Let’s just keep it real. Black people never fare well in the horror genre. If it involves a terrifying villain, you can bet that the Black players are going to get the short end of the stick. When American Horror Story revealed that there would only be one survivor of Return to Roanoke: Three Days in Hell, I didn’t have high hopes for Lee (Adina Porter), Matt (André Holland), Dominic (Cuba Gooding Jr.), and Monet (Angela Bassett).
It turns out that I was in for a surprise. Not sure if I’d call it pleasant. If you didn’t watch last night’s episode, Chapter 9, stop reading! The episode went down like this. Remember the fake Piggy Man (Wes Bentley), who is actually kind of bae in a creepy way? Turns out his name is Dylan and he arrives on the morning of the last Blood Moon in an Uber, which was the high point of the episode in terms of awkwardness. Still set on obtaining the video camera with evidence of them murdering Mama Polk, Lee and Audrey (Sarah Paulson) convince Dylan to head back to the Polk farm, get the camera, hot-wire a truck, and get the hell out of there once and for all. But things never go as planned when you’re up against ancient, tormented souls. All they managed to do was rescue Monet who had been strapped to a chair, get Dylan killed, and be chased through the woods… again. Monet and Audrey make it back to the house but Lee is stuck in the wilderness with an injured leg. She is granted a reprieve by Supreme witch Scáthach, which means she temporarily turned into a murderous landlord, just like the Butcher. Pro tip: if someone offers you a fresh heart to eat, pass.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Meanwhile, a trio of young people who run a My Roanoke Nightmare fan site have completely ignored the discovery of a dead body and decided to explore the property. In the spirit of accurately portraying millennials, Sophie (Taissa Farmiga, yay!) and her two friends decide to put their lives on the line for some viral content — very original Ryan Murphy. But they run into a now-possessed Lee who kills off one of their friends and then goes toward the house where Monet and Audrey are getting drunk, because why not? After killing Monet and maiming Audrey, then throwing her into a cellar, Lee assists in burning Sophie and her remaining friend alive. Luckily, Sophie managed to call the police before perishing and per usual, they showed up the next morning, too late to actually save anyone… except a back-to-normal Lee and Audrey, who survived being cleaver’ed and locked in a dark hole in the ground.
Now prepare to have your mind blown. When Audrey realizes that Lee has also survived, she is obviously not happy with her and goes totally berserk. She grabs a cops gun from the holster, tries to shoot Lee, and the police gun her down immediately. So Lee, who seemed doomed to some horrible fate after admitting that she killed her ex-husband barbecue style, is the lone survivor of Return to Roanoke: Three Days in Hell.
The big picture? The cops killed a white woman and the survivor of a ghost attack was a Black woman. Episode 6 plot twist, I'mma let you finish but…. Seriously, American Horror Story: Roanoke just won TV.