American Horror Story - Season 6, Episode 07: Chapter 7
Trailer
Season 6 is back without Jessica Lange and is focusing on the physical and psychological fears traumatising the staff and clients at a terrified colony.
Wow. Last week's episode of American Horror Story: Roanoke was not freaking kidding when it said everyone in the cast was going to eat it (with the exception of one person).
With the new gimmick revealed last week, Roanoke settled in and got back to business as usual. Psychos, ghosts, and cannibals ran amok, carving up unsuspecting, shallow victims in ways that we've already experienced.
"Chapter 7" is, so far, the best installment of the season, and the season itself is the best since Asylum, bearing genuine stakes for its characters' deaths (unlike the fun, campy, resurrection-happy Coven) and legitimately scary moments.
I will say that the show's saving grace this season lies in two things: its sense of humor, and the admittedly impressive and amusingly gratuitous amount of gore.
"Chapter 7" clips along quickly, tells its multiple stories with admirable narrative and visual coherency, balances a sense of humor with a sense of horror, and even creates some suspense, which is too often lacking in the series.
This week's episode cranks up the scares and the WTF moments that have always been the show's trademark. Who knows if the remainder of Season 6 can keep up this pace, but for now it's nice to enjoy the ride.
