Saagar Kote
Shudder’s ‘Hell Motel’ deals with serial killings, Satanism, and the complexity of human beings in confined spaces. Ten true crime obsessives are invited for the opening weekend of the Cold River Motel, where a series of killings occurred in the past. However, history soon repeats itself as guests become stranded and are picked off one by one in a murder spree. The new murders prove to be exponentially more gruesome with each kill than the original mass murder. The previous episode ended with the brutal murder of Kawayan by Shirley and Floyd, the dangerous Satan worshipping couple. Moments after the killing, Kawayan’s corpse is decorated with a floral pattern by an anonymous masked individual. The dead body is discovered by Andy, and the killings at the Motel seem unstoppable. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Revolting Sight of Death Drives The Group Insane
As the episode begins, a mysterious figure seems to stalk the Cold River Motel. The group of guests walks into the room where Kawayan was murdered. Paige expresses dread and discomfort looking at the mutilated body, indicating that she wants to throw up. Adriana, however, is unfazed and not much bothered by the brutality in front of her eyes. Floyd says that she is demented. Andy starts believing that the killer has to be someone within the group and not an external entity, since no one else is around.
What follows is a case of mutual accusations by the guests who want to save themselves and pin the blame on others. Adriana, however, says that all of them are killers, referring to how ruthlessly Ruby was killed earlier. Blake accuses Paige of being the one who led the group to Crow’s body, while she counters him by alluding to the fact that whoever is the killer must have been physically strong, and Blake is the strongest in the group.
While the group is engaged in a game of accusations, Adriana spots someone outside. A mysterious figure appears and then seems to run away from the Motel into the woods. As the guests follow him, the man is revealed to be JP, the driver who originally drove the vehicle that brought the guests to the re-opening of the Cold River Motel. JP is taken inside by the guests and is found injured. He says that he was in an accident near the highway and turned up in the area because he had nowhere else to go. He pulls out a gun and says that it is for his own protection from danger. Adriana and Paige offer to clean up his wounds.
Blake, Andy, and Floyd are not comfortable and express their desire to see JP locked up, suspecting him to be the killer. Paige and Adriana intervene, but a loud argument breaks out between the men and the women about the situation. Floyd hurls insults at Adriana and calls her a demented woman who has sex with killers. Overcome by anger due to this accusation, Adriana takes JP’s gun and threatens the men. She says that only women will be allowed to come with her, and they will all confine themselves to a room, given the fact that a majority of killers are men.
A Game of Tarot Cards Turns Into a Nightmare
As a confusing gender conflict unexpectedly breaks out, Adriana is determined to protect herself. She offers Shirley to come along too and stay with her and Paige in the room, while JP is left to fend for himself among the men. The ladies enter Adriana’s room and start to have a deep conversation on gender, life, and themselves. They all agree that men can only be trusted up to a particular point. Shirley finds killer-themed drinks named after the Boston Strangler and Carl Panzram, and as they share drinks, they talk about their own relationships. Paige talks about her longest relationship and how it broke off because the guy advanced in his career.
While Shirley reveals that she and Floyd have been together for two decades now, Adriana’s longest relationship lasted just one month. Adriana reveals that she is sexually and emotionally attracted to men who are bad and have a dark side to them, which makes Paige uncomfortable. Meanwhile, the men sit in the main lobby of the Motel, and an eerie sense of mistrust runs through the space. Floyd says that he suspects Andy to be the killer. The duo stares at each other in deep suspicion, leading to an increased sense of danger in the lobby.
To stir things up, Shirley takes out a deck of tarot cards from her bag, hoping to read the fortunes of the other two. While Paige is hesitant about it, Adriana sits for a reading. The cards hint at various things like heartbreak, balance, backstabbing, betrayal, her past haunting her, broken trust, judgment, death, and the Hanged Man. Meanwhile, Andy and Floyd continue staring at each other, and Blake comes in between. Floyd angrily pushes Blake, and in the ensuing struggle, Blake spots Floyd’s injury mark on his back (the one he got earlier from the other masked killer).
A Flash of Sudden Violence Proliferates the Tension
Shirley tells Adrianna to expel the darkness within her, which makes her angry. Paige interrupts, but Adriana continues to fume, following which Shirley says the darkness inside Adriana should go at any cost. Adrianna gets into a fit of rage and screams at the other two, saying that they have no idea what it’s like to be in her position. In a flashback, we see Adriana visiting a prison to seduce and have a conversation with a convicted killer named Wyatt, who is shocked to see a strange, beautiful woman visiting a killer like him. She says that she just wants to talk to him and is curious.
The killer says that she is like a chipmunk attracted to a wolf, which isn’t how the world is supposed to work. She continues to try to seduce him. In the present day, Adriana rejects the readings of the tarot cards, and Paige picks up JP’s gun. Floyd, when asked about the injury mark on his back, says that it was Crow who injured him, following which he proceeds to attack Andy and Blake. Floyd punches Andy, and Blake intervenes, leading to JP trying to stop the men from hurting each other any further, after which Andy proceeds to break JP’s arm.
Fearing for his life, JP starts to run, with Andy and Blake pursuing him. Adriana manages to snatch the gun from Paige and says that no one cares for her. Sensing danger, Shirley reaches the door and tries to escape, but Adriana accidentally ends up shooting JP, who happens to enter the room while running. JP dies in front of their eyes, leading to a horrific reaction from Adriana, who cannot believe what she has done.
An Unfortunate Death Keeps the Killing Spree Alive
Moments later, Adrianna is crying, locked up inside the bathroom by the others. Shirley says Adrianna is insane, and the men come into the room. Paige believes that Adriana may not be as dangerous as they think she is and may not be the killer. Andy says the police should handle this, following which the group forcibly takes Adriana out and locks her up in the outhouse until they can find a solution.
After the group leaves, Adriana tries to escape the outhouse by breaking open the glass ceiling. She climbs above the broken ceiling and steps on the roof, but unfortunately for her, a masked killer is waiting to strike her down and hits her head with a wooden log. In a flashback scene, Adriana manages to seduce Wyatt, who proceeds to have sex with her. However, when she mentions the name of one of his victims, he stops and says that he is not a monster. She says she doesn’t care if he’s a killer, following which he attempts to choke her and says that she is messed up in her soul.
In the present day, Adriana is tied to a tree by the masked person, who ruthlessly slashes her throat and covers her face with a plastic bag, despite her begging him not to kill her. Paige visits Andy outside his room and says that she’s worried about Adriana. The two go to the outhouse, only to find that she isn’t there anymore. They spot footprints on the ground and follow them into the woods, where they find Adriana dead, hanging upside down from a tree. Looking at this horrifying scene, Paige screams.
Read More: Is Cold River Motel a Real Place?
