American Horror Story-Halloween Pt.1-Ep.4
Lots of Spoilers
Halloween in the murder house for the Harmon’s is just like any other day except they have pumpkins. This week’s flashback show us the most recent previous owners, Chad (played by Zachary Quinto from Heroes & Star Trek 2009) and Patrick; their relationship is in as much turmoil as Ben and Vivien’s. Are there no happy couples in this house, oh right, it’s a house of death and doom. Chad and Patrick are preparing for Halloween and have a fight letting us know that they too have no choice but to live in the house because all of their money is invested in it, just the Harmon’s. A few hours pass and Chad is finishing up his preparations and who should appear…the Rubber Man. Finally, I’ve been waiting for him to show up again and he does not like Chad as we see him drowned in the apple bobbing water. Flash to the Harmon’s still trying to sell the house and giving Marcy the realtor a hard time again. Her idea this week is to capitalize on Halloween with a positive and welcoming family friendly display and to do this she wants to call in a fluffer; someone to help clean up the house and make it more magazine picturesque. Two fluffers show up and of course it’s Chad and Patrick, still fighting in the after life. Chad gives Viv a tip about cheating husband’s and checking phone bills while Patrick tries to give Ben a little something more. He grabs Ben’s crotch and offers him a BJ saying it will only take 4 minutes. Ben’s reply is that he’s not gay and Patrick’s rebuff is “Neither was I until I got a blow job from a man.” Ben walks away and things quickly go down hill for him and Viv as she does check his phone records and sees that Hayden has been calling. He promises her that he has gotten rid of her for good and she won’t be calling anymore but right at that moment his phone rings and it’s Hayden. Another dead mistress tied to the house. They fight, Viv starts to have pain and they rush to the hospital leaving Violet alone in the house on Halloween. One thing to note, Viv meets with a security company guy who sets up a sophisticated new system that I believe has cameras and motion sensors. Something that will likely come into play soon and I’m pretty sure the guy was hitting on Viv. At the hospital everything seems fine with the baby and Viv but the nurse decides to do an ultrasound just to be sure. She questions how far along Vivien is twice, then looks at the monitor in horror and passes out, a few minutes later Ben gets a terrified phone call from Violet who is being harassed by Larry the burn guy demanding his 1000.00 from Ben for killing Hayden. Earlier Ben had rebuked him and refused to pay up.
Back track now to the other things that happened. Violet and Tate continue to see each other without Ben knowing it. Tate has managed to convince him to continue helping him but Ben refuses to have Tate in the house. They meet for coffee and in a kind of weird scene, Ben breaks down and starts crying. Who is shrinking who? I felt I had missed something with this scene and I’m not sure where it came from. Tate and Violet meet later that night in the basement for some spooky Ouija fun but first he decides to scare her by dressing in the Rubber Man’s suit (or is he the Rubber Man). He then tells her the story of Charles the doctor and first owner making a horrifying new creation out of the butchered body of his son. The baby was kidnapped by one of the boyfriend’s of one of the girl’s he had given an abortion. While all that is shown is the child’s leg, the implications of the murder and mutilation Charles’ bestows, is pretty horrific. Violet calls bullshit on the story and tells Tate she wants to go on a real date and he promises her they will. Young, creepy love. Old Moira is briefly in this episode as she visits her comatose Mother and ends up killing; a mercy as she is releasing her from her suffering.
Here comes mother of the year, Constance being as wonderful as always to Addy. Addy is sitting with the hottie Travis, the young man Constance is banging, reading and talking about Halloween. This raises Constance’s blood and once Travis leaves she berates and belittles Addy. Addy wants to be a pretty girl for Halloween and her Mother tells her she isn’t and never will be a pretty girl. Halloween night comes and Constance makes it up to Addy by getting her a pretty girl mask which is actually kind of creepy looking. Addy is happy and goes to Violet’s house to show her. Violet is alone and listening music not hearing the door bell. A group of slutty looking girls are treat r treating at the house while Addy is trying to see Violet. They mock her and walk away but Addy wants to be a pretty girl too and runs after them into the street and is hit by a car that speeds off. Constance loses it and tries to drag her back to the house against the protests of the EMT’s who watch the sad scene helplessly. Poor Addy appears to be dead. While this has been happening, Ben and Viv have rushed home (not seeing the ambulance outside their house and Addy dead on the side of the road?) to find the front door wide open, the alarm sounding and Violet nowhere in the house. And then…wait til next week for Part 2. So annoying these two-part episodes.
Impressions: This is my favorite episode so far. It had good pacing, good story lines and moved the show forward touching on the oddities of Vivien’s pregnancy, highlighting the budding relationship between Violet and Tate and bringing in more ghosts to harass the family – Hayden, Chad and Patrick. I am curious to know what the ultrasound showed, what caused the nurse to pass out? I was pleased to see the Rubber Man popping up here and there again and you just know Addy’s death is going to push Constance even further past sanity. This was a very enjoyable episode and I look forward to watching part 2 on All Saint’s Day.
Dawning Creates 