Robert Zuckerman/FXTate has been a bad, baaad boy.
In tonight's episode of American Horror Story, we finally got the full story on Tate (Evan Peters) and his past. Yet, we were still left with plenty of questions, which we've come to anticipate from AHS. Plus, Vivien (Connie Britton) is seeking comfort in some very unlikely places.
Let's chat about "Piggy, Piggy," and we'll reveal what comes next for the unfortunate folks on AHS…
WHAT WE LEARNED
Tate's School Shooting Fantasy Actually Happened: He wasn't wearing skull makeup like in the pilot, but we did see Tate gun down all those high school students who had been haunting him on Halloween. We flashed back to 1994, and in what was one of the most unsettling five minutes of television, we watched Tate menacingly and calmly stalk his classmates in the library until he shot all of them dead…point-blank, no less.
Back in the present, Violet (Taissa Farmiga) used Google a generic search engine to research the school shooting, and she discovered that her boyfriend Tate was indeed dead. How? After the shooting, the SWAT team swarmed the house, and while Constance cried in agony, they gunned down Tate in his room.
How did Violet take it? Not well. She tried denying it, but Constance told her straight up: "This is what's up, Vi. People be dead and haunting and s--t!" OK, Jessica Lange said it much more classy-like.
Violet was so beside herself with fear and confusion, she ended up popping too many happy pills to cope. Tate found her, dragged her into the shower, made her throw up the meds and held her oh-so-tenderly while she cried. It was…the most screwed up tender moment we've ever seen. Standard practice on AHS.
Are we sure Violet didn't die? Also, Tate still doesn't know exactly what he did in the past, which means he's the first ghost we've met who didn't know how they got trapped in the house.
Vivien Might Be Starting an Affair: Besides being fed lots of raw pig organs (even brain) by Constance and Moira (for the baby), Vivien is striking up a friendship with her security officer, Luke (Morris Chestnut). She's calling him over to "check out the house for safety reasons," and that led to an fairly intimate coffee date at the house. Is she just looking to get back at Ben (Dylan McDermott) for all the awful things he's done? Or does she genuinely need someone around to help her feel safe? Either way, we don't blame her.
Meanwhile, Ben is still at the house to continue working as the worst psychiatrist ever. RIP Eric Stonestreet. But Ben does throw on a pair to show up for his wife's latest ultrasound. And we found out that the nurse that passed out in the previous episode has quit her job and is spending her days in a church. Why? Because she thinks Vivien's unborn child is the devil. We do, too.
Constance Has a Medium on Retainer: We finally got to see Sarah Paulson in her medium role as Billie Dean. Kind of bummed that she spoke to Addie to help Constance deal with her pain, but we never actually got to see Addie. We're not entirely confident that Billie Dean is for real. And until we actually see her speaking with ghosts, we'll be suspicious.
BURNING QUESTIONS
- Is Vivien's baby in danger? Or is it a danger to Vivien?
- Will Violet accept Tate's ghost status? Could she possibly be a ghost now, too?
- Can Ben and Vivien really ever come back from the Halloween incident?
- We missed Rubber Man. Is that weird?
WHAT LIES AHEAD
Tate's Long Journey: A source close to show tells us that Tate will eventually come to terms with who he is and what he did, but not until this season's last three episodes. And those episodes will be "shocking." Shocking in AHS terms is something we're both scared and excited to experience.
Medium at Large: Yes, Billie Dean will come back, but not until episode 11. And she will be "very afraid" of some of the ghosts she'll encounter. Are these ghosts we haven't met yet? That remains to be seen, and episode 11 is sooo far away!
Childhood Flashback: A couple episodes from now, we'll be going back in time to a certain character's childhood. And it's a main character at that. We'll eliminate one: It's not Violet.
What did you guys think of Tate's big backstory? How devastating was the opening scene? Are you chomping at the bit for more answers? Head on down to the comments for our weekly speculating.