‘AHS: 1984’ Recap: ‘Mr. Jingles’

Much like last week on AHS: 1984, this episode reveals a slow starts only to reveal a death all before the opening credits so far. With an episode entitled “Mr. Jingles,” viewers can assume we will learn more about Mr. Jingles himself. Instead, what we have learned leans on possible deception as well as answers from last week’s premiere revolving around Brooke and Xavier. This week’s show opens with Dr. Karen Hopple (Orla Brady) driving to Camp Redwood. As she knocks on one of the cabin doors, she hopes to warn someone who will take her warnings seriously.

Instead of Margaret heeding her warnings she completely ignores them. Camp Redwood will open. Besides, Margaret can take care of herself, revealing she has a gun to take care of Mr. Jingles herself. Knowing the dangers of the man lurking in the showers, Dr. Hopple attempts to leave the camp. As soon as viewers are lead down the dark winding road, we immediately know Dr. Hopple’s time on the show is up. The moment the thought crossed my mind was the moment that Dr. Hopple runs over the spike in the road. Immediately we know the truck that pulls behind the doctor belongs to Mr. Jingles himself. 

She yells out the window, but to no avail. The spike was placed in the road on purpose. Despite begging for her life, Mr. Jingles pulls Dr. Hopple out of the driver’s side window, tossing her in the road. Taking the tire spike he used to stop her car he kills her. He confirms that he is the monster she has come to know him as over the years at the institution. Despite not expecting a Loomis-like character, in Laurie Strode’s waredrobe the week prior, to die so soon, Dr. Hopple appears gone.

As the credits roll, I began to wonder when pieces of the puzzle would start being put together by our counselors. Soon afterward, the news reports Roy’s death at the gas station. The news blames The Night Stalker because two serial killers at the same time is not plausible. Not that I blame them for wanting to think that way. Brooke appears as the only counselor even remotely concerned by the turn of events. This is of course because she is afraid that the guy is coming to kill her. Something completely laughed off by the other counselors who are already over her.

During this time, Margaret makes the men leave the cabin as she again has her own set of rules. They will all mind these rules no matter what. As they leave she insists that they go shower to remain clean. Chaos ensues from there with both the female and male cabin mates. Most of the men go to take a shower. Instead of Xavier showering right away he exits. He must grab his beach towel before seemingly becoming kidnapped. Initially, I did wonder if they were going to make him this season’s Casey Becker, but not quite.

Instead, viewers meet Blake (Todd Stashwick) who we immediately know is a horrible man. He is clearly blackmailing Xavier over something. Originally, I thought of Blake as Xavier’s sugar daddy. However, I discovered alongside audiences that while Blake does have a particular body part on his mind, this is not because of the reason one might think. We learn that Xavier participated in gay for pay porn and from the sound of it created a small fan-base or in the least good money for Blake to follow the trail to bring Xavier back to make more movies. After all, one cannot give up a Rembrandt. 

Tempting Blake with someone bigger and better, he leads him out to the shower area where he finds a way to look at his potential new talent. Fleeing the scene, Xavier leaves Blake wide open to murder. The crazier part is that it happens so quickly that no one hears or sees anything until the reveal. The deaths this season are not for the faint of heart. Then again most slasher films become rather brutal after a certain point. Mr. Jingles takes advantage of the situation and stabs Blake through the eye, leaving him attached to the side of the building.

Likewise, we learn more about Brooke and her inner demons as well. Montana tries to convince Brooke that nothing is going to happen to her that night. She insists that Brooke cannot keep thinking that the worst is going to occur. However, Brooke informs her newfound friend that she has already experieced the worst. Viewers learn that this occurred last summer as the show cuts to Brooke walking down the aisle with her father. While at the altar though everything goes horribly wrong.

Brooke explains that Joey was going to be her husband. The groom turns around after having a fit of jealousy over his friend Sam staying over at Brooke’s house the night before. When he turns around he shoots Sam, Brooke’s father, and then threatens to shoot Brooke too. Despite his rage at their wedding, he shoots himself as Billy Idol’s “White Wedding” plays in the background. Brooke insists that no one ever believes her story. No one believes that she was saving herself for her wedding night. Attempting to get on Brooke’s goodside, Montana claims to believe her before leaning over and kissing her. Appalled, Brooke pulls away and decides she can no longer be in the cabin.

Brooke goes for a walk. A walk by herself while a serial killer is potenitally hunting her. To make matters worse as she sits peacefully on the docks a dead body floats on by. Despite appearing she might escape, The Night Stalker comes into the camera’s focus. Getting the upper hand once more somehow, Brooke flees through the woods. The craziest part isn’t even that she has somehow gotten the upper hand twice now. The crazier part is that the hiker that died last week magically appears in the woods and creates a distraction, dying an even more brutal death than the week before. He also dies one more time, before the strangest meet cute in television history.

Although we have not seen much of Rita, the show’s insanity continues this week. She is listening to music and refilling the cabinet with the medicine she hears something. As Rita turns around she is greeted by one of our killers, Mr. Jingles. Stimaneously, Margaret meets The Night Stalker is one of the strangest meetings I have ever witnessed on the show. No one wants to see her feet besides The Night Stalker. No one.  I promise. In fact, this whole scene sent up so many red flags about Margaret that was all a good friend of mine and I could talk about last night upon finishing this week’s episode.

However, we do know more about the hiker. The hiker’s name is Jonas. Jonas remembers her and the show reveals that he died at the cabin fourteen years ago. My theory is that Margaret is the killer now and she was the killer back then. No one is ever pure at camp and as she went on talking the Night Stalker into killing Mr. Jingles I feel she has framed him. My other prediction based on last night’s events Jonas never really died. I think there is something supernatural about the entire camp and that no one ever really dies there. Or maybe they reset like a video game.  Maybe it is a video game!

Nevertheless, with everything going on at the camp, no one can blame the counselors for attempting to flee the area. However, thanks to Rita they are all stuck at the camp with two predators essentially lurking behind each door. There is a part of me that wants Margaret to be behind one of the doors and Jonas behind the other somehow. Or is she going to attempt to lock Jonas up somewhere? And if my theory is right I’m thinking that Dr. Hopple will prove to the world that somehow Camp Redwood might be worse than Camp Crystal Lake.

How are you enjoying season nine of American Horror Story so far? What is your current theory about AHS: 1984? Is Margaret really the murderer in the game of God? Let us know your thoughts below and theories below and continue watching AHS: 1984 every Wednesday at 10 pm EST on FX Network for more chills and thrills.