By now we've had a little time to digest the fact that John is the 10 Commandments Killer on AHS: Hotel — a fact that many of us have suspected for quite some time. But even though the reveal was arguably somewhat predictable (OK, fine, very predictable), it was still pretty interesting to learn just why John became a killer in the first place. Mr. March clearly played a big role in the matter, considering he basically took John under his wing and mentored him in the ways of murder. However, in what can perhaps be considered the most shocking twist of the evening, it was actually The Countess who pushed John to his breaking point.
You see, John may have possessed some inner demons buried deep down inside of him, but his family kept holding him back from reaching his true murderous potential. (In a way that's kind of sweet, right?) So that left March with quite the dilemma on his hands. He needed to find a way to severe those familial ties, so he turned to his not-so loving wife for a little assistance. March knew that losing Holden would make John suffer a heavy moral blow and tempt him over to the dark side (of the force). That's the real reason why The Countess abducted Holden. Not because John took his eyes off his son for two seconds, but rather so John could become the successor of March's unfinished work.
However, there's still the small matter of how John was unable to recall any of these memories before now. Don't worry, this episode cleared that aspect of the story up as well. Apparently, the Cortez is a "greedy mistress," according to Sally. She doesn't let you take anything away from her, which I guess includes John's memories of killing all those people. So there you have it, folks. Also, memo to self: never get on John's bad side.
Image: Prashant Gupta/FX
