The ‘twist’ in the season, that has been rumoured for a long time, was well worth the wait. The first half of the episode was dull and very meta but once we get into the story of the newly begun Return to Roankoke: 3 days in hell, the real scary story begins.
Meta
A good part of this episode was incredibly meta. The new section of the season opens with a behind the scenes look at the production team. The reality show My Roanoke Nightmare was a hit with viewers in the universe of American Horror Story. It’s T.V. show inception in many way. The audience realises, if they haven’t before, that the re-enactment actors are actors playing actors playing re-enactment characters. For example Kathy Bates plays not ‘The Butcher’, but Angela Mary Winstead playing ‘The Butcher’.
The producer (played by Hotel’s Cheyenne Jackson) wants to cash in on the success of the show by bringing the Millers and those who played them back to the house on the next weekend of the red moon. There’s lots of obvious camera work in the T.V. executives board room and other places as well as interview with the ‘cast’.
Reality is What You Make It
This episode really focuses on the concept of reality T.V. The producer is looking to make a Big Brother style hidden camera show in the house. It also has features of reality tv such as confessionals and sometimes fake acting and tension. It’s reality T.V. but with mixed meanings and results. Some of the crew want it to “feel real not pop up scares” as producer Sidney James has other staff install self-running taps and other effects.
Some of the scenes do feel like you’re watching a reality show, in particular one kitchen scene and some of the interviews. Yet it feels like in a way the AHS crowd are making fun of the ‘reality’ of reality shows as some ‘reality’ scenes feel faker than earlier ‘re-enactments’. Sarah Paulson’s atrocious English accent doesn’t help her ‘confessional’ feel any more real, even bringing in the reality of actors getting together on set. Evan Peters feels dragged in for the sake of giving him a part again, as he and Paulson‘s character are revealed to be married. The camera angles are a mixture of more realistic hidden camera shots and more professional movie shooting angles as well.
Real Scares: 3 Days in Hell
Yet the dis-reality of the ‘reality’ show doesn’t do as much to sabotage the mystery element as episodes had before. The preamble of ‘these are very much alive survivors of the house’ is now gone. We’re told via writing a fair bit in that the make-up of the remainder of the show is ‘found footage’. We’re also told all except one unnamed person do not survive the blood moon. Nobody is safe and it’s not just because the producer wanted the ‘cast’ trailers and other filming materials moved out of sight for them to feel alone.
If you’ve ever read any media about horror films being made, you’ll recognise the almost cliched typical rumoured accidents that supposedly happened. These start to occur but the show goes on being recorded. Some of the actors can’t take part or have their experience effected. They take on elements of the characters they played in the original series. The crew leave them to their own devices with cameras already set up. Even the staff member that is deterred by the freak death of a crew member is shown not to survive.
The show is actually starting to get scary, and this reporter (hiding behind her teddy bear) says bring it on! Let us know what you thought of the twist, the episode and more in the comments!
