A classic “Seinfeld” conversation discusses the surprising lack of a Rubber Man in the superhero world. “American Horror Story” finally changed that, bringing its own rubber man into popular culture.
And, after seven episodes of anticipation, FX’s “American Horror” finally revealed the identity of Rubber Man, the mysterious, aggressive figure who, while donning a latex gimp suit, brought the ruckus to Vivien in the bedroom and also murdered Chad and Patrick.
Who is Rubber Man?
It’s Tate. Tate is the one who had sex with Vivien and presumably fathered her twins. Tate is the man who viciously killed Chad and Patrick.
Tate, now a ghost who seems to be on agreeable terms with many of the house’s other trapped souls, has apparently been deemed weak to the female spirits in the house (according to Moira) and thus willing to help them get what they want. For Nora, it means helping her get a baby (she, totally unaware she was dead until this episode and still likely confused/doubtful, goes on and on about wanting her baby) to replace the one that was kidnapped, murdered and then mutilated.
It initially appeared Chat and Pat were going to adopt, but when their relationship started to crumble, that hope went out the window. So, as a result, Tate murdered them with the hope that a new family, one more willing to have a child, would move into the house.
The Harmons did. Tate, wearing the Rubber Man suit, had sex with Vivien to get her pregnant. And now that it turns out Vivien is having twins, Ben’s mistress Hayden, who lost the chance to mother a baby in the world of the living, decided she also wanted a little one. She, with Tate, initiated a plan to drive Vivien insane. Once she appeared psychotic, she would be institutionalized and unfit to mother children, allowing Nora and Hayden to claim the children (presumably because they would be given to Ben, who would stay in the house).
The plan, at least thus far, is working. It was revealed in this episode that the ghosts can make themselves visible and invisible, and they used this tactic to drive Vivien insane. After significant game-playing by Hayden, Tate haunted Vivien in her bedroom. When Ben rushed to check up on her, she mistook Ben for the Rubber Man and shot him. She also hit the emergency call button to summon Luke.
This got the police (and Luke) involved. As Vivien rested in bed, affected by a Valium Ben gave her to calm her down, the ghost of Hayden entered her room and taunted her (she also showed an apparent ability to influence Vivien’s thoughts). She then introduced Rubber Man, who wanted another crack at a sexual encounter with Vivien.
He tried to rape her, and as she screamed, Ben and Luke rushed to the bedroom. The ghosts were gone, and it appeared Vivien was insane–there was no trace of any intruder. She was taken away by the police for a psych evaluation.
Other Notes:
— Chad is responsible for bringing the latex suit into the house. Upon finding out that his boyfriend Pat was engaging in discussion on an S&M forum, and not wanting to lose his lover, he tried becoming more adventurous. Unfortunately, the suit did not curry any favor with Pat.
— We finally saw, in detail, how Chad and Pat were murdered. As seen in the previous flashback, Tate (as Rubber Man) snapped Chad’s neck in the apple bucket. Chad witnessed the assault and tried to confront Tate, but Tate fought him off and beat him senseless. He then exposed his butt and readied for the “firepoker” incident we learned about in the first episode.
He dragged both into the basement. Confronted by Moira, who noted that they had friends and family who would question the murder, he decided to frame it as a murder-suicide, shooting a downed Pat. Chad, still alive, motioned his hand towards Pat. As he did, Tate held the gun in Chad’s hand and led him to pull the trigger, creating the impression that he shot himself in the heart.
— This episode raises some curiosity about the extent to which Tate “doesn’t know he is dead,” as was alleged in a previous episode. He had cryptic conversations that suggested an understanding of the house’s power to forever trap the souls who are killed on the property, and he also seems to be using the ghost “powers” touted by Hayden.
It had already been established he knows the other ghosts are indeed dead.
— There is a lot of speculation is emerging over the possibility that Violet is dead. Given her closeness with Tate and lack of fear at many of the house’s horrors, this had been a prevailing guess–especially after she almost killed herself with a bottle of pills.
This week, in addition to the potential implications of a scene in which Violet lost her virginity to Tate and remarked about him actually being there, a possible hint came with the reveal that Violet has not been to school in two weeks. While we have seen Violet leave the house before, it is true that she has not left since getting the pills from her friend.
At the same time, there was talk about Tate having to take on a rash action to prevent Violet from leaving (implying he would have to kill her to keep her there), and there seemed to be legitimate concern over her leaving with her mother (they were scared back into the house by the ghosts of the home invaders from earlier this season).
That would seem to suggest she is still alive.
What is your take?