At some point we needed to bring the focus back on this serial killer arc that I initially thought would be the main plot line this season. I'm totally fine with it being a side story now given everything else we've seen, but tonight's episode gives us the big reveal and it's a pretty fantastic one. Here's what happened in "The Ten Commandments Killer."
Out On This Lonely Road
We start off with Ren dashing into oncoming traffic and getting...we'll call it "hit" by a very large truck. John runs out into the street as other witnesses flock to her aid as well, but it's no use. She's dead. Rather than linger and have someone ask "was she with you?" John leaves the scene quickly.
Liz Taylor is fixing her makeup after shedding many tears over the loss of Tristan. Her mourning is interrupted by John running in with his crazy face on asking where the monster is that everyone has been protecting. Liz plays it cool and John starts to rough her up a bit. This is not the time to screw with Liz. She grabs him and threatens him as Sally approaches. Sally says she'll take John to the place the Ten Commandments Killer has been hiding. She leads him to room 64 and tells him the answers lie on the other side of the door.
John enters and Sally tells him about James March. They are standing in what used to be his office...the office he died in. She tells John he will find what he is looking for behind the armoire and John is quick to push the piece of furniture aside. He finds a hidden door that takes him to a room with the body parts the Ten Commandments Killer has collected from his victims: the hand of a thief (thou shalt not steal) from 1926 and teeth from migrant workers (remember the Sabbath day - keep it holy) from around the same time. Sally then points out the present day collectibles: the brain of a man who worshiped false idols, the tongue and eyeballs from the "thou shalt not commit adultery" victim, the hearts of the two brothers we saw suspended in the creepy house earlier in the season (honor thy father an mother), the vocal chords of the gossip columnists (though shall not bear false witness), and the spleen of a televangelist (thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain). She says someone has been trying to complete March's work. John has that "I don't get it" look about him that he's had for most of the season...just as I'm starting to kick myself for not realizing who the killer is sooner. John says he logged these recent collectibles as evidence himself so how did they end up here? Oh John. You're the killer. Seriously kicking myself. Why else would March have invited John to the special serial killer Halloween dinner? Agh!
Don't Stop, Let's Party
John's partner is hanging out in an autopsy room with Ren and he asks another officer to go check on John's house to make sure his family is okay. John appears, looking more pale than Ren, and he wants to confess to the Ten Commandments killings. He suddenly remembers that the first time he walked into the Hotel Cortez was 5 years ago and not 3 weeks ago as everyone else believes. (Glad to know only 3 weeks have passed in these 8 episodes). This was the same night that John had far too much to drink and subsequently quit drinking...for a while anyway. He came upon the hotel looking for an open bar and found Liz Taylor, Sally, Donovan and a whole bunch of martinis. Donovan invites him to an "after party" upstairs which was really just an awkward dinner between March and The Countess. This is the one night a month the former married couple actually interact with one another and March is pissssed when Donovan interrupts. However, Donovan introduces John as "a man who wants to drink himself to death" and all is forgiven.
John explains the deaths he saw that day of the carbon monoxide poisoned family and the patriarch who killed himself upon finding their bodies. March points out that John is stating the details with a calm indifference. "I'm a homicide detective. What I know is death is the only thing in life that has meaning." March smiles and shoos The Countess and Donovan out of the room. He introduces himself to John as the hotel owner and gives him some absinthe. March tells John that he is struck by his aura, that he has rage that needs to be let out, but at this point John is just struck by the alcohol. He tells his new soon to be mentor "if they take the leash off of me, crime would drop in this city." This begins a two day discussion that leaves March feeling like he had found a successor. He even gets The Countess to buy in once she sees the pictures of Holden in John's wallet. Her choice to take Holden is what finally turns John into someone who hates the world.
As he deals with the pain of losing his son, John begins to live two lives - one at home with Alex and Scarlett and the other at the hotel with James March. After more discussions March feels it's time to take John to his trophy room. John initially says he will report these crimes, but after thinking about the number of criminals he has seen walk free because of technicalities, he finds himself wanting to follow in March's footsteps on what would have been Holden's 10th birthday. March tells John about a man who has stayed at the hotel...a man who is a pedophile that has never been brought to justice. This man was actually probably not a pedophile at all, but his "sin" was selling academy awards on Craigslist. He worshiped false idols. He is John's first victim and his brains are the first trophy. I guess if I were going to be bludgeoned to death, I would want it to be with a stolen Oscar.
John realizes what he has done and how much he liked it and he tries to hang himself in the hotel. Sally watches and does nothing. She hopes he'll be hers forever if he dies right then. March cuts him down though and Sally comforts him. John asks why he can't remember things about the hotel when he leaves the hotel. Sally replies, "The Cortez is a jealous mistress John. Possessive. She'll never let you take anything with you." Speaking of mistresses, Sally kindly points out the man and woman who meet at the hotel frequently to cheat on their spouses. Through fake texts John arranges for them to schedule their next tryst at a different hotel. He leaves the man alive but takes his eyes and tongue.
Hanging On A Moment Of Truth
John's partner is calling bullshit at this point. He tells John that the "Sally" he's talking about has been dead for 20 years. March has been dead for 90. None of this is possible. He tells John he is not responsible for these deaths and John grabs a knife from the autopsy table and kills him. John says "thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife," but there's no real evidence they had an affair. Alex simply had coffee with him to talk about John's issues and her concern.
The episode ends with John returning to the hotel carrying a bloody bag with a trophy from his latest kill. He sees Iris at the front desk and tells her he remembers everything. Iris is so relieved because she never knew "which John" would approach the desk on any given day. John tells her he has no regrets except Ren. "That one isn't on you John. Ren died because of Sally." We then see a flashback of Sally telling Ren to follow John everywhere and make sure he doesn't die outside of the hotel. Ren had protected John at all costs. March sees John and asks what is different about him today. John says "Clarity."
So John is the killer...and the signs were all there....and I was clueless. Palm to the forehead. This was a great episode though and I loved every second of it. John has two more kills to go and we have two more episodes to go before the show takes a brief hiatus. Will he somehow make Sally pay for corrupting Ren? Was he sloppy when he killed his partner? And if dying in the hotel keeps you in the hotel, where's Tristan? Do Gaga murders not count? The one tourist girl she killed is still roaming about... Regardless, we are eight episodes in and the season keeps getting better and better. This is hands down my favorite season so far. Fingers crossed we are in for a solid remainder of American Horror Story: Hotel.
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