American Horror Story: Roanoke’s Twist Wasn’t ‘That’ Clever, But Was Still Great

American Horror Story’s big hyped up twist has finally been revealed and although many people did predict it in some way or another, the way that Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk are playing with narrative and form should be applauded.

The first five episodes presented us with talking head pieces to camera and found footage re-enactment. We learn in episode 6 that the talking head pieces were played by the real Matt, Shelby and Lee and that everything that happened in the re-enactment was indeed filmed by actors.

It’s a bizarre thing to be shown five episodes of horrific things happening to Matt, Shelby and Lee only to find out that almost everything we’ve seen didn’t actually happen and that, in fact, the rest of the world is convinced that their retelling of events is a work of fiction and that Lee did in fact murder her husband Mason. Basically people still believe ghosts aren’t real.

Moving forward we’re going to get behind the scenes footage of the production crew, led by producer Sidney, played by the effortlessly suave and slimy Cheyenne Jackson matched with ‘found footage’ from hidden cameras placed in the Shaker Mansion as well as phone cameras given to everyone involved.

Yes that’s right, we’re back at the haunted house because the first series (My Roanoke Nightmare) was such a hit that Sidney has convinced the Network to greenlight a sequel – Return to Roanoke: Three Days In Hell. As you can imagine with a title like ‘Return to Roanoke’ Sidney, and his assistant Dianna, manage to convince the real Matt, Lee and Shelby and the actors portraying them in the re-enactment to all return to the mansion at the same time and stay there for three days during the blood moon. Clearly a bad idea.

I will admit that the initial contrivance of the Millers agreeing to go back to the house where Flora went missing, Mason died and Shelby had her ankle smashed to pieces by very real ghosts was slightly irritating, but the show does go to some lengths to explain their willing return to the house. Whilst I feel the reasons given are weak I can at least accept them. What I can’t accept is Matt, Shelby and Lee agreeing to give away their working phones in replacement for disabled phones. They’d at least put up a fight right?

Anyway, this episode also did a ton of things that I liked. Putting the real people and their dopplegangers together is always going to be entertaining, and we can already see some of the animosity between these two groups bubbling, especially with the ‘actors’ not believing that anything untoward actually happened in the house. I also really enjoyed the ‘blooper’ scene of Sarah Paulson’s character falling over in the tunnel and revealing her English accent, it was pretty funny. In fact, getting to know the real actors behind the re-enactment has been a blast.

Cuba Gooding Jr’s Dominic had an affair with an unstable Shelby, seeking to replace her real husband with his ‘cheap imitation’. Angela Basset’s Monet is now an alcoholic, blaming her inhabiting of Lee Miller for months as the cause. Sarah Paulson’s English Audrey married co-star Evan Peter’s Rory and we get to see a hilarious wedding video for the two (officiated by one of the actors playing the Polk family cannibals). But the stand-out is Agnes Mary Winstead who played the Butcher, and is played by Kathy Bates, who we find out has fallen down the rabbit hole of method acting and has become mentally unstable having an in-character rampage down Hollywood Boulevard waving a meat-cleaver around.

Whilst it’s clear from the re-enactment videos what is in store for everyone back in the house this episode also does a good job of keeping its finger on the horror pulse, despite its clearly satirical set-up. We see a circle of foetal bloody pigs, a production worker chainsawing himself to death, a charred Mason stalking Lee, poor sensible Dianna meeting an untimely vehicular end at the hands of Pig-Man and of course the flat-out statement we see after her death informing viewers that everyone involved in the production of ‘Return to Roanoke’ will die, apart from one, that this is the assembled found footage and that the series never aired.

And thus the tables are turned again, in the first five episodes we suspected that Matt, Shelby and Lee survived because they were doing interviews on camera so despite all of the horror elements and horrific things they were going through, we knew that they’d survive the ordeal. Now, however we have been told under no uncertain terms that almost everyone will actually die. And sure enough, before the episode has finished one of the people involved has been bumped off. Those of you paying attention throughout the series will be able to guess exactly who before it happens.

Okay, so perhaps Murphy did overhype the ‘gamechanging twist’ in the multitude of interviews he did imploring people to watch out for it in episode 6, as it’s not nearly as clever as his overzealous promotion of its existence warranted. However I still found it pretty damn clever and I’m excited to see what happens for the rest of the season, especially now that the proverbial wheels have fallen off the bus, and everyone we’ve gotten to know is heading towards certain doom.

But even more important is that fact that finally, after a couple of incredibly random seasons, American Horror Story is giving us a narrative that despite the twists and turns and form changes actually makes sense , is coherent to follow and succeeds in pulling off its horror elements, as well as it’s topical and satirical touches. It’s focussed, concentrating on a core of three, and now six, characters with everyone else portraying the chaos milling around them. Basically I still think this season is bringing us the show at its best, it’s not quite as good as ‘Asylum’ but it’s pretty decent.