What happened?
When Ben receives word from the girl he cheated with that she is pregnant he goes to be with her whilst she has an abortion. Despite apparently dealing with it maturely it is evident she still has feelings for him and he, meanwhile, is still wrestling with repressed sexual urges that are creating turmoil within.
In Ben’s absence, Vivien and Violet are alone in the house when a trio of murderer enthusiasts break into the house and attempt to recreate a murder that happened in the property during the 1970s. However, with the girls staging a fightback and Tate inexplicably being in the house, the murderer’s meet their comeuppance by a variety of grisly ends.
Ben returns to find his family somewhat traumatised but alive. Pregnant Vivien, however, fearing for the life of her unborn child and the wellbeing of herself and her family, has a determination to sell the house.
Thoughts
This second episode did feel like it had allowed itself to loosen the throttle after the riotous first instalment, but it did so without feeling like there was a lessening in intensity or misplacing the intrigue. Quite the opposite. It was a more standalone affair, self-contained, yet still kept a lot of weirdness ticking along.
I rather liked how it started with another flashback to an appalling occurrence in the house. It made me wonder if every episode will begin in this way – calling back to yesteryear to show some horrific moment. In that sense it would be a little like Six Feet Under, with a little pre-credits mini-story that then feeds into the rest of the episode but also serves as an enjoyable vignette all by itself. Fingers crossed that’s the case.
The weakest part of the episode, and also a bit confusing for me, was Ben’s away trip to meet his ‘mistress’ and perform the abortion. For some reason, and I’m not sure why, I was under the impression that Ben had his affair and got caught quite some time before they eventually moved house. I’m prepared to accept that’s the case and I’ve just got it wrong, but it did initially make me wonder if this wasn’t someone else he’d been playing around with. However, with her speaking about who she was to him and so forth I have become convinced she was the same girl he cheated with but the timings all felt off.
Clearly she is still in love with him and wants him for herself, and even more clearly he’s a man bubbling with sexual repression issues. Is he a sex addict? Or is it simply that the sheer lack of sexual activity with his wife has left him a troubled mess? It’s hard to figure that not getting any action would reduce him to sobbing under a public bridge during a jog, so I await further details on his particular psycho-sexual problems.
Ben being out of the way did allow for the episode’s most intense sequence as there came a knock at the door. . . I assumed something supernatural was occurring when the girl showed up with blood on her head, like a recreation of the opening scene it felt like this was some strange entity using a familiar method to get into the house.
Turned out the intruders here were real people (two episodes in and already normal, human being villains feel refreshing!). It didn’t take long for the bizarre to kick in, however, with Tate appearing in the house – tellingly the question of what he was doing there wasn’t revealed.
Constance did mention that she had a son. I wonder, then, is Tate her son? Only Ben did seem to be talking on the phone with Tate’s parents so that seems a little off. In the freaky world of American Horror Story I wouldn’t have been too surprised to learn that the hunky young man Constance was ‘entertaining’ turned out to be her son! In reality he might just be the man in the gimp suit, or he’s a character being loaded now to be introduced later.
Whatever or whoever Tate is (he did remark that he has bloody visions, as we saw in the previous episode, so for now I am sticking with the notion that he is a living flesh and blood person!), he was once again imploring Violet to lure people down to the basement. The twins were the ‘ghosts of the week’ last episode, this time it was the murdered girls made to dress as nurses. I get the impression that before this first season is even done the house is going to be apparently teeming with the restless dead!
The fact that they must surely remain in the house for the season does render the ending statements of intent to move rather empty. Either Vivien will have a change of heart, or circumstances will dictate that they can’t leave even though they want to. I am plumping for the former – the latter seems a bit extreme at this stage!
Certainly a strong episode, though, and considering how hard an act to follow episode one was I am all the more impressed. I still have a slight question mark pondering how long a show like this can sustain itself just being continuously like this, but beyond that it’s the most exciting and interesting show I’ve been introduced to. When it’s on you just can’t afford to take your attention away in case you miss something.
What was the best part?
The scene where one of the murderers rang the doorbell and recreated the original murderer’s ruse to gain entry into the house was genuinely unsettling stuff. I also liked how Vivien showed guts and guile and refused access, but all the while there were other figures in the house already. . . Yikes!
What do I think will happen next?
As stated, I don’t believe that Vivien will get her ambition of selling the house and moving out to fruition. Circumstances or a change of heart will dictate that she doesn’t achieve that end and the family will remain exactly where they are to endure whatever horrors are presented to them. If they survive, they’ll probably just become slightly stranger as a consequence – like Constance and Tate!
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