Watching last week's episode still has me shuddering, but what will happen with Matt (Andre Holland/Cuba Gooding, Jr.), Shelby (Lily Rabe/Sarah Paulson), and Flora (Saniyya Sidney) as they go up against the Lost Colony? Let's find out!
Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin (as herself)comes to share the story of the house and the original owner, Edward Philippe Mott (Evan Peters). We meet him at an auction of artwork where he was walks in and buys the whole lot. Mott originally bought the land and left his wife and child to start anew at this new property. A wealthy and arrogant young man, he also used this new home to mask his homosexuality and the relationship with one of his male servants, Guinness (Henderson Wade). While the house is eventually completed, misfortune befalls those who help to build it, as workers are mysteriously injured.
Two nights into living in the house, Edward is awoken to a noise downstairs. When he goes to investigate, he comes to find all his artwork has been destroyed. Angered and distraught, Edward confronts his staff and when none of them do, he locks them in the root cellar with a rotten apple for food. Unfortunately, Edward finds misfortune at the end of a stake in front of Thomasyn (Kathy Bates) and her colony. Guinness leaves the home but is later accused of murder and imprisoned. Goodwin then advises the documentary maker (Cheyenne Jackson) that the last Mott relative died in South Florida in the 1950's, which to fans is a reference to the fourth season of American Horror Story: Freak Show.
Fast forward to now, where Matt, Shelby, and Flora are in the home, fearfully gazing down at Thomasyn and hearing her threats of sacrificing them next. Matt immediately springs to action and tells Shelby to take Flora and get to the car; he will take care of the rest. When the three of them start to head downstairs, however, Flora is snatched by one of the spirits in the house. When Matt & Shelby finally locate Flora again, it is too late. The colony has started to bust down the door, forcing the group into the basement. Trapped, Edward appears and shows them a secret passageway that he had built into the home; while originally intended to help protect his precious artwork, this spectral Edward uses the passage to get Flora and The Millers out of the house.
While Matt & Shelby believe that Edward has led them to safety, this is not the case as they are now in the middle of the woods....and taken by the Polk family back to their farm. The Polks, Lot (Chaz Bono), Cain (Orson Chaplin), and Ishmael (Grady Lee Richmond) who had initially tried to bid on the house and were outbid by The Millers, now have Matt, Shelby & Flora in their grasp. In addition, they have also managed to take Elias (Denis O'Hare) and keep him alive, but not without removing a few of his appendages in the process. The men seem harmless in comparison to Mama Polk (Frances Conroy), as she enters the room with dried jerky meat made out of Elias's arm and leg. She tries to offer a piece to Flora, but is rebuffed. Ruffled, she then tries a piece and realizes it is rancid, instructing her family to kill Elias as he is no longer of use to her.
As it turns out, Mama Polk explains how her and her family try to work with the butcher, making sure that the house remains empty and when a sacrifice is needed, she provides it. And since Matt, Shelby, and Flora have tried to run from the house, it is now her duty to bring them back to the house so that Thomasyn can complete her task. In the truck on the way back, Matt tries to create a diversion by grabbing Lot's gun and ends up shooting one of the other Polk brothers in the head. Fortunately, it was the driver, so the truck stops and the group tries to hide and escape their fate. But Lot finds them and to guarantee that they don't run again, Mama drives a shovel through Shelby's ankle and disables her.
While Matt & Shelby are ready to accept their fate, Lee (Adina Porter/Angela Bassett) is still under police custody, being interrogated. Since there was no evidence to keep her, Lee manages to leave the station after 48 hours. Still upset with Shelby, she then opens her phone and finds text messages from Matt saying they have Flora. Elated by the news, Lee locates a police official and has her drive back to the house. Once back at the house, he leaves her before she can have a chance to stop him. There, she is witness to seeing Thomasyn and the colony ready to kill her family. She immediately starts to think of a plan.
Once they are back at the house, Matt, Shelby, & Flora have given up hope of being rescued. They are now in Thomasyn's hands and while Flora was initially to watch her family being killed, she will now go first. Ambrose (Wes Bentley), who has watched his mother murder over and over, has finally been broken of the curse and stops Thomasyn from completing the ritual by throwing her in the fire instead. Edward appears and frees the Millers, advising them to leave and never come back. Lee appears with a vehicle and as quickly as they can manage, all four leave the home while Thomasyn tries to emerge from the inferno.
The tale ends with Matt, Shelby, Flora, and Lee checking into a hotel. Now away from the house, Shelby tells the viewers how she had her sister send them money to return to Los Angeles. They may be homeless, but at least they left with their lives. Sadly, Shelby also tells us she is still haunted with dreams of Thomasyn coming back and killing them. They haunt her to this very day.
With the tale of the Millers over, what's next? Join me again next week as the documentary maker gets more involved in the tale of American Horror Story: Roanoke!
