American Horror Story: Hotel Season Review

Woe-tel California.

I find it funny how, every year (for the past five years), American Horror Story, and its key players, have gotten Golden Globe nominations. Well, firstly, there’s a lot about the Golden Globes that are curious, but it’s also funny because the season is never done when the miniseries/acting nominations roll in. Due to the timing, there are always three or four episodes left. Just seems strange to me to nominate something, that’s specifically telling a closed-ended story, before it’s done. And I’m fairly confident, as someone who gets advance screeners, that the HFPA hasn’t seen ahead. The production of American Horror Story, since Coven, has been down to the wire. Very rushed. Very, very few advance episodes for press.

Anyway, I bring this up because AHS is a show that’s definitely in the diminishing returns game. Over the years, the seasons have become more overwrought and empty – with Hotel being the most vapid saga to date. I could see, once upon a time, it being honored at awards shows. For performances mostly. And honestly, for Jessica Lange, most specifically. But now it just sort of gets nominated “because reasons.” Because it has been for so long. And whoever the nucleus of the season is – regardless of talent – also gets a nod. This year it was Gaga. Who was the most trying, languorous part of the entire Hotel story. AND SHE WON!

Whatever. I’m not here to kvetch about that specifically, but I would like to take this opportunity to point out the actual great performances on Hotel this year. The two characters, and turns, that actually represent and embody the highlight of Hotel. Evan Peters’ Mr. March and Denis O’Hare’s Liz. Both phenomenal, and phenomenally different, performances. I didn’t like much about Hotel, but these two delivered the goods. Both of them have been apart of the AHS family since the start and this was the first time I felt like they really got to flex. Peters, getting to goofily dive into a deliciously debonaire madman, and O’Hare into a trans female whose story got more touching and appealing over the course of the season.

Granted, I never bought into Liz’s love for Tristan. I mean, O’Hare was appropriately heartbroken and I dug that part, but we, as viewers, were never given a chance to invest in them as a couple. An episode started and – bam – they were a couple. And they had been for a few weeks in-story. But we only saw it end, not begin. Or thrive. But other than that, Liz’s journey, backstory, modern reconnection with her son, and future business ventures on the hotel/fashion fronts, were all great.

And while Mr. March didn’t ever strike any emotional chords, the role was juicy and psycho enough to provide good fun. It reminded me of Finn Wittrock’s Freak Show character Dandy, except that Peters, unlike Wittrock, spent years on this show playing somber, tragic figures. So this was a nice late-in-the-game swerve for him. Something he’d never done before. And March, despite his darkness, would lighten up every scene.

And while I’m on the “what worked” topic, Hotel also had a few great one-offs. The Devil’s Night serial killer VIP dinner was one (though I wish they hadn’t brought it back for the epilogue’s epilogue), as did some of the flashbacks. Specifically, the Countess’ backstory was actually the only interesting part of her arc. Especially the idea that she was turned by a vampiric Rudolph Valentino.

Other than that though, the “vampire” stuff this year was the dregs. Sure, I can dig on the show going goth and/or ’80s with the likes of Peter Murphy, The Stone Roses, Human League, Joy Division, and Sisters of Mercy. But everything involving the Countess, Will Drake, Donovan, Tristan, and Ramona was the pits. Just disastrously uninteresting. As was the Lowe family’s drama with young, missing Holden (who looked too much like a creepy vampire kid to care about fully). People kept getting turned into vampires. School kids went on a rampage. It was a mess.

Things ticked up when the show finally pulled the trigger on the Ten Commandment Killer’s identity. Sure, it was a poorly-concieved twist that most everyone saw coming weeks out (ah, the perils of pulling off a “whodunnit?” reveal on TV), but it was good filler for what, essentially, was an episode-long flashback. Still, they never clarified why John was totally unaware of what he was doing. Or why he kept doing it once he did know. Or why no one thought he, as a homicide/detective, wouldn’t get assigned to a serial killer case in his location/jurisdiction. But at least it helped explain why John never felt like the “normal” audience surrogate of the bunch.

Five seasons in now and AHS is showing serious signs of wear and tear. There’s an all-to-recognizable pattern to these seasons. A freaky, a***hole ensemble of characters (that gets crazier with each year). One “den mother” type who, eventually wants to kill them all. They too, in turn, want to kill her. And so they dance in circles for several episodes, with flashbacks cutting in and out to liven things up. It all ends with a flash-forward epilogue style finale showing us where everyone lands years later. It’s become the ritual. And this year, on Hotel, it became even more apparent due to dull storylines, a sluggish lead, and a very specific interior location that we rarely left.

Also, who was the motherf***er with the dildo?