TV Recap: '666 Park Avenue' Episode 105 - 'A Crowd of Demons'

666 Park Avenue Episode 105
“A Crowd of Demons”
Written By: Sonny Postiglione
Directed By: Robbie Duncan McNeill
Original Airdate: 28 October 2012

In This Episode...
It’s Halloween at the Drake. Hooray! Gavin is getting threatening texts from an anonymous cell phone, and Olivia is nearly run over by a speeding SUV, but they still hold the annual Drake Halloween party. During the party, Olivia is gassed by a man wearing an antique gas mask, just to scare Olivia. He then steals an ornately carved wooden box from Gavin’s safe and leaves the gas mask in its place.

The man/smoke monster who was locked up in the suitcase was Peter Kramer. On Halloween night, 1929, he went home and butchered his wife with an axe in apartment 5F of the Drake. It is unclear if he killed himself or not. The little girl ghost that has been haunting Jane was Peter’s daughter. She hid under the bed when daddy got the axe. Mom managed to make it into the room, covered in blood, and hand her daughter a necklace, telling her to keep it safe and keep it in the family. Then she dies. That is Jane’s grandmother’s necklace (see how all the pieces are starting to fit together?)

So big Halloween party at the Drake. Olivia leaves costumes for Jane and Henry: Tippi Hedren from The Birds for her; cowboy for him. They aren’t at the party for five minutes before Peter bumps into Jane, causing her spill her drink and run upstairs to change into her original costume, a sexy devil. While in her apartment, the little girl appears and lets Jane know that they let “him” out - her daddy. Jane checks the suitcase. It opens easily, and is empty. She finds, stuck in the lining, a clipping of the Kramer tragedy. She remembers seeing Peter in the elevator and freaks out. He had seen her necklace, equated it to his wife, and had to “finish” the job. Peter appears and takes a swing at Jane, but the power is cut and all goes dark in the Drake, allowing Jane to escape. In a fairly straight-forward slasher set-up, Peter chases Jane all over the Drake with an axe. She runs into a guy in the hall and borrows his phone to call the cops. He is concerned about her, but Peter takes care of that - with an axe to the back. Henry gets worried and goes looking for her. She finally manages to call him and let him know she is hiding on the fifth floor. Peter gets there first and traps Jane in a corner. His axe opens up the wall and the birds fly out. Henry bursts in and saves Jane. Peter is nowhere to be found. Both his axe and his one victim are absorbed into the building before anyone finds them.

Dig It or Bury It?
I think we have found a true calling for Jane: as a victim. She’s not nearly so annoying when she spends most of the episode screaming, running from a madman with an axe, and making poor decisions like wielding a pair of scissors upside down, or grabbing a box cutter and not actually  using it. Slipping into the traditional role of a female slasher “heroine” is so cliched it is enjoyable. Plus, there was actual murder and mayhem in this episode! All around, a fairly fun episode.

Meet the Neighbors
Dr. Scott Evans. Brian walks in on him examining Louise in their apartment. He is suspicious, but she assures him he was just checking her elevator injuries. Louise hooks Scott up with Alexis at the party. They seem to hit it off and go for a quickie in the stairwell, during which Alexis steals Scott’s phone. Louise is hurting, and Scott notices. She is out of heavy duty painkillers, and he agrees to hook her up. They leave the party without a word to Brian, who sees the two get on the elevator. The power goes out at this point, trapping them inside. Using the stolen cell phone Alexis has, she texts Louise something suggestive, which Brian finds and feels his fears are confirmed. However, in the elevator, Louise and Scott are talking. He thinks their open, honest communication (he knows she is hunting for pills, she admits to being a former speed addict who hit rock bottom and went to rehab, all things Brian doesn’t know about) is a come on, and he tries to kiss Louise, who instantly pulls away and yells at him. Even still, when they finally exit the elevator, Brian is there and punches Scott in the face.

Prophecies?
The police are still asking questions about the man who attacked Jane. She finally admits she was attacked by a ghost.