Chapter 9 (American Horror Story)

"Chapter 9"
American Horror Story episode
Episode no.	Season 6 Episode 9
Directed by	Alexis O. Korycinski
Written by	Tim Minear
Production code	6ATS09
Original air date	November 9, 2016 (2016-11-09)
Running time	37 minutes
Guest appearances
Adina Porter as Lee Harris Taissa Farmiga as Sophie Green Jon Bass as Milo Jacob Artist as Todd Connors Shannon Lucio as Diana Cross Jamie Martz as Bodycam Officer Michael Whaley as Investigating Detective

"Chapter 9" is the ninth episode of the sixth season of the anthology television series American Horror Story. It aired on November 9, 2016, on the cable network FX. The episode was written by Tim Minear and directed by Alexis O. Korycinski.

Plot

Sophie Green (Taissa Farmiga), Milo (Jon Bass), and Todd Connors (Jacob Artist) – three fanatics of My Roanoke Nightmare who run a blog dedicated to the series – head out into the woods during the blood moon in search of the Roanoke house. They have cameras strapped to their heads and plan to record everything in the hopes that they will become famous. The three of them come across the tree that Flora's hoodie was placed on top of at the end of the second episode. They all pull out their phones to take pictures but just then, they are interrupted by a bloodied woman wandering around, bewildered. As the three attempt to engage the woman, she turns and runs off into the woods. The three bloggers proceed to give chase only to find her body in an overturned car, revealing it to be the body of Diana.

Audrey and Lee interrogate Dylan as to why he showed up at the house in the first place. Dylan tells the women that he was contracted by Sidney to show up on the third day dressed as the Piggy Man. Audrey asks for his phone and his car and he tells her that he wasn't allowed to bring his phone with him and that he took an Uber to get to the house. Dylan questions why the women are so scared. Audrey counters him by showing him Shelby's dead body and telling him that everyone except for them and Monet are dead. She reveals everything that they have reenacted was based on real events. As soon as Dylan sees Shelby's dead body, he begins to formulate an escape plan. The two women tell him that Monet is still alive and is being held captive by the Polks. Lee tells Dylan that she and Audrey are returning to the Polk's compound to retrieve the tapes of the Polks murders, and that going back there is the best chance to escape as the Polk family have vehicles. Dylan wants to go alone but is convinced by Lee and Audrey to let them tag along. The three bloggers are being interrogated by the police and recount their story about finding the dead woman. After failing to convince the interrogating officer that what happened at the site was real, (the police found no evidence of any dead bodies), they are told by the officer to stay away from the house and to stop making up stories. Dylan, Audrey, and Lee arrive to the Polk compound. Dylan goes to secure the truck and Lee and Audrey go to look for Monet and the tapes. The two women split up, Lee in search of the tapes and Audrey in search of Monet. Audrey finds Monet and the tapes but is stopped by Ishmael Polk arriving, threatening to murder the two women for what they did to Mama Polk. Audrey pulls out a revolver and shoots him. Meanwhile, Dylan secures the truck and starts it but just as he does, he is injured by Lot Polk. Just at that moment, Lee returns to the truck, not having found anything, and Lot stops what he's doing to chase her into the woods. Audrey and Monet come outside and find the injured Dylan on the ground. The two are interrupted by Thomasin's mob surrounding the Polk compound and are forced to flee into the woods, leaving Dylan behind.

Audrey and Monet flee back inside the Roanoke house and Audrey breaks down, completely in shock over the events that have transpired. Monet attempts to calm her down and eventually succeeds in doing so. Monet speculates that Lee is dead but Audrey says that that isn't possible because Lee never would've allowed the tape to be left behind. Monet and Audrey both watch the tape and are shocked when they see Lee's confession. In the woods, Lee is attacked and possessed by Scathach. The three bloggers return to the woods in search of the house, so that they can prove to the police once and for all that their version of the story was the truth. As they head into the woods, they come across the place where Mason was murdered, much to their awe. Just then, Todd see Lee on the ground, injured and in pain. He goes to help her but is murdered by her and she proceeds to chase the other two down, losing them as they escape further into the woods. When Sophie and Milo stop to catch their breath, they see a string of wooden totems tied in the trees above them, causing them to flee further into the woods. Eventually, the two arrive at Sidney's production trailer, where they encounter a wounded Dylan. They flee inside the production trailer only to come across the tapes of Return to Roanoke: Three Days in Hell. This leads the two of them to question what is real and what isn't. Sophie and Milo see Lee stalking towards the Roanoke house. They immediately call the police, who don't believe their story and refuse to take action on what they believe is yet another hoax. The bloggers then see Lee enter the house and decide to head back to house to prevent her from killing anyone else. Inside the house, Monet and Audrey hear a noise coming from downstairs. As they go to investigate, they come across Lee, who Monet confronts but is pushed off the second storey railing, resulting in her death. Afterwards, the now possessed Lee attack Audrey, who incapacitates her attacker and flees out of the house. Audrey attempts to flee into the storm cellar but is stopped by Lee, who stabs her and shoves her down into the cellar. Meanwhile, the two bloggers arrive at the house and witness Dylan being disemboweled by Thomasin and her mob. Horrified, they turn to flee but are stopped by Lee.

Following a content warning, the two bloggers are brought before Thomasin and her mob. They beg for their lives but are impaled on stakes and burned to death. The next morning, the police arrive at the Roanoke house and bear witness to all the carnage, both inside and outside of the house. While searching for bodies outside, they come across an unconscious Lee. When they revive her, she appears to have no memory of the events that had transpired the night before and is completely catatonic. The officers bring Lee over to a squad car and sit her down inside it. Audrey manages to crawl up from the storm cellar and gets the attention of the police officers who rush to help her. When Lee sees Audrey, she goes to run over to her. Audrey, not knowing that Lee was possessed, pulls her gun on her, attempting to shoot Lee out of vengeance for her attempted murder, leading the police officers to shoot her dead before she can complete the act, thus making Lee Harris the sole survivor of the blood moon.

Reception

"Chapter 9" was watched by 2.43 million people in its original American broadcast, and gained a 1.3 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.

The episode received generally positive reviews. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the episode holds a 92% approval rating, with an average score of 6.2/10. The critical consensus reads, ""Chapter 9" gruesomely dismisses more characters while presenting the welcome return of another American Horror Story veteran and preparing viewers for a twisty finale." Emily L. Stephens of The A.V. Club wrote, ""Chapter 9" is a solid episode of American Horror Story's most meaningful and consistent season – and by 'solid,' I mean strongly told, startling, and filled with slithering entrails and smoking corpses." In contrast, IGN's Matt Fowler stated, "The penultimate episode of American Horror Story: Roanoke was a bumpy, blurry mess of found footage and flat chests."

External links

• "Chapter 9" at IMDb