AHS: 1984 Recap: Who Found Peace? And Who Is Finn Wittrock Playing?

The penultimate episode of American Horror Story: 1984 set the stage for a massive Camp Redwood reunion, with everyone — be they alive, dead or merely presumed dead — returning to the scene of the crime(s) for one final showdown.

Let’s begin with Brooke and Donna. When a reporter for The National Enquirer, who happened to be writing a true-crime book about Mr. Jingles, tracked the ladies down at a shady motel, Brooke made her an offer she couldn’t refuse: If she agreed to keep their whereabouts a secret, Brooke would deliver proof that Margaret was the murderous mastermind behind the massacres. What she didn’t mention, however, was that she planned on killing the reporter before she had a chance to write a single word of her story. And were it not for Donna intervening at the last minute, she totally would have.

Meanwhile, a recently deceased Jingles roamed the woods in search of Richard, still determined to exact his revenge. And he probably would have succeeded were it not for Bruce coming out of nowhere and hitting him with the hot pink car he stole from the Mary Kay saleswoman he killed.

Richard wasn’t thrilled to learn that Jingles had already killed himself, leaving him to craft a new evil scheme: “I’m going to Alaska and I’m going to cut your boy into little pieces,” he said. “Killing your son will be my final revenge!” His tirade was rudely interrupted by Margaret, who arrived on the scene and shot Jingles dead. Again. (Honestly, that hitchhiker wasn’t exaggerating. I’m already having trouble keeping count of Jingles’ mounting deaths.)

Now, here’s where things got interesting: After his body was taken out to the lake and devoured by a swamp creature, Jingles awoke once again, this time in a remote location with his mother and brother. “The past will haunt you forever if you let it,” Lily Rabe’s character told him when he asked how he can move on. “We’re a family here. This is where you can find peace.”

Oh, and remember the reporter that Brooke nearly murdered earlier in the episode? She attempted to escape the campgrounds, but like so many people before her, she was captured and killed by Richard and Bruce. And the bloodshed is far from over; Margaret instructed her dead henchmen to murder every act at the festival — except Billy Idol, per Richard’s request — thus turning Camp Redwood into an extremely profitable destination for ’80s rock fans looking for an expensive place to mourn their fallen favorites.

Also worth discussing…

* Am I completely insane, or is Montana slowly evolving into a sympathetic character? I’m beginning to find myself genuinely invested in her relationship with Trevor — who basically loves her because she’s an eternal embodiment of all things ’80s, from cocaine to aerobics classes. When she told Trevor, “I’m not someone you can love, much less die for. I’m a monster,” I felt that.

* I knew this would be Horror Story‘s shortest season yet, but I truly cannot believe we’ve already arrived at the finale. Hey, at least next week’s episode will include the long-overdue return of Finn Wittrock:

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