‘American Horror Story: 1984’ Season 9, Episode 4 ‘True Killers’ Review: The Story Comes Full Circle

There’s only one phrase to describe tonight’s episode of American Horror Story: 1984—I goddamn knew it.

If you thought last week’s episode had the biggest twists of the season so far, “True Killers” would like to have a word. Tonight is where we see things come together as true intentions and identities are revealed. There’s so much more to Mr. Jingles (John Carroll Lynch) and The Night Stalker/Richard Ramirez (Zach Villa) than what we’ve previously seen in the first three episodes of AHS: 1984. And there’s also something sinister hidden deep within the forest of Camp Redwood. Tonight’s episode took us by surprise, and it never stops dropping shocking twists and reveals along the way.

In “True Killers,” Mr. Jingles closes in for more kills. And following last week’s Montana (Billie Lourd) and Richard reveal, their story gives us a bit of a background as to how the two unlikely lovers met. Meanwhile, the Camp Redwood survivors are in for quite the surprise as the night turns into an inescapable hell.

It’s time to hide under the covers as you’re bound to encounter horrifying spoilers ahead.

The Night Stalker: Montana’s Bloody Revenge

“True Killers” drops its first shocker in the opening sequence of the episode. We get a backstory of how Montana met Richard, which was in the goriest of ways. Montana holds this night aerobics class for men where Richard gatecrashes and sees Montana for the first time. When one of her students criticizes Montana’s choice of workout music (guy wants more Cyndi Lauper and less heavy metal), Richard gifts her with a Silence of the Lamb-ish body display as he disembowels the student and hangs his body on top of Montana’s locker. Once the shock settles down, Montana and Richard get on with steamy and bloody sex.

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I wonder how Montana’s character became so indifferent to the gore? But that’s probably part of the don’t-ask-don’t-tell type of narrative that American Horror Story: 1984 wants to tell. After finishing up, Montana asks Richard if he’s willing to kill for her (which, of course, he does). That’s when Montana reveals that it was her brother whom Brooke’s (Emma Roberts) groom shot in the head during their wedding. Like Brooke’s would-be husband, Montana believes that Brooke slept with him, leading up to the unfateful day of his death. Brooke has to pay in the most brutal, painful way. Fast forward to the night at the camp, where Montana picks up from where episode 3 ended. They have to find Brooke first before Mr. Jingles gets to her.

But perhaps one of the best scenes of the episode was when Mr. Jingles and the Night Stalker face each other for a bloody showdown. As Brooke tries to run away after waking up from Fake Nurse Rita/Donna Chambers’ (Angelica Ross) drug, she gets trapped in a net that Donna laid out in the woods. Montana hears her screaming and leads Richard to her. But as he gets close, Mr. Jingles appears and the two engage in a slice-and-dice brawl just as Montana dukes it out with Donna. The bout ends with Mr. Jingles winning the fight by impaling Richard’s head on a tree branch.

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You’d think that the killer count is finally narrowed down to Mr. Jingles again, but no. Remember Richard’s creepy Satan chants that seemed to echo American Horror Story: Apocalypse? It turns out that supernatural forces are also at work (see, I fucking called it) at Camp Redwood. With Richard lying dead, Donna witnesses something utterly horrifying as his body is lifted up by an unseen force and brought back to life.

Jesus Christ on rollerskates, the episode gets better!

*GASP* Mr. Jingles Screams Bloody Innocence!

I seriously have no idea what’s at play here, but I know that Camp Redwood is keeping a box full of fucked up shit.

As Mr. Jingles heads off to his next kill, he takes a breather at the mess hall, where Xavier (Cody Fern) also happens to be on a rescue mission to save Bertie (Tara Karsian), the camp’s resident cook. As Xavier hides under the table, Bertie fixes Mr. Jingles up some food. Bertie knows Mr. Jingles and tries to appeal to his kindness. But the soft moment is cut short when Xavier accidentally reveals himself, making Mr. Jingles go on another killing rampage. He sticks Xavier in the oven, brutally stabs Bertie in the back, and leaves. Luckily, Bertie was able to free Xavier from being turned into a human roast between her last breaths.

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With Mr. Jingles fully recharged, our most awaited reunion finally happens—Margaret Booth (Leslie Grossman) comes face to face with her almost-killer… or so we thought. Mr. Jingles swoops in for the kill, but Margaret removes the veil and reveals what truly went down that fateful night in 1970.

When she was a counselor at Camp Redwood, most of the staff saw her as weird. It was only Mr. Jingles (aka Benjamin Richter) who treated her well. With that bond comes Benjamin’s vow to protect Margaret from the bullies at the camp. But on the night of the killing, it’s revealed that it was Margaret who slaughtered the entire Camp Redwood counselor staff and who pinned the murder on Benjamin. His time at the asylum only forced him to believe that he performed the murder.

See? We goddamn knew it. Enraged, Jingles tries to kill Margaret but she shoots him in the chest. Trevor (Matthew Morrison) arrives at the scene, and Margaret feigns an attack by Jingles before stabbing Trevor to death, removing his ear in an effort to brand it as another death by Jingles. And as Margaret tries to finish Jingles off, she finds him gone.

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Later, Jingles bumps into a bloodied Xavier but leaves him alive. Brooke sees Xavier but they are greeted by an explosion. It turns out that Margaret rigged the only working vehicle with an explosive so no one could leave the camp. Of course, the rest of the survivors are clueless about who Margaret really is.

Just like how a Booth assassinated Abe Lincoln, Camp Redwood is locked under the sinister eyes of another Booth, the real killer of the season.

‘American Horror Story: 1984 — True Killers’ Overall Verdict

“True Killers” delivers one of the greatest blows from American Horror Story: 1984 so far. The episode is fully aware of its identity and manages to drop the signature AHS twist that we’ve come to love since the Harmons moved into the murder house in 2011. The season kicked things off with a predictable but fun slasher episode; now we’re going in blind. The next few episodes are going to be a rollercoaster ride of shocks and turns, thanks to “True Killers” from director Jennifer Lynch and writer Jay Beattie.

Now we’re stuck with two main villains—the reincarnated Night Stalker and Margaret Booth. But this begs the question of whether or not the season will turn into a “last killer standing” match. I’m pretty sure there are surprises hidden in the nooks and crannies of AHS: 1984; at this point, ANYTHING can happen.

American Horror Story: 1984 continues Wednesday, October 16th, with “Red Dawn” at 10/9c on FX.