American Horror Story: 1984 – Episode 8: Rest in Pieces
Kajagoogoo are permanent residents of Camp Redwood and Courtneyβs all out of bleach, a true crime journalist meets her end via Richard Ramirez and a swamp monster emerges. Farfetched? Nah, this is just the penultimate AHS: 1984 episode.
The camp festival is on its way and Margaret Boothβs plan is finally unveiled: kill off all the acts to make a permanent memorial to the golden 80s that will draw crowds for years to come. Black Mirror, anyone? The only saving grace is that Richard Ramirez and therefore the forces of Satan are on hand to protect Billy Idol from the melee, if Bruce can resist the temptation to up his homicide stats when heβs so close to the action. Of course, the series couldnβt resist bringing forth a nosy writer making a quick buck out of the campβs grisly tales and with her dies the hope that anybody will discover Brookeβs innocence. Whether Donna and Brooke make it out alive remains to be seen, but slashers rarely leave two final girls.
Trashing all hopes of Xavier and Montanaβs relationship, Montana makes a heartfelt reunion with Trevor in the episodeβs attempt at poignancy exploring the ghostsβ true feelings. When Trevor drops the βLβ bomb, this exposes the feisty blondeβs desperate hope for someone to help the ghosts out of their hell. Itβs hard to tell which is the bigger threat to Trevorβs idea of happiness – the omnipresent eye of psycho wife Margaret Booth or the mere presence of an undead Limahl.
More shocking than Xavierβs tie dye trousers is his continually shameless 180 character assassination – this ruthless killer with no sympathy for Jinglesβ son has conveniently forgotten he was once crying his eyes out at every scary noise. Speaking of unexplained developments, Mr Jingles somewhat miraculously βreturnsβ his brother Bobby to his mother and subsequently creates something of a safe haven for their family in the camp, earning Laviniaβs forgiveness. Exactly how Bobby suddenly emerged from the lake simply by Richter floating over in a boat is something the writers considered unnecessary information.
Last week, eagle-eyed fans noted Mr Jinglesβ family home is identical to Kit Walkerβs alien-attacked home from Asylum. Actor Cody Fern noted at the Episode 100 event that heβd like a series set in outer space, and this weekβs passing mentions of being dead feeling like being βlost in spaceβ gather momentum to the fan theory that season 10 may revolve around the presence of alien lifeforms.
AHSβ love letter to the eighties nears its end and we finally have some goals to work towards at the festival, but the real question is how loveable camp chef Bertie will re-emerge to save the day.
Review by Ali Cooper