Following last week’s mind-blowing twist in Ryan Murphy’s Grotesquerie, viewers are now back to two episodes a week. In episodes 8 and 9, Lois deals with the fallout of her coma-induced dreams, and Raven Goodwin has a breakout performance.
Episode 8 starts with a specialist, Dr. Witticomb, visiting Merritt and explaining that he wants to study her mother’s case by uncovering her dreams. Merritt finds out that Lois viewed her as a shut-in obese homebody trying to audition for the reality show “Half-ton Trauma.”
While Lois struggles during her physical therapy exercises, Dr. Charlie, formerly known as Father Charlie in Lois’ dreams, comes to visit. The stubborn detective is not happy to see him and insists that he leaves because he tried to kill her.
Witticomb continues his study by questioning Megan on her relationship with Lois. Megan explains that Lois was a mentor to her, and that they had a fight at her retirement party. He brings up Andrea, the girl drenched in blood from Lois’ dream. The mention of her name clearly triggers Megan, who starts fidgeting with her hands and says Lois blew that case.
Megan is introduced as a quirky nun, who struggles with her own inner turmoil and can see the nuance in life, but her reality is far from it. Chief Megan is cynical but has a right to be given the horrible, abusive relationship she’s trapped in with her partner Justin. When Megan returns home, Justin grabs her head and punches her in the face. However, Megan gets her gun, puts it in his mouth, and threatens to end it all for him. Michaela Diamond shines in this scene. Megan then goes to a hotel, which is the same one from Lois’ dream.
Lois starts to realize that she has a long recovery road ahead of her when she starts therapy. She explains that the dreams felt so real and that she still feels like she’s in a coma, trying to work through them. Witticomb asks Lois why she put Merritt in the “Half-ton trauma” TV show, and she explains that it’s not because she’s disgusted by her, but because she’s seen a lot of extreme cases in her line of work, including “enormous shut-ins, dead heart disease lifted out of their homes by a crane.” Lois opens up, saying she doesn’t know why she was that angry at her daughter.
As the session progresses, the Witticomb delves deeper into her life and begins to understand why she positioned the people around her in certain ways. She put Marshall into a coma because she felt that her marriage had spiraled out of control. She saw Megan as a nun-like figure, who always did everything right as Co-Chief. She appointed Ed as a caregiver because he was there for her, which ultimately led to their affair. She made Dr. Charlie priest and killer because she heard him talking about taking her off life support, someone who she felt would save her. She made Redd a nurse, declaring that she didn’t hate her. And Grotesquerie was the culmination of all the trauma and PTSD she had experienced from her job.
Megan picks Lois up from her session, and they get into an argument about Lois’ dreams, each accusing the other’s generation of being the problem in the world. However, the Andrea case is brought up once again, which is clearly the central point of their tension. Lois tells Megan to grow up, pointing out that the bruise on her face is evidence of her being possessed in both her waking life and her dreams.
Lois decides to make amends, so she has Maisie, her housekeeper, drive her to Merritt’s house. As Lois and Merritt’s conversation goes on, it escalates. Merritt accuses her mother of portraying her as a “fat freak” in her dreams, because of her own insecurity. Also, that sleeping with Ed, is her “unforgivable sin.” Lois, however, attributes this to misplaced loneliness, self-pity, and excessive drinking. It wasn’t about sex, but connection. This triggers Merritt, and she slaps her mother so hard that the room went silent. Merritt criticizes Lois, saying that being around killers has rubbed off on her and has driven her insane. Ed’s betrayal was predictable, but her mother’s broke her heart. Raven Goodwin put on a stunning monologue.
Merritt wouldn’t be the only person Lois visits. In episode 9, she also visits Marshall and Redd, telling them that she doesn’t blame them for the affair and pulls out divorce papers. Marshall snaps, calling her a chimera and a beast, and declares that the world would be better off if she were dead, or if they both were. With that, Lois leaves.
Lois returns to Merritt’s house, takes a stand, and asserts that her daughter was difficult, even questioning whether she ever truly loved Ed. Lois retaliates against her daughter by slapping her and eventually telling her that if she wants a relationship, she knows where to find her.
The former chief has another session with Witticomb, during which he brings in another doctor, Dr. Smythe. Witticomb views her as a prophet due to her dreams, and Smythe claims that Lois’ soul touches him.
The label of prophet being applied to Lois would later prove significant, as in the middle of the night, Megan calls her with an emergency case. It’s a shock to the system, as the murder case is identical to Lois’ dream, right down to the baby in the boiling pot. This leaves Lois rightfully shaken.
The episode ends when Megan brings her former partner to the hotel where she’s staying. Lois asks Megan to cut her with a knife to prove that she’s in reality and not back in a coma. She bleeds, and when she tries to clean herself up, Justin suddenly appears and hits Megan. Lois hears the commotion and blows Justin’s head right off.
The season finale of Grotesquerie is sure to be explosive and unlike anything viewers have ever seen. It will premiere October 30 at 10 PM on FX and will stream on Hulu the next day.
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