If stories like Se7en and Dark Winds have taught us anything, it is that crime thrillers get real addictive when they are tinged with religious undertones—the question of faith and disbelief always strike up the best conversation when the worst of human follies are in discussion. Ryan Murphy, who at this point has become a legendary name on the small screen scene thanks to his prolonged successful career, which includes creating American Horror Stories, has decided to use the concoction of crime and faith to the best effect, as his latest series, Grotesquerie, premiering on FX, vividly showcases. With just enough psychological dread induced by physical violence and an eerie vibe pervading through most of the scenes, combined with a palpable sense of tension and hopelessness, the pilot episode hooks viewers in almost instantaneously and is able to justify the narrative choice of a team-up of a detective and a nun in untangling the central mystery.
Spoilers Ahead
The Burnside Family Massacre
Grotesquerie episode 1 opens with an imagery of burning as Detective Lois Tryon wakes up from a bad dream after receiving a duty call early morning. As Lois approaches the crime scene, the Burnside residence, even before entering the crime scene, she is advised by her officers to simply hand over the case to the FBI. The nature of the crime is horrifying enough that the cops can’t stand the sight, and one of them even starts puking, and the issue could very well be a serious hate crime—the likes of which this small town police precinct is not used to dealing with. It is harrowing indeed; blood is all over the place along with organs; a decapitated body lies on the kitchen floor, while the corpse of a maternal figure and her two children are seen tied to the chair. Lois doesn’t have difficulty holding her nerve, but the contents of a boiling saucepan make her squeamish as well. Returning home later that day, Lois catches up with her brilliant yet reclusive daughter, Merritt, and can’t help but act out a bit due to her experience in the morning. The flask Lois always carries indicates alcoholic tendencies, but even the liquid courage isn’t enough at the moment to process the things she has seen.
The next day, Lois goes to the local hospital, where her comatose husband, Marshall, has been admitted for almost a month, and the overactive chief, Nurse Redd, goes out of her way to reprimand Lois for not being present there while visiting Marshall. Nurse Redd’s eccentric ways—pronouncing Marshall’s identity as a learned, wise person despite barely knowing him, revealing the fact that she has been taking a note of Lois’ activities during her visits, and emphasizing that Lois’ attitude during the visits can affect Marshall’s recovery—seem a little too strange for Lois. Nurse Redd reveals that an orderly had raped a comatose woman in the hospital, which resulted in the hospital facing a hefty lawsuit, prompting Redd to install surveillance equipment across every room, and Lois is as creeped out after learning that as viewers probably are. As Lois storms out of Redd’s office after sharing a piece of her mind, Redd’s proclamation about Marshall still being conscious under his comatose state comes off as an ominous statement, to say the least.
At her office, Lois debriefs the FBI agents about the case, mentioning an unidentified black liquid substance that was recovered from the crime scene and the fact that no trace of the perpetrator was found. Lois also shares her assessment that the nature of the crime makes it seem that this isn’t the first time the culprit has committed a heinous act like this. A bit later, she is visited by Sister Megan, a nun journalist from a local progressive Catholic newspaper, who wants to get a scoop about the Burnside family massacre. Initially, Lois is a bit judgmental about her, accusing her of trying to find sensationalism from a family tragedy for personal gain, but Megan reveals that she is eager to learn about the impact of cult-related crime in the general consciousness, which she believes is giving rise to the perennial good and evil struggle in this era. Megan believes a cult ritual murder ended the Burnside family, as she reveals the members of the family were devout believers—she knows this as she is friends with the family priest. Lois agrees to let Megan get a byte and reveals the true extent of the crime. The mother, Alison, and her two children were force fed the meat of the paternal figure, which was cooked for a prolonged period. Lois refuses to disclose the details of what was in the boiling saucepan, but the fact that an infant had been shown in the family leaves no room for speculation. Alison and her grown-up kids died of shock.
Why Did Detective Lois Allow Sister Megan To Tag Along?
Lois further reveals that a neighbor of the Burnside family reported a possible disturbance after getting awakened by Mozart’s music coming from the residence at 3am—and to Lois’ surprise, Megan correctly guesses the tune to be Requiem by Mozart. She connected the dots from the fact that it was Mozart’s lamentation about his own impending death, but given how things are at present, Lois was alarmed by her intuition and almost reached out for her gun in caution, considering her to be a possible suspect. Things get cleared up, and Lois decides to ask Megan for assistance in the case—not only does Megan offer a unique third-person perspective, but she also seems sharper than the rest of the precinct.
The next massacre happens soon enough, as a bunch of junkie gang members are found hanged in their joint, bodies severed from the torso, and blood completely drained. Once again, the black substance is found at the crime scene, and an engraving on the wall, reading ‘Me Dereliquisto’ is spotted, although the episode doesn’t reveal whether it was written earlier or is the handiwork of the culprit. Sister Megan pops up at the crime scene quite inexplicably, and despite reprimanding her for it, Lois allows Megan to observe the crime scene and take notes—much to the dismay of an officer working under her. Consecutive heinous crimes have taken a toll on Lois’ mental health, and she goes to share her burden with her comatose husband.
Upon returning to her home, Lois senses the presence of someone, and given Merritt is not present at the moment, recent experiences contribute to Lois assuming the worst. Carrying a gun, Lois tiptoes across her house in search of the intruder, and as she spots someone running away from her house, she rushes outside and empties her gun directed at the unknown person. As the person disappears into the dark by rushing off, Merritt appears, bewildered at her mother’s sudden trigger-happy mood. An anxious, perplexed Lois takes her daughter inside.
Sister Megan once again visits Lois at her office, and without revealing what happened last night, Lois mentions her suspicion that someone might be messing with her. Megan tries to ease her mind, stating that given the state of affairs all around, it is natural to feel a personal association with situations. Still, Lois can’t shake off the feeling that her family might be on the radar of the perp but knows at the same time that no one at her precinct is going to take up the case in her stead. Lois decides to share some more intel of the crime with Megan, as she reveals the black substance is identified to be concentrated sulfur dioxide, which Megan likens to the ecclesiastical account of brimstone—the element of divine retribution, as she cites examples from quotes of the Book of Isaiah and the Book of Revelation. As the first episode ends, the particular clue suggests that a religious psychopath is supposed to be carrying out the inhumane crimes, deliberately leaving clues like Brimstone to associate the motive of the crime and background with. The direct translation of the Latin phrase ‘Me Dereliquisto’ is that someone has forsaken the speaker; in this case, probably God has forsaken the person who engraved it in the gang member massacre. While there is an indication that a person of faith might be associated with the crime as well, it remains unknown how the backgrounds of the victims have any sense of commonality to tie up both crimes, aside from the presence of Brimstone. The first episode is captivating enough and has succeeded in setting a riveting story in motion, and hopefully the upcoming episodes will carry on the momentum as well.
