American Horror–Episodes 3 & 4

The last two episodes of American Horror have done two things:  #1  Explain the history of the house and why it is haunted  and  #2  Explain WHY the Harmon’s don’t just move (you know you’ve been asking yourself that question).

Episode 3  started off with a flashback to 1983.

And guess who was living in the house at that time?  Constance, that’s who.  And as they show her maid (creepy eye Moira) fending off advances from her husband, we finally understand why Constance harbors such resentment towards the seemingly harmless old lady ghost.  Moira was messing around with Constance’s husband.  So Constance shot her in the eye (aha), killing her.

(She then kills her husband too, but whether or not that’s of significance remains to be seen)

We also learn that moving out of the house isn’t financially possible for the Harmon’s.  All of their money is tied up in it, and Ben doesn’t have his practice built up enough yet to bring in much of an income.  Considering that most of his clients are ghosts and not even real people…this somehow isn’t surprising to me.

To top it off, Ben is acting very strangely (no wonder I can’t stand him).  During a session he zones out, then later begins digging in his backyard for no apparent reason.  Crazy Connie comes over and advises him to build a gazebo…so of course he will.  He enters the house to find Moira cleaning up blood, apparently to cover up something HE did.  But what?

A confrontation between Moira and Crazy Connie reveals that they are both miserable in “the land of the dead” but are stuck.  I assume we will get further explanation of this in later episodes.

Vivian (unwisely in my opinion) decides to go on the haunted bus tour to see what is said about her house.  On this tour, she finds out that her house was built in 1922 by Dr. Charles Montgomery for his wife Nora.  Unfortunately, Charles became addicted to drugs and went a little wacko, spending all his time in the basement conducting experiments on specimens in jars  (aaahh…the jars in the basement explained).  Nora decided that to make ends meet, they would begin performing illegal abortions.

So obviously, the gay couple murder/suicide (the previous owners)wasn’t the only stigma attached to the house.  Vivian is furious, and then notices that she is bleeding from her lady area…not a good sign for a woman who is pregnant and recently suffered a miscarriage.  Vivian visits a doctor and turns out to be fine, but Ben passes out and blood tests show opiates in his system.  The same type that was used in surgeries back in the days of the Montgomeries.

Hmmm….

Later at home, Vivian receives a visit from what she thinks is a prospective buyer.  It’s Nora.  And although Nora looks perfectly normal from the front, a camera shot of the back of her head shows that she died due to some type of trauma to her head ( I mean, you could see her brain) but what??

Ben goes for a run and runs into King Russell er…I mean Burn Face.  Burn Face knows a lot about Ben (too much…he’s obviously a ghost) and begins asking Ben for money. Ben turns him down, goes home, and is confronted by his pregnant lovah.  During the confrontation, Burn Face shows back up and kills her with a shovel.  They then bury her in the hole Ben had begun earlier  (and it appears to be the same hole Scary Eye Moira was buried in).  Obviously, Hayden Lovah Girl isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

The end of Episode 3 shows Nora placing her hand over Vivian’s stomach as she sleeps. Protecting the baby?

Episode 4 opens with a flashback to the house’s previous mentioned owners, Chad and Patrick–a miserable gay couple who, like the Harmons are financially incapable of moving from the house until it sells and ALSO like the Harmons suffer because of the wandering eye of the “husband”.

While preparing for a Halloween Open House, the men get a visit from Latex Man…which ends in death for both of them  (which is weird because I didn’t know that Latex Man killed people, I thought he just made demon babies).

Meanwhile, Realtor Marci tells the Harmons that they need to hire a “fluffer” to cozy up the house to fix the image problem and help it sell.  She recommends a gay “fella” she knows…and guess who it is?  Chad (LOVE him, btw) and his roaming eye partner Patrick.

Is Marci a ghost too?  I’m guessing we will find out.

Next door, Addie decides she wants to be a “Pretty Girl” for Halloween.  After much resistance, Crazy Connie finally gives in and gets her a Pretty Girl mask.  Scariest costume I’ve ever seen, seriously.

Violet and Tate get more serious, and during a meeting in the basement (who goes on a date in their own basement) Tate fills Violet in on the sordid Montgomery history.  He also adds something that wasn’t revealed in the last episode–one of the abortion girl’s boyfriends stole their baby and killed it.  The doctor, in a fit of madness, stitched it back together, creating a Frankenstein Baby Monster, that still lives down there to this day.  And we now know what that weird Old Person Baby Thing is that attacked the twins and the mean bully girl.

Upstairs, Fluffer Chad doesn’t approve of Vivian and Ben’s Halloween costumes.  An argument ensues, and as the Latex man stands in the doorway (Vivian and Ben don’t see him) Patrick and Chad leave.  Vivian then confronts Ben with the fact that she has reviewed their cell phone records–she knows that he talked to his Lovah recently.  She also reveals that she has placed a call to Hayden, and is expecting it to be returned.  Ben (knowing Hayden is buried in the backyard)  replies that he doesn’t think Hayden will be calling.

Well guess what?  She does.  Vivian, unfortunately doesn’t answer the call, but we know that this isn’t the last we will be hearing from Hayden.

Suddenly, Vivian starts having strange pains.  The baby is kicking!!  But it shouldn’t be, it’s not but about 8 weeks old.  Ben rushes her to the hospital, leaving Violet at home.

Addie, trick-or-treating in her pretty girl costume, gets caught up chasing a group of girls and is hit by a car.  Constance finds her and immediately begins dragging her to the yard before she dies.  I am guessing that she did that so Addie can stay there as a ghost?

At the hospital, a skeptical nurse does an ultrasound…and as soon as she sees what is on the screen, she faints.  Not a good sign.

At home, Violet is in trouble.  Burn Face is banging on the door, demanding $1000 and Latex Man is lurking in the background.  When Ben and Vivian arrive, Violet is gone.  But guess who is at the door?

Hayden.  And she doesn’t look happy.

Needless the say, the last two episodes were awesome and just keep getting scarier.  If you haven’t started watching yet, now would be the time to get caught up before it gets too hard to understand.  You can watch episodes online on the FX website, and if you watch them in the daylight, they don’t count and no ghosts will come get you in your sleep.

That’s how I rationalize it, anyways.

Lots of new theories after these last two episodes:  Is Tate the Latex Man?

Is the baby the spawn of the weird basement experiments?

Is Constance a ghost too?  (are the Harmon’s ghosts???)

Is Patrick related to Eric Northman?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!!