The first 2 episodes of Hell Motel ushered us into the Cold River Motel and introduced us to its owners, Portia and Ruby; Hemmingway, the chef; and the guests, Kawayan, Andy, Adriana, Blake, Crow, and Paige. The resort had gained infamy for the brutal murders that were committed there, and after being shut down for several decades, it had been reopened to attract fans of true crime. While Portia, Ruby, and Hemmingway aimed to impress the aforementioned guests with the help of simulated thrills and chills, the brutal death of the chef turned the fear factor of the place up several notches and caused everyone to suspect each other. Now, it was revealed that the two late entrants, Shirley and Floyd, had arrived at the motel with the aim of slaughtering the people in there and opening a portal to hell (yes, the literal one). But they weren’t responsible for Hemmingway’s death. And when Portia died as well, the killer couple came to the realization that there was a copycat murderer in their mix who was either trying to foil their plan or open the portal to hell for himself/herself. Did they manage to identify this mystery killer in episode 3 of Hell Motel? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Ruby Is Apprehended
Episode 3 of Hell Motel opens right where episode 2 left off, with Ruby discovering Portia’s lifeless body on their bed. As she screams, cries, and tries to put Portia’s heart back into her body (it’s a pretty realistic trauma response), the rest of the guests barge into the room and automatically assume that Ruby is the one who has killed her. The murder weapon (which is a really massive knife) is found right beside the bed, and the fact that Ruby slept through it all is apparently evidence enough to tie her to a chair and confine her to that room so that she doesn’t pose a danger to anybody else. Now, we know that, before going to sleep, Ruby took care of Hemmingway’s dead body, which was why she was exhausted enough to not be woken up by a murder happening right beside her. Unless the footage of Portia’s death was purposefully manipulated to make it seem like, other than Portia and Ruby, a third person was in the room, who killed Portia, we know that Ruby didn’t kill her own partner. But the guests who are experiencing all of this in real time obviously don’t know all that. Well, maybe one of them does and is coaxing the rest of them to act instinctively instead of using the power of reason. However, the guests’ decision to tie up Ruby is rational, especially since it’s public knowledge that she wore that horned mask and black robe to chase Paige around to advertise the motel.
Crow Talked To Caitlyn’s Ghost
Back at their room, Shirley and Floyd discussed the kind of danger that they were dealing with. Initially, they were under the impression that this was some silly copycat killer, but the dismembered heart shows that this individual is highly skilled. Meanwhile, outside the motel, Andy and Crow have a little chat about how they are dealing with this whole situation and that they should discuss it before acting on their impulses because it could lead to an outcome that’ll favor no one. Crow is of the opinion that he is merely being the voice of the voiceless, which is just a roundabout way of saying that he’s using the guests’ inability to be proactive to fulfill some weird need to avenge Caitlyn that has been on his mind for a decade. To learn more about this, the episode turns back the clock by 10 years to show us a young Crow entering the motel’s basement to commune with the ghost of Caitlyn. I can’t say for sure if Caitlyn’s ghost actually got in touch with Crow or if he hallucinated the whole conversation because he was high on opium, but he was evidently told to kill her killer, and that the guilty party could be identified by their horned mask and black robes. By the way, if Caitlyn’s ghost is real (thereby making this the first indication that there really is something supernatural going on at the motel), there’s a pretty good chance that the 3rd killer, who is taking out the current inhabitants of the motel, is an undead Caitlyn. I mean, to be honest, if I saw people twiddling their thumbs for 3 decades and not solving my murder, and instead turning the site of my death into a tourist attraction, I would come back from the dead to get vengeance.
Ruby Is Dead
Ruby makes the mistake of freeing herself and escaping into the basement via the vents. Because, as soon as she is discovered by the guests, they gut her like a fish. Crow, Adriana, Shirley, Floyd, and, to a certain extent, Blake take great pleasure in acting out their innermost desires. Meanwhile, Paige, Kawayan, and Andy choose to keep their hands relatively clean. The whole scene is pretty brutal and heartbreaking, especially since we, the viewers, knew that Ruby was completely innocent. But this introduces a really interesting conundrum. Until now, the anonymous killer was the enemy, and the guests were the victims. After this act of barbarity, there’s a divide between the guests: those who are willing to kill to survive and those who just want to survive until they can contact the authorities. This division causes yet another issue: those who aren’t willing to get their hands dirty can testify against those who have blood on their hands. So, Paige, Kawayan, and Andy aren’t just up against the main killer; they are up against the rest of the “survivors” as well. Also, hearing Crow, Adrian, Floyd, and Shirley relish the fact that they’ve killed Ruby might’ve caused Blake to turn against those murderers. I don’t know if Paige, Kawayan, and Andy will accept Blake as their ally, but since these are desperate times, maybe they’ll have to see his sense of remorse as a good thing and use him to bolster their group. It’s really weird, though, that Blake chose to partake in a mob lynching despite being a victim of a mass murder himself.
Crow Caused Renee’s Death
We get yet another flashback, where Crow is seen talking to Officer Dickson (if you think Patrick Garrow looks like Brad Dourif, you’re not alone), urging him to reopen the Caitlyn-Joey murder case because Caitlyn’s ghost has told him to. Dickson is hesitant about doing so because it’s pointless. That said, based on some of the vague details of Crow and Caitlyn’s supposed conversation, Dickson does zero in on a guy called Renee, who was apparently spectating the crime scene from afar some time after said crime took place. Since there’s a prevalent theory that the guilty party always revisits the crime scene for reasons known only to them, Dickson thinks he could be their guy. Crow, who is desperate to free Caitlyn’s soul from this mortal realm, requests that Dickson bring in Renee for questioning and squeeze him until he talks. Renee does admit that he went to the motel to get the books that the Satanists used for the ritual that led to Caitlyn and Joey’s deaths. But he is very clear about the fact that he had nothing to do with their murder and that he himself isn’t a Satanist; he was just curious, that’s all. This doesn’t satisfy Crow, and he pushes Dickson to grill the hell out of Renee. I don’t know if Crow actually has any magical powers or if he’s just that good at motivating people to do the wrong things, but he gets Dickson to seemingly shut off the recording device in the interrogation room and toy with his mind. This causes Renee to crack, and after seeing a figure in a horned mask and black robe, he chooses to kill himself right then and there. Neither Dickson nor Crow was around to keep an eye on him. Hence, they are guilty of letting an innocent man die.
Crow Is Probably Dead
At the end of Hell Motel episode 3, Floyd decides to don the more-or-less iconic costume and hunt down the killer. Hilariously enough, Floyd comes across yet another individual in the same costume that he’s wearing, and they get into a brutal fight, which leaves Floyd pretty injured. For a second, it seems like Floyd is about to bite the dust, but Shirley comes to his rescue with a flare gun. The 3rd killer (Shirley and Floyd are the OG 2 killers) flees the scene while concealing his/her identity. Meanwhile, Crow wakes up from his slumber and makes his way to the basement, where he is cornered and incapacitated by this 3rd killer (I am guessing), who then proceeds to hammer a bunch of nails into his head. While passing out, Crow does see Caitlyn’s ghost again, but the aforementioned nails cause him to lose his ability to discern between reality and fiction. Crow’s groaning causes Paige to wake up, and as she goes to the basement, everyone else follows her too. They are understandably shocked, but since they see Crow mumbling, they try to get some info out of him about the perpetrator before he enters the afterlife. He is heard uttering the name “Baphomet” which is a mythical entity synonymous with social order as well as acts that are considered taboo. With all that said, I do think that this 3rd killer is not a human being but someone who has come from the underworld to enact some twisted sort of vengeance. My money is on the ghost of Caitlyn or Joey because, at the end of the day, all the inhabitants of the motel are making a mockery of their death, and yes, that includes Renee. In fact, Renee seeing that specter wearing that costume, which is a piece of information that wasn’t publicly available, means that there’s something supernatural going on. I suppose we’ll know more about it next week.
