Which “Reality” Is Real? What to Expect from AHS: S6E3

As AHS: My Roanoke Nightmare continues, it becomes less clear what’s reality and what’s fiction, who we can trust, and whether the story is even going in any direction we could possibly imagine. We delve into some of its mysteries below.

American Horror Story: My Roanoke Nightmare, episode: “Chapter 2,” via FX.

What’s up with all the pigs?

Most of episode 2 was spent watching Matt, Shelby, and Lee run away from (and sometimes toward) the various horrors that have been haunting them. And a bunch of those horrors were pig-related: a bloody pig showed up on their doorstep, bleeding pigtails had been nailed to their wall, they happened upon a torn apart pig body hung over a fire in the middle of the woods. Basically, they’ve been living Babe’s nightmare. But why pigs? What’s the significance, and why so many so frequently?

We’ve got a few options to work with here. The most obvious and likely is that we’re dealing with sacrificial witchcraft, which has taken the form of Kathy Bates and probably-Lady-Gaga out in the woods, chanting around a fire. It could also be the work of the so-called “inbreds” who, Shelby is convinced, have been targeting them. It might be a callback or possible future tie-in to the season 1 episode “Piggy Piggy,” which features a man paralyzed by his fear of an urban legend that describes a murderous pigman. There’s even a theory that the pig imagery is somehow tied into the Manson murders. And we really can’t rule out some sort of supernatural, generically creepy explanation- a colonial ghost coven that’s based in a butcher shop, maybe?? In any case, it seems as though these little piggies are going to keep crying wee wee wee until Matt and Shelby get out of their home- which, at this rate, will be sooner rather than later.

American Horror Story: My Roanoke Nightmare, episode: “Chapter 2,” via FX.

What happened to Flora?

Lee’s daughter, if you’ll recall, spent her first episode talking to an imaginary little girl who allegedly promised to kill the family and leave her for last. Lee seemed reasonably worried, but for some reason, not so worried that she didn’t immediately go get her daughter and bring her back into the house after she had already safely vacated the ghostly premises. And while things continued to be vaguely creepy, they didn’t really escalate for Flora…until she stepped outside to follow a little girl who beckoned to her from the yard, and then was suddenly missing. So where is she? The last we see, the yellow sweater she had been wearing is at the top of a super tall and flimsy tree, and she’s not inside it. Did she follow her little murderer pal further than she should’ve? And how will this affect Lee and her struggle with sobriety? The episode was a serious cliff-hanger, so here’s hoping we’ll get some answers right away this week.

American Horror Story: My Roanoke Nightmare, episode: “Chapter 2,” via FX.

Which version of the story is the “real” version?

After the first episode, we had some questions about whether or not we should necessarily trust everything being fed to us by our Talking Heads protagonists. The story is presented to us such that we believe and accept that what Talking Heads Matt and Shelby say and what Reenactment Matt and Shelby do are cohesive. But what if they’re not? What if only one of the versions of their story is the truth, and the other is manufactured so that we are manipulated to buy it? The supporting characters we’re being slowly introduced to, like Denis O’Hare as the house’s former owner and Kathy Bates as a colonial terror, don’t seem, at least so far, to have “real-life” counterparts. If this is a reenactment, why not? And perhaps the most interesting questions isn’t just “what if we shouldn’t just believe what we see?” but rather “what if what we’re being told is the ‘REAL’ version is actually the false version?”

Screengrab courtesy of “American Horror Story: Roanoke Official Preview,” FX.

It has always seemed plausible that the Talking Head, meant-to-be-reality half of the story was less real than it appeared. But with the release of episode 3’s promo, in which “real” Lee asks the cameras to stop rolling, the prospect that we’ll learn the truth about what’s been going on behind-the-scenes is closer than ever. Are the Talking Heads protagonists actually just actors? Are the reenactment protagonists the “real” Matt and Shelby, and we’re getting a firsthand account of their haunting? Are they BOTH faked, and there’s a third set of REAL real Matt and Shelby’s out there?!?? Only one way to find out.

Next: American Horror Story S6E2 Recap: Chapter 2

Tune in to watch My Roanoke Nightmare, and hopefully have these questions answered, Wednesdays at 10PM E.T. on FX.