As expected coming from Ryan Murphy, the first episode of his latest horror show called Grotesquerie adopted a creepy theme. Detective Lois Tryon, played by Niecy Nash-Betts, is a character with a lot of problems in her personal life. It centers her in a case that is one of the most frightening in her career.
In the beginning of Grotesquerie, Detective Lois Tryon is having a very bad dream. The nightmares that cannot be described and she wakes up tense nonetheless. The most challenging part of her day comes when she is assigned to a crime scene that she has never been to before.
Grotesquerie Season 1 Episode 1: The Crime Scene
When Lois gets to a house in the suburbs, she finds that a whole family has been killed in the most horrible way possible. The family—a mother, a father, and three kids—has been set around the dinner table, and their bodies are horribly hurt. A father had to be eaten by the family before they died because his body was cooked in the oven. Some cops can’t handle what they see, but Lois stays calm, even though she looks upset.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” says one of the other officers, who looks very scared.
When asked if she feels sad, Lois says, “Neither have I… but we’ll get the monster who did this.”
Lois’s Personal Life
We see that Lois’s personal life is also a mess when she gets home. She has a problem with booze and drinks all the time. Merritt (Raven Goodwin), her daughter, sees that she is drinking a lot and asks, “Mom, are you okay?”
Lois doesn’t care about it. Hey Merritt, I’m fine. “Just work stuff.” But it’s clear that Lois is trying to hide her real problems.
We also see her go to visit her husband Marshall (Courtney B. Vance) who is in a coma. Later, Lois goes to the hospital to see her husband Marshall. In a whisper, she tells him, “Marshall, I need you to come back to me.” “I’m not strong enough to do this by myself.” This scene makes me feel sad because it depicts how disturbed a character Lois is especially on the inside.
Meet Sister Megan
When Lois comes across with one of the characters named as Sister Megan (Micaela Diamond), a nun who is portrayed by Micaela Diamond who writes for The Catholic Guardian, a magazine, the case turns a little peculiar. Megan also stated that there may be some religious inclination towards the murders. Lois brings shocking details of events with her and tells that music from Mozart’s “Requiem” was playing during the killings.
“There’s more to this,” Megan tells Lois as she walks up to her. The music playing, the way the bodies were set up—this feels like a rite.
At first, Lois isn’t sure. “Rituals? Do you think this is a cult?”
Megan says, “I don’t know, but I think I can help.”
Another Crime Scene
Before they can dig any deeper, another horrible murder takes place in a broken-down building. People who use drugs are killed this time, and their bodies are nailed to the walls. The spot has a strange black goo, just like in the first scene.
Megan shows up at the crime scene out of the blue, which makes Lois’s partner wonder why she is there. He asks her, “Why is she here?”
“She has insight into the ritual stuff,” Lois says to protect her. “Let her stay.”
Megan looks around and says, “This black goo… it has sulfur dioxide in it.” The Bible connects sulfur to brimstone, which is another word for hellfire. And there could be something much darker than what we have seen going on than we think.
The paranoia of Lois
As the probe continues, Lois begins to feel that he is followed and observed by someone. It’s the same strange chamber music that was played at the first crime scene that she hears at home. When she wakes up, she has something blackish that she cannot hold or touch, only see.
She is scared and calls out, “Who’s there?!” but there is no answer. Lois’s fear grows, and she begins to wonder if she’s really safe. This makes things more tense.
Grotesquerie Episode 1 Ending: The Scary Truth
Lois hears more of Megan’s thoughts. “This killer does more than just kill people.” He’s left notes. It all points to something bigger: the smoke and the music.
Lois asks, “Do you think this is some kind of religious psychopath?” She is now sure that these killings have a deeper, darker meaning.
“It could be, but we’re just scratching the surface,” Megan says with a serious face.
At the scary end of the show, Lois realizes that the killer might go after her next.
And she and Megan will have to join forces and make him stop before it’ll be too late.
From the first show of Grotesquerie, one is able to identify sad murders, religious iconography, and a detective complicated by a troublesome personal life. Lois and Sister Megan: the basis of companionship for the new horror crime show and supernatural drama.
As the episodes progress the story will become much more complex and Lois will be put in even greater peril. The killer isn’t looking for people’s lives; he’s got some really nasty plan and Lois is in the middle of it. Tune in every Wednesday on FX, with episodes streaming on Hulu the next day.
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