The Gothicism of American Gothic: "The Buck Stops Here"

[For the previous entry, click here.]

Pillow talk takes a dark turn at the start of this penultimate episode of American Gothic, as Selena and Billy fantasize out loud about various ways of killing Lucas Buck (Billy just seems to be playing along, but Selena is serious about offing her sinister ex-lover).  What makes the scene even more transgressive is that it occurs in Lucas's own bed.  Recognizing the signs of an illicit dalliance, Lucas later confronts Selena and voices perhaps his most graphic threat to date: "If you ever soil my house again, I'll cut out your heart and use it for a chamois."

"The Buck Stops Here" strikes another gross note as Gail prepares an afternoon meal.  Lucas's pregnant paramour makes a misnomer of roast as she bastes and then suddenly gorges upon a bloody, undercooked hunk of meat.  Gail's strange craving erases any doubt that the child growing inside her is a normal one.

The central focus of the episode, though, is the "murder" of Lucas.  In a scene that sounds strong echoes of Psycho, a shadowy figure hiding in the sheriff's Gothic home jumps out and stabs Lucas in the forehead with a trocar.  Billy, who just happened to be at the scene of the crime, is arrested, but the two characters the audience really suspects are Selena and Trinity pharmacist Yancy Lydon (who has a grudge against Lucas because he failed to help Yancy's comatose wife).

Lingering in a hospital bed, Lucas summons his son Caleb, and whispers a request in the boy's ear.  Some nefarious scheme seems to be forming, and a transfer of power transpiring (underscored by the father and son's joint recitation of the phrase "An Old Order of the Ages Is Born Anew").  Lucas then promptly has a seizure and expires, yet the viewer can't help but believe that Buck will be back for the conclusion of the series.

Now in full Damien mode, Caleb tracks down Yancy, telling the man that "My daddy sent me."  Caleb also ominously promises to give the pharmacist (presumably Lucas's attacker) a taste of his own medicine.  Shortly thereafter, a terrified Yancy is discovered (by Billy and Deputy Ben) lying choking on a brimming mouthful of pills.

American Gothicism arguably hits its peak during Lucas's funeral.
The scene plays out like a macabre variation on the Seinfeld finale, as an assortment of characters from earlier episodes are brought back for brief appearances.  Some of these figures approaching the coffin are genuinely saddened by Lucas's passing and express appreciation of him, but the sheriff's corpse is also spit upon by one Trinity citizen and nearly disfigured by the disgruntled, hook-handed Waylon (the current husband of Ben's ex-wife).  This dramatic airing of allegiances and grievances serves as a fitting testimony to the work Sheriff Buck has done as a Gothic hero-villain for the constituents of his sleepy South Carolina town.

And--as his eyes pop open inside the coffin at episode's end--it looks like Buck's work is not yet done.