Now that the long-awaited, much-anticipated American Horror Story: Roanoke twist has been revealed, it's clear that we're heading towards the endgame of the FX anthology's sixth season. The only question that remains is… how many episodes will it be until we arrive at the season's bloody conclusion? How much longer will we have to wait until we learn the identity of the sole survivor of fake reality show Return To Roanoke: Three Days In Hell ? Just when is the AHS: Roanoke finale, exactly?
When the game-changing sixth episode aired, viewers were informed that only one of Return To Roanoke's nine participants — Shelby, Matt, Lee, Audrey, Dominic, Monet, Rory, Agnes, and Sidney — would make it out alive. You may have assumed that the show was entering a deliberately-paced and paranoia-inducing stretch in which one cast member would kick the bucket each week in classic murder mystery style, until there was only one left standing. Given that every season of AHS has had either 12 or 13 episodes (meaning there would be seven or eight episodes left in Season 6), the numbers worked out just about perfectly.
But if that's how you imagined the rest of Roanoke would play out, then you were probably pretty shocked by the fast-paced bloodbath that has played out over the last couple of weeks. Only two weeks into the season's new format, and Rory, Sidney, Matt, and Agnes have all already been killed — not to mention a handful of minor characters on the production side of Return To Roanoke. Shelby and Lee have both also been grievously injured, leaving only Audrey, Dominic, and Monet relatively unscathed so far.
Events are moving far more quickly than anticipated… and there's good reason for that. There weren't eight episodes left after the mid-season twist, as it turns out; there were only five. Roanoke will consist of 10 episodes, shorter than any AHS season yet, meaning there are only three more weeks until the Season 6 finale airs on Wednesday, Nov. 16. And given that co-creator Brad Falchuk previously teased that the tenth and final episode would function as a third, separate chapter in the Roanoke story, there are actually only two episodes left in the current Return To Roanoke format — which explains why the participants have been dropping like flies rather than being picked off slowly one by one.
Although opinions seemed to be mixed on the first half of Roanoke, it's undeniable that things have become more exciting — not to mention more terrifying — since the format shift in Episode 6. It's sad to think that there are only three more episodes left in the season, and that the Blood Moon madness will come to an end so soon. But at least it sounds like Ryan Murphy has even more craziness in store for us, if reports of a Murder House/Coven crossover season are to be believed.
Images: Frank Ockenfels/FX; Giphy
