Warning: the following contains mentions of violence, gore, and spoilers for Grotesquerie!
FX’sGrotesqueriecontinues to make a splash with its unique look at a murder mystery format, adding a deeper layer with all the biblical references sprinkled throughout the show. The horror meets true-crime show by Ryan Murphy follows Detective Lois Tryon (Niecy Nash-Betts) as she investigates a series of gruesome murders staged after biblical scenes, and the case becomes increasingly personal. A local nun named Sister Megan Duval (Micaela Diamond) takes an interest in the case for her parish newspaper, and quickly forms a unique friendship with Detective Tryon.
The unlikely partnership betweenGrotesqueriecharactersLois and Sister Megan serves as a guide to deciphering the show’s most (literally) grotesque crimes. From the seven deadly sins to clues that reference specific biblical verses and tropes,the show offers a glimpse into what happens when religion is taken too literally.Thesereferences continue to drive the plot ofGrotesquerieand shed light on each character’s backstory.
7The Deadly Sin Of Gluttony
Episode One Sets Up The Ongoing Motif Of This Deadly Sin
Lois is introduced as an emotionally exhausted detective whose husband is in a coma and whose daughter struggles with binge-eating as a coping mechanism for her familial trauma inGrotesquerieepisode 1. The first crime scene is the horrific murder of the Burnside family, who Lois recalls were beloved members of the community and progressives who fought for social justice. Their youngest infant child is boiled in a pot, and the family’s father was"salted and peppered, seasoned with fennel seed and cayenne and roasted for two hours in a 375-degree oven with sunchokes and baby carrots."
The remaining family members were bound and forced to eat some of their father, killing them of acute shock. The disturbingly intricate murder scene visibly disturbs the police officers on the case, and Lois struggles to discuss the baby’s fate when Sister Megan first appears to discuss the crime. When Sister Megan explains that she hopes to assist Lois in her investigation because she fears that religious fanaticism is at play,it becomes clear that this initial crime scene is meant to reflect one of the biblical seven deadly sins of gluttony.
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The killer clearly feels that social progressives will figuratively “eat their own” eventually, a gruesome end considering gluttony refers to greed or overindulgence. He chose a family known for these beliefs to convey his message, and he continues to follow this strategy throughout the show.
6The Last Supper Recreation
Grotesquerie Is Signaling To Lois That The End Is Near
Inside the church in which Sister Megan and Father Charlie Mayhew (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) work, the killer infiltrates the altar and stages a series of murders to look like the biblical Last Supper. The Last Supper is what sparked the Catholic practice of communion, with bread and wine representing the body and blood of Jesus (viaBible Study Tools). This crime scene comes after Lois is repeatedly stalked in her home, andits finality is intended to send her a message – that time is running out.
Adding to these themes of the Last Supper is another scene inGrotesquerieepisode 3 in which Lois cooks her daughter, Merritt Tryon (Raven Goodwin) a massive feast, asking her to overlook her alcoholism in return for overlooking her binge-eating. This scene ties together the gluttony present in episode 1 and the finality of the last supper in episode 2, leading to the conclusion that gluttony and overconsumption mean the end is near.
5The Deadly Sin Of Lust
The Show Explores This Theme In Different Ways In Episode 3
The next victims are a group of exotic dancers and sex workers that Lois recalls saving from drug overdoses and illnesses. Sister Megan analyzes that the killer must"hate sex"and think of himself as"a prophet trumpeting the coming of the end.“One of the victims' heads is replaced withthe head of a goat, mirroring a puzzle Lois completes in a flashback with her husband Marshall (Courtney B. Vance). The painting is a 1798 work by Franscico Goya titled “Witches' Sabbath”, made during the Spanish Inquisition, a time in which non-Christian people and women were harshly punished.
The painting turned crime scene offered a flash of what Grotesquerie thinks of women and sexuality, and the deep contempt he holds for these sins. After the crime is reported, Sister Megan and Father Charlie give into their desires and are intimate in the convent as she works on the article, after she learns about his side hustle as “the peddling priest.” The contrast of the killings and this moment between Charlie and Megan illustrates the danger of vices,as it resulted in the sex workers' deaths and now potentially the destruction of Charlie and Megan’s lifestyles.
4Bible Verses
After Merritt cracks the code and opens the box left at another crime scene indicating lust, Sister Megan and Lois discover coordinates that take their partnership deep into the desert, at the site of a wildfire pit that is growing by the day. Sister Megan draws the conclusion thatthe killer sent them to the location to indicate that Lois is the reason he is spreading figurative hellfire.The juxtaposition between the purgatory-like state of Lois' husband in a coma and the hellfire could also reference Dante’sInferno, a work of classic literature that explores the different layers of hell.
The juxtaposition between the purgatory-like state of Lois' husband in a coma and the hellfire could also reference Dante’sInferno, a work of classic literature that explores the different layers of hell.
If theInfernotheory rings true,then Sister Megan and Lois are in the seventh circle of Violence, after they have already journeyed through Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, and potentially Heresy after Megan and Charlie’s tryst. After Lois becomes frustrated by the wild goose chase, Sister Megan quotes Psalm 88:6-7, “You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. Your wrath lies heavily on me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.”
3The Dante’s Inferno Imagery
The Whole Show Maintains A Sense Of Limbo Throughout
The hospital that holds Lois' husband continues to haunt her thoughts, though itremains unclear if the retro-style nurses and orderlies are figments of Lois' drunken stupor or a small desert town reality. When Lois gets into a drunk driving accident and is hospitalized, an orderly named Ed (Travis Kelce in hisGrotesquerieacting debut) helps her get home and later encourages her to seek treatment for her alcoholism as he once had.
While Eddie later interacts with Lois' daughter Merritt as the pair become friends for the family’s protection as Lois is increasingly stalked, his sudden role in their lives feels divine. As part of theInfernotheory,Eddie might be intended to be the person to guide Lois out of the limbo she feels over her career and marriage.
2The Judgment Day Symbolism
The Twin Sisters Of The Apocalypse
As Sister Megan and Lois hurry to escape the fires, they spot a young woman named Andrea (Victoria Abbott) drenched in blood in the middle of the road. Rescuing her, the group seek refuge at the local motel at Andrea’s recommendation. The hotel has no phone service, and the television only shows programming of the fires, wars, and the COVID-19 pandemic – all moments synonymous with “the end times”, or the biblical concept of Judgment Day.
Judgment Day refers to the final day of earth on which God is to judge all the sinners left. Given the religious theatrics of the titular Grotesquerie’s murder scenes, it is very clear the show’s central killerholds any marginalized or progressive people in contempt, and believes they should be judged based on the state of the world.
1Lois' “Glorious” Arrest
How “Glorious” Appears In Religious Texts
As the killer begins to include personal information about Lois in her elaborate crime scenes, Lois' coworker decides to revisit the previous criminals that Lois has put behind bars. A pimp named Glorious who was in prison for life was mysteriously released, and is quoted constantly by a strange woman on the side of the road.
The name has a deeper meaning. The word “glorious” is used throughout the bible to describe God’s righteous attributes. As viewers learn, Glorious is not the killer, but she certainly knows something – in her case,making her glorious quality her knowledge of how to nab the culprit.In any case, the biblical motifs present inGrotesqueriehave several characters looking suspicious, making the intricate symbolism noteworthy.
Grotesquerie
Cast
Grotesquerie: In this crime drama, a detective and a nun delve into a series of heinous crimes with personal ties, confronting their own struggles while unraveling a sinister web. Their investigation raises profound questions, revealing unsettling truths that challenge their perceptions and deepen the mystery.
