TV Recap – American Horror Story: Hotel ‘The Ten Commandments Killer’
4 min read
You guessed it, I guessed it, we all guessed it.
~SPOILER ALERT~
John is the Ten Commandments killer! *Gasp*. Whilst it was the conclusion we had all already come to, it demonstrates a few things: 1 – that we are all geniuses. 2 – that this has been foreshadowed really well, leading to 3 – the writers of AHS actually had some sense of direction at the start of the season. Considering the previous episode was all about demon child Bartholomew, I for one am happy to see a ‘twist’ that was somewhat predictable. So, let’s dive into the episode recap and find out just how John became a psychopath.
Poor vampire Wren killed herself after an ominous chat with John, where she told him she could find answers about the killer at the Cortez. He heads there in a rage, ready to take down the bastard once and for all. Sally offers to show him the killer’s room; but wait, wasn’t room 64 John’s room? It turns out that behind the wardrobe was a secret door embroidened with the initials JPM. Inside was a beautiful display of organs taken from the people who had been killed in the ten commandment killings. John is sickened; who could do such a thing?! But then he starts getting flashbacks (naturally) of all the times people hinted to him that there was something dark or off about him. Oh no, he really is the killer!
Just like that he remembers everything, and heads to the morgue where his buddy WHO is with Wren’s body. John says he wants to confess – he’s the killer. But everyone thinks John’s just had a mental breakdown, and his partner clearly doesn’t believe him. So John launches into the story of how he became a serial killer. Five years ago, after a tragic incident killed an entire family, John turned to his addiction to numb the pain. He found himself stumbling into the Hotel Cortez and downing a few martinis, before Donovan lures him to come upstairs to find ‘the real after-party’. Am I the only one wondering what Donovan got out of this? The Countess is having her monthly dinner with March, when Donovan comes in with goods.
Immediately March’s interest is piqued, and March orders them to leave him alone with John. I have to point out how fantastic Evan Peters and his accent is – you barely recognise him as the same guy who played a psychotic love-struck ghost back in season one. March tells John how he can see a persons aura, and John’s is jet black – why not. They drink and talk about the mysteries of life for two days straight before John leaves. After that he begins to live two different lives: John the family man and detective, and John who belongs to the Hotel Cortez. The second John also begins to have an affair with Sally, whom he forgets everytime he leaves the hotel. At least we understand now why she’s so obssessive about him; they’ve only been dating for five years.
March recognises John as ‘the one’ – the one who will continue on his mission with the ten commandment killings. But he needs a bit of a push to let go of his good guy persona. So he calls on the Countess to add a new child to her collection, which i did NOT see coming. Holden’s kidnapping is just what pushes John over the brink, enough to let March influence John to kill a pedophile. John’s partner swears that the victim wasn’t a victim – does this mean March set John up to see how far he would go? Neverthless, John kills the man, and this sets him on his bloody killing path.
But his next victim is of a different variety: himself. After his first murder John tries to commit suicide, and Sally watches on in the hope that he will also become a ghost of the Hotel Cortez. March saves John before he dies but is furious with Sally, which is when we learn of their arrangement. The addiction demon (aka drillbit dildo dude) has been summoned by the ghosts’ ‘diseased acts’ must feed, and if its not on guests, then it will feed on Sally. She must let John continue his separate lives until he carries out March’s killings, and then John is to be hers forever. Sally was the one who sent Wren to help him on his killings; she wanted to make sure that John stayed safe.
So John’s telling all this to his police partner, who is pretty sure that John just needs to get back to the crazy house. He’s worried about John, and so is Alex; they had cofee together to discuss it. ‘YOU HAD COFFEE WITH MY WIFE?’ Asks John. See, thou shalt not covet thy neighbours wife is one of the Ten Commandments, so John kills his partner and cuts off his genitalia for the trophy room. As one does.
John knows now and is at piece with himself. Everyone at the Cortez is happy that John remembers his purpose, and he’s looking forward to filling up those last two display cases. But what commandments are left? Considering his wife is a vampire, will she stop him when she finds out? John ends the episode stating: “Everything’s chaos,” and that can be interpreted in a number of different ways on AHS at the moment.
