American Horror Story: Roanoke is one of the most narratively sophisticated of the many seasons of the long-running horror anthology. There are actually several different stories nestled within its ten episodes, and it asks a lot of questions about the nature of how people engage with horror on television.
Moreover, it is also filled with a wide variety of characters, all of whom exhibit some signs of intelligence and, in the case of a few, a willingness to do whatever it takes to create good ratings, even if it means putting people in harm’s way.
Matt Miller
As half of the couple that inhabits the haunted house at the center of the story, Matt is a very important character in this season.
He also shows that he has a certain form of cunning, since he comes back to the house to reunite with his lover, Scáthach, even though he knows that this will hurt Shelby. Furthermore, he also has at least some emotional intelligence, since he comes to Shelby’s rescue on a number of occasions, demonstrating that he does have at least some feelings for her.
Lee Harris
Lee Harris is one of the season’s most enigmatic and morally questionable characters since she is responsible for several deaths yet continues to insist that she is also a victim. The very fact that she is able to convince so many that she was just another casualty is impressive.
She truly shows her smarts when she is kidnapped by the cannibalistic Polks, as she manages to escape from them, something that very few other characters manage to successfully do. Ultimately, her brain isn’t enough to save her, as she sacrifices herself for her daughter.
Scáthach
Lady Gaga’s Scáthach is one of most terrifying creatures that the series has produced, and she is also its most tragic.
By the time that the series begins, she has become a malevolent spirit motivating the deaths that occur every year at the location, but it also has to be acknowledged that she is a fiercely bright character, able to endure the horrors of the colonial period and also skilled at getting lots of different kinds of people to do what she wants.
Dominic Banks
One of the re-enactors that are hired to tell the story of Matt and Shelby, Dominic also shows that he has a ruthless side. His cleverness is such that he often seems to be in on the various production shenanigans that occur as the series moves into its latter halves.
As with so many of the other characters in this season, however, he ends up being a bit too smart for his own good, which leads to his death at the hands of the Piggy Man.
Mama Polk
Frances Conroy has created many great characters in this series, women who are capable of inflicting tremendous pain, and Mama Polk is just one of those people.
Like the rest of her family, she is willing to kill anyone that endangers their legacy and their right to the property and, as one of the season’s more intelligent characters, she knows what it takes to ensure that the right people are punished so that their secret bond to the spirits of the original colonists at Roanoke is kept under wraps.
Sidney Aaron James
Even in a season infamous for its ruthless characters, Sidney stands out. Given that he is a producer, it makes sense that he wants to create a successful TV show--and he definitely has the insight to know what people will tune in to see--but his downfall is that he doesn’t seem to have any sort of moral compass governing his actions.
In fact, it’s his goading of the delusional Agnes that ultimately leads to his unpleasant demise.
Agnes
Though she is originally simply the actress chosen to play the ghostly Thomasin (known as the Butcher), Agnes soon becomes convinced that she is Thomasin.
Given that she is performed by the great Kathy Bates, she shows quite a lot of brilliance in her ability to adopt the mannerisms of her predecessor, and she also shows a sort of cunning in that she is able to murder Sidney and his team without being found out. Unfortunately for her, it isn’t enough to save her when the real Thomasin decides that she needs to die.
Cricket Marlowe
Leslie Jordan makes one of his memorable appearances as Cricket, the psychic that is brought into Roanoke.
Whether or not he actually has the ability to speak to spirits is actually beside the point, because he’s clever enough to realize that the only thing that really matters is that people think he has that ability. Unfortunately, he proves to be a bit too smart for his own good, and he meets the same grisly fate as most of the rest of this season’s major and minor characters.
Thomasin White
Thomasin White, one of the original colonists at Roanoke, has the distinction of being one of this series' most terrifying villains.
Like Scáthach, she has been the victim of those who refused to take her seriously, and, like her mentor and protector, she shows that she has a ruthless sort of intellect. It’s her actions that lead to the original settlers at Roanoke being trapped in their terrible existence, reliant on human sacrifices in order to go on.
Ambrose White
Thomasin is matched in her intelligence by her son Ambrose who, unlike his mother, seems to have a moral compass.
His is an ethical sort of intelligence, one that leads him to realize that the existence they have endured for all of the centuries simply cannot go on. Thus, he intervenes to help save some of the modern-day people trapped on the property by throwing his mother into a fire, even though he must realize that such a solution is doomed to be temporary at best.