The dead walk freely on Halloween… and every other day too for that matter.
What I am really enjoying about American Horror Story is how everything ties together. There is nothing thrown in haphazardly just for the sake of shocking the audience. Characters from the premiere have finally made a reappearance and are now wreaking all kinds of havoc; the twin boys from the series pilot flashback return to egg the house and we learn a little about the gimp suited guy.
As with the previous three episodes, we open with a murder that occurred in the past in the Harmon home. This time though we don’t go back too far as we finally meet the owners of the house prior to the Harmon’s. The year is 2010 and it’s a few days before Halloween. Partners Chad and Patrick (Zachary Quinto and Teddy Sears respectively) are preparing for a Halloween party and a fight ensues between them because Chad believes that Patrick is cheating on him. Things are said and we learn that they are basically forced to stay together because their money is tied up in the house and neither can afford to walk away from it.
Patrick leaves and while Chad is sitting in the dining room someone comes in wearing the gimp suit we first saw in the premiere episode. He assumes its Patrick but of course it’s not. Whoever it is kills Chad and then Patrick. This is definitely not the murder/suicide story that real estate agent Marcy told the Harmon’s about. I’m not sure if there’s a connection, but, we have already learned that on three separate occasions the inhabitants of the house have suffered financial constraints due to it: the Montgomery’s back in the 1920’s, Chad and Patrick in 2010 and now the Harmon’s.
Chad and Patrick reappear later in the episode in present day posing as the stagers that Marcy hired to give some pizazz to the house in hopes of selling it. At first Ben and Vivien are all for everything they have put together – Chad and Vivien even bond over their cheating mates- but, things turn when Chad does not approve of the Halloween costumes Vivien and Ben have chosen to wear and the apples in the apple-bobbing station are not the right color. Chad and Patrick eerily tell Ben and Vivien to get out and that the house isn’t rightfully theirs. Vivien goes into a rage and Chad and Patrick ultimately leave. But, I am not sure if it’s because of Vivien’s behavior or because they saw the figure in the gimp suit standing in the window. I would be scared to of the person who has already killed me once also. Just look at how Moira interacts with Constance. One other thing to note about Chad was his suggestion that they demolish the new gazebo in the backyard and turn the land into an organic garden. Does he know something?
We learned in this episode that the soil surrounding the house definitely holds some sort of power. Last week we saw Larry dispose of Hayden’s body in the grave that now lies beneath the gazebo that also serves as Moira’s semi-final resting place. This week as the episode draws to a close Hayden comes knocking at the door covered in dirt. I wonder if her rebirth has something to do with Vivien leaving her a message to stay away from her family because as Vivien and Ben argue about his cell phone bill, that reflects calls from Hayden, he assures her that Hayden wouldn’t be contacting them again, but as he is saying this his phone rings and the call is from none other than Hayden.
So, do the dead only stay dead if they aren’t contacted or is this land surrounding the house some sort of Pet Cemetery? When Addy is hit by a car Constance drags her body to the property in hopes of her friends saving her but she is too late and Addy dies. Will she be the next person buried here? Why is it that during the episode Addy said her friends (i.e. the dead people) were at the house and now Constance hopes that these friends will save her? And, why is it that Addy is always unfazed by the happenings in the house? Remember her rolling that ball back and forth with someone unseen in the basement.
I could be way off on this assumption, but I am beginning to wonder if Tate is the person behind the gimp suit. He did attempt to scare Violet in the basement with it on and they both share the same quality, they show up out of nowhere. Tate also goes on to tell Violet the full story of Dr. Charles Montgomery and the creature that lives in the basement. Apparently it’s a creature sewn together from parts of his deceased child and animal parts. Of course she doesn’t believe him which leaves him looking a bit despondent. Also, does Marcy know more than what she is letting on? Is she just an innocent real estate agent with a bad listing or will we be seeing her in a flashback sometime soon?
Some stats and info about American Horror Story, “Halloween Pt. I”
TV SHOW – American Horror Story
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 1, Episode 4
AIRED ON – October 26th, 2011
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – Hulu/Netflix
GENRE – Horror, Drama
CREATED BY – Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy, Halley Feiffer
CAST – Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Denis O’Hare, Lily Rabe, Kathy Bates, Frances Conroy, Emma Roberts, Jessica Lange, Billie Lourd, Leslie Grossman, Angela Bassett, Cheyenne Jackson,
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.