Are you looking for an immersive musical festival that kills the competition?
Or perhaps a festival that pushes the boundaries of the impossible?
Then welcome to Redwood Fest!
Yes, it's episode 7 of "American Horror Story: 1984",
and Think Story is here with a detailed breakdown, theories, and
what we can expect for the final few episodes.
So strap yourselves in, because here we go.
It's Camp ... Golden Star? in 1948.
That is the ugliest-looking beach ball.
Notice the white flag here, a totally different logo and look than that of Camp Redwood.
You can even see it on the uniforms the counselors have to wear.
And five cents for three licorice whips?
Brah.
But it's all made up for with the introduction of a big AHS alum: Lily Rabe.
She's been in every season of Horror Story except for season seven's "Cult".
In this season, she plays Lavinia Richter, Mr. Jingles' mother, who is also referred to as the Lady in White,
which is the title of the episode named after her white nightgown.
Yes, that's Bobby Richter alongside his brother, Ben.
Fun note, Ben named his son, the one in Alaska, Bobby, in honor of his little brother.
Ben is a bit of a loner, preferring to stay in and read comics than go out and play with others.
We also see more of this family dynamic,
where Bobby is treated well and Ben continually chastised by her mother for not being normal.
Lavinia has taken over as the camp cook.
She's a widow, with Ben's father having died in World War II.
There's a fun nod to Bertie here as she's preparing PB&J sandwiches, just like Bertie did on the night of her death.
Bobby wants to go swimming, so Lavinia entrusts Ben with looking after him.
What the ...?
We're here at the docks, where the campers enjoy a nice day cooling off by the lake.
Ben tries to make conversation with some of the girls,
but he's about as socially awkward as I am and they just bully him.
He catches sight of the lifeguard and one of the counselors venturing off into the woods
and does what any boy would do and totally pervs.
With his eyes on the wrong prize,
Bobby is left unattended and is viciously skewered by a boat propeller.
Ben tries to warn the boat, but it's too late.
Lavinia fumes at the counselors and Ben for not watching after her son,
holding them responsible for his death.
This is almost identical to the plot of "Friday the 13th",
Spoiler alert,
where Mrs. Voorhees goes on a killing rampage because the counselors were busy having sex
while her son drowned in the lake.
Back in present day, which for us is 1989,
Donna brings a fresh off death row Brooke back to her hotel room.
We find out that Donna used baclofen, a muscle relaxant, instead of the regular lethal injection
to trick the prison into thinking Brooke was dead.
The detox, however, is so painful that Donna has to tie Brooke up until it passes.
There's a fun little nod to Neil Patrick Harris, as Brooke watches him on the 80's program "Doogie Howser".
You might remember Neil as Chester Creb in season four's "Freak Show".
Donna picks up some Jack in the Box,
please sponsor me,
and is told she'll be given a new passport and identity now that she's free.
But Brooke isn't having it.
The last time she was with Donna five years ago, she had her strung up as serial killer bait.
What's changed?
Well, Donna is looking for redemption.
She's seen the error of her ways and wants to make things right.
She doesn't want to turn out like her father, who we saw in the beginning of episode 5 was a serial killer.
Now, I don't know what you guys thought,
but when Donna conveniently put the ad for the Camp Redwood fest, knowing Brooke would read it,
it made me think she's pulling some sort of reverse psychology,
that she secretly wants Brooke to come to Camp Redwood.
But hey, that could just be me.
When Brooke sees the ad, she knows what she must do:
kill Margaret for the five years she spent on death row and being framed for a murderer.
And Brooke didn't even finish her burger.
Donna takes Brooke to a roller rink to let out some steam.
Hell, she's been cooped up for years, might at least have some fun.
And we get a cheesy 80's style montage of the two of them enjoying themselves.
They even have some licorice whips like the boy ordered in the beginning.
Hey, and for someone who just got off death row, Emma is looking fine.
In the back, however, is a character closely watching them, portrayed by AHS alum Dylan McDermott.
He's been in four seasons of the show: Murder House, Asylum, Apocalypse, and now 1984.
Brooke reiterates that she's going back to Redwood, nothing is gonna stop her,
when Bruce approaches - or at least that's how he introduces himself to the girls.
On IMDb and the subtitles, his character is named Alex, so he may just be using an alias here,
since we'll find out he's the serial killer that has been plaguing women along the California Highway.
He tells them that his car broke down - outside a roller rink?
And he needs a ride to his girlfriend to the festival.
They initially say no, but when they find their car doesn't work and he comes to save the day,
they offer to give him a ride.
And Donna, after waiving her "No Stranger" policy, says the best line of the episode:
Damn.
In the back of the car, Bruce seems to be enjoying the devil's dust, and Brooke is immediately suspicious.
Bruce tells them an urban legend about a guy who stalks cars in the night,
which is likely his way of telling them that the legend is based off of him.
Brooke feels uncomfortable and demands he get out of the car,
when a state trooper pulls up behind them, asking if everything is okay.
Out of the blue, Bruce shoots the officer and decides to get out of the car,
giving Donna and Brooke time to get away.
Let this be a lesson to everyone out there: always pick up hitchhikers.
Jingles' copycat Wide Load - yes, that's his actual name they gave his character -
is trying to take a piss, just like he did in his first episode,
which I guess confirms that ghosts still have to piss.
Jingles is ambushed by the other pranksters who he thought he had killed.
We learn that Montana seems to be running the show, telling the others to save their kills for the big festival.
As we later learn when Jingles is brought before the dead,
Montana's plan is to create a massacre so large it attracts media attention from around the world,
specifically paranormal investigators who she believes may be able to help break the curse
that has kept them trapped on the Camp Redwood property.
Now the whole gang is here except for Bertie - what gives?
Notice also that Ben's younger brother isn't there as well.
The simplest explanation for that is that he died before Lavinia's death,
which supposedly caused the blood curse which plagues them all.
However, there could be a world in which it's actually the spirit of Bobby which is causing this curse.
Jingles tells them that he has come back to kill Richard Ramirez,
the man who killed his wife along with countless others.
Unlike the other campers, Ramirez has the devil on his side.
And that's how the blood curse did not affect him.
Wandering montage!
I think one of the strangest things in this scene is
when Jingles starts questioning the ghosts whether they can feel pain,
almost like he's preemptively deciding if he wants to kill himself
like he ends up doing at the end of the episode.
Jingles learns that her mother has been chasing around the counselors
because she hates them for what they did to her boy.
We also get a flashback of the first Camp Redwood Massacre,
in which Lavinia killed all the counselors for revenge.
When Ben finds out what she did, he runs away and is stabbed in the leg,
a wound which has caused his limp we've seen the entire season.
Notice how when he's resurrected at the very end that his limp is now gone.
Ben ends up killing his own mother, surmising
Jingles is spared and taken to the cabin where Lavinia lives in the woods.
The cabin also gives me the shack from "Friday the 13th" vibes.
Jingles enters and finds a cup and ball toy, which belonged to his brother.
Now, this is either a clue that Bobby is still alive,
or it's simply a memento Lavinia keeps to remind her of her son.
But my guess is the latter, since Lavinia tells Jingles she felt the presence of her son in the 70's,
but was disappointed when she found out it was the wrong son.
Lavinia appears, seemingly with the power to teleport,
and this is the worst mother-son fight since I told my mom I wanted to go to film school.
She's a total dick to Jingles, constantly berating him for the death of Bobby,
telling him that every day for her is torture.
She was somewhat dormant for 20+ years until Jingles took the job as janitor.
She spoke into Margaret's ear, a girl who was already quite messed up in the head,
and pushed her over the edge to kill the other counselors.
It was a double victory for Lavinia, because she got to kill counselors while destroying the one thing Ben loved.
Ben tells her he's here to kill Ramirez, but Lavinia doesn't really seem to care. She's still mad as hell.
At a traffic stop, Bruce rams the police car into them and takes them hostage.
When Brooke wakes up, she finds that he has tied Donna up to the back
and wants her to be the one to run her over.
She can either hit the gas or get her face blown off.
I know which one I'm choosing.
His motivations are much like Ramirez's: to be remembered,
telling Brooke that he hopes to surpass Ted Bundy's kill count.
Brooke outsmarts Bruce by smashing the like button - I mean, hitting reverse -,
allowing her the opportunity to steal his gun and shoot him in the leg.
Donna and Brooke tie him up and Brooke goes hardcore,
cutting off his thumb so he can never hitchhike again.
Remember, Bruce: Karma's a bitch.
Brooke is gonna walk the rest of the way to Redwood and Donna decides to come with her,
while Trevor, Margaret, and Courtney work to put the finishing touches on the poorly coordinated festival.
Seriously, $1,000 a ticket? Who would ever go to a festival for - oh.
Margaret keeps slinging the big dick jokes.
Come on, Margaret, #allsizesmatter.
When Limahl from the 80's band Kajagoogoo arrives,
you may have seen him in my "Stranger Things" video as the voice of Neverending Story.
Check out that video if you have a chance.
Trevor ventures off into the woods, where he meets Montana.
Remember back in episode two, he referred to her as his soulmate.
So it remains to be seen whether Montana will be using him for more than just his meat stick.
Limahl ends his neverending story when Ricky comes to collect a deal he had made with the devil:
a superstar career provided to him by Satan himself.
Courtney brings a gift basket to the Kajagoogooers - Kajagoo - Kajagoose?
to find them all killed.
This is seriously gonna impact the festival.
And in our final scene, Jingles hangs by the dock where his brother died,
when he's visited once again by Lavinia.
He tells her he thinks about Bobby every day and reiterates his desire to kill Ricky.
If Jingles is gonna stand a chance against Ricky, he'll need to kill himself.
Now, I felt the show could have done a better job explaining how this all works,
but it appears since Jingles owes a debt to Ricky and Satan,
if he were killed by them, he would be gone for good.
But if he kills himself, he'll be resurrected at Camp Rewood and become one of the ghosts.
Jingles feels that if he's going to stand the best chance of defeating Ricky and protecting his son,
he needs to kill himself, resurrecting in front of his corpse, ready to take on Ramirez.
That's it for this episode of "American Horror Story".
Make sure to like, subscribe, and leave your thoughts and theories in the comments below.
You can also follow me on Twitter @ThinkStoryYT.
Until next time remember,
Daddy loves you very much.