FX’s American Horror Story‘s sixth season sticks with the battle between Matt and Shelby and the spirits who want them out of their farmhouse. Why is it that when a place is haunted the owners wait days before actually fleeing when they should have left at the first sign of supernatural activity? And why does the couple at the center of AHS: My Roanoke Nightmare always follow noises out into the woods? You’d think they would have watched a scary movie or two and would have picked up a few clues as to how to act when your house is the site of unexplained activity.
Episode four titled ‘Chapter 4’ begins with Current Matt (Andre Holland) confused as to why Shelby accused him of having sex with a strange woman in the woods. He remembers none of it. Flashback Shelby (Sarah Paulson) thinks Lee and Matt went behind her back to make a deal to get Flora back. She no longer trusts him, screaming and hitting him, but Matt (Cuba Gooding Jr) says he has absolutely no idea what happened in the woods. He’s on the verge of a breakdown and finally Shelby says she believes him.
Current Shelby (Lily Rabe) says she saw in his eyes that he truly didn’t remember having sex in the woods.
Flashback Shelby is about to take a shower when Pig Man tries to attack her with a knife. He chases her out, growling, and Matt knocks him down. Pig Man continues to stalk them until Dr. Elias Cunningham (Denis O’Hare) appears, hits the Pig Man, and yells, “Croatoan!”
Shelby doesn’t understand the word Croatoan, and Elias explains it was left at Roanoke so the others could find the new colony. It’s a word of dark power in blood magic. Elias says he only lived in this house for six months and all of the owners of the place always died or went missing within just a couple months of taking ownership of the house. He can’t live there but kept it until he lost it because he couldn’t afford the taxes. That’s why it was up for sale when Matt and Shelby bought it. He tells them they want him there and that he’s trying to help them. Matt wants him to leave and then Elias says he knows things, like that Pig Man will be back and that he’s been there before. He has a book with a list of every bit of paranormal activity in and around the house, with the records going back all the way to the 1700s. Matt sees a photo of the sisters he saw in his dream.
Current Matt says at that point he just didn’t know what to believe.
Elias tells Flashback Shelby and Matt that even those sisters were killed by The Butcher and her people. Elias says he knows this because the sisters told him this one night when he was hiding in the woods. He can’t forget the horror of their deaths. One sister was pulled from both sides until her arms were ripped off. The other sister’s head was chopped off by The Butcher. Elias shows them others, including hunters that killed each other after staying in the house. Every missing person or death takes place during the six days of the Blood Moon. That’s the only period when the spirits can kill, and that first quarter moon starts that night.
Current Matt recalls how it was hard not to take Elias seriously at this point because there were so many deaths. Shelby says she thought he just wanted the house back.
Flashback Shelby tells Elias they can’t leave the house without Flora and that Priscilla has her. Fortunately, Elias thinks he knows where Priscilla is.
Current Shelby admits she felt horrible about turning Lee into the police. Matt thinks they have to find Flora alive in order to free Lee.
Elias takes Flashback Shelby and Matt into the woods where Priscilla supposedly hangs out, while Current Matt says he trusted Elias because he realized Priscilla is actually the little girl who led them to the root cellar and to Elias in the first place. They hear noises in the woods and Matt sees the witch (Lady Gaga). Shelby gets angry and chases after her (while Current Shelby says she doesn’t know what possessed her). Shelby sees men with horrible wounds advancing toward her and Elias grabs her and they run. She yells, “Croatoan,” but it doesn’t work because the Blood Moon cycle has started. They spot Flora playing with Priscilla and other victims of the spirits, including the sisters and Pig Man. As Elias is begging Priscilla to let Flora go, a group of men shoot him with arrows. He dies, and Matt and Shelby flee back to their house. Cricket (Leslie Jordan) greets them at the door and asks if they’re ready to finally listen to him.
Cricket tells them Flora is not dead and Matt and Shelby promise to do anything he says. Cricket apparently went back to tell The Butcher they would leave but she no longer wants to make a deal with them. Cricket needs to understand what he’s dealing with and heads back out to talk to The Butcher.
Current Shelby says when he came back, it was obvious he’d been through a horrifying experience.
Flashback Shelby and Matt ask him what happened and Cricket reveals he thought he was going to be killed. The witch blinded him and was going to kill him, but he told her he knew she was the mastermind. He offered her Matthew, because Cricket saw she had physical needs and no one to satisfy them. She took his hand and he was able to see everything clearly. They walked through a cornfield centuries into the past, back to when Matt and Shelby’s house was the site of the true lost colony of Roanoke. But, they weren’t lost; they loved it here. They performed human sacrifices in order to keep the area fruitful. Not all the citizens were supporting the sacrifices, and even The Butcher’s son, Ambrose (Wes Bentley), thought the witch of the wood poisoned his mother’s mind. He leads the townspeople in a meeting against his mother and they’re all ready to return home. The witch tells The Butcher to bend them to her will and she can use the power of the Blood Moon to bind their souls to her for eternity.
The Butcher has gathered the townsfolk at a long table, telling them she’s repenting and is sorry for what’s happened. She gives each of them a special fruit as a peace offering and everyone eats. They all immediately begin to choke, even her son. She stabs her son in the chest with her butcher knife, then proceeds down the table killing each and every one. She tells them they will all follow her in the next life, and she’s soaking the area with their blood so that they’re tethered to these grounds forever. After everyone is dead, she hands her knife to the witch and the witch cuts her throat.
Cricket describes it as “blood sacrifice to the ancient gods” and it bonded them all to the area for eternity. Every year on the anniversary of the slaughter the spirits can turn lethal. Matt and Shelby don’t want to leave without Flora, and Cricket says he knows a spell that can put the spirits down for good. He’s going to put an end to it all but he has to go back to his hotel room to get the supplies first.
Current Shelby says they were excited to hear it was coming to an end.
Cricket’s taking an Uber back to his motel when Flora runs in front of the car. He gets out and chases after her. Current Matt says they were worried because he was gone for hours.
Flashback Matt tells Shelby to get some rest and they both end up falling asleep. It’s dark when they finally wake up and Cricket hasn’t returned. Matt leaves Shelby sleeping on the couch and heads outside with a gun after hearing noises. (Seriously?! Stay inside!) He’s drawn toward the woods and toward Elias’ old hiding place. He heads down into the cellar where all the candles are lit. The witch is there and he can’t resist her. Just then, back in the house Shelby wakes up terrified. She calls for Matt but there’s no answer. She also heads outside.
Current Matt explains that the witch “opened” herself to him and he learned all about her story, her pain, and her experiences. He says it was a totally intimate experience. Her people worshiped the old gods and she was blamed for the horrible journey to the new world and she was set to be burned at the stake once they arrived in America. However, she killed her jailers before they could burn her and set herself free. She escaped into the woods and Matt says the old magic and the new world created something new. He thinks the witch wanted him to understand that and join her.
Back at the house, Shelby screams when she sees The Butcher and her people heading toward the farm with Flora, torches, and weapons. That breaks Matt out of the witch’s spell. Matt runs to Shelby and wants The Butcher to hand over Flora. She won’t; the land needs to be consecrated with fresh blood. As she’s about to slice Flora’s throat, Priscilla steps in and pushes The Butcher from behind, allowing Flora to run to Matt and Shelby. They head into the house while The Butcher slaps Priscilla.
Flora is not hurt but keeps saying, “The man.” Matt and Shelby look outside and they see Cricket’s been captured and is brought to stand before The Butcher.
The Uber driver tells the producers that he picked up Cricket around dawn. He waited for Cricket after he chased after Flora but he never came back.
Flashback Shelby and Matt watch The Butcher rip open Cricket’s stomach. Ambrose takes a hook and pulls out Cricket’s intestines while he’s still alive.
Current Matt says they knew they were next.
American Horror Story Season 6 Recaps:
