Chapter 10

Maybe I wouldn't mind the fact that the finale completely lacked any and all tension of that wasn't something it was trying to pull off. Feels like I wasted 10 hours.

"Chapter 10" of American Horror Story: Roanoke, directed by Bradley Buecker, serves as the ambitious yet divisive season finale that attempts to tie together the sprawling narrative threads through a visceral, chaotic, and thematically packed conclusion. This episode embodies the series' hallmark mixture of grotesque horror, psychological trauma, and meta-commentary, resulting in a complex yet sometimes muddled cinematic experience.

The episode opens in the aftermath of the harrowing "Three Days in Hell" reality show, focusing heavily on Lee Harris, the lone surviving figure reeling from unimaginable trauma. The narrative then shifts into a media circus, with an onslaught of tabloid attention and sensationalized news coverage portraying Lee as a monstrous figure, while the cannibalistic Polk family is alternatively demonized and humanized. The introduction of Lana Winters - a returning character from American Horror Story: Asylum - adds a layer of chilling gravitas, especially through her intimate and probing interviews with Lee, revealing psychological rawness behind the public spectacle.

Lee's trial becomes a central axis for the episode, juxtaposing the media's frenzied voyeurism with deeper explorations of survival guilt, moral ambiguity, and the warping effects of trauma. The episode's script intricately weaves courtroom drama, pained personal reflections, and supernatural elements, such as the elusive Scáthach witch and spectral hauntings, culminating in Lee's chilling transformation and embrace of her darker nature. These sequences balance intense character drama with the show's signature supernatural horror, offering a layered depiction of victimhood and empowerment.

Buecker's direction captures the chaos and claustrophobia of the media circus with kinetic camerawork, jump cuts, and stylistically varied sequences that mimic tabloid sensationalism and reality TV formats. The episode's pacing oscillates between breathless intensity during violent events, and slower, tense exchanges in interviews and court scenes, reflecting the dizzying emotional spectrum experienced by Lee and other characters. Cinematography employs stark contrasts-harsh fluorescent lighting in media settings versus shadowy, intimate lighting in scenes of haunted reflection-enhancing mood shifts throughout the episode.

Performances are pivotal to the episode's impact. Angela Bassett's Lee conveys a haunting blend of fragility, defiance, and eventual monstrous resolve, anchoring the finale's emotional core with compelling depth. Kathy Bates's portrayal of Agnes and the Polk clan retains a counterpoint of raw menace. Sarah Paulson's Audrey and the few remaining survivors contribute to the cumulative weight of trauma and loss. The return of Jessica Lange's iconic Lana Winters offers a powerful meta-reference to the franchise's history, elevating the episode with nostalgic gravitas and intense chemistry during her exchanges with Lee.

Thematically, "Chapter 10" continues Roanoke's preoccupation with trauma's long shadow, the performance of victimhood, and the spectacle inherent in horror storytelling. It interrogates how personal horror is commodified by media and consumed by the public, reflecting broader societal obsessions with celebrity downfall, truth versus spectacle, and justice. The conflation of supernatural malevolence with human monstrosity-manifest in the Polk family and Lee's transformation-explores nuanced moral landscapes within horror's binary good-versus-evil framework.

While the episode's ambition is undeniable, reception has been mixed. Criticisms often center on the finale's disjointed narrative and tonal shifts, with some viewers finding the shifts from intense horror to sensationalized media parody jarring and undermining emotional investment. The layering of meta-commentary and genre pastiche sometimes muddles pacing and clarity, leaving the conclusion feeling rushed or unfocused. Conversely, fans have applauded its boldness, willingness to subvert expectations, and its emotional and thematic depth.

Cinema and television scholarship might contextualize this finale within the trajectory of postmodern horror television, which blurs lines between reality, fiction, media critique, and psychological terror. The episode calls to mind works like Scream and The Blair Witch Project in its meta-awareness, while also engaging in intertextual dialogue with earlier American Horror Story seasons through Lana's cameo and lingering thematic motifs of haunted legacies and survival horror.

"Chapter 10" is a fittingly provocative if imperfect chapter in American Horror Story: Roanoke. Its willingness to confront complex themes through intertwined horror subgenres and media forms will reward viewers attentive to its layered storytelling, even if some narrative and tonal rough edges detract from cohesion. The episode powerfully closes the season's arc on trauma, survival, and the haunting nature of legacy, challenging audiences to consider the multifaceted nature of fear-both personal and cultural-in the age of media spectacle.

OK so even though this wasn't the best season ever, can any of you haters at least appreciate that the creators are trying to do something different? This is probably one of the best seasons of AHS, it doesn't follow a load of story lines, it doesn't have any characters with side stories, I love that it's just ghosts trying to kill the living in a reality TV show type. Also why did any of you continue watching when you all were complaining in the middle of the season? If you were so bored and disappointed, then don't watch 😒 but no you continued watching and kept repeating the same words over and over again, we get it, your disappointed, should've just stopped watching awhile ago. I respect opinions, but I think this season is great!!! I loved the finale, though many didn't :( Yet, I enjoyed the season and the finale very much!! :D

Alright, so basically this season was one of the best ones. With some awesome and very good episodes that changed the whole thing around. They really stepped up their game. But this finale? It was garbage. They played everything out at the end of the 9th episode. After that one, I kept thinking what they where going to do. But then I recalled that Asylum did almost the same thing. So it didn't felt new or original. They also had troubles with their "found footage" genre. At one moment they just didn't do it anymore. Especially at the end. That was the thing what made this season fresh. Of course the found footage genre is nothing new anymore, but we haven't seen it much in a horror TV-show.

Now another thing that really bothered me where the parody shows they kept introducing in this episode. Lee is going to that interview, now she's going to that interview. These morons are going to the house with the blood moon. It was too much and not believable anymore. They should have done a whole episode just with Lana Winters as a host. And she would recap the whole season and then at the end a big twist that turn the whole story around. The problem is that this episode was predictable. From the very first shot I knew how this was going to end. Unfortunately, I was right.

This episode lost some energy as well. The rest of the season was really intense and scary. This episode wasn't one of those things. I won't spoil the big plot details, but I think die hard fans (like me) will be left disappointed. I had the same feeling when area Queens ended last year. We where promised a big bloody finale. But we didn't got that.

So yeah, Murphy disappointed me again with this lousy written finale. I expected much more and also some twists. I didn't got that. I hope they step up their game in the 7th season. And do something original. This wasn't original in my eyes.

I binged the entire season today, and was surprised how much I enjoyed the last episode given the fact that it was the rated the lowest of the season. It becomes increasingly clear that the truth about the house and the property is going to go on, continuing to not be believed as anyone and everyone who goes there (media, police, probably army too if they tried) will not make it out alive and if they did, the world would not believe them. The final scene of the episode really draws this idea home and gave me shivers, as the butchers crowd is approaching the emergency services and media who are at the house.