Spock: Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
To Ben, her being dead and buried and back again is impossible.
I’m guesing that after seeing his maid go Big John/Little John, next episode he may be a bit more open minded.
Sherlock Holmes.
Ben didn’t bury Hayden, the burn guy (Larry) did. Ben put the gazebo on top so nobody would go snooping, and he’d already done some digging on the spot (probably an unconscious drive to dig up Moira), but he didn’t actually bury Hayden.
So the extortion plot is plausible to him.
Ben doesn’t acknowledge anything supernatural. At least, up until the last shot of the last show. He might now.
Has anyone else wondered whether the daughter or especially the father might be dead? Ben is a monster either way. Still, it doesn’t fit with the rule about leaving the house.
He may have said it to, but he was quoting Spock.
I wonder why the psychic is so certain the baby would be the fulfilment of prophecy. I would think that the Anti-Christ would have to be sired by the devil himself or at least by a demon, and not just some random teenspook.
I also wonder how long before they bring in something that happened before that house was built: the cliche Indian burial ground (“Ben’s penis has diseases from a Chumash tribe…”) or a massacre of/by the Spanish, a mission that became a site for black masses, etc.. Seems odd that the land is dormant for billions of years then suddenly a fairly low key crime in the 1920s sets the ball in motion. (True, murdering a kidnapped child is terrible, but there are any number of comparable or worse crimes all over the world that didn’t result in a zombie zoo.)
The first few episodes were much more tense, because we didn’t know what was going on. But ghosts just aren’t as scary as real, psychotic people. Especially when you can tell them to “Go away”. I’ll probably finish out the season but my excitement for American Ghost Story has died down.
I have a feeling that there are two post-it notes on Ryan Murphy’s computer monitor; one reads “Indian Burial Ground” and the other “Spanish mission massacre.” That is the totality of their plan for Season 2 if this thing gets picked up for another year.
But seriously, this show is like the opposite of LOST. They are running out of mysteries and I don’t know where they can go from here. I hope they do have some ideas or we’re going to get some warmed-over Chucky episodes next season.
I’m wondering if the daughter might not have survived her suicide attempt. They did say she hadn’t been to school in weeks a couple episodes ago.
I think just the fact that a ghost was able to get a breather pregnant. She said just before the reveal that ghosts ‘aren’t known for their potency.’
I don’t think you can. Tate told Violet that, but he was obviously lying when he said they ‘can’t hurt you.’
We’re supposed to get an answer on that next week.
I also wondered why the doctor told Ben about the twins having different fathers, and more to the point, how the hospital found out about it.
I believe we, the viewers, need to know this information so they can move the plot along. But we are meant to just accept it and not look too closely at the finer points as to why and how.
I’m beginning to think this is the case. I don’t know a lot about overdoses, but if the pills were in her long enough to make her go to sleep, would Tate have been able to make her puke them up? I’d have guessed it’d be too late.
Also, I’m late to the party, but add me to the list of people who are disappointed about Rubberman. I started watching the show almost entirely based on the picture of him reaching for Vivian’s pregnant belly. shudder
The photographs of babies and children in the opening credits are clearly Victorian era- I wouldn’t be surprised to learn they’re antebellum even. The house wasn’t built until the 1920s. I wonder if these are meant to imply there’s a before-the-house supernatural prehistory of the property or if the person who designed the credits just thought they looked cool and creepy.
Yeah, I think the child photos are just there because they looked cool and creepy. There’s some guy in the credits brandishing blood-stained pruning shears, but I doubt he’ll make an appearance either. (I actually didn’t even notice him until I watched an episode on Hulu. I really need to get an HDTV.)
So I’m not always the best at figuring plots out in advance. Largely because when I was younger and started developing the ability, it took the enjoyment out of whatever I was watching if I’d guessed correctly. Therefore I actively try to ignore cognitively giving in thought so I can remain surprised.
That said, what’s Larry’s angle? He’s said two different things and I’m lost. This time I’d like to know in advance, so y’all’s thoughts on the matter would be helpful.
Seems to me his confrontation with Connie at his apartment finally got it through to him that she doesn’t love him anymore (though the scene at the jail showed he still thought she loved him once). That was enough closure for him to be able to see his wife and kids at the house, and that spurred him to want to repent for betraying them, hence he gets himself locked up. (Perhaps his “lie” to Ben about being directly responsible for burning them was just latent guilt for being indirectly responsible for it.)
Great episode with lots of closure. Glad we finally got the Violet mystery resolved. And I’d like to toot my own horn for being right about Larry’s burns coming later than his wife and kids. Looks like the timeline is relatively solid now. Larry’s family died in the house: confirmed. Constance living in the house twice: confirmed. Bo killed before Tate: confirmed. And I think we’ve seen the ghost for every known death in the house. Which brings up the question my wife and I discussed last night: is it even possible to put any of these ghosts to rest? Moira seemed to think a proper burial would save her (or maybe just the revelation of Connie’s killing her?) and Connie seemed to agree (“Now you’re stuck here forever…”)
But surely, several of the victims were buried properly and yet still linger. (Both "Dahlia"s would have been buried after recovery. The gay couple was found by the authorities (since their “murder-suicide” was known) and they would have been buried. Tate would probably have been removed and buried properly after the SWAT team cleaned up. etc..) In fact, the only ones we know whose remains are on premises are: Moira, Hugo, Hayden, and now Violet and the exterminator. right? So maybe that’s not enough, or maybe different ghosts need different things, or maybe it’s just not possible to get rid of them. The latter seems likely since there’s been upwards of a dozen deaths in the house that we know of and the ghosts are ALL still there.
Aha!!! When Tate was trying to get her to commit suicide with him she did realize he was already dead didn’t she? I thought she knew all about the school shooting and the aftermath.
Given all the gun cocking, it appears he burned Larry the same day he shot up the school, correct?
I really had a hard time watching the scene with Violet seeing her own body. The actress did a good job of conveying fear and sorrow - she and Constance are my favorite characters, so out of her own family, sorry she was the one (so far) that has died. Although…we haven’t seen the dog for awhile?
yup, she’s known he’s dead for a few episodes, but kept his secret, and she didn’t know he knew.
Something like this:
Tate knows he’s dead, meets Violet
Violet finds out Tate’s dead (from reading about the shooting). She knows he’s dead but doesn’t tell him she knows because she thinks he doesn’t know he’s dead.
Violet dies, Tate tries to save her but fails. Tate puts her body in the crawlspace. So he knows she’s dead, but she doesn’t know yet.
Tate tries to get her to “kill herself” a second time, thinking she’ll be happier if she thinks they died together.
Violet tries to sneak away and run for help, because as far as she knows, a ghost is trying to kill her.
Now by the end of the episode, both of them know that both of them are dead, and both of them know that they both know. phew…
Yeah, seems so. Larry said something like “you should be in school.” and he said, “I’m going later” or somesuch.
<snipped for brevity>
Well, I know a couple of guys from Lawrence, Kansas who would say that you’d need to salt and burn the bones to lay those spirits to rest…
Aside from the plot / storyline questions, I’d just like to add the following : after last night’s episode, if Jessica Lange doesn’t win an Emmy it will be a huge crime.