The third American Horror Story: Roanoke episode starts where the last left off, searching for Flora. With the sweatshirt swinging from the tree, the cops finally begin to believe Lee, Matt, and Shelby and a search party is formed. During the search, Lee comes across a demonic breadcrumb trail of dismembered dolls, and pigs in satanic circles. These little piggy Cabbage Patch Kids lead the characters to an abandoned farm that's filled with maggots and flies. Just as they're about to abandon hope, they hear something coming from a the barn in the back — and upon further inspection, they come across two young kids covered head to toe in dirt and grime suckling on the teat of a dead pig like it’s an after-dinner snack.

Turns out this creepy farm with the pork-loving children belongs to the Polks, hillbillies that seem to be at the core of all the weird goings on. This fuels a theory that the Polks took Flora and abandoned these kids in exchange. The little heathen children react like they are scared for their lives, but on top of that, all they do is yell "Croatoan." After Flora's missing for three days, the group goes back to the house, where Mason now accuses Lee of hiding Flora. Mason storms out, but not after threatening to call the cops on Lee. Shortly after falling asleep, the group is awoken by a call from the cops and they're all summoned back to the woods. They find the charred remains of a body, which initially is thought to be Flora. It turns out to be Mason, so daddy goes bye-bye.

Shelby, with the help of security footage, begins to think that Lee possibly lit Mason up like a firework because of his threats. As Lee begins to argue with Shelby, a little Keebler elf of a man wanders into the house and introduces himself Cricket. He claims he was summoned to this house on haunted hill through his spiritual aide, because there is a child in trouble. Everyone's skeptical of Cricket's alleged psychic powers, until he finds Priscilla’s creepy bonnet in the crawlspace — the same space Flora hid in with her imaginary friends. As any self respecting psychic would, he holds a séance asking for Priscilla, but instead of Priscilla, the gang gets the ghost of angry colonial woman Kathy Bates (aka "The Butcher"). Bates The Butcher threatens them by breaking windows and chopping candles, warning them they'd better vacate her land or she'll stack the bodies mountain high. We learn that The Butcher doesn't have Flora, but Priscilla does, and Flora's still alive.

FX
FX
loading...

Cricket, ever the business-savvy queen, says he knows where Flora is, but this information comes with a price of $25,000 dollars. All of them read the limp to pieces and yell at the fraud to leave the house, only for him to whisper something to Lee on his way out that leaves her shook. Turns out Cricket might not be such a fraud after all, as he communicates a message from Lee’s first daughter to Lee. With this, Lee is convinced, and ponies up the cash in order to find Flora by whatever means necessary.

 

Then Cricket explains the story of Roanoke and The Butcher. Roanoke was a colony of 116 people who, in the 1500s, disappeared without any trace right on the grounds where the house was built. The Butcher ran the colony while her husband was away, but was cast into the woods by her fellow colonists, abandoned, handcuffed and head in a cage, left to die. On the brink of death, The Butcher sought redemption and was saved from the cold hands of death by a woodland creature...who just happens to be Lady Gaga. With a crazed look in her eyes, Gaga’s character whisper-offers The Butcher the heart of a boar in a exchange for her soul. The Butcher, never one to pass up a good source of protein, accepts the sacrificial means, just to return to Roanoke to make it rain blood on those who've wronged her.

FX
FX
loading...

Back in real time: Lee, Matt, Shelby, and now Cricket venture into the forest to find Priscilla, but once again are met by The Butcher her band of ragtag colonial henchmen. They strike a deal that in exchange for Flora; they'll grant The Butcher the peace that she so badly wants. During this exchange, Shelby goes to look for Matt who has disappeared. It turns out that Matt's literally possessed by the spirit of Gaga and is engaging in some NSA forest coitus with her character as the hillbillies watch.

Matt comes to after Shelby runs back to the house in horror at the sight of her husband bending Gaga over in the forest, and claims to remember none of it. Against the night sky, police sirens come ablaze, as the cops arrest Lee for the murder of Mason (as we're to assume Shelby gave the cops the sketchy security footage). The episodes ends with Shelby staring at Matt, a vengeful look in her blue eyes.

FX
FX
loading...

More From PopCrush