Margaret and Montana are the most dangerous females on TV.
Both women took center stage on American Horror Story Season 9 Episode 4, and it’s because they both had murder in mind.
We’ll start with Margaret because the revelations surrounding that particular character have successfully flipped the script.
If you watch American Horror Story online, you know Margaret has strong views about how people should act.
That’s what ultimately made her butcher everyone in the 1970s. She was being bullied, looked down upon, and eventually snapped.
When someone is being bullied to the point they hate their life, it’s only natural for there to be something in the way of pushback.
For Margaret, she befriended Benjamin and managed to construct the story that he was the one who carried out all of the killings.
It was a revelation that came out of the left-field, for sure, but one that added another layer to this 1980s set season. It takes a certain kind of crazy to be able to pull that off.
Hey Rambo, my class isn’t for posers. This is aerobics. It’s serious.
Montana
But she was looked at as the coveted final girl back in those days.
It was a smart story for her to come up with. She knew what she was doing from the get-go, and that it would signal the end of Benjamin’s life as he knew it.
The poor man didn’t know what hit him when he found himself hauled into the back of a police car and sent on a trip to the asylum to have electricity and drugs fill his brain.
You would think it would be difficult to sympathize with Benjamin, given that he’s been part of many killings since his escape from the asylum, but he was led on this path to believe that he was this horrible individual.
The realization that he was forced to accept this narrative broke him.
Margaret: Why did you come back here?
Mr. Jingles: To finish what I started.
Even though he’s going to struggle to come to terms with the people he’s butchered this time, he will have revenge in mind.
Related: American Horror Story: 1984 Episode 3 – Everything We Learned
That’s partly why he spared Xavier’s life. He was the one who put Xavier in the burning oven, and looking at him probably gave him guilt that most will ever feel in their lifetime.
Margaret is a smart individual, and she has Montana, Brooke, Xavier, and Chet alongside her, so it’s going to be tough for Benjamin to get through to those four that he is not the villain in this story.
Montana’s backstory wasn’t all that surprising when you consider the events of American Horror Story Season 9 Episode 3.
It was obvious she was there for either Brooke or Margaret. The flashbacks to the night she met the Night Stalker were gruesome and exciting at the same time.
Montana felt attracted to his serial killer tendencies, and that’s why she wasted no time in getting hot and heavy with him while the corpse of the man he killed for her was bleeding out.
It’s unclear whether Montana knows her lover can come back from the dead, but she seems poised to be killed the moment she lets her guard down.
Related: FOX Cheat Sheet: The Resident Moves to the Bubble, Almost Family DOA
If Donna miraculously escapes the reanimated iteration of the Night Stalker, then she’s going to blow dish the goodies about Montana trying to kill her.
Then again, Donna has already proven to be one of the biggest liars at Camp Redwood, so there’s that.
If anything, Brooke and Xavier will probably side with Benjamin against the others. That seems to be the way things are going to shake out.
Bertie’s death was the biggest surprise because she seemed oddly comfortable in the presence of Benjamin when she made him the sandwich he loved 14 years ago.
Xavier: Bertie?
Bertie: Kitchen’s closed, hon. Unless you’re looking for a midnight snack.
[Bertie makes cat noise.]
It certainly raised a question about whether she could have been in the know all along about Margaret’s murderous tendencies.
Margaret is under the stupid spell in which she thinks the camp should still open. She aims to nurture children to be the best version of themselves.
The moment they step out of line, she’ll kill them. That’s how it’s going to go. Mark my words!
But how is she going to explain the influx of dead bodies? There have been many people ripped to shreds on American Horror Story Season 9, and the camp is not going to survive without counselors.
Related: American Horror Story: Season 9 Episode 2 Review: Mr. Jingles
Killing Trevor was a dumb move because the lighter the staff count, the bigger reason for her camp to fall apart in its infancy.
Trevor was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he fell victim to Margaret’s urge to see blood splattered everywhere.
It’s hard to imagine the camp not opening. Margaret will find a way to make it happen, and I bet that’s going to mean forcing people to work there.
It won’t be easy to pull off, but this is the woman who massacred a lot of people and put the blame on an innocent man for years and created a tall tale that made him one of the most legendary killers there is.
“True Killers” was the best episode of American Horror Story Season 9. It had thrills, chills, and everything in between.
There’s a whole lot of story left, and that bodes well for the remaining episodes.
What did you think of all the action? Did you buy those twists?
Hit the comments below.
American Horror Story airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on FX.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.