*Warning: Spoilers ahead*
Last week on American Horror Story: 1984, Brooke (Emma Roberts) was wrongfully executed and then brought back to life by Nurse Rita (Angelica Ross)—aka Donna or “DeeDee.”
And now, more clues are revealed about the mysterious Camp Redwood curse. Here’s what went down in episode seven of AHS: 1984, titled “The Lady in White.”
The episode opens on the camp cook (Lily Rabe) chatting with her two children slash campers—Bobby and Benjamin (aka young Mr. Jingles). The mom is frustrated because she wants her kids to take advantage of the camp activities—after all, she took the job just for them.
When Bobby suggests swimming, Benjamin is hesitant but agrees. Outside, Benjamin sees the lifeguard sneaking off into the woods with a girl, so he follows to watch from afar.
Meanwhile, Bobby gets into the water…with no lifeguard on duty. When an oncoming boat approaches, the driver doesn’t see the swimmer and drives directly over Bobby, ultimately killing him.
After pulling his mangled body from the water, the mom immediately blames Benjamin.
“What the hell, Benjamin?” she says. And then adds, “You killed my baby.”
DeeDee takes Brooke from jail to a hotel room, and she’s sick as a dog. DeeDee explains that Brooke’s illness is a result of the medicine she gave her to reverse the execution.
After several nights of withdrawal-like behavior, Brooke is finally on the mend. Her recovery takes an interesting turn when she realizes that Margaret (Leslie Grossman) is holding a festival at Camp Redwood. Brooke wants revenge, and she wants it now.
Although hesitant, DeeDee offers to drive her, but their road trip doesn’t go according to plan. It all starts when they meet a hitchhiker named Bruce (Dylan McDermott). They originally decline when he asks for a ride but feel obligated to drive him after he helps start the car.
Later on, they’re pulled over by a cop, who immediately asks for identification. Bruce pulls out a gun and shoots the policeman before getting out of the car, ultimately giving DeeDee an opportunity to drive away.
DeeDee and Brooke are sitting at a stoplight when they’re suddenly rear-ended by the police car, which is being driven by—you guessed it—Bruce.
Both DeeDee and Brooke are knocked unconscious. When Brooke wakes up, she’s sitting next to Bruce in an unharmed truck. DeeDee, on the other hand, is lying in the middle of the road, attached to the car by a rope. Bruce gives Brooke an ultimatum—drive or sacrifice herself.
In a totally predictable move, Brooke gets ahold of Bruce’s gun and gains control of the situation. After tying Bruce to a telephone pole and cutting off his fingers, Brooke and DeeDee continue on their way to Camp Redwood.
Elsewhere, Mr. Jingles (John Carroll Lynch) returns to Camp Redwood, and it’s a huge mistake. He’s immediately captured by Montana (Billie Lourd) and Xavier (Cody Fern), who waste no time describing their master plan: killing everyone at Margaret’s festival.
All of the ghosts are on board—well, everyone except a woman in a white nightgown. Although the group has no idea how she got there, Mr. Jingles does.
“It’s my mother,” he says.
In a flashback, Mr. Jingles explains what happened to Bobby. After his brother’s death, Benjamin goes into the cabin only to find that his mom had slaughtered everyone.
“They had to pay for what happened to Bobby,” she says.
When his mom turns to attack him, Benjamin manages to get ahold of the knife and stabs her in the stomach.
In present day, Mr. Jingles asks to see his mom’s ghost. When she appears, she explains that she’s been watching his every move at Camp Redwood. In fact, his mom saw him falling for Margaret. So, she encouraged her to commit the original massacre.
“That girl was already wrong in the head, I just needed to give her a little push,” his mom says.
Basically, she wanted Mr. Jingles to experience the pain she felt when she lost Bobby. Savage, indeed.
Later that night, Mr. Jingles is sitting on the edge of the pier. When his mom approaches him, she explains the key to Camp Redwood’s curse. She says that if Mr. Jingles dies at the hands of The Night Stalker (Zach Villa), he’ll be gone for good. But if he dies of his own accord, he’ll “come back forever.”
Suddenly, Mr. Jingles is alone. Talking to Bobby, he says, “I won’t curse my son the way I cursed you.” And then stabs himself in the stomach.
The episode concludes with Mr. Jingles’s ghost removing the knife from his body.
Well, that was…gory. Be sure to tune into American Horror Story: 1984 next Wednesday, November 6, at 10 p.m. on FX.
