American Horror Story – “Rubber Man”

Anyone else excited about learning who the man in black (leather sex gear) is? My money is on one of Constance’s gentleman callers… she seems like the kind to be a lady on the street and a freak in the sheets.

OMG! EWWW! It’s Tate! That is so messed up (which just seems redundant when talking about this show.) So, I was wrong – Tate is the incubus who seems to be capable of spawning potential devil children, and it turns out the most recent owners bought the latex black body suit as part of their relationship drama.

We also got a little more insight into the relationships between all the spirits in the house – seems Tate is acting out some of his mother issues by being the perfect “son” for the house’s original owner, Mrs. Montgomery – specifically, working to secure her a new baby to replace the one dismembered and reassembled by her huffing husband. But what will happen when her interests conflict with those of Tate’s new love, Violet?

New girl on the block Hayden is confrontational with the original lady of the house as well as Moira, who calls Hayden “cheap and horrible and not half the lady Madam is.” Madam, in this case, is referring to Mrs. Harmon. But Hayden has some insights – the house’s power holds her here, holds Mrs. Montgomery here and holds other innocent souls, which presumably includes Constance’s other child, as well as those who are “in on the game,” which I’m thinking refers to Tate and Moira – the only spirits who seem to have overcome certain conditions of their death. It’s unclear where Constance fits in – maybe she’s alive and well (since we’ve seen her off the property) and just in tune with the spirits thanks to her medium friend.

So Hayden tells us that she and the other spirits can make themselves known or unknown to the house’s living inhabitants. She also says “we’re supposed to fix our issues, but we never can – it doesn’t stick.” Perhaps hauntings in the AHS universe are common, and the house’s unique property is that it doesn’t allow for its dead residents to eventually resolve their issues and move on. The re-emergence of the school shooting victims on Halloween would support this theory.

Each week, we’re getting a more complete peek behind the curtain of this universe, but the inconsistencies still need to be ironed out – like Tate’s, um… potency and Moira’s aging issues. And why doesn’t Mrs. Montgomery know she’s dead? Or remember the circumstances of her death?

But in the short term, we know the mission: Hayden is going to drive Vivien crazy and take the babies (can she do that?) for herself and Mrs. Montgomery. This is at least the second time Tate has tried to “secure” a child from Mrs. Montgomery – he killed the most recent owners – the gay couple, when they started having relationships problems and were no longer going to adopt a child.

So why haven’t their ghosts been more active in the house since Halloween? Clearly the guest stars have been available for the flashback sequences – did these characters not have issues to work out before moving on? Is Moira making progress with hers by confiding in Vivien? She seems to have taken a shine to her and advises Vivien to leave, which, to her credit (and the writers’) she does, but not before Moira makes this potentially significant observation: “That’s what men do. They make you think you’re crazy so they can have their fun.”

But, of course, Vivien can’t actually leave; she’s confronted in her car by the intruders from a few weeks ago, and Tate appears to be trapped by the house – unable to pursue Violet. But if that’s the case, how can the intruders get into the car? I would think their range would be the same as Tate’s, right? We saw Tate off the property during Halloween – and also when he had his off-site session with Ben. Gah! What does it all mean!?!?!

And now that he’s slept with Violet – is that because he loves her or is he making another baby back-up? He told Violet that he would “always be here… as long as you want me here.” There seems to be some underlying significance to the wording of that statement. But seconds later, he acknowledges to Violet that the “others” can hurt her (um, Violet – this would be a good time to ask about that first trip down to the basement) but warns her not to tell her mother for fear that she (Violet) will be labeled as crazy.

I’m thinking about this show too hard. Here’s a funny line from Vivien’s confrontation with Ben (who is becoming less sympathetic as a character with each episode):

“If you are about to diagnose me with post-traumatic stress syndrome, I’m going to bash your fucking face in!”

In the final scenes, we learn that Tate is tired of hurting people, which we an assume he’s been doing on behalf of the ladies of the house. Hayden calls him out on this compulsive behavior and says he has “mommy issues,” to which he replies, of course, “know a good therapist?” Ba dum sum psh! Thank you ladies and gentlemen – I’ll be here all week. Tip your wait staff!

So much cheese in this show, but at least we get a good story pace in each episode and across the series as a whole because by the end of the episode, Hayden has gotten her way – Tate’s second rape attempt prompts Vivien to accidentally shoot Ben. “I wasn’t shooting you; I was shooting the rapist in the rubber suit.” If that’s not a quick pass to the asylum, I don’t know what is.

Luke (aka hot chocolate rent-a-cop) has some very astute observations about the suspicious nature of Ben’s relationship with Vivien, but in the end, it doesn’t matter. She’s hauled off to the looney bin, and she’s okay with it. “At least I’ll be out of this house.”