How The Killer Sets Up Season 2

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Grotesquerie episode 10

Although Grotesquerie’s series finale offered viewers some answers, the show’s conclusion still left plenty of major mysteries open. Judging by Grotesquerie episode 9, Grotesquerie’s season 1 finale had no chance of wrapping up its plot neatly. The gruesome multiple homicides in the episode’s ending made it seem as if Lois’s dreams may have been warped premonitions. Grotesquerie’s season 1 finale looked likely to prove Lois right, as the heroine’s disturbing dreams began coming true in the penultimate episode. This seemingly rendered Grotesquerie’s episode 7’s huge twist, that the entire series was all Lois’s coma dream, moot.

However, Grotesquerie’s season 1 finale ended up neither confirming nor denying this. Lois’s doctor wasn’t guilty of Grotesquerie’s killings, but viewers never got to know his real (non-coma dream) self since he did fall victim to the killer. This flat anti-twist meant that Grotesquerie’s season 1 finale left viewers with more questions than answers. The show’s creator, American Horror Story’s Ryan Murphy is notorious for endings that fail to follow through on interesting ideas established earlier in the show, and Grotesquerie’s season 1 finale undeniably repeated this trend with an ending that raised many new questions, but answered none.

Who Was The Killer In Grotesquerie?

Grotesquerie’s Season 1 Finale Didn’t Reveal The Killer

After teasing their identity for nine episodes, Grotesquerie‘s season 1 finale never actually explained who the eponymous Biblical killer was. In Lois’s coma dream, the culprit turned out to be Father Charlie and his accomplice was Lois’s seemingly innocent, quirky friend Sister Megan. However, in reality, Father Charlie was Lois’s doctor and Megan was the police officer who replaced Lois as the head of the force. Neither seemed to be guilty of the killings, as Megan was investigating them and the doctor became one of Grotesquerie’s final victims in the closing scenes of the episode. A lot occurred before this confounding twist.

Why Marshall Tried To Take His Own Life In The Grotesquerie Finale

Lois’s Husband Was Accused Of Sexual Assault By A Student

Marshall and Redd made Lois dinner, tempting her with a martini and the offer of living together as a bizarrely mismatched throuple. Lois rejected the proposal, and Redd revealed that she knew Marshall was cheating on her. She said she only went along with Marshall’s plan to see Lois reject him. After a student accused him of sexual assault, Marshall attempted to overdose. He protested his innocence and claimed that their relationship was consensual, but swiftly lost hope after he was arrested and charged. Marshall’s overdose was unsuccessful, and Redd reaffirmed that she wanted nothing more to do with Marshall when he woke up.

The Mexicali Men’s Club From Grotesquerie’s Series Finale Explained

Lois’s Dream Specialist Dr. Milton Smith Was Revealed To Be A Cult Leader

Fast Eddie brought Marshall to The Mexicali Men’s Club, which was soon revealed to be an underground political organization. Marshall’s defense of traditional strongman masculinity earned applause, revealing the group’s reactionary values. The group was also broadly against the phenomenon of cancel culture, but surprisignly supportive of progressive approaches to pronouns. Seemingly, the group represented a bizarre mélange of ideologies that embraced traditional values and hierarchal individualism while simultaneously supporting some liberal causes. Every major male character in the series, from Lois’s doctor to Santino Fontana’s dream specialist, was revealed to be a member of this shadowy club.

Why Lois Attempted To Take Her Life In Grotesquerie’s Finale

Lois Began To Doubt The Reality She Lived In

Meanwhile, Lois questioned whether she ever woke up from her coma. This led her to also attempt to take her own life, resulting in another appointment with Fontana’s specialist. Lois’s specialist explained to her that she was suffering from Cotard’s Syndrome, a condition wherein patients believe they are dead. Lois admitted to Fontana’s specialist that she had accused the doctor who saved her life of having orgies in her hospital room while she was comatose. Horrified, Grotesquerie’s doctor said he agreed with Marshall that Lois should not have survived her coma when she implied that he impregnated another patient.

Was Justin’s Death Real?

Grotesquerie’s Series Finale Revealed Justin’s Death Really Happened

The final straw that left Grotesquerie‘s heroine Lois unable to discern what was real was the fallout from Justin’s death. Lois shot and killed Megan’s abusive lover, Justin, at the end of episode 9, and his body seemingly disappeared afterward. Lois saw Megan meeting with Glorious McCall and assumed that the crime boss was the one who disposed of the body. Megan not only dismissed this theory but claimed that she hadn’t seen Justin in weeks. Enraged and confused, Lois accused Fontana’s specialist of committing multiple homicides from episode 9, while he accused her of imagining the killings.

The specialist said Lois made up the killings to justify her view of herself as a saintly figure who would say humanity from its worst depravity. However, Megan checked Lois out of a psychiatric institution soon after she checked herself in. A tearful Megan admitted that she had covered up Justin’s death, and she had employed Glorious McCall to help her dispose of the body. She gaslit Lois about this, but admitted the truth to her former coworker when she needed her help. Megan then led Lois to Grotesquerie’s latest macabre creation in the closing minutes of the season 1 finale.

Every Death In Grotesquerie Season 1’s Ending Explained

The Unknown Killer Murdered Lois’s Doctor And Marshall’s Accuser

Grotesquerie killed Marshall’s accuser and Lois’s doctor in Grotesquerie’s season 1 finale, arranging them in a tableau that resembled the Last Supper. A recreation of the Last Supper with human corpses as its centerpiece and the disciples appeared in episode 2 as part of Lois’s elaborate coma dream, meaning this scene seemingly proved her dreams really were just premonitions. However, Lois clearly had the villain’s identity wrong. The doctor she was convinced was Grotesquerie must have been innocent, judging by his brutal death.

What Grotesquerie Season 1’s Ending Really Means

Grotesquerie’s Ending Was A Satirical Shaggy Dog Story

Up until Grotesquerie episode 6, the show seemed like a fairly straightforward, if campy and melodramatic, murder mystery. However, season 1’s ending proved that it was more of a subversive satirical shaggy dog story. The real killer was never revealed, the relationship between Lois’s dreams and reality was never revealed, and the cult’s connections to the killings (if any) were never explained. All of these plot threads might be wrapped up at a later date, but season 1 offered nothing in the way of a definitive resolution.

How Grotesquerie Season 1’s Ending Sets Up Season 2

Grotesquerie Season 2 Could Reveal The Titular Killer’s Identity

Grotesquerie’s season 1 finale sets up season 2 by leaving the killer’s identity a mystery, meaning viewers will need to tune into the next season to find out the truth about Grotesquerie’s identity. The killer could be Lois’s specialist, anyone else with access to records of her coma dreams, or possibly Lois herself. It could be Megan, who discovered both crime scenes, but it can’t be Lois’s much-maligned doctor anymore. The Grotesquerie season 1 finale brought its heroine no closer to uncovering the truth, but it did leave many mysteries open for season 2 to explore.