American Horror Story: Roanoke has done a great job of creating a bunch of characters that no one cares about. The first half of the season featured real Matt, Shelby, and Lee telling their story and it was hard connecting to these three because nothing was happening to them. The fake Matt, Shelby, and Lee grabbed a bit of sympathy because of the horror they were experiencing (even though it was fake) but quickly lost it because of their repeated stupidity. After that, the rest of the characters came and went so quickly the audience couldn’t even form an opinion on them. In general, there just hasn’t been much to get invested in this season.
To add salt to the wound, AHS added three more characters to chapter 9 only to kill them just as fast. These three were young fans of the show who ran a “My Roanoke Nightmare”fan site and were looking for the house so they could get more views on their site. Decked out in hiking gear, GoPros, and selfie sticks, the three ventured off into the forest. They stumbled upon the car and body of Sidney’s assistant only to later be informed by the police that there wasn’t a body. The police accused them of wasting their time and warned them not to go back.
The continued theme of stupid characters continued, however, because they unsurprisingly go back. While in the woods they find the production truck, three more bodies, and a possessed Lee (she ate a bleeding heart given to her by Lady Gaga’s character) who viciously slaughters one of them. Unfortunately for the other two, they fall in the hands of The Butcher who impales their bodies and burns them to a crisp.
As for Audrey, Monet, and Dylan? They all died too. The biggest surprise of the episode was Lee’s switch to evil and I would never have guessed she would be the one to decide who was the last one standing. Dylan was gutted by The Butcher but Lee killed Monet and forced the police, who finally showed up to the house, to shoot Audrey. I had a feeling Lee would be the lone survivor, but it was still entertaining to see how it all played out. Like I’ve said before, there is no sense in watching Roanoke for its story anymore, but it’s still fun to watch the bloody and gruesome season play out.
The lack of good characters and a decent plot, however, was significantly highlighted by the overused “GoPro style”footage. It’s been a problem for much of the season but this episode took it to a whole new level. We had GoPros, body cams, cell phones, and selfie sticks. It was all just unsettling. If The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield didn’t ruin this style, we can only hope AHS did.
If there is one thing I’m looking forward to it’s the end of the season. It’s not just because AHS: Roanoke has been extremely disappointing and overdone, but I’m truly interested in what the final twist will be. There is only one character left and Chapter 10 will hopefully seal Lee’s fate. However, I’m sure there will be something else no one expects too.
Score: 7/10
