With a theme kept secret all the way to premiere day and a midseason plot twist for the ages, American Horror Story: Roanoke was the most-anticipated installment of the award-winning FX series yet. And with the airing of its 10th episode on Wednesday, November 16, the most anticipated installment is officially dunzo.
Roanoke was a wild ride that shook up the usual AHS format and set the stage for plenty of seasons to come, having officially become the puzzle piece that connects every existing season of American Horror Story. We already can’t wait to see what Ryan Murphy and our cast of campy faves have in store for season 7; in the meantime, here are the biggest, best-est, wildest and most WTF-worthy moments from the Roanoke finale.
Lee on Trial
Despite being caught on camera committing about a million murders, Lee (Adina Porter) went on trial for only one: her ex-husband’s. And despite Flora’s eyewitness testimony, the jury just couldn’t convict Lee after the mind-blowing, ear-pickling nightmare she’d been through. The verdict? Uh-uh. Not. Guilty.
The Lana Interview
The appearance of Lana Winters (Sarah Paulson, in her third role this season) was one of the most-anticipated parts of the Roanoke finale — not just for the connection it forged between the worlds of season 6 and season 2, but for the one it forged between two fierce, flawed lady survivors. Lee revealed that she only agreed to be interviewed by Lana because of Lana’s own checkered past — “You killed your own son, Bloody Face,” Lee said, to which Lana responded, “I did what I had to do.” But alas, the interview was not to be.
Polk Your Eyes Out
OK, which one of you geniuses let the inbred hillbilly cannibal with approximately 2.5 teeth and the world’s most stained pair of overalls into Lana Winters’ well-guarded penthouse studio? The Lana-Lee interview was rudely interrupted by Lot Polk, carrying an assault rifle and hell-bent on revenge. He had only enough time to knock Lana out before being gunned down himself — and so the Asylum-to-Roanoke thread came to an abrupt end, for now.
Return to Return to Roanoke
The final visit to the Mott Mansion in Roanoke had it all: another set of eager millennial ghost hunters, a final cameo by Cricket Marlowe (Leslie Jordan) and a grand denouement that was basically like a “greatest hits as previously enjoyed” murder buffet. The Butcher, the Chens and, of course, Piggy Man: They all made an appearance. The only thing missing from this last tableau of death was Matt Bomer, who we’ve been waiting for all season and who just never showed up at all.
Flora, the Final Girl
Despite lots of twists and turns this season, at the end, Roanoke returned to a classic AHS theme: a mother’s love. In the show’s final moments, Lee made a bargain with her daughter: She (Lee) would stay and care for Priscilla, sacrificing herself to the house so that Flora could be free. And in the final scene, it was Flora who strode out of the burning mansion while Ghost Lee watched from a distance.
In a way, this was an underwhelming ending for such an envelope-pushing season (and, unlike some previous AHS heroines, Lee doesn’t inspire much sympathy as a tragic figure). But the sight of Flora watching from the back of a cop car as she leaves Roanoke behind forever makes you wonder: Where is she going? And might we see her again in, say, season 7?
Tell Us: What did you think of the finale?
