For months now, die hard fans of the popular anthology series 'American Horror Story' have patiently waited for creator Ryan Murphy to reveal the theme of the much anticipated sixth season. Usually the theme is revealed before the show even starts, as fans also attempt to guess what it could be through clues that are subtly given in teaser trailers. This time however, in a bizarre turn of events, fans were forced to wait until the very first episode, as everything involving the theme and plot were kept a secret. Murphy is notorious for adding a great amount of complexity to both his characters and the plot, as there have also been sneaky ways of interconnecting each season. But this just takes things to the next level. After the premiere of the first episode, we have now been given a theme (of sorts). The official title for this season is 'Roanoke,' and so far the plot consists of old haunted farm houses, ghosts, and the fact that the story line is alluding to the lost Roanoke Colony.
The episode opens with a documentary like structure, beginning with the title "My Roanoke Nightmare," and showing personal interviews and a reenactment depicting the story of a young married couple's haunting experience living in an old colonial farm house in rural North Carolina. The two characters Matt and Shelby Miller, an interracial couple living in Los Angeles, decide to isolate themselves from the city following a gang assault that had put Matt in the hospital, and caused Shelby to miscarriage. Matt is a Pharmaceutical Sales Rep, while Shelby is a yoga instructor. Upon their arrival, the two come across a seemingly perfect farmhouse in the middle of the woods. They fall in the love with the house and attend an auction in which they outbid a group of locals of whom are not happy with the outcome. Matt is ecstatic about the purchase believing that this new start will keep them safe, however Shelby shows reluctance from the very beginning.
After moving in, Matt and Shelby are startled one night by strange noises coming from outside. As Matt investigates the cause, an unknown figure throws a garbage can at him, causing Matt to believe that it was a personal attack on the fact that they are an interracial couple. The next day as it begins hailing, Shelby notices what look like human teeth falling from the sky! She frantically tells her husband about what she had witnessed, but reassures her that it was indeed hailing. Strange occurrences continue to happen to Shelby after Matt leaves for a business trip, which at first thrills Shelby since she mentions that she was starting to feel suffocated and wanted to salvage her alone time. One night, she notices two women at the end of the hall walking into another room, but when she follows them, there is no one to be found. In addition, Shelby is also nearly drowned as she tries to relax in a hot tub describing the men that drowned her to be dressed in colonial garments and carrying pitchforks. Matt quickly returns home from his trip where a police officer has arrived to investigate, only to be of no help to the couple's situation.
Later that night, Matt hears more strange noises and this time finds a slaughtered pig on their doorstep, causing Matt to believe that the local hillbillies from the auction were attempting to scare them away. As a result, Matt decides to set up security cameras around the perimeter of the house so that he could keep an eye on things whenever he is away. He also invites his former cop sister, Lee over to provide protection for Shelby, despite the fact that the two are not particularly fond of each other. That evening both Shelby and Lee start seeing things, thinking that each one is messing with the other. After being led down into the basement, they come across a home movie that shows a man being attacked by something later to be revealed as a figure wearing a pig's head. Meanwhile, as Matt is at a hotel room, he is alerted by the security cameras on his phone and sees a group of men carrying torches approaching the house. He attempts to warn his wife and sister, but to no avail, is unable to get a hold of them and rushes over to the house. As he arrives, he comes across Shelby and Lee being terrified by strings of stick people figures tied to the ceiling. Shelby is desperate to leave the house, but Matt does not want to give up everything they sacrificed for, so she decides to leave on her own. As she is driving away, she hits a woman that gets up and walks straight into the woods. A scared Shelby is eager to help the woman and follows her, only to come across more of those stick like figures hanging from tree branches and a swarm of corpses approaching her.
So there we have it! This was quite a lot to take in, considering there are a lot of questions being raised, and an entire season that will hopefully provide some much needed answers. I was definitely on the edge of my seat for this episode, and I'm sure a lot of other fans were too. This season seems to be heightening the horror factor in comparison to previous seasons, which I am really excited about. But I wonder, will all of the episodes be presented through this documentary reenactment? Do we finally have our theme? Plus, there are still a lot of actors-- Kathy Bates, Evan Peters, Wes Bentley just to name a few--that are scheduled to appear throughout the season. I guess we will find out soon enough, but I'm curious to see how season six will play out this fall.
