This week, everybody aside from Margaret and Brooke were murdered. Brooke lost her virginity to Ray. Jingles is resurrected by Richard. My name is Kent and I write the questions every week and I have a great group of people who answer them. If you are familiar with some of the other TV Show blogs that we do on the site, then you will recognize most of the names. If you would like to participate in the blog and answer my inane questions, please contact me at kent@9deuce.com. Please enjoy!
1. We are halfway through the season and they have pretty much killed every major character aside from Brooke and Margaret (and possibly Richard and Jingles depending on how that plays out). Do you foresee this as simply a rehash of Murder House or will there be something different or deeper to it other than a bunch of pissed off spirits inhabiting an area that they can’t escape?
Raylene: I hope it’s Murder House so I can yell I Called It. (Stay classy, Russ.)
Eric: No on the rehashing of Murder House. It will be something else, but I can’t put my finger on it. (I’m with you. I like the feeling of not knowing.)
Melanie: For once, I have not a clue what they are planning. I am hoping to see them link a character from each season for the 100th episode. But not sure how or why or what. (I am hoping for Axe Man just because I looked up a film with him in it last night. That film was Children Of Men, which was an excellent film.)
Kent: I see a bit of Murder House and a bit of Roanoke. Remember, we were all a bit confused when episode 5 of Roanoke ended. The story seemed to reach its conclusion, but then they strung out some really terrible episodes. Murder House handled this a lot better under very different circumstances. It has to be something different. I just don’t truly know what it will be. It has to be more than just a bunch of dead people at camp making more dead people, right? Adding Hotel to this will certainly help.
2. Did Donna’s (Dee Dee’s) backstory do much for her character development? Did it change your perspective of her in any way?
Raylene: It brought perspective to her character trying to understand why killers kill.
Eric: No
Melanie: I thought it confused her storyline more.
Kent: I felt that it was shallow and pedantic.
3. I know that we are kinda wondering where Brooke’s story goes from here. What are your thoughts? Are they simply going to repeat the Jingles storyline with Brooke?
Raylene: She’ll probably get off. I mean if the campers still die while she’s locked up then it will be fairly obvious it’s not her. (Then it almost seems like she will have to escape because too obvious isn’t great for TV.)
Eric: She will go crazier and just kill for the thrill because she knows the truth. (I like anything involving Brooke going crazy because my theories are dying a slow, painful death.)
Melanie: Quite a twist I did not see coming! Brava! I think she is just enough of a non-threatening basic b that they will believe her when she says she didn’t do it. (I bet that she loves pumpkin spice lattes in 25 years from now. )
Kent: I think that we are going to repeat Jingles story with a bit of Asylum tossed in. Brooke will most likely escape and do something to Margaret. The question is will they want to keep Margaret’s trapped soul at the camp or someplace more devious?
4. What is in Margaret’s future? Will she continue to kill or just sit back and bide her time?
Raylene: She will continue she has a taste for it again. (But who could she blame it on this time? God or the Bible or will we get a new killer involved?)
Eric: She will continue to kill, but get caught because she can’t blame Jingles. (I want to say that she will have to be clever for a few more episodes before getting caught, but I keep getting everything wrong.)
Melanie: Jingles is coming back for Margaret and I can’t wait to see Crazy McGee get hers!!! (Are they any relation to Andy and Charlie McGee of Firestarter fame? Honestly, I would thoroughly enjoy a government project gone wrong season, but I fear that it would be too close to Stranger Things, at the moment.)
Kent: I truly think that she has to lay low for years. I think a 5-year jump is in our future. You don’t just reopen camp a few weeks after that type of massacre. Plus, that would go against the grain of its predecessors.
5. Jingles and Richard appear to be on their way to a hotel. Will it be THE Hotel? Will Jingles accept Satan and become a great duo with Richard? Is there any path of redemption for Benjamin? Will they eventually return to camp?
Raylene: I think it will be The Hotel and perhaps Ben will get Margaret away from the camp and kill her. (I am wondering what would be a good place to kill Margaret for punishment? Is there some form of “Spirit on spirit” violence?)
Eric: I have no actual clue. (I feel that we could have answered 80% of the season’s questions like this and nobody would have batted an eye because this season is pretty tough to get a hang of.)
Melanie: They are going to The Hotel for the serial killer’s dinner party. They are in charge of apps, so they better get there early! They are bringing deviled eggs and devils on horseback if that answers your question about accepting Satan. He will find redemption when he returns to camp and kills Margaret while proving she was Mr. Jingles all along. (I love everything you said, but I had no idea what Devils on Horseback were until I just looked it up. It sounds delicious! If they go to the party, does JCL get to play multiple roles? I am beyond good with this whole thought process and want to see it.)
Kent: I have to assume that Jingles has accepted Satan, but what do I truly know? If they’re going to a hotel, we once again have to assume it is THE Hotel. I think Melanie is onto something about the Killer’s Party. I didn’t think that Evan Peters was in this season though and that would make that whole idea nearly impossible. Which is why I’m so unsure of things. I am guessing Evan makes a guest appearance for this 100th episode and most likely a few other familiar faces. I think it would be a shame not to sneak in Liz, Sally, March and maybe The Countess.
6. In the preview for next week’s episode, it appears that our dead characters are enjoying haunting the camp. Will everybody enjoy haunting and killing? Also, how far in the future will we go? Are we staying in 1984?
Raylene: Not all will enjoy killing I say Ray doesn’t enjoy it. Three years into the future. (Soooo 1987 is a place to go. That could be fun.)
Eric: Staying in 1984 and Ray doesn’t like it at first. (It sounds like you think that Ray may eventually enjoy it though. I agree that he will eventually enjoy it because it is probably boring as hell there.)
Melanie: Ray will try it at first, but end up hating it. He will stop the others and go, “into the light” or become human again. Whatever happens to whatever he is exactly. We are definitely staying in 1984 because it is tubular. (Totally tubular and possibly radical. If somebody could also toss out a cowabunga, I’d be thrilled.)
Kent: I think that they have to move ahead some time, maybe just a year, maybe a 5-year jump like Friday the 13th jumped 5 years in part 2. That would be a nice nod while still staying in the 80’s. I am basing this off of 80’s slasher camp films in that the camp has to be shut down for awhile and then get reopened by somebody who thinks that they can do good…or Margaret.
7. Brooke had sex with Dead Ray. Dead Ray had a blood pressure cuff and oxygen mask placed on him. Ray fogged up the oxygen facemask. Ghosts typically don’t have solid forms. What are we dealing with here? Also, if a dead guy is your first sexual partner, are you still a virgin or does that count?
Raylene: Brooke is still a virgin. I think the fog on the mask was an error in filming. (I think the fog was intentional, like Child’s lack of breath at the end of The Thing.)
Eric: He is in AHS limbo, which leaves you half dead and half alive? Having sex with a dead guy makes you a freak. (That was so season 4 with the freaks. I don’t think you can fault a person for unknowingly having sex with a dead entity. Now, if you are knowingly doing it, like in Necromantik 1 & 2, that is a whole other freaky deeky thing. I want to point out how I do not condone watching Necromantik under any circumstances. Bad films are bad. It’s such a boring movie.)
Melanie: Not sure what we are dealing with, but we have seen it before with Murder House. So I suppose, they are linking Murder with this season without including the original cast. I think that part didn’t happen. I think Brooke imagined it during her stay at the Mental Hospital after her arrest. (Ohhhhh, more Brooke is crazy theories! As always, I am in full support of this. If Brooke doesn’t finish this season crazy then I have failed us all.)
Kent: I am 100% convinced that the fogged up oxygen mask is a subtle hint at something more. I don’t know what, but it was almost too obvious and could have easily been cut out. I say that she isn’t a virgin. If he was a physical breathing entity, it would stand to reason that it happened. But hopefully, Brooke is simply crazy.
Final Thoughts – Finally, I would like to try something a bit different. I would like you to ask me any AHS related question that you may have for the week. If you don’t have any questions, maybe you have formed a new wacky theory. Almost all of my theories failed, so time to make new ones. If you don’t have questions or theories, then recommend a good horror movie.
Raylene: Will we see Gaga at the Hotel? (Only if Bradley Cooper is with her. Seriously, her schedule can’t be THAT busy to not do a one-off appearance. But no, she won’t be there, which is a shame. Also, I need to rant here briefly. When you go to IMDB and start typing American, AHS will come up and the first listed actor in the shortcut or preview is Lady Gaga. Kathy Bates is second. I don’t feel that Gaga earned that spot. Bates and Lange would be a solid one-two punch. It should be Evan, then Paulson. Looking at the number of episodes credited, here is the top 10 for those of you who like inane info.)
Evan Peter 94 episodes
Sarah Paulson 85
Denis O’Hare 60
Kathy Bates 58
Jessica Lange 53
Frances Conroy 52
Lily Rabe 48
Angela Bassett 48
Emma Roberts 46
Cheyenne Jackson 43
Eric: Where do you put 1984 in your favorite to least favorite AHS list? (It’s tough because I can look at it one of two ways, do I compare 1984 to the past full seasons or the past first half of seasons? Let’s compare it to past first halves and ask me again when the season is over. For first halves, from best to worst I would go with Murder House, Apocalypse, Roanoke, 1984, Hotel, Coven, Freak Show, Asylum, and then Cult. Cult is permanently entrenched at the bottom of most lists. I will say that Cult wouldn’t be at the bottom of my second half list. It would be ahead of Roanoke, Freak Show, and possibly Apocalypse. Cult had continuity, at the very least, despite it being very disjointed. Great question!)
Melanie: Something Wicked This Way Comes is a 1980’s Disney Horror film that is one of my mom’s favorites and one of the first horrors that I saw. The other one is The Lady in White. I recommend these two super mild horror movies for your viewing pleasure. (I know that Lady in White is actually free to view on VUDU this month, with a few small ads. I will try to watch that over the next week. I have never seen the other one. I’ll have to do some sleuthing to see if I can find it somewhere to stream. Thank you for the recommendations. I plan on getting through Friday the 13th 5-10, Resident Evil 1-6, Midsommar, 3 From Hell, and possibly the Conjuring universe films since I have only seen half of them. Oh, and Serial Mom.)
Kent: I will recommend a few good movies.
House on Haunted Hill – Both versions are solid, but the original one still holds up incredibly well and may scare you. It is an all-time great scare. Also, I think it is fairly safe and mild for most ages.
Stephanie – Great little concept that plays out wonderfully throughout the film. Probably for teens and up. You may get a little scared early on. Not for the young ones unless you want to give them nightmares.
Monster Squad – The horror version of the Goonies. Absolutely kid-friendly by and large. Like a PG 8.
The Conjuring – This movie has great pacing, great atmosphere and builds up with some scares mixed it.
VUDU has Resident Evil, House of 1000 Corpses, 30 Days of Night, Cursed, It Follows, The Ruins, 31, Frozen, The Collector, Killer Klowns From Outer Space, You’re Next, Sleepaway Camp 1, 2, & 3, Fragile, Night of the Living Dead, Return of the Living Dead (very funny 80’s film), Ginger Snaps, The Lords of Salem, See No Evil, Exorcist III, Jack Frost, Halloween Night, Intruders, and Chopping Mall, to name a few and they are all free right now.
Anything with a red link is a link to the film review that I did.