Tate & Infantata

If you haven't already read this post from after Episode 11, or this post from before Episode 11 -- go check them out. Be warned -- creepy pictures of the infantata follow.

So basically -- in the first article I talked about the infantata and what we've learned about it. In the second article, I analyzed the relationship between Nora, Thaddeus/infantata and Tate. I suggested that a story found on the youregoingtodieinthere.com website, written by a small child was about Tate. Someone commented on the post and felt that the timeline didn't exactly match up-- which at the time, I completely agreed with.

However, once I saw the spoiler still below, I knew I was right. Let's check it out, shall we?

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Take a look at these two stills -- I'm definitely thinking that's young Constance. A lot of people online are theorizing that the young boy in the photo is actually Tate's son, rapidly growing or perhaps a fast-forward in time. I don't think we've ever had a fast-forward in time, only flashbacks, so I'm ruling that out. It looks to me like this is supposed to the younger Constance and the boy looks strikingly similar to the young Tate we met last week in a flashback. 

What do you think Tate or his offspring?

LINK: Recap with an interesting twist!

I hadn't really picked up on this until I read this recap over on cliqueclack.com, writer Keith McDuffee brings up a rather interesting point about the cribs.

"Now to the cribs. I found it interesting that the cribs the two guys put together were two different colors and styles, and they clearly had a good/evil vibe going on. It was as though you could put God in one and the Devil in the other, with the red crib being rather pointed, the white one clean and smooth. After Vivien gave birth to the babies — the first, smaller one being stillborn — Chad is seen burning the red crib in the basement furnace. I’m wondering if that was symbolic of the stillborn baby being the baby meant for the red crib — Tate’s son — and the one that survived being Ben’s. Reading too much into it? Will we find out soon if the surviving child is Ben’s? And will that stillborn baby forever “live” on at Murder House now?"

Completely right about the two different gifts, and particularly interesting that Chad was burning the red crib with no white one in-site. Do you think it was symbolic that Tate's son was actually the one that was still-born? I thought it was interesting that Dr. Montgomery gave Nora the first baby, especially after she told Tate that she would take the baby, not caring about Violet. 

"GO AWAY!"

So, after Violet is dead (and doesn't know it yet) Tate tells her that if the ghosts scare her to close her eyes and tell them "go away" and they can't hurt her.

In episode 11, 'Birth' we witness Tate learn to do this from Nora Montgomery. Tate's a little boy, just throwing his toy truck down into the basement... when Thaddeus attacks him. Nora comes out of nowhere, and emphatically tells Thaddeus NO. He backs away and she hugs Tate and asks his name. Gives him the same advice he would later give Violet.

Ok, so we know the statement works if you're alive or dead because it would work for Tate as an alive little kid and Violet, even though she 's a ghost. But does the statement last?

Violet tells Tate to go away at the end of the episode, it takes a few tries, but he eventually disappears crying hysterically. Viv tells her that she was brave and comforts her -- but this can't banish Tate from good from her life, can it? Why else would they all be looking for a way to get rid of Chad and Patrick when they were worried about them trying to take their babies.

It seems to me that it makes them disappear for awhile, but eventually they will run into you again. Who knows!

Regardless, I don't think this is last of what we'll see between 'Violate' as they've been dubbed, interestingly enough.

What do you think? How does 'GO AWAY' in the infamous Murder House work?

Thaddeus (or the Infantata) + Tate + Nora = WOW.

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Well, we certainly did learn a bit more about the infantata, in last night's episode, the Birth.

We also got a full front of the creepy little thing!!

Before I dive into the topic of the infantata and his relationship with Tate-- I want to make sure everyone knows about this awesome site: http://www.youregoingtodieinthere.com/ -- it's a site by FX that allows you to explore different rooms in the house, each room with it's own set of clues about a murder dating back to the 1940's with a dead bride -- seems as though there are at least 5 murders that have occurred in the house that we have yet to learn about.

What's really interesting to us, for this discussion, is the 1970's -- this was when Tate was a baby and judging from last night, apparently living in the house. I always knew there was something going on between the Infantata and Tate -- as he is the only ghost we see interact with him in the basement during scare tactics for high school bullies. Basically it's a room in the attic with a couple of different clues.

The first thing that will grab your attention is the projector screen, playing a movie on loop -- it's a movie of a little girl dressed in what looks to be a princess outfit. There's someone making a shadow puppet on the screen -- horns. We cut to a scene at the beach, which looks like there's a boy and a girl, here the shadow starts strangling the screen or what looks to be the little girl? We'll get back to this.

The next clue is a painting on the far left wall of a boy and a girl who look pretty close in age. There's blood splattered over the painting. Notice that the blood is only around the girl, there's none over the little boy.

Next clue: Blood stained ice skates? Creepy and gross.

The next clue is a mummified creature, that looks like a rabbit?!

Now the best clues of all are on the right hand wall. It's a story written and drawn by what seems like a little kid taped to the wall. Check out the screen shot of the stories.

The full story reads, "Alex was really small and didn’t know how to talk yet. But he had friends. Every night when his mom would put him in bed, he would play with a small monster with a really dark face. Alex wasn’t afraid of the monster because the monster told Alex all about dying and that it wasn’t that bad. When Alex told his mom about the monster she sent him away to camp to get rid of his bad ideas. Alex hated the camp, but it was ok because the dark monster came with him. After a week of trying to be a better baby. Alex got to go home. He promised his mom he wouldn’t talk to the monster again and Alex really tried. But the monster knew so many things. He taught Alex things that most babies don’t know and Alex liked that. So they kept playing. And then the dark monster invited other friends to play. A black cat and a rhinoceros. They were great animals and Alex loved them. But the dark monster told Alex that he had to kill them or else he would tell his mom about their playtime. So Alex asked that dark monster for a knife and he cut up the animals and put them in his drawer. No one ever found the animals even though they looked and looked for twenty four hours. It was hopeless but Alex knew where they were. And the dark monster never told Alex’s mom about what he did, EVER."

Watching the episode last night, I was convinced that the little boy Alex in the story was Tate, but as I read it over I'm beginning to wonder -- if this is in the 1970's, wasn't the flashback of Tate (presumably) meeting Thad for the first time in 1984? That wouldn't make sense. What do you think? Is Tate Alex in the story? Was Tate corrupted by the infantata at a young age?

I really think so. I want to talk a bit about the scene -- I thought it was telling the way Constance was passed out on the couch and Tate was running around the house, as if he was by himself. The door opening was comparable to the scene where Tate is popping up around the house in Piggy Piggy and the basement door opens inviting Violet to go downstairs. 

Regardless, baby Tate drops his truck downstairs and when he goes to retrieve is treated with a full view of the infantata, who starts grabbing at him. Who comes to save him in just the nick of time? Nora of course, acknowledging -- she yells at Thaddeus to go away -- which means she knows that is her former son and that he resides in the house. 

I've been reading that people are suggesting the infantata did indeed die and is a ghost, not a living being. Tate gives Violet the same advice Nora gave him years before: "Close your eyes and tell them to go away" when the ghosts seem to be frightening her. Doesn't this only work with ghosts? Could Nora have killed the re-made baby Thaddeus when she attacked him with a letter opener? Maybe she just didn't realize he was dead after she did that because he immediately turned into a ghost. I'm going with the theory that the infantata is a ghost, but with some special evil powers of his known.

It's clear in the story above that the dark little monster is indeed the infantata -- but who does he corrupt? I'm really leaning towards the theory that he corrupted Tate and he doesn't remember certain events that the infantata was controlling him. What do you think?

I enjoyed learning the back-story of Tate and Nora's relationship. To the people who were suggesting he was in love with her, no way. Never thought that for a moment, he definitely does share a maternal connection with her, as it seems in that scene, she was one of the first to ever protect him and treat him like a son. Pausing for a moment, don't you sort of feel bad for Tate? His mother was an abusive, drunken psycho who killed his father, his mother's boy-toy killed his brother, he was a little boy meeting ghosts and evil demons in the basement, he had no guidance. I really do sort of feel bad for him, is it any wonder he's so screwed up?

I want to go back to the fact that Nora acknowledged Thaddeus as her son and that Tate needed protecting from him, but yet in present day when Tate walks in, she doesn't know him. Does Nora still know that Thaddeus is in the house? Do we maybe not know the real reason she wants a baby so bad? We've never seen her and Dr. Montgomery interact until last night's episode, when he hands her the still-born baby. 

Seems to me like there's a lot more to this... at least we know why Tate was so dead-set on pleasing Nora, which he know apparently regrets since he's in love with Violet. Here's to hoping we explore Tate and the infantata's relationship in the finale!

So what do you think? Does the story from youregoingtodieinthere.com have anything to do with Tate? Are Tate's evil ways a product of the Infantata? Why have we never seen Nora acknowledge the creep in the basement that's her son in present day? Is there another reason other than her sheer desire for a baby that is causing Nora to cry and be obsessed with a baby?

RECAP ROUNDUP: EPISODE 11, BIRTH

What an episode! The second to last installment of the first season of American Horror Story, surely did not dissapoint this week. Check out the links below to the best recaps I've found on the web about last night's episode. Feel free to comment with your own additions!

AfterElton.com -- A nice clean recap of everything that happened in 'Birth' -- Brian Juergens injects his own humor and snide comments into this recap that's sure to make you crack a smile.

Washington Post Entertainment -- Another one of my weekly favorites-- Jen Chaney and Paul Williams raise a number of different questions stemming from last night's episode -- a good read for sure.

NJ.com -- This recap is a little different than we're used to -- writer James Queally offers his opinion of the show and what direction season 2 should go in.

WallStreetJournal -- A tidy little recap about the episode written by Gwen Orel, which insinuates at the end that Tate knows what he did.

LINK: Interview with Evan Peters, Tate

Hello, all of you Tate-lovers -- check out this link featuring a Young Hollywood video interview with Evan Peters, who plays Tate on American Horror Story.

BTW -- Nice hair, Evan. LOL!

The Meaning of the Name "Tate" & "Thaddeus"

I was interested in what the name 'Tate' meant, so I started googling, the common consensus among most of the baby-naming websites I ended up at, was Tate meant 'cheerful' of all things.

Then I came across this website... and found: 

Interesting that one of the roughly similar names is Thad. Thad obviously derives from Thaddeus, which is the real name of our crazy monster in the basement. 

Ok, so what does Thaddeus mean?

It's derived from the Greek word "thaddai" meaning "Heart" apparently. Interesting considering the monster has the heart of a once-living being. The other meaning-possibility is that it is derivation of 'Theodore' which is interpreted to mean "God's gift." Think there's a bit of loaded meaning on his name??

'Tate' and 'Thaddeus' sounded a bit too similar for them not to mean something -- I'm really hoping that we find out exactly what the connection between Tate and the infantata is before the end of the season. There's got to be something serious there, lol. 

So Violet IS Dead!

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So we finally learn for sure in Episode 10, Smoldering Children that Violet is indeed dead. I suspected this as soon as she took all of those pills -- it seemed clear to me that she was going to die. Read about why I thought this here, if you're interested.

It was a very emotional scene when Tate presented Violet the ghost with her dead body. It seemed like Tate was genuinely upset about her dying -- which shows a selfless action of his, finally. He wanted Violet to live because of what she could of accomplished, not dead for selfish reasons so she would stay in the house. Both Taissa Flemig and Ryan Murphy confirm that Taissa did not see her prosthetic dead body until she they filmed that scene -- so her reaction is pretty real. (Sources: Taissa Interview, Ryan Murphy Interview)

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Tate does a good job of covering it up in the past few episodes. I re-watched the episodes in between and Tate actions make so much more sense now that we know what actually happened. When Viv wakes Violet up in the middle of the night, and he runs outside of her and is mumbling to himself -- he's not being as big of a creep as I originally thought, he doesn't want the ladies to find out! Also when Violet goes exploring in the attic and is spooked by Beau - he tells her that the spirits can't hurt her anymore. This whole act adds an interesting element to Tate's character. I wonder if in some way, his relationship with Violet could help him get over whatever it is that's plaguing him to be so evil -- or cross over.

I wondered, at first, whether or not Violet actually died because she overdosed -- I read some comments on various sites of people suggesting that maybe Ben actually killed her? This article in particular makes the suggestion that Ben is indeed sinister enough to do something like this.

Jen Chaney says, "Ben didn’t seem all that surprised about the flies swarming the apples in his living room. (His non-plussed response — a remark about how he should not have left food out — struck me as odd.) Also, Vivien told him when he came to visit her in the hospital, “I think you’re the one that’s crazy. I really mean it.” And then there was the way Tate, in his Rubber Man suit, attacked Ben. He seemed genuinely angry, especially when he hissed, “The only reason I’m not killing you is for her.” If Tate kills Ben on the premises, something he might want to do if he knows Violet’s dad is the real reason for her death, Violet will be stuck with Ben for eternity. So Tate refused to do it."
I'm not sure what I think about this -- it seems that Violet died in the same position that she was in lying on her bed after downing all of the pills, with her arms curled up. Even though her arms/hands do like they're grabbing at something around her neck. However the ghost Violet shows no outward signs of a struggle from being killed.

I wouldn't put it past Ben to do something like that, but I just don't see how it could make logically sense. It would make sense to me that Violet died in her bed and the whole shower scene with Tate was merely a lie to get her to think she didn't die alone.... but I'm not so sure that's even worth exploring.

The other thing that I looked into was the blowflies, that seem to have given away that Violet was indeed dead. First, I want to ask -- what do we think is going to happen with the missing exterminator in the next episode? I really hope the cops come investigating the Harmon's in one of the next two episodes -- there have been so many weird happenings and missing people in that house. It's just odd. Though, I guess most of the cases have been resolved -- the patient who slit her wrists, one of the home invasion people -- isn't someone seeing a pattern in Ben's patients? What about the other two burglars?

Regardless, it seems like blowflies start acting a corpse pretty quickly, and will grow in numbers even more rapidly -- which also seems like there would have been an explosion of them alot sooner, but perhaps that was a detail that was just overlooked.

What do you think, did Violet really die of the overdose? How do you think Viv and Ben are going to find out? Will they believe her?

Check out the spoilers if you can't wait for answers to some of those questions.

RECAP: Episode 10, Smoldering Children (Part 1: Larry & His Smoldering Family)

Let me just start out with, WOW. That episode was sort of mind-blowing; I read a few recaps this morning that say we didn't learn much in this episode and there were no shocking relevations -- did you watch the same episode as me? I thought this episode was chock-full of information, clues and revelations about the story outside of the twins.

Instead of going scene by scene, I'm going to go topic by topic in this episode and break into up into a few posts..

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Let's talk Larry first since it seems the audience has said goodbye to him in this episode. I had assumed Tate's mass-murders were committed before Larry had moved into the house, but we learn at the very beginning of Smoldering Children that I was very wrong. Apparently, the real story goes: Larry was cheating on his wife with Constance, who had already lost the house and was living next door. He 'loved' her, she just wanted a way back into the house, according to Tate. Larry tells his wife that they need to get a divorce because there's another woman, so she sets herself and their two daughters on fire. Larry finds them, but it's too late.

Apparently after this 'little' incident, Constance moves into the house with Addie and Tate, who are both still well and alive. They are all sitting down to enjoy a wonderful 'family dinner' when Tate offers to say grace -- which launches him into a tyrade about being thankful for the stupid man that is blind and can't see that his mother is taking advantage of him, his father leaving the family when he was six and Tate wishing he could have come along, among many other things. Constance gets visibly upset, accusing Tate of not being appreciative of the gifts he was blessed with, unlike his other siblings. Addie remarks that she's excited to see Larry in a theater production, which sets Tate off -- he screams that she's a smart girl and should know that Larry killed their brother Beau. Wonder if Larry killed Beau before his family died in the house or after? Also, I wonder how much Larry knew about the house at this point -- he must have known at least some of the details of the ghosts of the house, given that he knows it now, and the day after this dinner he is burned by Tate...

Regardless, it seems like Larry was making a genuine attempt at creating a family for him and Constance in the Murder House, but had no idea when moving into the house what trouble Constance and the rest of her brood would cause for him. Sort of makes me think that Larry started out as a good person, and was somehow corrupted by either the house or Constance. There's an adulterous theme that runs through the house -- beginning with Hugo cheating on Constance with Moira, Larry cheating on his wife with Constance, Patrick cheating on Chad, Ben cheating on Viv... does the house have something to do with this? I'm going to say that it must in some way -- we know that both Viv and Chad feel like they're going crazy since moving into the house and remark that their partners are acting differently. Although Ben doesn't cheat on Viv specifically in the house, he does cheat on her in Boston when he goes to visit Hayden for the abortion while he is residing in the house. What is it about adultery? Why are each of our 'families' ruined by it? Does this tie to the fact that Nora and Charles Montgomery's relationship was broken in the house or that infatata was created there?

Back to Larry -- so we now know why he is burned the way he is. Tate seems to have stayed up all night after their 'family dinner' doing drugs and getting mad -- he sets off at 7am to Larry's job, storms into his office, throws gasoline on a half-paying attention Larry and sets him on fire. He then makes his way to school to do the things, we already known he did that faithful day. Larry goes into a burn ward after this, and I have to wonder what happened to the house? Did Constance get to stay there or did she have to move back to the next-best-thing-next-door?

Apparently Larry wasn't exactly the most stand-up guy after moving into the Murder House -- he cheated on his wife, watched her and their kids burn in a fire in the house, killed Hayden, lied to Ben, tried to set the house on fire in one of the Halloween episodes, disposed of Travis' body among many other things I'm sure we don't know about. Wonder what else Larry did that he is repenting for in jail right now?

The scene with Larry's children was wonderful -- Larry is in the basement looking for Travis' bloody jeans and the murder weapon in the wall when Travis appears, asking what he's doing. Travis asks for newspaper clippings so he could read about how famous he has become. Larry looks distracted: it seems like here his thought is to take the evidence and plant it to frame Constance for the murder, even though Hayden really comitted it. While talking to Travis, a young girl's voice calls him over -- we see two children, burned and smoldering playing tea time in the basement. Larry looks at them bewildered -- it's his children. His wife, Noreen, appears sporting a burnt look as well. We can infer that Larry has never seen his wife and kids in the house before, and is wondering why now? Noreen answers the question for him -- he's ready, he's on the cusp. Cusp of what? I'm not sure -- but I'm thinking it's the cusp of repenting for his sins.

Larry tells Noreen he's going to make Constance pay for what she did to their family, and Noreen tells him he broke his vows, not Constance and demands he prove he's sorry for what happened. Larry decides to go down to the police station and confess to murdering Travis.

Was Larry's only reason for confessing to repent for his sins against his own family and the Langdon family? Or was there a hint of wanting to protect Constance in there? In the scene in his apartment with Constance, it seems like Larry can't let go of the fact that Constance never loved him -- he didn't want to believe it when Tate told him in '83 and he doesn't want to believe it now. This carries throught to the last scene of the episode, when Constance visits him in prison to find out why he confessed. Larry explains his reasoning and says that he can deal with anything that comes his way if she just tells him she loves him, Constance ignores his request and leaves, with one of the iciest looks I've seen.

So what have we learned about Larry? Well, he didn't kill his family, he still loves Constance, he got his burns in a very metaphorical way from Tate, and he seems like he used to be a good guy before the powers of the house got to him. Which, in earlier episodes when he's stalking Ben -- he explains that he can relate to feeling 'weird' and strange happenings since moving into the house.

I thought it was interesting that Travis calls Larry's daughters, sweet girls, just a little 'needy' -- why needy?

I'm sort of sad to see Larry go, he was a really interesting character. I also think it's sort of comedic that for a character to be 'killed off' on this show -- they need to be sent to prison out of state, haha. I don't think this is the last we will hear about Larry -- we've seen a fair share of foul play come from Larry and I can't help but think those aren't all of the crimes he committed...

What do you think?

Total sidenote: Do you think Tate knew about the powers of the house before he killed Larry? Is that why he made it a point to attempt to murder him OUTSIDE the house?

LINK: Special Preview of Episode 10 Video!

Hello All!

FX just posted a special preview of tomorrow night's episode, check it out here.

Pretty intense fight scene between RM and Ben -- I love RM's shake of the head when Ben demands he show him his face. I still can't help but think the latex suit makes Tate into a different character completely -- just like the clerk in the S&M store said, it dehumanizes.

So what do we think?? Does Ben get killed by RM? Will Viv come home? What does Tate do to Violet that she's screaming for her dad in the promo?

EEK! I'm getting so excited!!!

ROOM OF TEARS, THE POPE AND THE ANTICHRIST

So, upon hearing Billie, the medium's recount of what happens in the "Room of Tears" a new Pope is decided on, I decided to do a little research.

Interesting Fact: The process of electing a new Pope is called a "conclave," which is the world's oldest means of electing a leader of an institution. (Source)

The "Room of Tears" does exist, as a small room next to the Sistine Chapel. The Pope enters once he has been officially elected, and puts on a robe and is proclaimed as the new Pope in a speech. Unfortunately, I find no mention of a box anywhere.

Billie's interesting twist, of course, is that once the Pope enters the room, he is given the key to a box that contains a very emphatic small piece of paper that holds the ultimate secret. The secret to the end of the world: The antichrist will be a spirit-human baby, the essence of pure evil. Billie goes on to explain that it would be a perversion of the Immaculate Conception -- if Mary got pregnant through a whisper from an angel, you'd think the devil would "want a litlte more bang for his buck."

Yikes, really?

So, what do we think? Expecting a twist in this in the upcoming episode? I think at this point we all are. My guess is that the evil baby kills the good baby somehow, but I'm wondering how the whole end of the world scenario is going to play out -- I mean we've got a second season scheduled already... haha.

I like how the writers took a lot of pieces of reality and added their own elements to them -- this something accomplished in many of the story lines that I think is executed pretty well.  The Black Dahlia murders for example, as made evident here, were based in a good amount of fact: the condition of the body was accurate, the overall character was based on alot of what was speculated about Elizabeth Short in the media after her death. We also got a fairly logical (be it just wrong.) explanation for her death, plus the AHS-esque element: Dr. Montgomery preparing the body for portability. The whole antichrist thing is based in some truth about the room the Pope enters, and does make a bit of sense when you put yourself into this strange world where ghosts roam and behave like humans, with no obvious signs of their lack of life.

What do you think? Are they getting a bit overboard with the storyline or does it seem like a normal progression giving the circumstances of the show? How is this going to pan out?

Getting back to what Billie actually told Constance about this spirit-baby antichrist, she mentions that the archangel Michael merely whispered in Mary's ear to get her pregnant and this is the devil. This got me thinking: if the archangel Michael did it to Mary, who's the opposite that would impegrante? So I did a bit of googling and reading...

When I first googled I found this site that basically asserts that Lucifer is a fallen archangel, equivalent to the archangel Michael and is NOT satan himself. Does that mean Tate is Lucifer?

"Lucifer was a "great" Archangel, Prince, and the anointed Cherub (7th Dimension - Cherubim). Ever after his fall he still seems to retain some of his power and ancient title. There are many different variations of stories and legends on Lucifer." (source)




Interesting -- this could make sense, if Tate was originally a good soul as a child, but then corrupted by the devil/evil forces (the infatata in the basement or perhaps the house itself?), an archangel's story of being cast out of heaven would be quite a fitting metaphor. Wikipedia also notes that the theory of Lucifer being a different entity from the devil has recently been growing popularity.

I find it interesting that the quote mentions that after his fall he retains some of his power -- what power does he retain? Maybe Tate doesn't 'remember' shooting the DBC because it was at that point that he was taken over by evil and his morals went out the window apparently.




I can't wait to find out what happens in the next episode and where this story goes. Can you? Do you think Tate will turn out to be some sort of devilish being? Will there be a loophole to get out of it being born? Will Viv and the good baby survive the birth?

As a closing note, did you notice the AHS writers manage to add yet another 'american horror story?' A fear of many Americans, the rapture or end of time...

The Black Dahlia, After the Episode

Thought it was really interesting what they did with Elizabeth Short's story -- in terms of the AHS world, they gave us a really plausible story. The Black Dahlia case, as everyone knows, is still unsolved and the subject of media coverage to this day -- countless books have been written on theories surrounding her murder. I thought it was fantastic that the writers took a real life American Horror Story in the case of the Black Dahlia and applied it to the show, all the while answering the great mystery.

They followed what happend to the body pretty closely -- from what I read on Wikipedia (I claim to be no expert on this, haha.) her body was cut in two, sort of meticulously and severly mutilated. Apparently some had believed that it might have been done by a doctor because of the precision. Her face was slashed from the corners of her mouth to near her ears, apparently this is called a "Glasgow smile." We got a reason for this -- Dr. Montgomery was getting drugged up, doing what he does best -- mutilating dead beings. Gross.

He offers his fellow doctor the explanation that he drained the blood for easier transporting. Charles also explains that her face was just too sad looking and that's why the slashings were there.

Interesting.

However, she was also said to severly beaten and it looked as if she or her body had been tied up.

"Gilmore surmised in his book that before the coroner's report was handed to the police working on the case, only Elizabeth and her mother knew about her sexual limitations. Knowledge of this fact only added to her mother's pain in the few weeks following the murder when the press portrayed her daughter as a man-chaser and a hooker."

Check out the article the excerpt from above is from -- a good read about Elizabeth short if you're interested.

So apparently, the writers stuck more with the media-fabricated story than the truth, but I'll take. I thought it was really interesting. Not sure if it plays into the story any further than the piggy man guy did, but it was cool and she is a ghost in the house we haven't met yet. What did you think?

Leads to me to think that maybe she was supposed to serve as an example for what Tate needs? She wanted help from Ben because he was a therapist. It seemed like after their talk Hayden helped her -- she snapped her out of her dream and made her perhaps accent her death and the circumstances surrounding her? Could Tate just need to accept his death and the circumstances leading it to be a peaceful soul?

Back Miss Short. I was happy to see her reappear and her story be given an present day ode-to (for the second time!) later in the episode after Hayden kills Travis who just wants to be famous as well. Travis' ghost, Hayden and Elizabeth plan for him to be found just as Short was, convincing Larry to cart him to some grass near a basketball court.

In that scene, it really does seem like Elizabeth has come to grips with her death and achieving her dream because she encourages Travis to follow her lead.

Wonder if we'll see her again? I doubt it, but it would be fun!

What do you think of the whole Black Dahlia inclusion?

-- EDITED --

Apparently, the story AHS fabricated for Elizabeth Short's death isn't too far off from one of the actual suspects' in the case -- Walter Bayley is now considered a suspect -- he was a fine surgeon at the time, suffering from a degenerative brain disease. It is said that he was seperated, but his mistress knew a deep, dark secret of his. Read more about him and other suspects in the case here.

RECAP: EPISODE 9 "SPOOKY LITTLE GIRL" (PART 1)

An old school yellow cab pulls up on a residential block. Black pumps step on the sidewalk and a beautiful woman steps out; she looks up at none other than the Murder House. She's there to Dr. David Curan, a dentist new to her and to the rest of us. She's dressed all in black with a white dhalia highlighted in her shiny black hair. It's 1947.

They enter his office and she explains that she hears he helps girls without a lot of money, she makes an advance for a mutual unofficial arrangement, putting a mask on her, Dr. Curan says "Just breathe."

-- Cut To Credits --

Well, at least we didn't have to wait to see Mena Suaveri in the episode. We cut back to present day: Ben walks into the bedroom where Moira is making the bed.  He asks her to make a sandwich for Violet and she just starts talking... and he just starts looking. She tells him that she misses Viv, they became close, makes a few advances at him in between.

"Don't worry your secret's safe."
"What secret?" Ben replies, bewildered.
"The way you look at me, the way you fantasize about me. You have a diseased mind, Ben, must be why you become a therapist."

They go back and forth taking shots at eachother, Ben gets loud and Moira walks away to make Violet's sandwich, muttering "It's only a matter of time, the mind is unwilling but flesh is weak." (I think!)

We cut Constance (so glad to see her again) painting in her kitchen. Ironically enough it's looks like a demon thing, maybe the devil, with an apple and a naked woman, presumably Eve.  Her young beau comes in and she starts talking to him like he's absolute garbage-- meanwhile she's committing an ultimate crime: smoking his last cigarette. He elects to run down to the store to grab a carton (chain-smokers?!) with the dog -- on his way he runs into a very clever Hayden.

She's hanging on the fence of the house as he walks by and strikes up on a conversation. Hayden suggests that the lady next door seems a little old for him and is a royal b*tch, he suggests they should run away together.

They have a grand old time -- Hayden gives him some advie on his relationship with Constance -- leave her alone for a bit and she'll miss ya, basically. He says he's in love, then asks her story, how she lives there -- Hayden confesses she doesn't yet, but she will soon be moving in -- her and Dr. Harmon are in love.

The next morning presumably, there's a ring at the doorbell. Ben goes to answer it -- apparently it's Hayden's sister and the missing person's police officer, that Ben creepily recognizes. Anyone else seeing a pattern here? Hm? Hm?

They start harassing him -- bringing up things like how Ben was digging around the time Hayden went missing on her master plan to move to LA and get him to take care of her and their baby. Ben's starting to sweat, when to his surprise, Hayden walks in and acts like the world is just peachy keen.

Cut to Hayden cleaning up after guests like a good wanna-be wife, when Ben walks in declaring she has ten seconds to give him some answers. Hayden plays apologetic -- saying she was a crazy hormonal pregnant bitch when she came here last. But she's always been there for him, and she had the abortion -- just so he doesn't have to worry about it anymore. Right. What an actress of a ghost!

Cut to the woman from the opening scene, obviously the Black Dahlia, in Ben's office, unexpectedly. He's insisting she needs an appointment, she sits on the couch and starts talking about a dream that she can't wake up from. Ben makes her an appointment for the next day, and she offers herself as payment -- Ben has a vision that he succumbs to her, but then snaps out of it when his phone rings. It's the OBGYN, she declares that she doesn't want to have to tell him and not Viv, but the twins have two different fathers.

WOW. Rubber Man and Ben?

Ok, I just needed to acknowledge that, as I guessed something crazy like that was coming, but what a twist. And what are the consequences of this? Is this evil baby of Tate's going to eat Ben's good baby or something? Creepy.

Now, I want to note that the during their little 'session' -- the woman tells Ben her name is Elizabeth Short -- doesn't that ring a bell to him with her appearnace and all?

Anyway, our next scene is with Moira and Constance -- Constance is convinced it was Violet that fooled around with her beau and dog-walker, Travis the other night, but Moira insists that Violet wouldn't do that. Afterall, she's 'in love' with Tate. Moira then spills the beans that Viv is pregnant with two different men's babies and declares Violet won't believe in love so more when she finds out the truth about that.

Constance rushes down to the basement, calling out to Tate -- who appears looking quite timid this time around. Constance asks if what's she's heard is true. I thought it was interesting that Constance says they finally have someone to help him - how does Constance think Ben's therapy is going to help Tate cross over? It's hard for me to believe that Tate doesn't come to grips with the fact that he's a ghost, how else does he think he gets away with the things that he does? Appearing in a flash, for instance.

Also, I thought that the house held all of the souls that died there, or are we not being told something? Why else would Constance have told Violet she needed her help in getting Tate to 'cross over'? It seems like Moira is pretty with it though and understands what the deal, why can't she cross over? Or Beau? Why is he just a tortured soul in the house? Maybe Hayden doesn't have it all figured it, because Constance seems hell-bent on this issue of freeing Tate.

Could be that it's not to free Tate of the house, but free Tate of his violence actually. Anyway, back to the recap.

Upstairs, Ben walks in on Miss Short and Moira getting kinky -- they ask if he wants to join, Ben is drawn to them, has a mini-fantasy about it and then demands they leave. Moira retorts, Ben fires her and walks out. The Black Dahlia starts crying and exclaims, "You told me this was what he wanted!" and that she needed the help. Hayden appears: "She's using you."

Hayden sits down to chat. She explains that her selfish dreams about coming famous will never come true. We see a softer side of Hayden, ask if she knows who she is -- Elizabeth Short. Hayden starts to explain that she is famous -- we cut back to 1947.

Dr. Curan is having some fun with a passed out, now dahlia-less girl. He takes the mask off her, to begin the dental procedure (way to pretend to be a good guy!) and realizes that she's unresponsive. He panics and brings her down to the basement and man startles him -- who just so happens to be none other than Charles Montgomery. He assures him he will take care of it and goes to work.

He ends up cutting the body in half, and draining it of blood for easy, traceless transporting. Apparently, he also thought her face looked so sad, so he gave her a creepy, creepy smile. Cut back to present day, Beth is saddened that she was found naked and dead. Hayden comforts her with the fact that she was on the covers of newspapers for 2 months. Beth realizes that she finally did become famous.

Next we join Ben on a visit to the insane asylum. We learn from a nurse that Viv had be restrained because she attacked one of the workers after he offered the theory that the rubber man rapist was a sexual fantasy. Ben walks in and Viv seems overly enthused. Not. She won't even look at him, when he goes off on this tyrade about how everything was a sham this whole time and she played him out worse than he did her. Blah Blah Blah. I thought it was a low blow how he started the monologue, "You're probably thinking 'Thank God' he's here to get me out of this terrible place -- it's like hell."

Speaking of their were a ton of Catholic references in this episode -- including Ben's reference to Viv being in hell here. As well as Constance's weird painting -- more on that in a separate post.

-- End Part 1 of the Recap, my fingers are tired! --

LINK: Fantastic Interview with Kate Mara, Hayden on AHS

The Hollywood Reporter did a wonderful writeup on their interview with Kate Mara, Hayden on American Horror Story. THR asks Mara some of our burning questions -- such as, how does Hayden plan on getting Viv back in the house to have the babies? We also found out that in tomorrow's episode -- we learn a little bit more about the beginnings of Hayden and Ben's relationship back on the East Coast.

Check out the interview here.

My favorite parts of the article:

"THR: How sure is Hayden that Vivien's "twins" are Tate's/The Rubber Man's?
Mara: Hayden is definitely convinced those are Rubber Man's babies. You're going to discover a lot more than that in next week's episode where you find more information about that; it's pretty shocking. You find out more information about the pregnancy and the twins -- it's not as simple as it seems."

This TOTALLY did not EVEN cross my mind until I read this article -- how do we know that Tate is the father of the babies? We don't! Hayden tells us that he is, but no one else does -- and the main point in the scene where Hayden reveals this to Viv is to make her crazy, so can we really trust this statement? Both Tate/RM and Ben have relations with Viv on (seemingly) the same day -- so we don't have enough information to really decide who is the father. Could be that Ben fathered the babies and Tate/RM inserted some sort of evil into them?

Notice Mara says about the pregnancy and the twins -- is it possible that what we learn about Popes and a key and spirits and humans during the promo for episode 9 doesn't apply to Viv's pregnancy? Wouldn't it hold much more weight if a VIRGIN (like VIOLET!) was impregnated by a ghost? Hmm.... They did do it in the last episode... hah.

"THR: Violet (Taissa Farmiga) is standing in the way of Hayden getting Tate behind her. Is Violet a friend or foe to Hayden?
Mara: Hayden doesn't really care about Tate; she thinks she'll seduce him and then he'll do what she wants. But when she realizes that won't work, that's when her brain goes, "OK, what does he want? He wants Violet, so how can he get Violet?" The easiest thing for Hayden is seducing him, which is what got her into trouble in the first place. When that fails, she goes to her next tactic: How can Hayden help him spend the rest of his life with Violet? You'll discover in maybe the next episode how that plan is going to unfold for Tate. Hayden doesn't care about Violet because she hasn't been in her way. Hayden's biggest concern is Vivien: How do I destroy Vivien and take her babies?"

This is definitely a 'triangle' that we've got to pay close attention to. The dynamic between Hayden and Tate is an interesting one -- Hayden tries seducing him to get her to do what she wants, after her seduction tactics fail, Hayden seems to be pleasantly surprised that her master plan is currently coinciding with Tate's plan to keep Violet in the house and in his 'afterlife.' (I almost typed life, as this seems like such a sappy high school love story between Tate and Violet and then I realized, its not. haha.) How long will Hayden's plan of driving Viv crazy and stealing the babies for herself work for Tate? It seems like Tate really just wants to make Nora happy -- what happens if Hayden goes nuts and takes both babies, or if there's only one born -- will Tate turn against her?

Really interested to see what happens between Tate and Violet -- with all of the rumors floating around that Violet might already indeed be dead -- I think it's fitting to point out Tate's line at the end of episode 8.

"It's sort of romantic. Now they'll be together forever."

Great way to end the episode because it makes us think that maybe this is what Tate is after for him and Violet -- could Tate's violent ways end up hurting Violet? I've also read on various forums, people suggesting that by Violet dying -- either at the hands of Tate or Hayden or both even -- would be a great way to keep the Harmon's in the house for the next season -- that's what's holding Constance there, right?

Now go read the rest of the article -- it's interesting! :)

Constance's Family Tree

Thought it would be interesting to break down what we know about the former Madame of the house and her relationships with the characters we have met thus far.

We learned in an early episode that Constance has four children -- she explained that three had down syndrome, but one was born okay, but she lost him to other things.

Tate -- Son, Ghost. We can assume that maybe he is the normal one lost to other things, but with this show, who knows! Tate is also the father of Viv's unborn twins and Violet's boyfriend. There has got to be a ton to this relationship that we haven't learned yet -- Tate references his mother as a ****sucker in the pilot episode and frequently mentions his mommy issues. Constance waves to him standing in a window of the house when she passes by in an earlier episode and she is ignored. In episode 7, Constance comes to find him after his session with Ben and Tate really gives her the cold shoulder, explaining they are really getting to the root of his problems -- his mother.

Beau -- Son, Ghost. Beau is the big kid we met in the attic in episode 8 who was killed by Larry the Fire Guy.

Addie -- Daughter, Passed on. Addie was in her mid-30's when she was hit by a car on Halloween. Constance seemed to torture Addie with the fact that she was ugly (cue the mirror filled closet!) and a handful, but yet seemed so tortured by her death. Constance alluded to some strange things during the Halloween episode when she finds Addie in the kitchen reading with her boytoy.

Viv -- Next door neighbor and feeder of all things raw. Gross.

Moira -- Her former housekeeper that she caught having relations with her husband and shot in the eye.

Ben -- Next door neighbor and mother of one his patients -- now we know that Ben actually had someone to call in the episode where he tells Tate he can no longer treat him!

Hugo -- Husband?, Ghost. Was this Constance's husband for sure? Didn't Tate say that his father left when he was young? Was Hugo not Tate's father?

Larry -- Previous lovers? Alive. Larry and Constance's relationship is an interesting one that we definitely are going to find out more about. It seems as though Larry was in love with Constance beginning in 1994, I'm assuming after Tate's massacre -- Constance was living next door and Larry fell in love with her and broke things off with his wife. After killing Beau, Constance's son, as she demanded. Larry's family is in a room filled with flames -- however, we haven't met their ghosts yet -- which suggests they may have not died in the house. Denis O'Hare alludes to this in an interview found here.

"I wanted to talk about the first basement scene where Larry tells Constance that he loves her, and she says to him, 'Look what you did to yourself, look at what the house did to you.' And then he responds, 'The house didn't do this to me, you did this to me.' So she seems a little disgusted, and he sort of seems to blame her for his physical condition. Can you share with us more details about what this is all about?

Denis O'Hare: All I'll tell you is all will be revealed in, I guess it's Episode 9. There's an explanation of that, and I would be irresponsible if I said anything more. I love their evolving relationship, and I love the information we get. There's some great stuff in Episode 9 that comes out. We call it nine, sorry, that would be your ten, I think. But there's some great information that comes out about Constance's' life with Larry and Larry's attempts to become part of the family, which are sad and disturbing."

Seems as though the upcoming episode is going to tell us alot about Constance -- what she knows about the powers of the house, which I think will be telling on how she may have used/abused it.

LINK: Interview with Evan Peters, Actor who plays Tate

Check out this article from TV Guide, that interviews Evan Peters who plays Tate.

Especially interested in this excerpt:

Is the Rubber Man one of the spirits Tate can call on? How are they connected?
Peters: Well, it's unlikely they're the same person, but it is all related. If the suit is lying around, Tate can see it. Everything that goes on in the house is interconnected.
How did it feel wearing the gimp suit?
Peters: It's one of the most uncomfortable things I've worn in my life. It's latex, not thick rubber, and you're on a soundstage, so it's absolutely freezing. It's also very tight in the crotch area, so it's hard to sit down and stand up.

Peters' answer to the first question could support my theory that the Infatata is the connecting factor.

What do you think?

Rubber Man

We're all (im)patiently waiting the reveal of Rubber Man on tonight's episode, coincidentally sharing the same title as this blog post.

We caught a sneak peek at two (perhaps different!) Rubber Men during the promo FX has been airing and that can also be found here. We learn from this special preview that during tonight's episode Chad goes to an S&M start to spice up his relationship -- the shop-worker shows him around, finally deciding he should buy a large black S&M suit.

First, I'd like to discuss a theory I've seen floating around on AHS Facebook page and the IMDB discussion boards -- the notion that there might be two different suits that we've seen. Let's take a look at a few different versions of Rubber Man that we've seen:

Rubber Man:

(Source)

Tate in Rubberman Suit:

(Source)

Rubber Man suit seen in promo while Chad is shopping in S&M Store:

(Source: Screenshot from promo video linked above)

Seems to me like there is a strong possibility that there are two different suits -- the S&M suit that Chad bought to spice up their relationship, as seen in the promo for tonight's episode and the actual black latex suit that Rubber Man wears. I had a bit of trouble finding a bunch of good pictures to relate this -- I'm thinking back to the first episode, when Viv and Ben go exploring in the attic (total side note: how come we didn't see any signs of Beau during this? or did we?) and find the S&M suit -- I seem to remember it having some chains and buckles on it. Was this just because it was hanging, similar to the picture above from the S&M shop? Or is a different suit? The suit that Rubber Man wears (and coincidentally Tate wears when he scares Violet in the basement) is a very simple latex suit.

What do you think? Is there a possibility that there are two suits? What difference could this make in the story line?

Now onto my real theory...

Tate is Rubber Man.

Why do I think this? Well for a number of reasons (in no particular order)...

Tate appears in the Rubber Man suit in the basement to Violet -- she says "I thought my parents threw that away." and Tate replies with something to effect of "Finders, Keepers." Going against the above double suit theory, this could be a reference that Rubber Man was 'born' when Tate stole/found the suit in the attic after Chad bought it. This brings me to another side note -- I've read on FB/IMDB suggestions that perhaps Tate is actually the blonde Chad's significant other is cheating on him with -- thus Tate kills him as Rubber Man? Interesting thought... Back to Tate appearing as Rubber Man to Violet -- why? Why did he think it was a good idea to scare the girl he's been pining over in a black latex suit in a creepy basement on Halloween? Would you think that's a good way to get on a girl's good side? Personally, it doesn't work for me.

Tate wouldn't have sex with Violet on the beach. Tate didn't offer Violet a really plausible reason (granted it was a plausible reason for the situation -- 'Maybe it's the medication you're Dad's got me on' -- Remember, Violet didn't know Tate was dead yet.) -- so what was the reason? Could the reason be that Tate had already had relations (if you can even call it that...) with her mother and was uncomfortable doing it with mother and daughter?

Rubber Man hasn't killed anyone since the Harmon's moved into the house. In the last episode, Tate says to Violet "This is the better place now that you're here." Could Tate be pulling away from his evil ways because he's finally found love in Violet? This is going to lead me into my second theory about Rubber Man/Tate so stick with me here...

Tate as the blonde, normal - looking teenager is the good version of himself. Tate as Rubber Man is the evil version of himself, perhaps even controlled by Infatata. Tate knows alot about the history of the house, especially the original owners -- we know this because he gives Violet the run down of the story, I believe in one of the Halloween episodes. Though it still boggles my mind why a ghost would be interested in using a Ouija board, I digress... Tate also finds the photo's, mason jars and other junk in the attic and shows it to Violet -- how did he know where this stuff was? Why is he so interested in the history of the house and sharing it with Violet? I also find it interesting that we've seen hints (the dead rodents, slashed throats of the twin victims, "Charles, it's not milk that he wants!' - Nora Montgomery, etc) that the infatata needs blood to survive -- is it just coincidental then, that in the last episode Tate licks the blood off Violets wounds?

Also, let's think back to the first time we saw Tate's horrible acts in the high school -- he is disguised, face painted like a skeleton, almost completely covered and unrecognizable and dressed all in black. Could this be a clue that he wasn't himself? He was perhaps, being controlled by something else? Such as the Infatata? This gives us a reason as to why Tate did these horrible things -- maybe Tate is a good person (like Violet asks the teacher in the library) but something, like the infatata, is getting in the way of it. I could be wrong here, but I also seem to remember Tate's face being painted when Violet brings the bully to the house and brings her down to the basement -- another sign?

It's really hard for me to believe that Dr. Montgomery didn't have to sell his soul or the soul of Thaddeus the baby to bring the it back to life. There is ample evidence from the previous episodes that the Infatata is indeed some form of the devil, but I will leave that for another post. Let's just assume the Infatata is some form of the devil and is thus using/controlling Tate, dressed as the Rubber Man to do it's dirty work.

Getting back proving that Tate is indeed the Rubber Man -- think back to what Addie said to Constance through the medium -- "I'm glad I'm not in the house -- I'm scared of Tate now that I know the truth about him." This suggests there's obviously something we don't know about Tate yet -- very well could be that he's the Rubber Man or a number of other things given this show's incredible plot twists.

Let's jump back a few episodes again to the first Halloween episode -- Larry is knocking at the door, Violet calls her Dad super freaked out and Rubber Man appears behind her -- stares, and leaves. He had the perfect opportunity to kill her, but just walks away -- we don't see Rubber Man appear for no purpose in any other scene except this one. (Please correct me here if I'm wrong!) Could this be another reason that Tate is indeed Rubber Man? Regardless of the suit and the powers controlling him, he couldn't hurt Violet.

Another clue that Tate is the Rubber Man -- at the end of the promo, if you still the end scene where Rubber Man is taking off his mask, you see pieces of blonde hair appear under the mask.

Lastly, I read one of the original interviews with Ryan Murphy (source to come shortly) and he's asked about the identity of the Rubber Man -- his answers is obviously very vague, but he mentions that he thinks its so obvious and he's surprised that no one has figured it out yet. Would the obvious choice be Tate?

So what do you think? Do you think the Rubber Man is Tate, controlled by the Infatata perhaps? Or is the Rubber Man just another form of the Infatata?

Last question I leave you with: Do you think Violet is still living or did she die in the episode she overdoses in? Was Tate too late in saving her?

Happy watching!!