‘American Horror Story: 1984’ Season 9, Episode 2 ‘Mr. Jingles’ Review: Escape From Summer Camp

It’s going to be a long night for the disarrayed group of Camp Redwood. We’re not exactly sure how they’re going to escape alive out of this hellish summer nightmare (or if any of them will even survive knowing this is AHS), but one thing’s for sure—Mr. Jingles (John Carroll Lynch) will get his revenge a la Michael Myers of Halloween. This week’s episode of American Horror Story: 1984, titled “Mr. Jingles,” continues its ’80s slasher thrill as both killers of the season—Jingles and the Night Stalker (Zach Villa)—set their sight on wreaking havoc at the summer camp.

The surprisingly short episode comes loaded with pure terror and the staple slasher tropes that we’ve all learned to love when the season kicked off its bloody murder last week. “Mr. Jingles” paces itself so fast that you wouldn’t even think to pause the episode even once. As Brooke (Emma Roberts), Montana (Billie Lourd), Xavier (Cody Fern). Chet (Gus Kenworthy), Ray (DeRon Horton), and Camp Activities director Trevor Kirchner (Matthew Morrison) call it a night, mayhem slowly brews in the camp. Mr. Jingles escaped the asylum and is already plotting his murder spree while inside the camp premises.

Of course, we’ve got ourselves the customary designated “lone-person-who-experiences-the-initial-attacks-but-no-one-believes-them” in the form of Brooke, but it slowly catches up to the rest of the camp staff (yep, even Leslie Grossman’s Jesus freak camp owner Margaret Booth). Just when everyone thought that Brooke was acting out of trauma, both evils come slashing at them in the face.

Here’s everything that went down (and got slashed) on tonight’s episode of AHS: 1984.

Mr. Jingles Draws First Blood

“Mr. Jingles” opens in true American Horror Story fashion as it smacks us in the face with the killer’s first kill within Camp Redwood. Dr. Karen Hopple (Orla Brady) of the asylum heads over to the Camp to warn Margaret that Mr. Jingles has escaped and that he’s out for revenge. Feigning nonchalance, Margaret plays it off as a minor inconvenience as she comes prepared to shoot the killer’s brains out if ever he comes near (of course, she’s aided by the Lord Jesus Christ himself). Margaret sees Hopple out, but little does she know that she’s actually sending the doctor out to her death. Hopple’s car suddenly breaks down on the road, and Jingles swoops in for the kill. “I am a monster,” Jingles says as he stabs poor Dr. Hopple repeatedly. Jesus, man. Ease up on the blood work there.

Brooke’s Traumatic Wedding Past

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As mentioned earlier, Brooke is the designated “lone-person-who-experiences-the-initial-attacks-but-no-one-believes-them” in this episode. But this is an apt representation of her past too. When Margaret orders all of them to call it a night, Brooke shares to Montana about her traumatic past. A couple of years ago, Brooke’s wedding turned into a bloody ceremony when her jealous fiancé killed her dad and his best man (and ultimately himself) after assuming that Brooke slept with the best man. Montana empathized with her, sharing her own woes of being a fat kid sent to fat camp. And after their heart to heart, Montana leaned in for a smooch.

Xavier, the Unfortunate Gay Porn Star

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It was implied during last week’s season premiere that Xavier is running away from someone, that’s why he volunteered to be a camp counselor for the summer. Tonight, we finally figured out who that person is. It was a male pimp named Blake (Todd Stashwick), who helped Xavier turn from his drug-fueled ways. There’s a catch, though—Xavier had to return the favor by starring in Blake’s gay porno film. When Xavier wanted out (emphasizing that he’s not gay), he dodged Blake’s calls until he found him at Camp Redwood. But then Xavier had a great idea. Why not find a replacement who has a bigger schlong? So Xavier offers Trevor as a deal, which Blake delightfully accepts as he acts on his voyeuristic tendencies by watching Trevor, Chet, and Ray take a shower. “That’s no cock. It’s an act of God!” Blake remarks of Trevor’s big dong. But his excitement is cut short when he’s stabbed through the head by Mr. Jingles (or was it Xavier?).

The Ghost of the Jonas Brother

Remember Jonas, that crazed-looking hitchhiker that Xavier’s group accidentally ran over last week? It looks like there’s more to him than meets the eye—he’s still kickin’ after being hanged by Mr. Jingles! As the Night Stalker follows Brooke to the woods, he encounters Jonas (who now has a staple line, “you’re not supposed to be here”) and guts him. Now, you’d think that it’s the last time we’ll ever see him (wasted character potential!) but there’s more. When Brooke tried calling 911, the Night Stalker spies on them near a ravine where, guess what, Jonas appears yet again, saying the same line. Again, the Night Stalker kills him, only to find Jonas’ body gone a few seconds after. Now hold the fuck up. How?

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There isn’t a lot revealed about Jonas’ respawning power, but it turns out that he was one of the camp counselors that Mr. Jingles slaughtered in 1970 (where Margaret supposedly “survived by the power of the Holy Spirit”). After seeing Mr. Jingles kill his colleagues, Jonas ran into the woods only to be run over by Mr. Jingles and ripped to shreds. Since then, Jonas’ spirit wasn’t able to leave Camp Redwood. After all, Margaret offers a very logical explanation as to why Jonas is stuck. “There are ghosts in the Bible; and you’re here, so they must be real,” she says. Okay. Right.

Okay, so here’s a theory. That brief cuts to Margaret during that night in 1970 sure does paint a picture of something opposite to her “Mr. Jingles killed all of us” story. Is Margaret the one who actually did the killings? Perhaps Mr. Jingles was only at the camp to prevent Margaret from killing the counselors? Jonas did say that he saw Margaret covered in blood, but he didn’t mention seeing Mr. Jingles. Oh well, this is American Horror Story, after all, and a twist is waiting right around the corner.

The Night Stalker Meets Margaret’s Twisted Version of God

There’s no denying that the Night Stalker is a devil worshipper (there’s a HUGE difference between this and a Satanist, but that’s a discussion for another time). But when he encounters the resurrected Jonas, his belief system is shaken to its core. Seeing Jonas’ Camp Counselor ID, he breaks into Margaret’s cabin to demand an explanation. Now, here’s where shit gets really weird. Similar to last season’s Apocalypse, the overarching themes of God and Satan are explored albeit twisted to the characters’ own sinister gain.

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For some reason, Margaret was able to neutralize the Night Stalker’s murderous tendencies and act as some sort of quack psychologist. It’s then revealed that his name is actually Richard, who experienced multiple layers of childhood trauma. His mom worked at a leather factory and inhaled all the chemicals while she was pregnant with him. And then, when Richard was a little boy, he hit his head on a swing, causing him to develop constant seizures. And then, his ex-Green Beret cousin introduced him to an insane love for killing.

Margaret then capitalized on Richard’s trauma by saying God’s plan brought him to her, spilling self-righteous bullshit that doesn’t even feel fake given the current religious situation. Richard feels comfortable with Margaret because apparently she’s the only one to have ever listened to him deeply. “The good thing about God is that you can use him to explain why you did something, clearing you of guilt,” Margaret says. “Even something horrible.”

Margaret then takes advantage of Richard’s newfound fondness of her as she asks him to stop the killing of her staff and use him as protection against Mr. Jingles. So basically, it’s a Freddy vs. Jason situation now.

‘American Horror Story: 1984 — Mr. Jingles’ Overall Verdict

“Mr. Jingles” is a direct improvement of last week’s premiere episode. It’s still filled with predictable ’80s slasher movie tropes that enhances the overall theme of the season. It’s also oddly short for an AHS episode, but the fast pace makes for an edge-of-your-seat experience. Overall though, “Mr. Jingles” is the strongest episode of season 9 so far what with its no holds barred approach to introducing two killers who are out for more blood. Tim Minear’s script drops everything you need to know for the season, while John J. Gray’s direction takes the episode up a notch.

American Horror Story: 1984 continues next Wednesday, October 2nd, with “Slashdance” at 10/9c on FX.