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Grotesquerie season 1 episode 8 dropped on FX on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, bringing a different take on the crime drama. Gone are the relentless mind-screwing murders of past episodes as this week brought an answer-packed chapter to the series.
As Grotesquerie started with Lois uncovering grisly displays of murders, episode 7 left the viewers trying to make sense of the show-shaking reveal. It turns out that everything that happened from episodes 1 to 6 of Ryan Murphy's Grotesquerie was a product of Detective Lois Tryon's elaborate coma-induced nightmare. She unpacks her six episode-worth of dreams in this Wednesday's episode, with the help of a "specialist," special guest star Santino Fontana.
Fontana's character explains that Lois' dream, especially about the killer, was a product of some long-term PTSD from her career. But there are more explanations why the people in her real life play a different persona in her dream, which she also unpacks in Grotesquerie season 1 episode 8.
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Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers for Grotesquerie season 1 episode 8. Reader's discretion is advised.
Lois uncovers the connection between her coma-induced dream and her reality in Grotesquerie season 1 episode 8
Detective Lois Tryon unpacks everything about her dreams, which she oddly remembers in great detail, in Grotesquerie season 1 episode 8. The latest episode's official logline and FX's Grotesquerie episode 8 preview teased Lois accepting the help of a specialist to uncover what she remembers while she was in a coma.
The specialist mentioned is a doctor, played by Santino Fontana, whose therapy methods are "unconventional." He guides Lois through her dreams, what they could mean, and how they relate to her reality. During their therapy session in the middle of Grotesquerie season 1 episode 8, they got to talking about Grotesquerie in Lois' dream.
Throughout the first six episodes and half of episode 7, Grotesquerie has been the main subject surrounding Lois' life. While he wasn't named in the first few episodes, it was his murders that were at the forefront of the detective's day-to-day. In therapy, Lois says that her dreams are so "violent," and she tearfully asks the doctor if the Grotesquerie in her dream represents her.
Fontana's character explains that Grotesquerie is "the stand-in, the totem for the way the world, according to Lois Tryon, now is." He says that Lois' work as a homicide detective exposed her to some things and caused her to suppress others, maybe some feelings. He further explains that Lois' dream about Grotesquerie was some symbol of the long-term PTSD she suffered from her work.
However, Lois is apprehensive by the doctor's explanation. She tells him that she looked up the word "Grotesquerie" and that it means "to live in a world that is grotesque and make-believe," but the doctor disagrees.
He tells Lois that her dream was hardly make-believe, pointing out that her coma-induced nightmare was not too far off from her reality—she's a homicide detective "dealing with the most unspeakable crimes." The doctor further explains that what Lois dealt with in reality is exactly what she describes as her dream—"grotesque."
Fontana's character compared her experience to being like the tip of some spear, fighting crimes and evil while sacrificing herself. The idea of sacrificing herself, aka a martyr, was the same sentiment that Maisie told Lois about what the killer wanted for her in Grotesquerie season 1 episode 6. At the mental hospital, Maisie revealed that Grotesquerie didn't want to kill her—he wanted her to sacrifice herself, to become a martyr.
The explanations about Lois' coma-induced nightmare continue in Grotesquerie season 1 episode 8. The rest of the episode explains why she cast the people in her life the way she did in her dreams.
Lois dreamed of Marshall in a coma to give herself a sense of control
In Lois' nightmare, Marshall is in a coma. Previous episodes also revealed their rocky marriage, which is in part because of Marshall cheating on her with Nurse Redd, the nurse who is taking care of the comatose Marshall. However, in Grotesquerie episode 7's plot twist, it turns out that it was Lois who was in the coma all along.
Her conversation with the doctor in Grotesquerie season 1 episode 8 tries to make sense of why Lois dreamed about Marshall in a coma. The doctor thinks that Marshall being in a coma in her dream was her way of gaining a sense of control over their crumbling marriage.
Episode 7 revealed that Marhall's affair wasn't the only catalyst for their marriage breaking down. Lois' feeling alone also led her to cheat on her daughter Merritt's husband, Travis Kelce's Ed Laclan.
Lois dreamed of Redd as a nurse because she's a "saint"
Lois unpacks the events in her coma-induced dreams to the doctor during their first therapy session in Grotesquerie season 1 episode 8. Fontana's character in Grotesquerie asks her why she dreamed of Redd as a nurse. She cast the woman her husband cheated on her with as a nurse in charge of his care, which the doctor described as a "malevolent archetype." When the doctor inquired why that was, Lois revealed her feelings about her husband's mistress.
She said that she didn't hate her, and while she admitted that she feels some bitterness towards Nurse Redd, she thinks the woman is "a godd*mn saint" for dealing with Marshall "all those years." The detective somehow thanks Redd for dealing with her husband because she couldn't have dealt with him by herself.
Lois still has a tense relationship with Merritt in Grotesquerie season 1 episode 8
In Lois' coma-induced dream, Merritt is her chronically overweight daughter who does nothing but stay at home, watch TV, and eat. While she's a smart one, like when she helped crack the wooden puzzle to get the coordinates that brought Lois and Megan to the fire pit, she largely depends on her mom. She also develops feelings for Ed in Lois' dream and plans to join a TV show called Half-Ton Trauma.
In reality, she's a successful career woman who is not afraid to speak her mind. In Grotesquerie season 1 episode 8, the doctor asks Lois why she put Merritt on the Half-Ton TV show in her dream. She then opens up about having seen a lot of cases in her work, from enormous shut-ins to those who died of heart disease and had to be lifted out of their homes using a crane. Her explanation implies that Lois wanted something better for her daughter.
However, the doctor question why there were some scenes in her dream where she was force-feeding her daughter. To this, Lois has no answer or real explanation. She says that she also doesn't understand why she's angry with Merritt in the dream.
That was only the tip of the iceberg in Lois' tumultuous relationship with Merritt in Grotesquerie season 1 episode 8. Elsewhere in the episode, Lois goes to Merritt's house to talk, but her daughter is not thrilled at all. When the detective explains why she cheated with her daughter's husband, that it wasn't s*x but a form of connection because she was lonely, Merritt slaps her. Merritt is heartbroken by her mother's betrayal, and she asks the detective to leave.
Lois and Megan reunite in Grotesquerie season 1 episode 8
Detective Lois Tryon and Sister Megan have been an unlikely duo throughout the first half of Grotesquerie season 1, but everything changed when Lois accuses Megan of being the killer's accomplice in episode 7. Her theory turned out to be true, ending with her and Megan in a deadly fight. At one point, episode 7 saw Megan repeatedly stabbing her before the detective blew the nun's head off.
In reality, however, Lois and Megan are both working at the force. They were partners before Lois' coma, but several things brought tension to their partnership. Megan blames Lois for a botched case, causing the death of the victim, Andrea. While Grotesquerie season 1 episode 8 didn't elaborate on what happened, it turns out that Andrea's family filed a lawsuit against the department for their daughter's name. Megan is named in the suit, and she's blaming Lois for it.
That said, Lois sees Megan's shiner while the latter drives her home from the hospital. After she gets out of the car, the detective practically tells Megan why she saw her possessed, foaming at the mouth, and covered in bruises in her coma-induced dream. She said it was because it's the same thing in real life, pointing out Megan's bruised face, which she got after her boyfriend, Justin, physically abused her earlier in Grotesquerie season 1 episode 8.
More to expect from Father Charlie?
Charlie Mayhew, in Lois' dream, was Father Charlie, aka the killer named Mr. Grotesquerie. Lois killed him in the final scene of the sixth episode of the series, but his identity was only revealed in the next episode. In reality, Charlie is a doctor who is overseeing Lois' care while she is in a coma.
During her talk with her therapist, he tells her a possible reason why she cast Charlie as Grotesquerie in her dream. Her therapist tells her that while Lois is in a coma, she can still hear the people around her. One of the voices she apparently heard was Dr. Charlie's, who was, at one point, talking about taking her off life support. Hence, she made Charlie the masked killer in her dream because he was trying to take her life in reality.
However, a conversation between Lois and Dr. Charlie at the near end of Grotesquerie season 1 episode 8 teases more secrets and mysteries to uncover. She tells Charlie:
"One day, you're gonna confess to me, too. Didn't you hear it when I was in that coma? I heard everything."
Lois' words imply that Charlie said something of importance whether to her or around her, and it will soon come to light.
Grotesquerie season 1 episode 8 premiered on FX on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, at 10 pm ET. Catch it on streaming, exclusively on Hulu, starting on Thursday, one day after its television premiere.
