'American Horror Story: Roanoke' tops itself in a remarkably gruesome episode

Culture

Each week, we think the most recent episode of American Horror Story: Roanoke has been the most gruesome yet. But this episode tops them all.

We pick up right where we left off, with Dominic and Shelby watching Agnes get her head chopped off. Now, they're trying to figure out a way to escape the Roanoke nightmare house, all the while being hunted by its former residents. To top it off, the Butcher and her crew are waiting outside to slaughter them.

Dominic is frantically trying to find an exit after the Pig Man and a few other unwanted guests have reared their ugly heads. Unfortunately, Shelby has rendered herself useless after becoming understandably depressed due to, you know, murdering her husband and all. 

Just as Dominic is losing hope, Shelby snaps out of her zombie state and suggests that they leave through a secret passageway that's connected to the basement. But their exit through this passageway is anything but serene. Along the way, they run into Matt's bashed-in head and the Chen family, who make a surprise appearance as they crawl down the tunnel.

Since the secret passageway idea was a fail, Shelby and Dominic frantically run back into the house. They even run into the Pig Man again, but Shelby stabs him. After a few moments, the two reality stars finally end up in the master bathroom.

Dominic is once again stuck in a state of panic, trying to figure out a way to get the hell out of the house. Shelby, on the other hand, is mumbling to herself about how she killed the only man she's ever loved. The pain is apparently too much for her to handle, and she slits her own throat with a knife. Dominic looks on in horror, probably because he has realized that he's going to have to escape this ordeal on his own. (Not that Shelby was really all that helpful.)

Now our focus shifts to Lee, who is trapped at the Polk farm. Mama Polk is yammering on and on about her family's long history of engaging in cannibalism. Her son, Jether, has been tasked with slicing off a chunk of Lee's leg so they can turn it into jerky for Audrey and Monet. Jether even offers Lee cocaine to numb the pain. How thoughtful!

Lee turns down the cocaine at first, because she's committed to her sobriety, but she realizes that she's going to die, so it doesn't matter. Before she goes, though, Lee asks Jether to film a message for Flora since she won't have the opportunity to say goodbye. The message begins on a sentimental note but ends with her admitting that she murdered Mason. After filming her confession, Lee decides she has one trick left up her sleeve. She decides to seduce Jether and ends up stabbing him to death, making an impressive escape.

Mama Polk is obviously not happy that her son is dead. She sends two of her sons to look for Lee. Irritated at Audrey, she extracts one of her teeth. But Lee, who is proving to be a total badass, pops up to knock Mama out. Audrey also decides to take out her anger over losing a tooth by bashing Mama's head in with a hammer.

Audrey and Lee end up back at the Roanoke house. Lee is upset to see Matt dead, but Audrey tells her that they need to move it along. Once Dominic shows up, Lee is convinced that he's the one who killed Matt. Lee banishes him outside of the bedroom and the Pig Man kills him. Another man down. Lee decides that she wants to return to the Polk farm to recover the footage of her confession to killing Mason. As she opens the door downstairs, the Pig Man greets her. To everyone's surprise, it's Wes Bentley. 

How is this even remotely possible?  Find out during the next episode, airing Wednesday at 10 p.m. Eastern on FX.