American Horror Story: 1984 season 9, episode 4 recap: True Killers

Camp Redwood grows bloodier by the moment in American Horror Story: 1984!

American Horror Story may have found its way back to its original roots with 1984, and I’m pretty freaking excited. Okay, it’s not super amazing, but it’s better than what we’ve been getting from the series lately. “True Killers” does a pretty solid job of revealing the real reason behind the murders and who is actually responsible. The whole “who-dunnit” aspect is actually entertaining here set to the backdrop of the 1980s cheesy horror.

The episode kicks off (literally) with a flashback to Montana’s aerobics class where she first met the Night Stalker, aka Richard Ramirez. It’s all very creepy as he watches her from a distance and then proceeds to brutally murder a guy who was rude to her. Love makes us do crazy things–I guess.

One would think Montana would be mortified to see how gruesomely Richard murdered the guy, but she’s turned on. Very turned on. The two end up hooking up right then and there in the middle of the blood as she asks him to murder one more person for her–Brooke.

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Remember how Brooke almost got married? And how that guy lost his marbles and shot his best man on the spot and then himself? It turns out the best man was actually Montana’s brother, and now she’s out seeking revenge for her brother’s death. She blames Brooke and Brooke only and wants nothing more than to see her die.

Back in the present day at Camp Redwood, Montana reveals to Richard that he’s not the only one on a murder spree. Mr. Jingles is out there doing his thing too, so he better step it up. The rest of the crew is running about the camp, and stumbles across Blake’s car–their chance at escape!

In mess hall, Xavier tries to get Bertie out of there, who seems completely unaware of what is going on around her. Ignorance is bliss, I guess. Before they could get out of there, Mr. Jingles shows up as Xavier finds a hiding spot under the table. Bertie and Mr. Jingles were friends back in 1970, and it was that connection that she was hoping to appeal to.

But no thanks to Xavier, Mr. Jingles loses it when he realizes he’s been hiding under the table. Bertie gets the stabbing treatment, while Xavier gets thrown into an oven–a very hot oven. American Horror Story is really committed to the horrendous 80s horror theme, aren’t they?

Meanwhile, Brooke is trying to run away from not-Rita but winds up getting caught in a net that was set out by her. Come on, Brooke, don’t you know how this all works?! Montana stumbles across Brooke in the net and immediately pushes Richard to go finish the job, but unfortunately for her, Mr. Jingles shows up at the same time.

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Mr. Jingles wins that fight, and it’s bye-bye, Mr. Night Stalker. Honestly, I’m not sure if I believe it because this is American Horror Story and plenty of characters have come back from the dead. Just saying.

In a plot twist no one saw coming (seriously, I didn’t), Mr. Jingles finds out that it wasn’t him that murdered all those innocent girls during the massacre. In fact, it was Margaret. I knew she had to be creepy, but dang, I didn’t realize it’d be her. Basically, she planted evidence and made it seem like Mr. Jingles did it, and with all the punishment he got over the years, he truly came to believe he killed those girls.

Remember when I said that this is American Horror Story and weird things happen all the time? Well, how’s this for you? Richard Ramirez is resurrected through his Satanic beliefs. What the hell is in the water at Camp Redwood? There’s definitely something supernatural and sinister within the grounds there, and I hope we find out what it is soon enough.

Be sure to tune in every Wednesday on FX to watch new episodes at 10 PM EST!