuses on him offering to help for money, which is first declined, but later deemed necessary by Lee (Angela Basset pulls a gun on a very annoying character, and we loved it fan favorite, and how dare she)
Cut to an interview sequence where “the directors” question Lee about the disappearance of her first daughter, Emily, who was abducted from a parking. and a breakdown and a trip down memory lane follows.
Source: American Horror Story / FX
(She just has a lot of feelings)
Lee meets with Cricket to discuss terms and what they need to do, and he sheds light on Kathy Bates’ gruesome past as a part of the famous lost colony of Roanoke. Long story short, she went against the man in charge and he doomed her to die in the wilderness while wearing colonial S&M gear.
Source: American Horror Story / FX
Unfortunately for the lost colony of Roanoke (which, you can gather from the name this story wasn’t going to end well for them) some type of dark figure saves The Butcher and tells her to surrender her soul, which she does and is freed from her cage and returns to the colony to murder “her enemies.”
The tv’s here at The Game of Nerds are set too dark to make out the creepy woman in the woods, but what we gather from other viewers it was Lady Gaga’s character, the unidentified wood witch character, and that is her relation to The Butcher.
Source: American Horror Story / FX
The group returns to the woods in the middle of the night, lead by Cricket, and they meet up with The Butcher and they attempt to cut a deal that if she helps them find Flora that they would leave the property and stop anyone else from moving in. Apparently Matt and Lee had discussed this without Shelby who was very upset about it.
This is where things get crazy tho, because in the middle of the negotiations Matt disappears and Shelby leaves to look for him and finds him “Screwing that woman up against a tree while those hillbillies watched and it was just disgusting”
Source: American Horror Story / FX
The only purpose this scene served was to clear up for everyone that no one wants a Cuba Gooding Jr. sex tape, tho it also helped sew more discourse in the family, which we are lead to believe caused Shelby to call the police and turn in her sister-in-law Lee, who is arrested upon returning to the house.
While it is unclear if Shelby turned her in, or the ramifications it will have on Crickets involvement and the search for Flora, this is the cliffhanger we are left with to carry us until next week!
And for anyone asking themselves why “Croatoan” seems so familiar, or asking themselves “WTF does that mean?!” Keep an eye out for a special The Game of Nerds exploration on its usage in the AHS universe and its historical context!
