So after plenty of new revelations, seductions and murder last week, American Horror Story is still an incredibly captivating show. As you can guess by the name, rubber man is a huge part of tonight’s episode, which was another winner for the rookie show.
Beginning six months ago, we see the ghost of the surgeon’s wife wandering through the house and freaking out because nothing in there is her stuff. A hand rests on her shoulder, and a man asks her, “How can I comfort you?” She asks for her baby back, and he leaves. We then see a hand reach into the Harmon’s trash and take out the rubber suit that was thrown away in the pilot episode. Of course, we all know this leads to the rubber man having sex with Vivien before Ben comes in and they go to sleep. But in the bathroom, we finally see the rubber man take off his mask to reveal himself as…Tate!
I’ll admit, I’ve been confused by a lot in this show, but even I kinda knew it would be Tate in there. Still, it’s nice to have an obvious answer instead of one that’s still shrouded in seven other mysteries. If you’ve followed the show, you also know that even though Tate is a ghost he still got Vivien pregnant, presumably so that the ghost of the surgeon’s wife could have a baby in the house. Vivien shows the picture Violet found in the last episode to the realtor and explains that the same woman in the photo (the surgeon’s wife) had been in their house before. The realtor blows off her story, but Moira reassures her that sometimes creepy things happen.
Meanwhile, in the past, Chad is seen meeting with a woman (his sister I think), revealing that his boyfriend is cheating on him (which we already knew). He finds his boyfriends account on an S&M website, and she tells him to get him back by getting into that stuff. He goes to a store to get some S&M stuff to try and win back his boyfriend, where he finds the rubber man suit (!) and buys it. When he tries to seduce his boyfriend with it, he gets blown off and confronts him about the man he’s been talking to on the S&M sites. They argue about how they’re about to lose the house because of money issues and the boyfriend storms out, leaving Chad alone and crying.
Back in the present, the surgeon’s wife is seen crying on the bed when Hayden walks in and tells her to shut up. She knows that she is dead, and tries to explain to the surgeon how there are other spirits trapped in the house, some of whom try to control the others (such as Moira). Hayden also reveals that the spirits can walk around the house unseen or they can choose to be seen whenever. She is seen killing a man, but he gets up and walks away, showing how she can’t physically hurt anyone. The surgeon’s wife starts crying about her baby again, and Hayden tells her about how she lost her baby too. They start to work together and decide to take Vivien’s twins.
That night, Vivien is alone when she starts getting tormented by Hayden’s spirit. When she runs into the bathroom, she finds the rubber man’s headpiece. This takes us back to watching Tate put on the costume in the bathroom again, before killing Chad and his boyfriend (which we already knew about). After he tosses the bodies in the basement, Tate comes down to talk to the surgeon’s wife. He tells her he killed them because they decided against having a baby, which means that a new family can move in and have one. Back in the present, Ben walks into the basement to find Violet rolling the ball and presumably talking to Beau (the deformed baby thing).
Ben talks to her about why she’s been missing school, but she starts to yell at him for driving Vivien crazy. Vivien is talking to Moira in the kitchen and tells her she blames her medication for the visions, but Moira says that it’s just men trying to keep women down. She also tells Vivien that the house is possessed and tells her to leave while she still can. Vivien grabs Violet and tries to leave, but is scared back into the house by some of the spirits. Ben and Vivien argue about her being crazy, and Violet is seen talking to Tate about how the spirits are trying to drive them out.
Vivien starts accusing Ben of trying to kill his family during the home invasion, and Violet comes down to tell Ben she didn’t see the spirits that Vivien did, even though she really did. Meanwhile, in the basement, Tate is preparing himself to do something while Hayden tells him that Vivien already bought tickets to get out of the house. She tries to seduce him, but he insists that he’s in love with Violet. Vivien meets with Marcy the realtor about the money they were supposed to receive from the man who made an offer on the house (he was killed by the spirits, of course), and then tricks her into leaving her purse on the couch while she gets Vivien water. Vivien steals her gun and makes her leave.
That night, Vivien checks all over her room to make sure no one is there, but just as she is falling asleep, she is attacked by the rubber man. As she’s freaking out, she hears someone burst into the room and shoots him. Too bad it’s just Ben coming to check on her. Luckily, she pushed the security button so an ambulance arrives and patches him up.
It was just a graze so he’s alright, but the can’t be said for Vivien since she’s still a little crazy. Luke, the security guy, tells the police that Ben doesn’t live there and all about how he has a mistress, which is kind of a jerk move. Luke continues to instigate until Ben kicks him out. Upstairs as Vivien tries to get back to sleep, Hayden wakes her up and starts yelling at her, revealing that she wants Vivien’s babies. She also tells her that the rubber man is the father of the children, and then Tate shows up and tries to rape her again.
As she tries to fight him off, Ben and Luke appear and snap her out of it. She asks them if they saw any of the people that were in her room, but she is disregarded as unstable and taken to a hospital to be evaluated. Violet tells Ben that it’s all her fault, but he thanks her for telling the truth about the incident instead. Of course, we know that Violet was lying, so she feels super guilty about it. Tate shows up to comfort her, and this leads to one more trip down memory lane. We see Tate drag Chad and his boyfriend into the basement. Chad is still barely alive, so he shoots both of them to make their case look like a murder-suicide.
So ends the saga of the rubber man! Tonight’s episode, written by Ryan Murphy himself, was an excellent example of how the show can work in the future. Murphy’s vision was brought to life as he presented more new mysteries while also answering a huge one. Seeing the history of the latex suit and how the spirits function in the house was hugely helpful, and it sets the series up to have many more incredible moments. Next week’s episode looks amazing so keep an eye out for next week’s recap!
Happy Thanksgiving to everybody as well! Leave your thoughts on today’s episodes in the comments below and tell me what strange, twisted happenings your thankful for from American Horror Story!
