6 Things We Learned From American Horror Story: Roanoke Episode 2

Emma Dibdin
Updated

From Harper's BAZAAR

Despite the long-mysterious season theme finally being revealed in last week's episode of American Horror Story, we didn't actually get a whole lot of information about the meaning of My Roanoke Nightmare. And while episode two still didn't get into the actual story of the lost Roanoke colony, we did find out a lot more about Matt and Shelby's nightmarish new homestead. Here are six key things we learned.

1. Shelby maybe has a death wish.

Shelby's forest nightmare from the end of last week's episode culminates here as she stumbles onto a human sacrifice overseen by Kathy Bates, who is somehow making a northern English accent sound terrifying. Matt drives to the rescue just in time – but seeing a man literally roasted on a spit while wearing a pig's head isn't enough to convince Shelby to move.

"We will find somewhere else to stay," Matt insists, but she says no, refusing to "sit there cowering under the covers" like any normal person would. Later, the pair discover what appears to be a blend of human and pig meat roasting around a fire outside their house, which Matt calls "beyond having a cross burned on your lawn". Quite.

2. Lee's daughter is in danger.

As soon as adorable little Flora mentioned her imaginary friend Priscilla, it was clear she was in trouble. Priscilla likes to talk about blood, among other things, and so it's no surprise that Priscilla is to blame when Flora suddenly goes missing at the end of the episode, her jacket hanging ominously from the top of am impossibly tall tree.

We learn from Lee earlier in the episode that Flora is extremely adaptable and can "make any place her place" which is a skill that should come in handy now that she is potentially living in the forest with colonial ghosts.

3. Killer nurses used to live in Matt and Shelby's house

The forest colony doesn't play a huge role in this episode once Matt comes to Shelby's rescue, largely because there is even creepier shit going on inside their own four walls. Matt has a vision of two demented nurses torturing and killing an elderly lady named Margaret – a hat tip to season one's murder house nurses.

A boatload of semi-crazy exposition delivered by Denis O'Hare in a videotape (the same guy Shelby saw in the basement tape last week) tells us that the nurses were two sisters who ran an assisted care facility in the house. Miranda and Bridget loved each other almost as much as they loved violently killing elderly people. They liked to kill victims whose names began with specific letters and in a specific order, spelling out their favorite word: MURDER (they could at least have spelled it REDRUM, but whatever.)

The sisters' killing career came to an abrupt end before they could finish with the final "R", leaving "MURDE" on the wall of the house for Matt and Shelby to uncover. Crazy videotape guy's theory? "They were stopped by something even more evil than themselves".

4. There really is no such thing as "a good deal" in real estate

Oh sure, you might think you're getting that beautiful North Carolina mansion for a steal, but what you are actually doing is moving into a former assisted living facility where vulnerable elderly people were murdered for fun. Once Matt and Shelby discovered the origin story of their new home, they tried to get a refund from the bank, unable to move because their every cent is tied up in the house. And the bank were dicks about it, because even with killer nurses this is still basically reality.

5. All three main characters are now having visions of evil in the house

Matt and Lee both got their turn this week – Matt was treated to the nurses murdering poor Margaret, while Lee's visions ended up being the creepiest part of the episode. She glimpsed the nurses too, followed by some bloodied wiggling pig tails on the wall, and the pig man from last week dancing in the mirror.

When she groggily wakes up later, there are several knives stuck into the ceiling above her head, which Matt and Shelby chalk up to a drunken moment of rage on Lee's part because these people are deeply in denial. Reenactment Matt tells us it's "amazing how long a person can rationalize the irrational", and he ain't wrong.

6. Twitter found Lady Gaga

Blink and you'll miss her in that forest opening.

You Might Also Like