Warning: spoilers for the first four episodes of American Horror Story: 1984, ahead]
Wow, so American Horror Story: 1984 just straight-up went from a story about human villains to supernatural slasher with no warning, huh? Richard Ramirez (aka the Night Stalker) may have been a real person, but I’m pretty sure he was never resurrected after being murdered and impaled on a tree. Someone fact-check that for me, though, and let me know if I missed a HUGE part of his life story.
The past few episodes have been full of revelations. Nurse Rita—who never came off very nurse-like to me—turned out to be a scammer who lured Mr. Jingles to Camp Redwood so she could watch him work. She’s studying serial killers, okay?!
Meanwhile, Montana should probably stop trying to make out with Brooke if she hates her so much. She’s not just any aerobics instructor, she’s also the sister of the man murdered by Brooke’s ex at the AHS version of the Red Wedding. She is actually in some kind of relationship with the Night Stalker and asked him to kill Brooke...who is somehow still alive.
Finally, the vicious serial killer Mr. Jingles wasn’t actually the one behind the murders at the original camp. He was a janitor at Camp Redwood, manipulated by Margaret—the real killer—into taking the fall for her crimes. Then, all his time and electroshock therapy at the asylum washed away his memory of how it really went down (at least until he and Margaret were face-to-face).
Honestly, if the Night Stalker and Mr. Jingles weren’t somehow still alive—Jingles was shot by Margaret, but his body mysteriously disappeared while she was killing Trevor—there would be nowhere for the season to go from here. But what’s going to happen now that Mr. Jingles knows the truth and the Night Stalker is still kickin’?
Reddit user @Pactolus believes Mr. Jingles will become the hero.
“I watch a lot of horror/science fiction TV. In every single role in fiction John Carroll Lynch has played, he has never been an outright evil villain. In every one of his roles, he appears to be a monster at first, but the story slowly reveals the torture he underwent to become this. This happened in ‘AHS: Freak Show’ and ‘Channel Zero: No-End House.’ Given the last episode, I am curious if they are going that route this time as well. It’s clear that Margaret is way more evil and duplicitous than Benjamin. I am eagerly waiting to see if he has a redemption arc.”
Frankly, this reasoning is super thin. An actor’s previous roles is rarely an indicator of what the writers of a television show are planning for their story. Still, I think they might be right about Mr. Jingles, who I will start calling by his real name, Benjamin (does anyone else get Riverdale Jingle Jangle flashbacks at least twice an episode of AHS: 1984?).
I’d like to point out that we now have a satanic Night Stalker on the loose along with the actual camp killer, Margaret. Brooke and Montana are pretty much the only other living people around, and Montana is so not innocent in all this. I wouldn’t be surprised if Benjamin starts to fight his conditioning and helps Brooke escape this mess.
