Manny Coto returns to write his ninth episode of American Horror Stories. “Lake” is the fifth episode Coto has penned for the horror series’ second season. Coto is joined by director Tessa Blake, who previously directed an episode of American Horror Story: Double Feature. “Lake” introduces a number of new cast members to the horror franchise in Alicia Silverstone and Olivia Rouyre, as well as one of the franchise’s returning faces in Teddy Sears.
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“Lake” begins with a group of friends on the water. Among them are brother and sister Jake (Bobby Hogan) and Finn (Rouyre). In the opening moments, American Horror Stories begins to suggest that the personalities of these siblings are very different: Jake is rather nerdy and somewhat outgoing, while Finn is laid back. What becomes the central problem of “Lake” is introduced through Jake’s nerdiness the other characters mock him for. Jake produces a picture of a topography map that shows where the town of Reedsville once was before the lake was built. He suggests diving in and searching for the lost city, and is joined by his sister. Beneath the water, Jake’s ankle is grabbed by an ominous threat lurking within the water, and he drowns before his body is yanked out of sight.
This opening sequence introduces viewers to two mysteries: what is lurking in the lake, and what happened to Jake? American Horror Stories slowly provides pieces of an answer to both these questions throughout the episode, but there are several holes in the narrative that arise in the process. “Lake” makes a brief time jump that sees Finn return home after trying to cope with what she saw in a mental health facility. Her parents treat her delicately during her transition home. Shortly after, Finn’s mother (Silverstone) has a similar encounter with the bathtub, where a hand reaches out to grab her. This continues to occur in the next few scenes with the sink and the pool until she comes face to face with her son, who pleads for her to find him. Why these visions didn’t begin to occur until Finn arrived home, is never fully explored.
Despite serving as one of the central characters of “Lake,” there is no payoff for Finn. She witnesses her brother drown and does help her mother locate his body. Instead, she is a vessel through which the plot moves. It is through her point of view that the audience witnesses Jake’s death, and it is alongside her that viewers begin to pull back the layers of this story. Finn’s mother actually becomes the focal character of “Lake,” and it is through her interactions with the world and the lake that the mysteries of the episode are actually revealed. Her journey into the lake produces Jake’s body and the historical connection that is meant to crack “Lake” wide open. Together, Finn and her mother offer a nearly complete glimpse into the cryptic atmosphere American Horror Stories creates.
Perhaps the biggest issue with “Lake” is its pacing. “Lake” struggles to keep up with the questions it’s trying to solve within the confines of the episode. American Horror Stories tries to account for some of this by providing a four-month time jump and suggesting its development with dialogue, but it doesn’t do much more than muddle the story. By the end of “Lake,” countless dead bodies within the lake walk the land and drag Jeffrey (Sears) off into the water to drown. The scene is comparable to the Coven scene where the zombies attack the witch academy. Their reason for doing so is revealed moments before it happens, but the question of why all of this is occurring at this specific moment in time is never answered. Jeffrey’s wife attempts to create one, suggesting Jake’s death was all a ploy to lure Jeffrey nearby, but it isn’t enough.
Due to the issues with its pacing, “Lake” feels incredibly rushed at times. The coin-dropping moment where Jeffrey reveals that he not only leads the case that keeps the Prescott dam up but that he and his family are descendants of the wicked man that built it, loses its luster within the mangled pace of the plot. There’s no time for Jeffrey’s confession to sink in before the dead are carrying him off toward the lake in a strange form of justice. However, for all its issues, Silverstone is the redeeming piece of “Lake.” Her sorrowful yet firm performance as a grieving but determined mother helps keep viewers intrigued by the plot. The brief appearance from Heather Wynters is also a pleasure, as she reveals the historical significance that nearly accounts for the ending “Lake” tries to pull off. “Lake” certainly has its perks but some of its larger issues stand in the way of making it one of the series’ stronger episodes.
American Horror Stories is now streaming on Hulu.
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