American Horror Story Round Table: Down In Flames
Caralynn Lippo
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The seemingly never-ending Roanoke saga went out with a bang – in the most literal sense.
American Horror Story Season 6 Episode 10, the finale, provided the concluding chapter in the tale that began with Shelby and Matt Miller moving into a very spooky house in rural North Carolina. In the end, Shelby and Matt were virtually forgotten as the true "hero" (of sorts) was revealed to be Matt's troubled sister Lee.
After all of the horrific murders and colorful backstories, the true heart of AHS: Roanoke wound up being the excessive lengths a mother would go to for love of her child.
"Chapter 10" ramped up the meta aspect of the season, introducing three new "reality episodes" to cap off the story. It also brought back a fan-favorite character from American Horror Story Season 2.
Despite pulling out the big guns, the finale wasn't entirely satisfying and felt a bit incomplete. Join TV Fanatics Yana Grebenyuk, Paul Dailly, and Amanda Steinmetz as they discuss the finale and the season as a whole!
The finale had three separate "shows-within-the-show" – "Crack'd," "The Lana Winters Special," and "Spirit Chasers." Which did you enjoy most?
Yana: Probably "Spirit Chasers," because it was the funniest out of all three of them. That's probably not the first thing that popped into people's minds when they saw it, but the level of stupidity was very entertaining to me.
Paul: I'm going with "Spirit Chasers." It was definitely the funniest, and I actually cared for the characters who we were introduced to.
Amanda: I'll go with "Spirit Chasers," but only because it was pretty spot on making fun of "Ghost Hunters."
What did you think of Lana Winters' reappearance?
Yana: I didn't think too much of it, which was really surprising. I thought I would miss Asylum but it seemed like a new character, one I cared about a little more, but not as much as I expected to.
Paul: I'm with Yana on this one. I didn't even feel like Sarah Paulson was playing Lana Winters. I know all of the seasons are connected in some way, but her appearance fell really flat. We should have been given more updates on what went down with Lana in the years following her nightmare.
Amanda: I agree with all of the above. Lana Winters is probably my favorite character of any season, but her appearance didn't add anything to the current story. It was just a way to tie in a previous season. Lana deserved something better than this below average return.
Lee sacrificed herself, opting to remain behind in Flora's place. What did you think of that final twist?
Yana: I didn't like it. Flora is Lee's daughter; she should have been the one Lee stayed with. Flora didn't want to go, but it was up to Lee to tell her daughter that she was the grown-up who knew what was better in this situation. It was a twist that turned out to be a huge disappointment for me, but I also don't know what I wanted out of the finale.
Paul: I thought it was a cop out. However, it mirrored the conclusion to American Horror Story Season 1 with mostly everyone becoming ghosts. All of the stuff with Priscilla just seemed pretty damn pointless.
Amanda: I get Lee's decision-making, but the whole final act seemed anti-climactic. I couldn't even really look at her sacrificing herself as a twist. It was pretty expected.
As "Chapter 10" closed, the Butcher and the settlers marched towards the burning Roanoke house, where cops and camera crews surrounded it. Is everybody dead or what?
Yana: Maybe. To me, it was like a reminder that they can burn the house, but they can't remove the spirits. Later on, I thought about the future of those cops and journalists, but in a way everyone is screwed once they enter the property. I'm guessing if they do kill them, they reach the area when Flora is at least gone.
Paul: I honestly didn't care for that scene. I expected there to be more, but I don't doubt we'll be revisiting Roanoke in a future season.
Amanda: I thought it made sense considering that the land, not the house, is haunted by spirits. I'm assuming everyone down there will die. That's just what happens there.
What unresolved plot point are you most torn up about? Or do you think everything was wrapped up nicely?
Yana: The finale felt unfinished to me, but I can't figure out how. I wanted more. I was expecting so much more from the finale, and it didn't live up to it. In a way, I'm mostly torn up about how the season could have ended with the ninth episode, leaving a much more memorable last scene in my mind.
Paul: I agree with Yana. The first two-thirds were pretty pointless. It was filler to show us how great Lana Winters was. Unfortunately, it backfired and I would have liked a more conclusive ending that maybe showed what happened to Flora.
Amanda: The entire final episode felt tacked on. American Horror Story Season 6 Episode 9 was beautifully structured and thought-out. This just felt like a weird epilogue. However, the one thing that keeps bothering me is the public's reaction to everyone dying in "Return to Roanoke: Three Days in Hell." After seeing everything we saw, how does the public not believe in ghosts???
Grade the finale and the season as a whole.
Yana: This season won me over. I was dropping the show quicker and quicker each season, but Roanoke saved it for me. But the finale messed that up a little, dropping the overall appreciation. At this point, I will probably just pretend that the finale never happened.
Paul: C+. I thought this season was all over the place. It started well, but hit a lull in the middle, before the twist. The twist was great on American Horror Story Season 6 Episode 6, but then it fell apart. They completely overdid the whole TV show within a show thing.
Amanda: I loved everything about this season until the finale, which is a bit upsetting. However, looking back, I would give this season a B+. I appreciated the documentary TV show narrative, and that there was one central plot to follow, which I am especially grateful for after the last few seasons, when the narrative was all over the place.
Caralynn Lippo is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
