Episode 4: Devil’s Night
Devil’s Night is the night before Halloween, a night for danger, mayhem, and evil mischief. As might be expected, the Hotel Cortez celebrates the night in a variety of outrageous ways.
HEY!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!
A man in dark sunglasses and unruly hair, wearing a black leather jacket, walks through the lobby and is greeted warmly by Liz: “Ricky!” He signs the guest register as “Richard Ramirez,” and is led to a hotel room where a “couple of treats…on the pillow” have been left for him.
A couple of tourists. He sneaks in to the room, kills one, then makes the other swear to Satan before trying to strangle her. She runs out of the room and straight into the arms of James March.
Devil’s Night has begun.
Detective Lowe groggily wakes up to a phone call from his daughter, who flatly says she doesn’t really feel like trick-or-treating this year. Poor kid. After hanging up, Lowe sees blood seeping from the upper floor.
Above his room, Miss Evers is busy scrubbing and scrubbing the sheets, trying to get them clean, but the blood just keeps coming back. Lowe is confused and concerned about the blood, but he also feels a connection with Miss Evers. Her boy went missing, too.
Unfortunately, she knows what happened to her son.
Flashback to 1925, and Miss Evers and her son are getting ready to go trick-or-treating, but her son is complaining about his costume: a plain white sheet with two eye-holes cut into it.
As she talks nervously to a woman she obviously envies, her son wanders away. His sheet-covered head in the back of an old Ford as it drives briskly away is the last she sees of her son.
Well, almost.
She tearfully explains that he had been taken to an old farm (and he wasn’t the only boy), where horrible things were done to him. The only thing the police found was a blood-stained plain white sheet, with eye-holes cut in it.
That’ll never come out.
Alex Lowe has found her missing son at the hotel, and taken him back to her home. She is obviously happy, but also a little perplexed over her son’s listlessness (and the fact that he hasn’t aged in years). He says he’s thirsty, and she goes to the kitchen to pour some juice. When she walks back to Holden, she is horrified to find him drinking from the throat of the family dog. He says he doesn’t feel good, that he wants his mommy. His “other” mommy.
At the precinct, Lowe asks about the farm murders, and his partner tells him about the events. An archive search shows that the murders took place eighty-five years ago. His partner asks if this is related to their current bible murders, but Lowe doesn’t answer. He’s staring at a picture of Miss Evers from 1925.
Time for night-night.
Holden leads his mom through the lobby and down to the empty swimming pool, where he climbs into his coffin to rest. The Countess sneaks up behind Alex and assures her that, if she has questions, “I have answers.”
In the penthouse, Countess explains that she didn’t steal Holden, she saved him from a lifetime of neglect, and to keep him safe. She talks about her vampirism as an “ancient blood disorder.” She offers to let Alex stay with her son forever, in return for her undying loyalty. Mom ain’t buying it and threatens to go to the cops. Duffy shows up and punches Alex, then lets her go.
In the bar, Lowe has an interesting, weird, surreal conversation with Aileen Wuornos, who has also arrived for Devil’s Night. We hear about her view on life, explaining that those men started getting greedy, “taking things that didn’t belong to them.” So she killed them. Lily Rabe does a great job as Wuornos, stepping into the long tall shadow Charlize Theron left behind from her portrayal.
Lowe gets drunk and agrees to go back to his room with her (a not-so-believable turn, unless they’re implying she has some sort supernatural ability to turn him). She handcuffs him to a chair, and gets ready to commit some mayhem. He breaks out, punches her, and handcuffs her to the sink, while she calls him “Pussy boy!” Heh heh.
Lowe gets a lot of exposition from Liz, who explains all about Mr. March’s Devil’s Night soiree, a very exclusive dinner party where only the best of the best (well, worst of the worst) are invited to partake: Jeffrey Dahmer, Aileen Wuornos, John Wayne Gacy, Zodiac, and Richard Ramirez.
And John Lowe.
Make the list, check it twice.
In one of the best scenes so far this season, they all gather at a fancy dinner table, introduce themselves, and expound on the wonders of killing, in their own intimate and wonderfully creepy ways, and how much they all look up to The Master, James March. Dahmer gets to drill into a young man’s brain and dance with him (to “Sweet Jane,” sounding as fresh as ever), Gacy handcuffs Lowe to the chair (what is it with the handcuffs this episode?), and Zodiac apologizes for being late because he was “writing some letters.”
I did laugh out loud when Dahmer says, disgustedly, “I don’t. Eat. Salad.” after shoving the plate aside. The scene ends with them all choosing a weapon and stabbing someone Sally dragged/drugged in (after being assured that this favor Sally has done will buy her a “year of being left alone.” “As always,” say March).
Lowe wakes up in a dusty, empty, unused dining room. She winkingly chastises him for drinking too much and hallucinating it all. “It seemed so real,” he says. “You have to trust me. I’m your protector,” she replies.
Eternal life is eternal.
Up in the penthouse, The Countess introduces Alex to the joys of eternal life. Breasts are slashed, blood is drunk, and so it goes.
This was such a great episode! Hearing Dahmer explain why he did (does) what he did (does) was so horribly creepy, I seriously had a hard time listening to it. Kudos to Seth Gabel for this controlled, calm, and very very effective performance as Dahmer. Chilling.
The rest of the cast was great. I am liking this season much more than Coven, and it’s edging out Freakshow (except Twisty…oh god, Twisty). More more more!
