Saagar Kote
Shudder’s horror drama series ‘Hell Motel’ follows a weird group of true crime-obsessed individuals invited to the re-opening of a dangerous murder site in an isolated place. At the Cold River Motel, which is known for brutal incidents of ritualistic murders thirty years ago, the lead characters face unprecedented challenges. The narrative follows the group as it experiences Satanic murders, trust issues, secrecy, mystery, and the fear of brutality and death. The previous episode ended with Paige violently killing both Shirley and Floyd, ending their Satanic rituals. Andy spots a bloody heart tucked away on the top of Paige’s room’s ceiling, and starts suspecting her. The police arrive on time to find Paige and Andy safe and secure. However, it is revealed that the real killer may still be at large. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Hell Motel Finale Plot Recap
The episode begins with Paige wandering in the lobby of the motel with a bloody face as a Baphomet-masked killer approaches. It’s revealed to be just a movie shooting set of a slasher reboot of the “Doomed Service” movies. The director says that Paige can provide an authentic experience to the story. She receives a bouquet of flowers from Andy, congratulating her on her work in the movie. The narrative shifts to Andy conducting a class where he gets angry at a student due to her fetish for horror and killing. He gets a text from Paige saying that she’s not comfortable with the past, and that she should have thanked him months ago for the flowers. She invites him to dinner.
At her house, Paige thanks him for sending the flowers and reconnects with him, after which she invites him to the premiere of her movie as her date. The two start to grow closer as they sit on the couch and remember their experiences at the Cold River Motel. Andy says he sometimes still thinks he’s in the motel, and that something feels unresolved. He asks Paige if they missed something, and doubts if Floyd and Shirley actually killed everyone in the present timeline, just as they did 30 years ago. Andy casts doubt, but Paige tries to convince him that it was Shirley and Floyd who were responsible for all the murders.
The actress details each murder, stating that the killer couple killed Hemingway, while Portia and Crow’s deaths are uncertain. Floyd enjoyed killing Ruby, and Shirley murdered Kawayan. Adriana and Blake were killed while everyone else was in their rooms. Paige tries to convince Andy that Shirley and Floyd framed him, making them the killers. Andy is still worried and gathers the courage to ask Paige about the drop-down ceiling in her room at the motel with a blood stain and Portia’s heart behind it. Paige says she didn’t hide the heart, and convinces him that it wasn’t her. She proceeds to kiss Andy, and they have sex after Andy agrees to accompany her to the movie premiere.
They talk about the movie being a reboot of the Doomed Service franchise, and Paige says that the movie takes place years after the plot of the first two movies in the franchise, and that Caitlyn’s character has a daughter. At the film premiere, Aaron, the director of the reboot, welcomes Paige to the stage, who is welcomed with a round of applause. However, the younger actress Paula, who plays Caitlyn’s daughter Emma, is welcomed with an even bigger applause, making Paige insecure.
The movie starts playing, and to Paige’s shock, her character Caitlyn is beheaded brutally by the Baphomet masked killer, which makes her leave the screening as Andy follows. Paige is angry that they ended her character using a body double and without her consent. She argues with Aaron about changing the film, but the director says that Paula will be the future of the new trilogy and not her. Andy tries to comfort Paige after the ordeal, but the insecure actress goes back into the screening. What follows is an emotional tale of vengeance and violence.
Hell Motel Ending: Who is the Third Killer? Who Killed Aaron?
One of the major mysteries in the narrative is the identity of the third killer, or the killer who is responsible for the spree of murders at the Cold River Motel in the present timeline. Throughout the story, the viewers are taken on a journey of suspense, with characters doubting, threatening, and killing each other as they start to lose their sanity at the dreaded motel. Despite him and Paige making it out alive, Andy continues to have doubts about whether Shirley and Floyd were the actual killers. This presents us with a number of possibilities that point to different people as the third killer.
The foremost likelihood is that Andy is the killer, and he secretly murdered everyone at the motel. Andy is seen suspiciously by Paige during the ending moments of the series; however, he denies it. The professor tries to shift the blame to Paige, calling her an obsessed actress who cannot let go of the idea of Caitlyn, the real victim from decades in the past. As the “Doomed Service” reboot ends, shocking images of the dead bodies of Hemingway, Kawayan, Portia, and the others are projected onto the screen, leading to chaos at the screening. Paige and Andy are shocked about how their secret real-life incidents at the Cold River Motel were captured on camera.
The director, Aaron, rushes to the projection booth to find out how the real crime scene photos are being displayed on the big screen. Andy goes to find the lights, and the director sees that the projection room is locked. A mysterious individual then slashes Aaron brutally after shining light in his eyes. Later, Aaron walks onto the stage and dies after bleeding to death with a machete stuck to his stomach. The audience members freak out and run. Paige and Andy begin to suspect each other of the killing of Aaron, as they were both with him alone moments ago.
As Paige begins to accuse Andy, a cell phone secretly records their conversation. Andy blames Paige again for all the murders at the motel because she wants to stay relevant. He tells her that she killed Aaron because he cut her out of the movie. Paige blames Andy for projecting the added footage to the screen. Andy refutes, saying that it’s Paige who’s responsible for the murders. Paige accuses him of being obsessed with the real Caitlyn, and that’s why he had sex with her, the fake Caitlyn. Andy says that Paige dishonored the memory of Caitlyn and that he loved Caitlyn.
Based on the chaos, it can be assumed that Andy is most likely the killer, as he is later assumed by Paige to be the real Caitlyn’s long-lost son, and was harboring ill intent towards everyone who tried to dishonor his mother’s memory by turning it into a cheap and cringeworthy movie. Andy also has motivations that make him the real killer. He is one of the survivors and somehow didn’t find himself in enough danger throughout the series. His academic obsession with killings and the way he berated a student earlier in the episode for exhibiting an intellectual fetish for murder proves that he isn’t comfortable talking about the incidents from the past and the present.
Paige’s Innocence in the Murders is Also Under Suspicion
It is also possible that Paige is the third killer, and also killed Aaron, because she has been obsessed with the idea that she is Caitlyn, and the director deliberately tried to get her out of the trilogy by having her character killed. Having played the role of Caitlyn throughout her life, she deeply resonates with the character. In the previous episode, she violently kills Shirley while abusing the name of Baphomet, which could hint at the fact that she saw herself as Caitlyn and wanted revenge against Baphomet, or even be Baphomet to feel powerful and in control. Her motivations in killing everyone appear to be as strong as Andy’s, making it difficult for the viewers to single out one of them as the killer.
Both Paige and Andy display a level of obsession with Caitlyn for different reasons. Both are the only survivors from the motel and show insecurity when their relevance in the field of true crime is put to the test, be it in academics or movies. Another possibility that might be interesting and possible is that neither Paige nor Andy is the third killer, which leads to a scenario where a mysterious person could be the real culprit.
Since the series has certain near-supernatural occurrences as well, it can also be presumed that the entity called Baphomet could, in fact, be real, and killed everyone in the motel, but somehow was unable to kill Paige and Andy. An unknown outsider with knowledge of the motel’s interiors could also be the killer, someone who managed to secretly kill everyone. Aaron was alone with both the actress and the professor, and was possibly killed by any one of them. However, even in this particular murder, both of them would’ve had different motivations to kill an innocent man, who didn’t mean to do either of them any harm.
Was Andy Caitlyn’s Son?
Andy is shown to be a well-meaning, innocent man throughout the narrative. In a pivotal moment, he is accused of secretly being the son of Caitlyn, the woman who was murdered by the Baphomet killers 30 years ago. It is not explicitly shown in the narrative whether or not the victim actually had a child in her real life. However, the real-life photos and videos of Caitlyn are displayed on the screen after the supposed end of the movie, which shocks Paige and everyone else. It is possible that Andy had access to Caitlyn’s footage, as he was indeed her son, which makes it the most logical explanation as to how someone could have secured such sensitive footage and images.
Andy also confesses to Paige that he did, in fact, love Caitlyn and was obsessed with her. When the actress deduces that he is actually Caitlyn’s son, Andy flinches and is taken aback, which conveys that he is most likely reacting to the truth being unearthed by the actress, which he didn’t expect to happen. As told by Paige, she sees him getting uncomfortable every time he sees the victim on the screen, making it possible that he shares a personal connection with Caitlyn.
He displays extreme disapproval and anger at the way Paige portrays the victim in the “Doomed Service” movies, turning a tragedy into a hilarious slasher just to entertain people. The fact that he takes the portrayal and legacy of Caitlyn so seriously decisively hints at the possibility that he is, in fact, her son and chose to keep his identity a secret for a long time. When Paige invites him to the movie premiere, he initially hesitates, hinting that he doesn’t feel comfortable watching the franchise again, as he deeply despises it and the way it disrespects someone he cares about. These clues point to the real chance of Andy secretly being Caitlyn’s kid.
Are Andy and Paige Dead?
Andy and Paige find themselves in a chaotic scenario, doubting and accusing each other of being the real killer. Their suspicions reach a point of no return when they see Aaron walking onto the stage with a machete stuck to his tummy. The confrontation between the two is secretly recorded by a cell phone, belonging to an unknown person or either one of them. Paige accuses him of being obsessed with the real Caitlyn, and that’s why he had sex with her, the fake Caitlyn. Andy goes on to say that Paige dishonored Caitlyn’s memory and that he loved her. The actress believes that Andy is the son of Caitlyn, and that’s why he murdered everyone, to honor his dead mother.
As the professor tries to further accuse Paige and charge at her, she picks up the machete from the floor and stabs him violently, as he collapses to the ground. Paige feels sorry for her friend and apologizes for stabbing him, saying that he left her with no choice. She tells him he must have hated her for playing his mother, Caitlyn, for so long and dishonoring her memory. As he’s dying, Andy says he initially hated the fact that everyone thought Paige was like Caitlyn, due to her performances over the years. But he changed his mind about her later. Paige apologizes to Andy again for dishonoring his mother’s memory, just as the police arrive.
The cellphone continues to record the conversation between the two. Andy begins to scream to the police for help, saying that Paige tried to kill him and that she killed everyone at the Cold River Motel. Seeing the machete in Paige’s hand, the police fire at Paige, causing her to fall down. Andy hauntingly smiles at Paige, asking her if it’s over. Paige says she’ll see him in hell, as both of them die, bleeding on the stage. The two of them die due to their mutual accusations. Andy ensures Paige’s death by screaming for help and inciting the police to shoot her. The two people who had the potential to become lovers end up dead due to their inner demons.
Who is Katie?
After the death of Andy and Paige, the narrative nears its conclusion. The series ends with another actress named Katie auditioning for a movie called Doomed Service: Hell Motel, where she plays the role of Paige. She says she would kill for this part. Though it is not made clear as to who the actress is, or why she’s obsessed with the role of Paige, it can be presumed that she is someone who has deep feelings about Paige, and probably connects with her on a spiritual level, just the way Paige did with Caitlyn. She even repeats Paige’s line to Andy from real life, just before she died, which said, “I’ll see you in hell.”
This could even point to Paige being the actual killer, but it could also mean that the new movie is a faithful adaptation of real life. The creepy acting and involvement could mean that Katie knows the history of the Cold River Motel and her character very well, to the point of obsession. It’s also scary when she says that she can kill for the role, which is absolutely a real possibility. The series delves into the minds of individuals who are obsessed with certain incidents and people, which makes Katie another individual in the long list of dangerous minds, drawn to the world of killings and horror.
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