And that’s how you spell murder! American Horror Story: Roanoke‘s Wednesday, October 19, episode was one of the season’s most anticipated, thanks to a tease from Ryan Murphy that promised a major, unexpected twist coming down the pike. And true to form, the FX series didn’t disappoint: The sixth episode of the sixth season was a whole new kind of horror.
As previously teased, the second half of the season centers on a second docuseries, this time featuring a My Roanoke Nightmare producer (Cheyenne Jackson) who has convinced everyone from the original series to live together for a few weeks in Matt and Shelby’s mansion, à la Big Brother, to film a sequel called Return to Roanoke: Three Days in Hell. Among other things, the shake-up means that the cast will be playing totally different characters from here on out … or at least until they become part of the season’s reportedly sky-high body count. Here are the craziest twists and turns to come out of the latest installment.
The Roanoke Chainsaw Massacre
On a show that’s already featured everything from graphic disemboweling to cannibalism, ya gotta hand it to AHS for always finding ways to up the creative death ante — in this case with an iPad video of a man accidentally chopping his own head off with a chainsaw. Never mind whether or not that’s even possible; it looked real as hell.
This Little Piggy Stayed Home
After the chainsaw incident, producer Diana Cross did exactly what you always wish people would do in horror-movie scenarios: She hopped in her car and got the hell out of Dodge, and when she saw a shadowy figure lurking on the side of the road, she did not get out to investigate.
“I have no intention of finding out who that is,” she said, speaking into a GoPro camera. “This place gives me the creeps.” And what did Diana get in return for her savvy decision to flee? Piggy Man appearing in her backseat like a pork specter straight out of hell, that’s what. Piggy Man doesn’t discriminate. Smart people, dumb people — he’ll happily murder them all!
The World’s Most Embarrassing Wedding Video
Turns out, it wasn’t all bad news for the folks involved in My Roanoke Nightmare. An on-set romance bloomed between actors Audrey Tyndall (Sarah Paulson, sporting her IRL short hair and a ridiculous English accent) and Rory (a red-haired Evan Peters), leading to a quickie engagement and an absolute train wreck of a wedding video in which Rory’s vows concluded with a promise “to eternally and forever love the s–t out of you.” How sweet.
A Man at War With Himself
Nobody does meta like Ryan Murphy, so of course this episode featured the spectacle of both Matts (real Matt Andre Holland and fake Matt Cuba Gooding Jr.) having a truly embarrassing reality TV–worthy slap fight in the foyer of the Roanoke mansion. Even better, it looks like the Shelbies might be headed for a similar fate, considering how they bickered throughout. Do we smell a Real Housewives of Roanoke spinoff?
The Twist Gets Twisted
Ryan Murphy promised a huge pivot in the third act of this episode, and he wasn’t lying. Turned out, Return to Roanoke isn’t a reality show in the making: It’s the sole remaining record of a dozen grisly and unexplained deaths because only one person made it out of the Roanoke house alive. And if you were loving Evan Peters’ cute ginger dye job, we’ve got bad news: He was the first to eat it, courtesy of the naughty homicidal nurses who were still haunting the house. They might be done now, though, having finished their unfinished business: With Rory dead, the word on the wall is MURDER.
Tell Us: What did you think of the twist?
American Horror Story: Roanoke airs on FX Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET.
