Thursday, October 17, 2019

My Review of American Horror Story: 1984 - Red Dawn


Written by Dan Dworkin
Directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton

Brooke: "I wish I never came to this place."
Montana: "Don't worry, Brooke. You'll be leaving soon."

Well, we're at the half way point of the season and there was going to be a twist to propel the second half and well, as twists go, this one won't really shock you in the slightest. This is not strictly a criticism by the way.

First of all, Brooke got to be the final girl of sorts but there was a massive series of snags for her. In this episode alone, she talked about safety in numbers but everyone splintered off again and then she reunited with Ray. I knew earlier in the season there was a spark between them and this episode had a lovely conversation between the pair before they ended up doing the deed and Brooke lost her virginity to a ghost.

Five episodes and I guess Brooke really is a nice enough person. Unlike past episodes, this one did give her a bit of a personality as well as a backstory to her relationship with her psychotic ex, who was controlling her for a lot longer than expected. Brooke's reaction to Ray being a ghost was somewhat annoying but understandable in a way too.

Then there was the fight scene with Montana. Easily the best part of the episode as the latter let her mask slip and went for the direct approach in trying to kill Brooke. However it wound up the opposite way as the campers witnessed Brooke killing Montana and thereby giving Margaret yet another person she could frame for her crimes.

I'll admit I didn't see the Brooke twist coming but the ghosts, yeah, that was painfully obvious. If we're seeing Ray, Jonas and Montana here then I imagine that Trevor, Chet and Xavier are not far behind as Margaret finished off the other two as well in this episode. Also props to how deliciously deranged Leslie Grossman is being with this role. Margaret has definitely shaped up to her best character on the show so far. Her comeuppance is going to be suitably delightful when it happens over the remainder of the season.

As for everyone else - well, Donna seemed to be going on a bit of an apology tour given her realisation that Jingles wasn't the real killer in the first place and the episode ended with both Ramirez and Jingles (not one of Satan's acolytes) leaving Redwood to take their killing spree back to LA. At some point though, Jingles is going to want to catch back up with Margaret though. I also don't see his team up with the Night Stalker ending that well either.

- Donna's fascination with serial killers came from her father being one and her witnessing him murdering a woman in a motel. Ramirez also showed Donna her father to mess with her head.
- Nine seasons in and this show really does play fast and loose with the ghost rules as we had Ray tended to by a medic before realising he was stuck at Camp Redwood for eternity.
- Standout music: Billy Idol's Blue Highway.
- Chronology: 1980 for the Donna flashbacks, but where the last episode picked up from as well.

Red Dawn finally ended the night and while the twists weren't necessarily a game changer of sorts for the main characters, I am interested to see how this is going to play. I doubt Brooke is going to remain in prison for the same length that Jingles did and surely the ghosts of Chet and Xavier are going to want revenge on Margaret as well. Not to mention that next week's episode is the 100th episode for the series and we haven't a clue how the show is going to celebrate hitting the big milestone.

Rating: 8 out of 10

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