After weeks of teasing and speculation, the sixth season of “American Horror Story” finally premiered Sept. 14, revealing the highly debated theme: “Roanoke.” The new season, presented as a mockumentary called “My Roanoke Nightmare,” centers around Shelby (Sarah Paulson/Lily Rabe) and Matt (Cuba Gooding Jr./André Holland) Miller from Los Angeles who moves to an (unsurprisingly creepy) old house in the middle of nowhere on Roanoke Island, N.C.
The premiere episode set the stage for all of the spooky things that are bound to happen, ending with Shelby chasing Kathy Bates’ latest persona into the woods only to find a group of colonially dressed crazies preparing for a human sacrifice. While the premiere finished strong, it lacked in overall wow factor; and the second episode, which aired last Wednesday night, did little to redeem it.
Picking up where the premiere left off, the second episode began with the human sacrifice that felt a little too familiar. Before setting her victim ablaze over a primitive barbecue spit, Bates put a dead pig’s head on him in a move that echoed Madame LaLaurie, her “Coven” character who tortured her own victims and forced one to wear the head of a bull.
This isn’t the only callback to prior seasons. “Roanoke” also has a vibe that echoes season one, “Murder House,” and viewers don’t have to squint too hard to find it. The Millers move after Shelby has a miscarriage, just like the Harmons do following Vivien’s own miscarriage. The Millers’ new home is strikingly similar to the Harmons’, too—a historic haunt with a gruesome past and evil energies that aren’t quite ready to let go. “Murder House” even featured an episode where Paulson’s character tells the story of the lost colony of Roanoke, cementing the idea that the two seasons must be at least somewhat related.
Yet the intrigue of how “Roanoke” will connect to the horror drama's premiere storyline isn’t enough to make this season enjoyable. So far, this season has been more eye-rolling than hair-raising. It’s following with an over-done, worn-out trope seen in horror flicks for years: Family buys super creepy, ancient home in the woods. Family is haunted by malicious spirits hell-bent on murdering anyone who dares to live in their house of horrors. Family refuses to leave, and things only get worse from there.
It’s a plot that’s been played out too many times to hold any weight. It leaves viewers shaking their heads and laughing at the stupidity of the characters instead of being full of tension and suspense.
Even some of the “scary” elements of the season are more laughable, like when the Millers discover their home was once a nursing home run by two homicidal nurses who murdered their patients and used the victims’ first initials to spell out “MURDE” on the wall. (Unfortunately for them, their spree ended one letter short, and they left behind a word that is more silly than spooky.) While I’m sure finding “MURDE” on your wall might be rattling in real life, it’s downright farcical on screen.
With only two episodes aired, it might be too early to determine whether “Roanoke” will pack the creepy-crawly punch to which AHS fans are accustomed. There’s no telling what show runners Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk might roll out next, but if chapters one and two of the season are any indication, they’re going to have their work cut out for them to turn this story from a parody of itself into a spine-tingling masterpiece worthy of the AHS name.
Catch the third installment of “Roanoke” Sept. 28 at 10 p.m. on FX.
