‘American Horror Story: 1984’ Season 9, Episode 6 ‘Episode 100’ Review: Darkness Prevails

If I knew that this is how American Horror Story’s 100th episode would go, I’d have prepared for another hour of shocks.

After the horrors at Camp Redwood, our human and ghost survivors live new lives that seem to work well for them (except for the occasional bloodshed, which is totally rad and normal). Gone are the days of always running and fearing for one’s life. But tonight’s episode—the landmark 100-episode count for the series—barely even scratches the surface of a brand new menace looming on the horizon.

In a nutshell, Brooke (Emma Roberts) is on death row awaiting her fate. Montana (Billie Lourd), Ray (DeRon Horton), Xavier (Cody Fern), and Chet (Gus Kenworthy) join the souls trapped in Camp Redwood following their brutal deaths. The conniving, evil bitch Margaret Booth (Leslie Grossman) is now a real estate broker who sells murder houses and scary properties as attractions. Richard the Night Stalker (Zach Villa) and Mr. Jingles, aka Benjamin Richter (John Carroll Lynch), are on a murder spree after getting a shot at a new life courtesy of the dark lord Satan.

That all sounds appealing, huh? But we’re not ready for the deluge of reveals and ’80s slasher goodness in “Episode 100.” We’ve survived the Camp, yet our fate outside of it is unsure. In another spooks-n’-scares-filled episode, American Horror Story once again fulfills its trademark knack for hitting us with the most unexpected of things.

Major spoilers will be dropped left and right from here on, so tread with caution.

From Jesus Freak Killer to Millionaire: The Margaret Booth Story

I’m totally convinced that Margaret is the official irritating villain of this season (apart from Satan and Richard). The tables have turned on her as she puts her Jesus-worshipping, killer tendencies behind and adopts a new life as a rich real estate agent. She doesn’t care if a property has bad juju in it. The more sinister the crime/death that took place, the better. Big dick Trevor (Matthew Morrison) also comes back from the dead albeit in the most fortunate of ways. After being stabbed by Margaret at Camp Redwood, Trevor wakes up from a coma with Margaret forcing him to marry her. You can’t testify against your wife, so they say.

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But perhaps one of the most welcome returns to the American Horror Story family is Leslie Jordan as Margaret’s assistant, Courtney. His flamboyant flair is present and adds a little bit of color to Margaret’s otherwise dark dealings. But the curse of Camp Redwood can’t seem to let go of Margaret just yet. Following the news of new murders being committed by our ghost camp survivors (more on that in a bit), Margaret decides to capitalize on it by hosting a big-budget music festival with Billy Idol as the headliner. If that ain’t twisted and sadistic enough for you, I don’t know what is. You’re welcome to join Satan in hell with a premium membership card.

A Sick Ghost Infestation

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Montana, Xavier, Ray, and Chet will forever be stuck in Camp Redwood and we won’t be offered any explanation as to why (I think). So to pass the time, Montana and Xavier carry out their murderous tendencies as ghosts since they have nothing to lose. Ray, on the other hand, still wants to do good by cleaning up after their mess. But when Montana and Xavier refuse to dial down their obscene hunger for killing, Ray decides to fuck it and let the world discover that deaths are still prevalent at the Camp. When the local news gets wind of the murders, trauma from the ’70s and ’84 are unlocked. That’s when Margaret swoops in for the kill (pun intended) by hosting the Music Festival (apparently, her real estate business still owns the camp). But she has to watch her back from now on. Chet is screaming bloody revenge after Margaret drowned him for no particular reason last week.

“Fuck Satan!”: Old Habits Die Hard

With Richard and Mr. Jingles hi-yo sliver away-ing from Camp Redwood last week, you’d expect that the bloody murders would continue. Of course, it does even a year later, but Jingles isn’t having it anymore. The killing and bloodshed are taking a toll on him, so he decides to wig out, satanic duty be damned. As the unlikely killer pair stops over somewhere near Mexico, Jingles decides to bail on him by revealing Richard’s identity to some locals. Jingles drives away as the group of locals mug Richard.

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Fast forward to 1989, where Jingles takes up a new name (Donald, how fitting), marries a woman named Lorraine, and bares a son. On top of that, Donald works at the best place in the world for movies and pop culture boners—videoshack. Jingles’ complete 180 seems believable; even when he saw the news bit about Margaret hosting a music festival at Camp Redwood, Jingles is undeterred. But the past comes back to haunt him as he arrives home after work to his wife brutally slashed to death. In a fit of vengeance, Jingles leaves his son to his wife’s sister and sets out to Camp Redwood to settle things with Richard once and for all. Because in the American Horror Story universe, once a killer; always a killer.

Brooke On Death Row, Donna Saves the Day

We later learn from Courtney that Brooke’s appeal was denied and that she’s currently on death row. Richard also happens to be locked in there with her, so it’s an unlikely reunion of all sorts. He tries to influence her to partner up but Brooke maintains her innocence and constantly gives Richard the finger. When her death day comes, Richard calls on the powers of Satan to possess a prison guard and free himself. One cannot simply miss a Billy Idol concert and a chance to wreak havoc at Camp Redwood again.

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Meanwhile, Brooke succumbs to the lethal injection while Margaret and Trevor watch sadistically. At first, I thought Richard was going to free Brooke and turn her to the dark side. However, a surprising ally emerges to save the day—Donna Chambers/Fake Nurse Rita (Angelica Ross). Donna brings Brooke back from sleep (it turned out to be a sleeping agent rather than the lethal injection) and god knows what the hell she’s up to now.

‘American Horror Story: Episode 100’ Overall Verdict

“Episode 100” is a celebration of how far American Horror Story has come. It never failed to grip me from start to finish, with exposition and a story that perfectly sums up our characters’ true intentions. Six episodes in and we finally have an idea of what the season wants us to experience—and that’s a good thing. The previous seasons gave little to no effort in terms of revealing the final play, but AHS: 1984 tells you where it’s headed while still keeping the shocks and surprises at bay. Director Loni Peristere handled the landmark episode well and heightened the undeniable AHS signature charm of twists and turns.

As for me, I’ll be right back rewinding the VHS tape to watch this shit again. We’ll have to make every scene count as we only have nine episodes this season (which sucks ass so bad).

American Horror Story: 1984 continues Wednesday, October 30th, with “The Lady In White” at 10/9c on FX.