American Horror Stories Season 4: Backrooms Ending Explained

The following contains spoilers for American Horror Stories season 4 episode 5, “Backrooms,” now streaming on HuluThe ending to American Horror Stories‘ “Backrooms” is the latest entry in the FX horror anthology series to explore the lines between life, death, and guilt. Starring Michael Imperioli, Matthew Maher, David Pittu and Natalie Gold, “Backrooms” centers around an acclaimed Hollywood writer dealing with the fallout of his son, Roman, seemingly disappearing into thin air. While he and his ex-wife Riva struggle with the grim realities of the situation and the likelihood that their son is gone for good, Daniel also finds himself increasingly drawn into a mysterious, metaphysical and often hellish space that becomes known as the “Backrooms.”

Throughout the story of the American Horror Story-tied anthology, Daniel remains the focus of the episode. The character’s efforts to understand the “Backrooms” play into his attempts to keep Roman’s true fate a secret from the world and himself. It’s a grim episode of American Horror Stories season 4. A relatively gore-free episode, “Backrooms” nevertheless takes on a haunting quality due to the subject matter and thematic throughline. It’s a dark rumination about acceptance, guilt and consequences that becomes more haunting in retrospect. Here is how “Backrooms” ends, and how it establishes a new layer to American Horror Story‘s universe.

Who Killed Roman In American Horror Stories: Backrooms

Why Daniel Killed Roman, And How He Tried To Cover It Up

The death of Roman is the central mystery of American Horror Stories‘ “Backrooms” storyline, building to revelation that it was Daniel who murdered his son. For much of the episode, Daniel is shown to be reeling from the mysterious disappearance of his ten-year old son. On top of this, he’s repeatedly drawn into a mysterious space between life and death. These seemingly mundane “Backrooms” are shown to be filled with haunting specters that chase after Daniel. His visits to this realm seem to take longer and longer in real life, leaving him missing for weeks while Roman’s body is discovered.

While Daniel can seen Roman in this space, the boy’s eyes have been gouged out and he’s shown hiding behind a mask. It’s eventually revealed that Daniel is the one who killed Roman, seemingly snapping at his son and strangling him to death. Daniel seems to have initially repressed this memory (as well as the memory of burying Roman’s body in the woods near the playground where Daniel killed him), but the security camera footage from a nearby golf course confirms Daniel’s actions. This explains the ghostly Roman’s apparent anger with his father, and sets up the episode’s dark ending.

What The Backrooms Are In American Horror Stories Explained

The “Backrooms” Are A Form Of Purgatory In American Horror Stories

The “Backrooms” are a metaphysical space between life and death in American Horror Stories. These spaces can vary from banally common shopping markets to deeply specific banquets, with Daniel finding his Academy Award amid a feast and a swarm of masked figures. After finding out about another person who experienced the Backrooms, Daniel contacts Eli and learns that the latter is a program coder who accidentally killed a woman while driving. From Eli, Daniel (and the audience) learn how the Backrooms are a horrifying purgatory that contains reminders of past sins and a horrifying figure credited as the “Red Woman.”

Eli explains that the “Backrooms” effectively serves as a space between the realms of life and death, a certain pathway between one and the other. Most people can’t see this space, but those that according to Eli “broke the social contract” by committing heinous acts to others can be pulled into this realm. Eli experienced this several times before finally admitting his guilt in the manslaughter. This got him arrested but also seemingly freed him from being trapped in the Backrooms, lending credence to Eli’s theory that the space is for those who otherwise escaped punishment on the mortal plane.

Where Does Daniel End Up In American Horror Stories: Backrooms?

Daniel Is Killed And Sent To A Quiet Hell

Daniel’s crimes come to light in the final moments of “Backrooms,” leading the police to attempt to arrest the writer — and ultimately shoot him dead when he fires on them with a pistol. This leaves Daniel to descend a hellish set of elevators back into a new, more dubious space. The implication is that Daniel ends up in a hellish afterlife, as the demonic looking Red Woman leads him to a waiting room where he can expect to spend an eternity reflecting on his actions in solitary silence. This mundane setting seems to register as a fitting hell for Daniel.

It’s an ideal punishment for Daniel, who may miss his son but seems to confirm the Red Woman’s suggestion that he just wants to escape the haunting purgatory of the Backrooms above all else. Notably, the only reading material for the writer to pursue as he passes an eternity alone are a number of magazines about healthy father/son relationships, underscoring how this is a specific punishment for a father who betrayed his son’s fundamental trust in him. The episode ends with Daniel alone with his thoughts, waiting for his number to come up in an empty, hellish waiting room.

The Real Meaning Of American Horror Stories: Backroom’s Ending

Acknowledging And Accepting Guilt May Be The Key To Escaping The “Backrooms”

Guilt is at the very core of “Backrooms,” with the Backrooms themselves drawing attention to the mistakes of those trapped within them. As Daniel sees more of the space, it becomes less general and more specific. The empty halls and shopping market that Eli also saw give way to specific reflections of Daniel’s professional achievements and memories of his failures as both a father and husband. Daniel’s attempts to bury himself in his work and avoid the truth of his actions leave him more and more lost among the Backrooms, until he can’t escape the reality of what he’s done.

Notably, Daniel initially seems to admit what he’s done and tearfully apologizes in Daniel’s room. However, unlike Eli (who accepted his guilt and confessed to his crimes), Daniel refuses to admit his actions. He claims to have not killed Roman even as the police arrive with evidence. Both Eli and Daniel are imprisoned for their acts, but Eli seems to be at a certain amount of somber acceptance and has found peace, unlike Daniel. This highlights the episode’s focus on guilt, as Daniel’s attempt to evade it only gets him doomed to a far worse fate in American Horror Stories.

The creators of American Horror Story reunite to launch American Horror Stories, a horror anthology series created for FX and Hulu. Centering on a new, unique horror story each episode, AHS follows various new characters through each episode as they experience their own terrifying tales, often including the supernatural.

Cast

Sierra McCormick , Paris Jackson , Merrin Dungey , Matt Bomer , Naomi Grossman , John Carroll Lynch , Charles Melton , Billie Lourd

Release Date

July 15, 2021

Seasons

2

Streaming Service(s)

Hulu

Franchise(s)

American Horror Story

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