S05.E11: Battle Royale

[talula]

Ok whose the mummy with the drill?

[Black Knight]

Still, it would have been ten times more satisfying to see Emma Roberts meet the same fate at the hands of Charles March (although I can't actually remember whether her character survived Season 3).

No, she didn't survive S3. Evan Peters's character on that show killed her, so you could sort of think of it as Charles March having done it.

But I mean, it's a big hotel but it's not that big. The only ghosts I've seen that consistently keep themselves busy are March and Mrs. Evers. Why don't the other ghosts, who must number in the hundreds by now, ever run into each other, or plot revenge, or have a nice game of canasta in the lobby? 

Murder House had the same issue, and it's certainly a big plothole. But it's Ryan Murphy's style to have all these gaps in logic, and at least with the hotel it's easier to handwave since there are supposed to be all the secret corridors and rooms.

 

Too soon to tell. If the Supreme can do Misty's resurrection trick, she can come by, help Queenie out, and do a little housecleaning. Or, Queenie could be back as a ghost because she didn't get to "come on down". Can the ghost of a witch do magic on other ghosts?

The ability to resurrect is one of the tests a witch has to pass to prove she's the Supreme, so yes, the Supreme can resurrect Queenie if she comes looking for her. Which, knowing her, I expect she would. Both because she's a caring person and because Queenie had become one of her top lieutenants. I'm not expecting to see it, but in my head canon it'll happen.

Edited January 9, 2016 by Black Knight

[Free]

Ok whose the mummy with the drill?

 

I think he's called the Addiction Demon and it has something to do with Sally and her deal with March.

 

I know that addiction was supposed to be a big theme even though it never really went anywhere since all the storylines and characters were splintered off until they became vampires/ghosts/died.  Sally spent most of the season waiting around on John

[Starchild]

!'m not sure why it's a plot hole that we haven't seen everyone who died in the hotel come back as a ghost. Just because we haven't seen them doesn't mean they're not there. We've only seen the ones that will impart information to the audience and/or further a story line in some way. Otherwise, I assume they're wandering around getting used to their new situation.

 

I don't need to see Sally's drug couple or the hipsters to understand that they're very likely to be hotel ghosts. I do wonder about Tristan though. I would have thought he and Liz would at least commiserate over their lost potential.

[Madding crowd]

To me, this whole season has been plenty of gore but nothing that is scary. I found parts of Murder House, Asylum and Freak Show to be genuinely scary, but nothing like that here. It seems that Murphy's idea this year is full on camp, which he also did in Coven. I'm sure that is appealing to a certain part of the audience, but not so much to me.

There are so many more interesting ways he could have gone here. John could have been looking for missing people who disappeared at the hotel and each of their stories could have played out with different guest stars and themes, the story could have been about the history of the hotel and things that happened in the past without the silly vampires, it could have been stories of the lost souls and addiction but again without the vampires and drill do's and 10 commandment killers. 

 

I do like Liz Taylor but her character still doesn't make much sense to me. Liz gives the impression she is world weary, has been a part of the hotel for years and has to be involved in all of the murderous goings on. Yet, why would she stay in this hotel where she is unhappy, has no friends, never met anyone she was romantically interested in etc. I understand her need to be herself but surely she could be herself elsewhere in Hollywood. Iris makes sense in that she was following her son. Liz I don't get. 

 

I really hope we will not get Gaga as a star next time around. She is a poor actress, and one season of her marching around in sparkly gowns and pasties is enough for me. She also is not attractive and has no charisma so all of these handsome men falling at her feet is just funny to me.

[morgankobi]

To me, this whole season has been plenty of gore but nothing that is scary. I found parts of Murder House, Asylum and Freak Show to be genuinely scary, but nothing like that here. It seems that Murphy's idea this year is full on camp, which he also did in Coven. I'm sure that is appealing to a certain part of the audience, but not so much to me.

 

I was thinking this exact thing during this episode. 

[FiveByFive]

The ability to resurrect is one of the tests a witch has to pass to prove she's the Supreme, so yes, the Supreme can resurrect Queenie if she comes looking for her. Which, knowing her, I expect she would. Both because she's a caring person and because Queenie had become one of her top lieutenants. I'm not expecting to see it, but in my head canon it'll happen.

 

I'd be more than okay with this happening.  There are a bunch of plot points about ghosts that have been glossed over or poorly explained.  It would be great if Queenie:

 

1.  Is brought back to life by someone from the Coven because, as you mentioned, she was one of her top Lts.

2.  Killing Queenie of all of the witches in the hotel should, in general, prove to be a bad idea.  It would be satisfying if she became a ghost and wrecked havoc on everyone there, especially Ramona who has her blood inside her.

3.  Is used to also bring up a point that people go missing in the hotel and no one ever seems to come looking for them except for this time.  In other words, the Supreme would certainly come looking for her own if she disappeared.  She didn't just train her and bring her on as one of her top people but she also more than likely has the power to deal with March. Queenie almost was Supreme.

4.  They remember that Queenie can bring herself back; she did at least once in Coven after being shot just like Misty Day did multiple times except for the last when her body disintegrated so there was nothing to come back to. (RIP Misty Day.)

 

I doubt any of those options will occur because it's Ryan Murphy but it would be nice if for once he followed a natural progression of plot. 

[talula]

Love it if a whole series was developed for Liz. Just enjoy everything about this character. The fashions, the accessories, sense of humor, just my cup of tea. The personality portrayed seems so authentic and likeable.

What I like about this season is even if someone I like gets killed there's a good chance they'll be back, as long as they die in the hotel, LoL.

Edited January 9, 2016 by talula

[talula]

LoL at this photo:

[Mattipoo]

This was such a disappointing episode. I really wanted Ramona to kill the Countess in a gruesome way but that did not happen, and we don't even get to find out Ramona's fate.

I also hate that they brought back Queenie only to have her be killed, and not only that, have her death be pointless since Ramona did not get to kill the Countess anyway. I hope Queenie gets resurrected because I don't want her to die such a pointless death especially after surviving Coven! Poor Queenie!

Sally's backstory was boring and I still don't care about her character. Hopefully they explain next week what/who the dildo mummy is. What a wreck of a season!

Edited January 9, 2016 by Mattipoo

[Captanne]

Unfortunately, Hannibal ruined me for "stitching together dead people" (yeah, I know, that wasn't something I ever expected to say but there it is.....) so that wasn't very ... interesting?  It was just sort of -- oh, this is fiction and I'm suddenly taken out of the moment.  Now that I know they are filming during the season (it was mentioned in a post that I put up on another AHS: Hotel thread with link), I wonder why they cribbed that from Hannibal?  Of course they are aware of it because it's so particularly grisly and unusual.  That question crossed my mind as I was watching the episode.

 

Otherwise, I found the whole thing forgettable because -- I've utterly forgotten most of it.  We didn't find out what happened to Ramona, did we.  Huh, I didn't notice.  

 

OTH, I did like the maid and March.  They are amazing.

 

ETA:  What I find fascinating about Liz is that she's been the only main character directly associated with the hotel crowd (I think) throughout the entire series who remains normal -- as in, non-undead, not a vampire, not a mummy drill-dildo rapist whatsit, not a ghost, not a ghoul of any sort.  And, yet, not much has been made of it.  No one is calling her the miracle she clearly is.

 

During the scene in the corridor with Ramona when her fate was in jeopardy, she was so cool, calm, and collected.  She manipulated Ramona beautifully.  (Yes, Iris was there but she's undead and had nothing, really, to lose if Ramona decided to attack them.  Liz could have been killed.)  You could see why Liz has survived in that hotel as long as she has.  (She wasn't killed by the Countess when Tristan died, either.)

 

Seriously, now that I think about it, I would enjoy the end of this series if Liz was the only one to walk out of that hotel with a retro-suitcase and a fabulous outfit into the blazing sunshine and go have a wonderful life.

Edited January 9, 2016 by Captanne

[Mabinogia]

The whole Sally flashback had me laughing my ass off. When she sewed them all together and Drilldo was bitchslapping her silly I just...there aren't words for how not scary it was. It was so incredibly stupidly over the top that I couldn't take it seriously enough to be horrified.

 

That is the main problem I have with the show. They try soooo hard to push the envelope with the horror porn that it just turns into a parody of what horror is. There is nothing scary about this but it does have some hilariously bad attempts.

 

Still, best season since Asylum.

[Fable]

That said, I don't know why Sally is trapped there and Donovan isn't, since she didn't die any closer to it than Donovan did. Maybe one had unfinished business and the other didn't. I dunno.

 

If I recall, in Murder House, you didn't need to be in the house when you died to be trapped there, only on the property (I remember Jessica Lang trying to drag her daughter's dying body to the property so she would return), so I imagine that even though Sally died outside of the hotel, she may have still landed on the property, whereas Donovan was put into the street.  

Edited January 9, 2016 by Fable

[Mabinogia]

True, cause wasn't Sally in an alley or something? So that could still have been on property, and Liz and Iris made a point of dragging Donovan way past the front door, to the street. If it was just "get out of the building" they could have stayed on the sidewalk. I had thought it odd, when watching, that they went out into the street, but now, thinking about the property line restriction, it makes sense, which is rare for this show, so that's probably why it didn't click.

[Snookums]

That is the main problem I have with the show. They try soooo hard to push the envelope with the horror porn that it just turns into a parody of what horror is. There is nothing scary about this but it does have some hilariously bad attempts.

 

 

Right? I mean, I watching this pretentious artist orgy, and all I'm thinking is "Well, I just saw Sarah Paulson's ass from the side, so I guess that's something."

[Surrealist]

I keep thinking that there has to be a reason that Queenie chose the Hotel Cortez. Out of all the hotels in LA she could have booked a room at? I don't know. The Supreme and other witches would know where she is. Did they (somehow) know about that hotel and what's going on in it? I think that would have made an interesting crossover plot.

[Captanne]

Good God, was that supposed to be a pretentious artist orgy? It looked like three losers shooting herione into uncomfortable areas and just generally being stupid because that shit makes you so numb you don't feel much anyway.

Was that supposed to make me envious?

(For an orgy that made me envious, see Sense8 because -- yeah, baby.)

[Starchild]

Still, best season since Asylum.

So far, Asylum is the only season I've purchased. Unless it all falls apart in the finale, I'll be buying this one too.

[DiabLOL]

I don't know who Drilldo is supposed to be but I have a vague theory what he represents.

I admire him for triple wrapping before going anywhere near Sally, though.

[DiabLOL]

I think the reason they stay in the hotel after they die even though it is such a place of pain an misery for them is because the very nature of being haunted is one largely of compulsion, circular thinking and the insanity of doing things the same way over and over and over and expecting a different result only to wind up with the same outcome each time and back to square one. See any archetypal ghost story or even "Gilligan's Island".

[Surrealist]

I admire him for triple wrapping before going anywhere near Sally, though.

 

For real though.

 

Yuck.

[Bruinsfan]

Didn't March refer to it as "MY addiction demon" at one point? So it didn't seem to originally be summoned up in the hotel by Sally's presence, though of course something themed with addiction would be drawn to her like a compass needle pointing north.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

American Horror Story: Hotel Adds Another Permanent Resident
Maybe the one you think, though at least the way it happens is kind of surprising!

[LoneHaranguer]

 

True, cause wasn't Sally in an alley or something? So that could still have been on property, and Liz and Iris made a point of dragging Donovan way past the front door, to the street. If it was just "get out of the building" they could have stayed on the sidewalk.

Generally speaking, cities own the land adjacent to public streets, including the tree belt and sidewalk, but why assume that the hotel doesn't have some sort of "aura" that can suck someone in? Better to add a little distance. The alley would be private property, and the dividing line between the hotel and whatever is next door could be anywhere, so the whole alley could be hotel property.

 

 

[Gaga] also is not attractive and has no charisma so all of these handsome men falling at her feet is just funny to me.

More attention should have been paid to her makeup and lighting. She has looked good at least a couple of times, but the producers have cared more about trying to make things look "spooky" with lots of shadows.

[hatchetgirl]

I think the reason Sally is there is that she jumped from the building which caused the attachment. Donovan specifically asked to be pulled out and was.

I don't remember anything of this episode so will have to watch again. Or not.

[iMonrey]

 

To me, this whole season has been plenty of gore but nothing that is scary. I found parts of Murder House, Asylum and Freak Show to be genuinely scary, but nothing like that here.

 

Funny you should point that out because I recall that Murder House got progressively less scary the more we learned about each ghost. After the flashbacks explained who they were and how they died, they just weren't scary anymore. So that season was only scary for like the first two episodes. Same with Asylum. (I never found anything scary in Coven or Freak Show). 

 

I guess we're sort of de-sensitized to the Ryan Murphy brand of shock value by now, but I could see someone tuning into this show for the first time this season and finding the first couple of episodes pretty scary - the weird thing crawling out of the bed in the season premier, etc. If it was all new stuff to the viewer they wouldn't be as blase about it as I am by this point.

 

I still think it's an interesting show, though, if not a scary show.

[Dobian]

Too soon to tell. If the Supreme can do Misty's resurrection trick, she can come by, help Queenie out, and do a little housecleaning. Or, Queenie could be back as a ghost because she didn't get to "come on down". Can the ghost of a witch do magic on other ghosts?

 

Wait, the Supreme is also played by Sarah Paulson.  Dual role in the final episode?

[Mabinogia]

I'd say it's more disturbing than scary. I actually died laughing when that thing crawled out of the bed. It was just too ridiculous to be scary. I remember with Murder House, there were times I couldn't go to bed right after the show ended. Even Asylum had moments that gave me the creeps. I was bored out of my mind with Coven and didn't even bother with Freak Show. Maybe there is a desensitization to the gore but for me horror is stuff that keeps me up at night. Watching Forensic Files is more horrifying than Hotel. For me, Murphy shows too much to be truly scary. It's the unseen thing in the walls (I have some kind of critter in my wall and that keeps me up at night even though I'm pretty sure it's just a rat and not some bloodthirsty virus-vamp. But because I can't see it, I imagine the worst. Because Murphy feels this desperate need to show us every single horror, none of it is terribly scary. Creepy, sure, gross, hell yes, but scary, nah. I sleep like a baby after the show. Probably because of all the laughing I do.

[Kat From Jersey]

I'm not thrilled with this season. 

 

Neither am I, really, but I somehow can't look away!  But, even on a mediocre show, plot-wise, great production values (music, cinematography, etc.), will somehow reel me in.

 

But truthfully, I was really only here for the eye candy that is Finn Wittrock!  He was one of the only high points of last season's Freak Show, and I loved him in 'Unbreakable' and on season 1 of 'Masters of Sex', where he played a hustler with a heart of gold.

Edited January 12, 2016 by Kat From Jersey

[rubinia]

 

After the flashbacks explained who they were and how they died, they just weren't scary anymore. So that season was only scary for like the first two episodes. Same with Asylum. (I never found anything scary in Coven or Freak Show).

This is exactly what happened with Twisty in Freak Show. Unfortunate, since he was one of the creepiest, most mysterious characters--until you learned his back story...and even started to sympathize with him.

Edited January 12, 2016 by rubinia

[Captanne]

Although I wasn't a Wittrock fan at all -- I have to say that his performance as Tristan was amazing.  The character was set up to be an utter bimbo and, yet, Wittrock totally sold that the Countess had underestimated him and, also, that he really fell in love with Liz.  I believe he did.

 

He did a passable job as the doppelgänger of Ruldoph Valentino.  Only the accent was unfortunate.

Edited January 13, 2016 by Captanne

[kathyj]

I'm sure most people on this forum were shocked that Lady Gaga won the Golden Globe last night! I thought she was pretty good, although not the 'best' actress. 

[bblancobrnx]

Loved the episode and loving the season. I make sure not to closely examine any parts of AHS for continuity or to make sense. So, I have been able to really enjoy this season. Keep it up AHS! I haven't given up on this show after some truly mediocre seasons, so a season like this sure won't make me give up

[TheGourmez]

Did we really need to go Human Centipede?