'American Horror Story: 1984' Episode 6 review: Ryan Murphy's show hits the 100 mark and manages to keep the excitement alive with throwbacks
Contains spoilers for 'American Horror Story: 1984' episode 6
The promo that was aired last week, was a montage from all the seasons of the show and we were hoping that they would take us down memory lane. It indeed worked very well because this episode had several references from the past which literally completed the puzzle. The centennial episode of 'American Horror Story' just aired and we are in total awe of Mr. Jingles.
The episode opened with a flashforward set in the year 1985, a year after the Red Wood Massacre. We saw that Richard Ramirez and Benjamin rode off into the sunset last week, only to terrorize and kill more people. Although Ramirez and Benjamin are a part of a Satanic cult, Benji still has some humanity left in him. He tries to tell him that there is more to life than just killing, at least for himself. We see that Benjamin is thrilled to have his life back and he looks clean now, but considering that this is AHS we're talking about, nothing lasts forever. With Ramirez going ballistic about living up to the entity that he worships, he is on a rampage to destroy whatever comes in his way. So, Benjamin takes the opportunity and goes behind his back only to trap Ramirez and the mob attacks him.
The episode was fastpaced and it took us into the lives of other "survivors" of the Camp Red Wood Massacre. We travel four years into the future, set in 1989, a photographer is seen taking pictures of birds and lake around the dreadful area. There is a "Brook wants your blood" sprayed on one of the doors of the camp and it literally looked like a warning sign, which was casually ignored by him. He spots another fair birdie dressed in a red (to kill) and he movies closer towards her, we see that it is Montana, seductively waiting to prowl on her next prey. Montana looks so fresh and full of life, even though there is no life left in her. She stabs the photographer and kills him because she can, that 's why. Xavier and Montana are the flag bearers of the blood parade and we also get to see the ghosts of several other people trapped in Red Wood.
Speaking of blood parade, Margaret is a total celebrity right now and has a rich and lavish life. She married Trevor, yes she actually did that as she had ulterior motives. A flashback of 1985 shows us that Trevor and Margaret had "survived" the massacre and Brooke had taken the fall for all that Margaret had done. Trevor knew that it was Margaret this whole time, but could not testify because she vouched to be his sugarmama and married him. So he legally cannot testify against his own spouse!
Anyway, the story brings us back into the current time (1989), Brooke and Ramirez are in the same prison and we see a major reference to Season 2, 'Asylum' where they talk through walls sitting in different rooms. Consider this as a homage to Kit and Grace. Ramirez tries to convince her to join Satan's forces and workship the dark lord in exchange for her immortal life. Brooke hates him so much that she gives him the finger, he deserves that! Margaret and Trevor then witness Brooke's sentence being carried out in the prison facility.
As fans will know, this season is inspired by Slasher movies and a reference to it is also made when a kid comes to the video shack to rent some Halloween movies. 'A Nightmare on Elm Street', and 'Texas Chainsaw' were mentioned by the kid hinting at the crux of this entire season. Coming back to Benjamin, he is living the settled life that he always wanted to have with a beautiful wife and a baby. Benjamin's happiness is, however, shortlived as Ramirez breaks free from prison and hunts his house down only to ruthlessly murder his wife Lorraine to bring the old psychotic Mr. Jingles back in action. Benjamin's iconic line, "I'll never be free, Darkness always follows me" is one important takeaway from this episode. Towards the end of the episode, we witnessed Brooke's dead body is being carried out of the room and fans lost it when Brooke zapped back to life as Donna rescued her.
This was the 100th episode of the show, but honestly, it felt a lot like a basic story, (fake murder and revenge plan). This episode is supposed to be the midway point for the season but fails to hit the right spots. Anyhow, it does not fail to keep the excitement on peak and not to forget the horrors of that fateful night are very carefully kept alive throughout this episode.
This episode was absolutely mind-boggling and fans have gone all lengths to express their excitement on Twitter. User @BHADPHAG said "Seriously thank you, Ryan, for giving us madison and Jill vibes in this episode from Brooke. Making such an iconic character making me fall in love with her more I love @RobertsEmma so much, my queen, her best acting this season Is coming out".
