The House: 1968

Aquarius plays in the background and we meet the ladies that inhabit the home. It’s not clear, but it seems that this is a nursing school dorm. Three ladies taunt their dorm mates about being lesbians and eventually leave so they can go to a Doors concert (seemingly irrelevant to the story). There’s a knock at the door and shortly after is when the two remaining girls probably wish they were more into Jim Morrison.

The man at the door, Franklin, has blood on his face and says he needs help. The ever-helpful nurses lets the stranger in and realize there’s no wound…and then they’re knocked out…and then things get a little freaky. We later learn that he drowned one of the girls in the upstairs bathtub. The other, a virgin, is told to strip and put on a nurse outfit. She prays after he bounds her by the feet and hands. Franklin rewards this by stabbing her repeatedly in the back. The scene ends…after sufficiently providing a little bondage and murder.

The House: Now

Tate is back and tells Ben all of the nasty thoughts he has about Violet. He’s very aggressive and mocks Ben about his affair. Unsettling for Ben, who also finds out that his mistress his preggo.

Violet is at the skate park with the Mean Girl #1…for reasons unknown. She tells her that in addition to that huge gash she was given last week, her hair is turning white and that she thinks she saw the devil in Violet’s basement.

Later at the house, Tate watches Violet sleep. The alarm goes off and Ben walks around the house, topless with a bat. He’s not sure what’s going on, but when the door to the basement creeps open he does what any smart homeowner does and goes right down to fight off whatever lurks down there. No worries…it’s just Adelaide…again. She’s playing a game, but when Ben kicks her out the game keeps going. Creepy.

Ben’s newest client, Bianca, tells him she dreams about getting sliced in half by an elevator door. She’s also little weird (a recurring theme for pretty much everyone!) and overly interested in the “murder house”. Ben assumes that she’s left when he calls Tate’s mom…she hasn’t. But the interesting part of that scene was Ben speaking to someone who either was or was pretending to be Tate’s mom.

Constance’s cupcakes

We watch Constance make cupcakes with two special ingredients: spit and vomit-inducing ipecac…yum! Proof that you have to be very, very careful about taking unopened baked goods from people you don’t know. This family continues to amaze me with their lack of basic intuition.

Before the cupcakes make it to their destination we return to Ben, who is literally running to try and escape his sexual demons. Aside from the fact that he’s an adulterer, I feel bad for the guy. Larry, who is not at all stealthy, warns him that the house will use his demons against him. Ben heeds this advice by adding more guilt and lying to his wife so he can go to Boston and console his former mistress.

Constance finally makes her delivery and we learn her intended victim is Violet. She smells Vivien’s pregnancy and they share a “moment” where Constance talks about her four children. She says they’re cursed and have abnormalities, except for one. She describes him as gorgeous, so I’m not convinced that Tate is her son. We also learn that Moira once worked for Constance.

Is everybody crazy?

Violet (I must note that it was brought to my attention that although she has all the angst of My So Called Life’s Angela, she looks just like her little sister) is in her room, listing to her moody music, probably reading a book about hating your parents. She calls her mother weak and refuses to eat the cupcake Constance brought over, an unintentionally smart choice.

Over in Boston, Ben is having a cozy evening with Hayden (Kate Mara, Nip/Tuck) who is having an abortion and swears she is over Ben, yet won’t let him speak with his wife. I am convinced that Ben lacks a backbone. Remember that whole “feeling sorry” thing I mentioned earlier? This is when it went away.

Franklin’s nurses revisited

The doorbells rings, and just like in 1968, there’s a stranger, Fiona (Azura Skye, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) at the door with blood on their face demanding to come inside the house. Vivien is a little bit smarter than her daughter gives her credit for and doesn’t let Fiona inside. She instead offers to call for help…but her phone is missing and when she goes back to the front door…Fiona is gone.

When Vivien looks out the peephole again, we see a masked person outside and right behind her. At this point, I think back to the mystery man from last week’s episode. Except this is a different kind of horror story and instead of a haunted house, Vivien and Violet are being terrorized by Fiona, Bianca and some guy that are obsessed with famous L.A. murders.

They try to escape and fail, until Tate tells Violet to get them to the basement. I won’t penalize Violet for not questioning how/why Ben was in the house, but at some point I need her to realize there’s something off about that kid. Bianca shows why she wasn’t the brains of their operation and eats the cupcake that subsequently makes her sick and easier for Tate to pick off.

Dress-up time

Adelaide, who also found her way into the house, runs home to tell Constance what’s going on. Constance is entertaining some male model type (her son?!) and doesn’t realize what Adelaide is saying, so she locks her in a room full of mirror. A cruel punishment and we see that the cold woman has some resemblance of a heart as she cries a little about what she’s done.

The guy of the crazy trio gets so caught up in the details of reenacting the murder that he’s also easily offed and Vivien bashes his head in first chance that she gets. It seemed like she killed him, but they don’t mention that part.

Violet gets Fiona to the basement (why is everyone so willing to go to that basement!) where she finds Tate, as well as the dead nurses and with that the trio is ended before ever getting a chance to complete their reenactment.

Ben would have been there if he’d possessed enough backbone to not let Hayden take his phone. Instead Tate, Moira and Constance clean up the mess…not for the family of course, but to make sure whatever plan they have in progress isn’t derailed.

So where does all of this leave us?



This episode wasn’t as scattered as the premiere. I’m glad that Vivien wants to sell the house, because it shows that the family isn’t as dumb as they appear. However, they’re clearly not going anywhere, so it’s not entirely relevant to the overall story.

I like that we’re learning more about Constance’s background. We know that Tate, Moira and Constance are all connected, but no clue how and if Larry is also a part of things. We’re assuming Hayden went through with the abortion, but that’s never confirmed, so it could be something that comes back to haunt Ben.

Overall, Home Invasion offered up more questions than answers, which is great for people (like me) that enjoy a good mind-tease with their horror. If you’re looking for a little insight into the episode, this interview with Ryan Murphy explains a lot enough.