In Episode 2 of 1984, this hitchhiker returned to the series, despite having died in Episode 1. He then went on to continue dying and being brought back to life, much to the confusion of the various campmates who saw him die multiple times.

Why Can’t the Hitchhiker Die on American Horror Story?

In the previous episodes of AHS 1984, we have seen the hitchhiker die a number of times as he has been run over and killed by both of the killers haunting Camp Redwood, Mr. Jingles (John Carroll Lynch) and The Night Stalker (Zach Villa). However, he just keeps coming back to life, suggesting all is not as it seems in Season 9.

In the previous episode of American Horror Story, we learned that this hitchhiker still believes it is 1970, meaning he has been stuck in his cycle of life and death for at least 14 years.

As this is AHS, many fans think he might be a ghost, meaning that the reason he cannot die is he is already dead. After all, the series has featured dozens of ghosts over its nine seasons, ever since Evan Peters played the show’s first specter Tate Langdon in Murder House.

On the show’s subreddit, a thread asking about the true nature of the hitchhiker includes responses like “he’s a ghost” and “He could be a ghost and one of Mr. Jingles’ victims.”

However, the show’s creators have made much of Season 9/1984 being a clean start for the season, which might mean a move away from the show’s reliance on ghosts. FX boss John Landgraf said during a TCA event: “Part of what he needed to do, which is what he did, was clean the slate, start over.”

As such, the hitchhiker could be a ghost or alternatively he could be stuck in some sort of time loop whereby time as we know it goes on but he is still stuck at the time of the first Mr. Jingles attack. Or, this being American Horror Story, the truth could be even more strange.

Who Plays the Hitchhiker on AHS 1984?

The 34-year-old American actor Lou Taylor Pucci plays Jonas Shevoore on Season 9 of AHS.

Recently, he was cast as Benji, the deadbeat boyfriend of Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail) in the Lifetime and Netflix series You.

He made his onscreen debut in 2002 when he starred in indie hit Personal Velocity. He then won a number of film festival awards three years later for his role in the movie Thumbsucker.

Other film roles Pucci has had include parts in the 2013 Evil Dead remake, the 2010 Ewan McGregor comedy Beginners and the music video for the Green Day song “Jesus of Suburbia.”

He has previously had parts in TV shows like Halt and Catch Fire, Empire Falls and You’re the Worst.

American Horror Story: 1984 airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT on FX.