AHS: Roanoke “Chapter 4” explains lunar cycles and hopes you remember that tortured spirits are just like us!

Denis “Exposition” O’Hare came and left AHS: Roanoke as fast as he could spew out his lines. We walked away knowing more about the current situation facing Shelby and Matt. But “Chapter 4” is yet another long episode of exposition building to the “twist” in “Chapter 6.”

As AHS enters week four, we know a little bit about a lot. The stakes do not increase, the plot does not advance, and the characters make no significant change. Flora is missing and that is terrifying and sad. We know that there are spirits inhabiting the land. We know that one person, Cricket, can speak to them and that another, Elias Cunningham, documents their movements.

Ryan Murphy walks a tight line between giving everything away and giving nothing away. Each week, we learn something, jump out of our skin a bit, and claim it was a great hour of television. I’m starting to see the frayed edges of the stitching in this current installment, but it’s not for lack of interesting content or casting or even the odd episode structure.

Roanoke burns through story at a glacial pace. On certain shows, that pace is justified, but on an anthology series, the story needs to motor. As it stands, we are over the halfway mark for the first half of the season and still spend our weeks unpacking history. Halloween always brings out the best AHS episodes. Recall the haunting of Edward Mordrake, a dinner fit for serial killers, the burning Myrtle Snow at the stake, and the hiring of “fluffers”, just to name a few.

If we must wait, let’s spend some time with Lady Gaga’s witchy character! Sent to the new world as a stowaway, she brought old spirits and gods with her to this land. (We’re getting a bit too close to entering American Gods territory, but I’ll allow it.)

After her arrival, she slaughtered the men who kept her captive and became one with the land. Cricket seemed quite certain about the Butcher and her people leaving Roanoke for their current location. But he takes the time to explain, yet again, that the settlers did not disappear but relocated to the Land of Plenty.

The fertile ground gave plenty to the settlers, and in return, they paid their respects with human sacrifice, including Priscilla. But that was not enough for the Butcher, who sensed rumblings in the ranks. Instead of hearing complaints, she listened to the wood nymph Gaga and poisoned her entire village. Their blood fertilized the Earth, and she sacrificed herself to the spirits, tethering their souls to her sacrifice.

Beyond introducing two more tortured families into the Roanoke house’s twisted history, Elias Cunningham caught Shelby and Matt up on their lunar cycles. During the blood grass moon, around October, the spirits can take human life. If that is true, then how did Lee’s husband die? How did Elias die? Why did everyone assume the Butcher killed Flora?

Cricket returns from his spiritual journey into the past with the witch of the wood to offer his confessional. The Butcher is not going to stop until they are dead, but Cricket knows a way to take away their power. Unfortunately, Cricket does not make it back to his hotel in time to retrieve his pocketbook of spells and sage.

Cricket’s capture and a well-timed shove from Priscilla help to facilitate Flora’s escape. Just like the pig-man, we see another ritual of English punishment for greed and lust — disembowelment.

Weekly ‘AHS: Roanoke’ Theories

• Edward Phillipe Mott. Architect, bad spiritual senses, and extended relative of Dandy Mott! Where is Finn Wittrock when you need him?

• Evan Peters is definitely lurking under that pig head. Will he be the superhero we need?

• This is the second week where the documentary film crew broke the fourth wall. We are meant to believe that the “real” Shelby and Matt experienced everything we see playing out in the past. I’m starting to think there is something more to it than that. This is AHS after all.

• The guardian of the home, Elias Cunningham, is dead. However, we still have his work to propel us forward. The story of the sisters now fits into the growing narrative of people killed by the settlers. I, for one, cannot wait to see this ragtag volunteer army in need of a shower defeat a village superpower.

Watch AHS Roanoke: “Chapter 5” Wednesday, October 12 at 10:00 p.m. ET on FX.