Chapter 7 (American Horror Story)

"Chapter 7" is the seventh episode of the sixth season of the anthology television series American Horror Story. It aired on October 26, 2016, on the cable network FX. The episode was written by Crystal Liu and directed by Elodie Keene.

Plot

In the production trailer, Sidney reviews the footage of Dominic's arrival to the house. Upon seeing the confrontation between Matt and Dominic, he gloats to the cameraman filming him that this is sure to make the series a smash hit. Just then, a production assistant arrives with dinner for Sidney and the cameraman. The production assistant asks Sidney about the whereabouts of Diana, claiming that she hasn't heard from her for a few days. Sidney dismisses her worries by saying that Diana wasn't loyal to his vision and left because of that. Sidney then settles down with the cameraman to eat his dinner. The cameraman is just settling in to eat when he notices Rory's murder by the hands of the two nurses onscreen. He brings this to Sidney's attention who tells him to rewind it back. Before the cameraman can rewind the tape back, a horrible scream pierces the air. Sidney goes outside to investigate and quickly runs back to the trailer, telling the cameraman to bring the camera with him and come outside with him. Once outside, Sidney and the cameraman discover the production assistant with her throat slit, bleeding out in the grass, Just then, Agnes, still dressed and acting as Thomasin, appears and kills both Sidney and the cameraman.

Inside the Roanoke house, Audrey desperately searches for Rory. She heads back downstairs to the living room where murder is spelled out and Matt calmly informs her once again that Rory has been murdered and that the "R" in murder stands for Rory's name. Audrey doesn't believe Matt and the entire house splits up to look for him. Lee films the entirety of this as insurance against being blamed. After searching through the house, Dominic comes across a pool of blood in one of the closets. Audrey believes that Rory has simply left the house to head to Los Angeles to do his screen-test for a movie that he was up for and that the blood was merely an elaborate hoax concocted by Sidney to freak out the people inside the house. However, in her confessional, Audrey worries that he simply got bored of her and left her in the lurch. Meanwhile, in storm cellar, Agnes, who is having complete mental breakdown, believing herself to be the real Thomasin, claims her murders on camera, justifying them by saying that she was protecting her land from intruders. As she is talking the power cuts off and when it cuts back on, she is startled by an unseen force who string wooden totems up around her. In the dining room of the Roanoke house, Monet pours herself some alcohol at the encouragement of Dominic. Lee walks into the dining room and chastises Dominic for what she perceives as him enabling her addiction. Dominic leaves the dining room and goes to Shelby in the kitchen, trying to win her back. Shelby rebuffs his advance and as the two are talking, Matt walks into the kitchen angrily claiming that he doesn't care what the two of them do. In her room, Shelby is upset that Matt wants nothing to do with her. She pauses upon seeing her bloodied phone and the bed and goes to it. Agnes appears behind her, startling Shelby. Agnes attacks Shelby with her cleaver, inflicting a large wound to her but, before she can kill Shelby, Dominic interrupts her and knocks her unconscious. Then, Dominic goes to calm Shelby down. Once Shelby is more calm, Dominic goes back to tend to Agnes, only to find that she has disappeared.

Audrey and Dominic tend to Shelby's wounds. Matt bursts into the room to help. Lee comes in and tells them that she can't call for help because all the phone lines have been cut. This causes Dominic to scream directly into the cameras for Sidney's help. Once Shelby's wound is treated, the rest of the participants argue about who should go to get help for her. It is decided that Matt and Dominic will stay behind and that the three women will venture to Sidney's production trailer via the secret passage out of the house. Once the three women enter the secret passage, they encounter the ghost of Edward Phillippe Mott that startles them after it appears to be impervious to shots that were fired from the gun that Lee brought. The three women flee out of the passage and into the woods, looking for Sidney. Inside the house, Matt and Shelby finally begin to talk about the issues in their marriage. Once the women arrive at the production trailer, they find the dead bodies of the crew members. The three of them look for a way to get help but to no avail. Just then, Agnes appears and begins to attack them but Lee pulls out her gun and shoots her. Then, the three women flee into the wood where mysterious figures with flashlights begin to surround them. As the women continue to flee the mysterious figures, Audrey films herself saying goodbye to Rory. As Audrey films, blood begins to drip on her, prompting Monet to ask Audrey if she's bleeding. Audrey says no and the two look up to find Rory's dead body impaled on a tree above them. Lee insists that three continue to film despite Audrey's grief. The mysterious figures begin to surround the women, again forcing them to flee. However, they don't flee far enough and eventually the mysterious figures catch up to and abduct them. Meanwhile, in the storm cellar, Agnes attempts to extract the bullet from her body. She succeeds and this only further helps to strengthen the delusion that she is being empowered by the blood moon. Later that night, Matt wakes up and heads down into the basement of the Roanoke house. Dominic sees him do this and follows him down into the basement, catching him in the act of having sex with Scathach. He brings Shelby down into the basement to see it as well. Shelby proceeds to attack Scathach, pulling her off him while Scathach scampers away. Matt confesses his love for Scathach, stating that this was the only reason he agreed to come back here. This enrages Shelby, leading her to pick up a crowbar off of the wall and bash Matt's head to a bloody pulp.

It is revealed that the three women were kidnapped by the real Polk family. The Polk family tie Audrey and Monet up inside and proceed to cut off Lee's leg and prepare it to eat. Back inside the house, Dominic attempts to comfort a hysterical Shelby. He urges Shelby to turn herself in as the murder was recorded on Sidney's camera's but she protests doing this. After hearing a noise that he assumes to be the three women returning, Dominic heads downstairs to see Agnes preparing a pyre on the front lawn outside. Meanwhile, the Polk family proceeds to taunt and torture Audrey and Monet by forcing them to eat the meat from Lee's leg. Outside the Roanoke house, Agnes demands her satisfaction from the people inside. As she is doing this, the real mob of Roanoke settler ghosts, including the real Thomasin, surround her. As this is happening, Shelby comes over to where Dominic is standing and he asks what they should do. Shelby tells him that there is nothing that they can do. Shelby and Dominic proceed to watch in horror as the real Thomasin thrusts her cleaver into Agnes' head, killing her.

Reception

"Chapter 7" was watched by 2.62 million people during its original broadcast, and gained a 1.4 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.^[1]

The episode received critical acclaim, earning a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average score of 8.7/10. The critical consensus reads, "The thrilling "Chapter 7" boasts heightened scares, an increased gore quotient, and multiple intriguing storylines."^[2]

References

External links

• "Chapter 7" at the Internet Movie Database