S05.E12: Be Our Guest

[Tara Ariano]

In the season finale, a new era begins at the Cortez under Iris and Liz. Elsewhere: John and Alex struggle to adapt to life outside the hotel.

[ShadowHunter]

I liked the ghost meetings lol. That is what this season should have been more about the hotel and the ghosts not that Vampire junk.

 

I enjoyed the serial killer diner so it was nice to see all those characters again. I hope we see more of Lily and JCL next season.

 

Sally only ever really needed a cell phone and to model.

 

All of the stuff with Liz was wonderful.

 

I assume we are suppose to ignore that Billie Dean and Sally look exactly alike?

 

Ugh we had to hear that line again.

 

I thought the episode started strong but ended weak.

[Valny]

The opening line from Liz summed up this season for me:

"We started  with such high hopes."

[Muffyn]

Well, that's over.  That's about all I can say.  Maybe they should shorten each season to eight episodes because they just don't have enough story to fill twelve episodes.  I'll miss Liz Taylor.  That's all I've got.  

[rustyspigot]

To quote The Simpsons....

 

Homer: Well, we didn't get any money, but Mr. Burns got what he wanted. Marge, I'm confused. Is this a happy ending or a sad ending?
Marge: It's an ending, that's enough!

[WhosThatGirl]

This season was a mixed bag for me and that's all I can really say. I think a big part of wishes this had less vampires. I feel like that craze came and went for a couple years and then were done and they tried them to bring them back on this show and while there was other, better,more creative things in this story, the vampires took a big part in this AHS story and I did not like it. But that's just me. 

[Straycat80]

Loved the finale. Also have to say I liked this season. Wasn't sure after the first episode but it got better and better IMO. The acting was great.

For some reason I thought Liz Taylor was a ghost already or a vampire like creature. Glad her so called ending was happy.

I thought it was funny how they stopped Sally from killing by introducing her to social media.

And it was a fitting end for John so he could be with his family. Well, it sucked for Scarlett but at least she lived and had, I assume, a somewhat normal life.

I liked John, March and the famous murderers into scaring the psychic into not talking about the Cortez. I wonder if any guest who checked into that hotel ever came out alive.

I wish we had learned who or what that white creepy thing was and what happened to Bartholemew. Compared to past seasons I think they wrapped this one up pretty well. I'm looking forward to the next season.

[madhacker]

ok that had to be one of the better wrap up episodes for this show. Anybody who wasn't happy for Liz Taylor at the end of his story doesn't have a heart. I was kinda bummed they didn't get Darren Criss back to do a cameo of him wandering around looking for his kale or at least have him walk the runway (he'd make a great ghost model) but at least we got the hottie Asian model who was still in just his undies in the afterlife, yay!!

 

When Sarah Paulson showed up the second time I was sure it was Cordelia the Supreme seeking revenge for Queenie, but Billie from Murder House was even better especially when she got the shit scared out of her on Devil's night.

 

But the line of the night belongs to Evan "I don't know your military friend or his fondness for poultry...". He had to have screwed up at least one take by cracking up laughing.

 

Speaking of Evan......history was made this season. This is the first season that Evan was on that didn't require him to show some skin. No shirtless scenes no nudity, nada!! I'm actually feeling kinda cheated for some reason (just kidding!!)

Edited January 14, 2016 by madhacker

[Mya Stone]

I was really satisfied with this season. It's told the most coherent story since season 1, and the acting really was good all around. The soundtrack was amazing, and the set was the "thirteenth man" if you will.

The ending was bittersweet. My heart really did hurt for Liz, and when Gaga showed up to help her transform...it was a lovely moment. And I was really overjoyed when Tristan showed himself.

Sally and the Internet made me laugh. A lot. As did Evan Peters whenever he was on screen - especially his line about KFC.

It was nice to get an ending for each major character. Really. Iris hearing from Donovan was touching.

And then there was John. Poor John. Killed right outside...at least there's Devil's Night.

Let's say it all together now: POOR FREAKING SCARLETT.

[Free]

 

I liked the ghost meetings lol. That is what this season should have been more about the hotel and the ghosts not that Vampire junk.

 

 

I think a big part of wishes this had less vampires. I feel like that craze came and went for a couple years and then were done and they tried them to bring them back on this show and while there was other, better,more creative things in this story, the vampires took a big part in this AHS story and I did not like it. But that's just me.

 

If they did something more creative with the vampire stuff, it would be something, but it never went anywhere.

[ShadowHunter]

Evan was shirtless this season and we saw his butt. In Episode 2 we see him killing a girl he has tied down on a table. He was naked while doing it.  So sorry no history has been made this season lol.

[Zanne]

Was the Thatcher School from a previous season, or is this a possible hint about next season? They mentioned that school a lot in this one episode!

[HunterHunted]

And all of the ghosts and monsters get a happy ending. I was happy Liz Taylor got back together with Tristan.

[Anela]

I actually loved this episode. :) The meeting was my favourite part - almost all of them together. I want Liz to have her own show.

 

Sally and the internet - ha! Liz and Iris make a great team. I also loved that Donovan came through and told his mother that he was in a place that smelled like pancakes - not hell.

 

Did the show end with Lady Gaga? My DVR cut off, so I don't know if there was anything else to the episode. 

 

I found myself hoping for a cameo by Jessica Lange. I was tired of them casting her as the same sort of woman in each season, but I missed her tonight.

 

I also thought the second part of the episode was weaker, and I wasn't happy to see the serial killers back again. But it was nice to see it mostly tied together. 

 

I wonder what was supposed to have happened to the child from the first season. How old he is, how many people he's murdered... 

[madhacker]

 

Evan was shirtless this season and we saw his butt. In Episode 2 we see him killing a girl he has tied down on a table. He was naked while doing it.  So sorry no history has been made this season lol.

Oh that's right!! totally forgot about that!!

[Valny]

For some reason I thought Liz Taylor was a ghost already or a vampire like creature

 

.

So did I,because wasn't everyone else there a non human?

 

Did the show end with Lady Gaga? My DVR cut off, so I don't know if there was anything else to the episode.

 

It did, I believe she repeats the line of "you have a jawline that lasts for days" to a random guy at the bar. Is that correct wording?

 

at least we got the hottie Asian model who was still in just his undies in the afterlife, yay!!

 

Oh, I thought that was the porn guy. I didn't remember the model. Is he the one who got knifed by the Swedish Meatballs?

When Sarah Paulson showed up the second time I was sure it was Cordelia the Supreme seeking revenge for Queenie, but Billie from Murder House was even better especially when she got the shit scared out of her on Devil's night.

 

I was spoiled about her coming back,so it wasn't a surprise, but I wish I didn't know.

 

 

 

But the line of the night belongs to Evan "I don't know your military friend or his fondness for poultry...".

Loved that line!

I was really satisfied with this season. It's told the most coherent story since season 1, and the acting really was good all around. The soundtrack was amazing, and the set was the "thirteenth man" if you will

 

.

Oh how I wish I could agree about it being coherent for me, I just thought it was all over the place and the storylines really didn't have me intrigued or involved much. But I did love the music and the hotel looked gorgeous. I'm glad for everyone who enjoyed this season, I'm just already looking forward to some better stuff next season.

So why do the ghosts have to kill exactly?

Glad we only got a split second of the Drilldo flashback with Sally.

Why would Liz want to be murdered by all those people, wouldn't one person be enough. Geez,getting hacked, stabbed,shot,strangled and stuck by a needle? Man, that's extreme...even if you are coming back.

That blood from Liz's neck looked so CGI'd!

Was the woman that Will killed the actress who played the girl that was crushing on Marcia Brady in the Brady Bunch Movie?

Those promos for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies sure looked fun!

 

Once again, Scarlett is the voice of reason in her family when she told them they needed to go back to the hotel.

Holden: "It's dog again"  :)

 

I know it didn't last that long, but I don't care about a friggin' fashion show!

When Liz told John that "we missed you..." I said, no we didn't.  :)

 

So for me, this was least favorite finale, I even liked Coven's better!

Edited January 14, 2016 by Valny

[bobbyjoe]

Other than Liz and possibly Sally (whose story tonight turns out to be that she really likes the internet, how exciting), which characters actually get any kind of significant or interesting material tonight?  James March?  No.  The Countess?  No.  Ramona Royale?  No.  Heck, even Alex Lowe?  No. 

 

And this is the damn season finale.

 

There are no showdowns, no suspense, no surprising character moments at all from 95% of the show's main characters.  There's no real fulfilling of any of the season's long, long setups.   Then, pretty much half of the episode depends on viewers remembering one of the lesser characters from Season One (Billie Dean Howard, by far the least memorable of Sarah Paulson's performances on the series), or else not remembering her and wondering "why are we spending so much time on this suddenly introduced character who looks just like Sally"-- and being expected to give half a hoot what happens to her, either way.

 

This is par for the course with much of the bad and shockingly lazy writing this season.  Just throw in another character from a different season (for the third time this season), and you have filler for an episode that probably should have just ended after GaGa helped Liz turn into a ghost.  Everything after that just felt like the writers thinking "oh god, we still have over half an hour left to fill."  They might as well have put a countdown clock in the bottom corner of the screen, so we could join the writers in clockwatching for the "season's over" bell to ring.

[Valny]

Good assessment of the season bobbyjo.  You pretty much summed it up for me too.

This was a rare ep that didn't contain any crazy sexual situations that I'd sometimes complain we'd had too many throughout the season. Hell, maybe this one needed one!

[Anela]

Good assessment of the season bobbyjo.  You pretty much summed it up for me too.

This was a rare ep that didn't contain any crazy sexual situations that I'd sometimes complain we'd had too many throughout the season. Hell, maybe this one needed one!

No, I'm fine without another episode of American Porn Story. ;) 

[HunterHunted]

Liz Taylor: Fix My Afterlife.

[phoenix780]

I'm in the camp that enjoyed the finale, and the season overall.  I did feel like we lost an episode somewhere, and I'd love to have seen more with the witch's blood or find out what happened to the Countess's kid, but I'm satisfied.  It didn't necessarily have a lot of depth, but I liked the variety of stories going on, they were all pretty cohesive (imho), and visually it was pretty stunning.    

 

I had no clue that the psychic was a character from another season until coming here, so it was a little out of left field for me.

 

Oh- the demon with the drill.  Was that intended to be anything, or was it kind of just their starting image like the creepy clown on Asylum or the latex suit from the first one? 

[placate]

What's up with Ramona? She said she was still alive and Billie says she's not dead. I feel we are missing a scene between her and the countess. Were Ramona and John working together or was the sex amazing enough to forgive a 20 year vendetta?

[Hollysdower]

I think I'm finally done with this show. Season 4 was sooooo bad, but I thought they could turn it around this season. They can't; it sucked; shark: jumped.

 

And what was up with giving Liz like 7 different endings and then not giving other cast members any kind of wrap-up at all?

[txhorns79]

And what was up with giving Liz like 7 different endings and then not giving other cast members any kind of wrap-up at all?

 

I'd say it's two things.  The first reason is that Liz's story was the "it" story of the season (at least for me) in that the writing for the storyline was pretty good, Denis O'Hare was excellent and the character was much more sympathetic and relateable, even having done terrible things, than many of the other characters.  The second reason is that this is just typical of AHS (and other Ryan Murphy shows) where the writers are less interested in coherence and character development and more about creating "moments." 

[punkypower]

Am I the only one who thought with the opening shot showing us that Liz getting her throat slashed and then Billie Dean (wish I hadn't looked at EW) telling her Tristan said "No" that it was going to be Tristan killing her?

SO glad I was wrong.

I agree with the poster that said that this has been the most coherent season since Murder House. It doesn't top that season for me, but has been the most enjoyable season BY FAR.

How did I forget we had already seen Lily this season??

UO: I felt really horrible for John at the end. **flees**

Edited January 14, 2016 by punkypower

[Surrealist]

I was happy to find out that Lachlan and Scarlet got out alive.

[lynnea6]

The finale used one of my favorite songs ever, Cuts You Up, so it gained a lot of points with me right there. And I loved Sally finding a purpose and adoration with social media. Overall I enjoyed the season way more than Coven or Freak Show.

[JacksonOrange]

Oh- the demon with the drill. Was that intended to be anything, or was it kind of just their starting image like the creepy clown on Asylum or the latex suit from the first one?

That was the "Addiction Demon", which March said Sally and all of the other junkies who've stayed at the Cortez have created.

LOL "addition demon" i don't suppose i need to explain that infernal autocorrect. It's so seldom actually correct!

Edited January 16, 2016 by JacksonOrange

[Febgirl]

Was it just me, or did anyone else think that as the season progressed, Liz Taylor looked more beautiful?  It really struck me in last night's episode. 

I liked the episode, mainly because I loved Liz Taylor.  If Denis O'Hare and Kathy Bates don't get nominated for Emmy's for their work this season....

[txhorns79]

That was the "Addition Demon", which March said Sally and all of the other junkies who've stayed at the Cortez have created

 

I can't resist asking: Were they junkies who were bad at math?

[goodbyeglittergirl]

I have to say - I loved the finale. Other than the question of what happened to Bartholomew, I don't feel like there were a zillion loose ends. I didn't like the Devil's Night episode, so I could have done without Devil's Night redux, but even with that and too much Billie Dean, I really liked it.

[Bruinsfan]

Sally and the internet - ha! Liz and Iris make a great team. I also loved that Donovan came through and told his mother that he was in a place that smelled like pancakes - not hell.

I've bussed a Kiwanis Club pancake breakfast—he's in Hell. (More seriously, do ruthless murderous characters on AHS go to Heaven while mostly nice ones like Misty Day end up in Hell? WTF, Ryan Murphy?)

[buffy11bnl]

I didn't realize this was the finale - I guess I don't understand the point of having a month break for just 2 more episodes? 

[LoneHaranguer]

 

What's up with Ramona? She said she was still alive and Billie says she's not dead.

Billie was confused by Ramona's appearance, presumably not having seen a vampire before.

 

 

I liked John, March and the famous murderers into scaring the psychic into not talking about the Cortez.

That was a really effective speech about Devil's Night being the one time of the year that ghosts can be tangible, with everyone closing in acting menacing. So, how were the hotel ghosts tangible enough to kill guests earlier in the season (including the beginning of this episode)? March himself stabbed someone last episode.

[Bruinsfan]

Any ghost in the Cortez can be tangible at any time. It's just ghosts who didn't die there can only travel to it to take advantage of that special quality on Devil's Night.

[Primetimer]

While Liz and Iris might have high hopes for five-star ratings on TripAdventurer.com, that's not going to happen if March can't get his ghouls to start being practical and quit killing guests. SALLY.

Read the story

[vb68]

It made me laugh at the beginning that Iris had a line about two football teams moving down the street to Carson.  Not going to happen as it was just voted down this week.  I guess there was no time to edit that out, but it was funny timing to hear that.

[Chaos Theory]

I disagree with the recapper twice over. The Devil's night episode was among the best of the season and I would love an entire series built around the Lowe Familybas they are now.

[iMonrey]

I've definitely enjoyed this season much more than Coven or Freak Show but I felt like the finale was rather anticlimactic. Especially didn't like it ending with the Countess. Can't believe Gaga won a Golden Globe for this! She hasn't really bothered me for the most part, but no way was that an award-winning performance, or even a nomination-worthy performance. I can only guess the members of the Hollywood foreign press just wanted to meet her. 

 

That said, there was at least more closure to the story than we've gotten the past couple of seasons. And it was a good choice to focus mostly on Liz because she really anchored this season. 

 

 

at least we got the hottie Asian model who was still in just his undies in the afterlife, yay!!

 

I didn't remember him at all. What episode was he in?

 

 

How did I forget we had already seen Lily this season??

 

LOL I did too. I saw her name in the opening credits and spent the whole episode waiting for her to show up, wondering what character she would play. Then when I finally saw her I was like "Oh yeah, her again." Kind of a waste of Lily Rabe. 

 

My biggest complaint about the season isn't Gaga though, or the lack of Jessica Lange, it's that we never got Frances Conroy this season.

[psychoticstate]

I was both satisfied and disappointed with the finale.  I'm glad that Liz had such a large role because Denis O'Hare really knocked it out of the park and his friendship with Iris was really the backbone of the show.

 

I liked that we jumped five or so years in the future.  I liked the ghostly meeting. I liked that Will got to design again and Sally stopped being such a bitch.  I liked that Tristan came back, although it seemed pointless for him to say that he had no message for Liz as she had more life to lead (because she didn't.)  I'm glad that Lochlyn wasn't unresolved.  I loved the revamped Cortez.  I loved that Art Deco came back in.  I loved that we saw the realtor (can't remember her name) from Murder House again and that she wanted privacy to read her erotica.  Ha! 

 

I didn't love Billie because I didn't remember her from Murder House.  I just thought it was weird that AHS couldn't get an actress besides Sarah Paulson to play the psychic.  I didn't love John's little bloodsucking family continuing to live at the Cortez.  Why weren't they killed off?  Ugh.  Yeah, it sucked that John didn't die at the Cortez, barely missed it, but I didn't care.   I didn't love that Gaga wasn't being tortured by March indefinitely and the hottie at the end with the remarkable jaw line was apparently going to be the party favor for the murder group. 

 

Not enough Miss Evers and no explanation for why she was cool with cleaning up March's murders for years? 

 

While I liked certain aspects of the season, I'm not sure it's enough to bring me back for any more.  Murder House and Asylum freaked me out and scared me to the point where I wouldn't watch this show live, I would only watch during the daylight.  This version, not so much.

[Skyler Durden]

I UGLY cried during that murdercide. I'm trying not to cry at work as I think back on it.

[iMonrey]

 

I didn't love Billie because I didn't remember her from Murder House.

 

That's because you might have missed her if you blinked. It was an extremely minor character that only appeared in two episodes IIRC. It was nowhere near the lead roles she went on to play in the next four seasons. On the one hand I do kind of like the way they tie these seasons together with the character cross-overs, but on the other hand, it's bound to be confusing when it's as minor a character as Billie or the real estate lady.

[ShadowHunter]

That's because you might have missed her if you blinked. It was an extremely minor character that only appeared in two episodes IIRC. It was nowhere near the lead roles she went on to play in the next four seasons. On the one hand I do kind of like the way they tie these seasons together with the character cross-overs, but on the other hand, it's bound to be confusing when it's as minor a character as Billie or the real estate lady.

It was three episodes she was in Episode 6,9,and 11 of the first season.

 

I shall miss watching March, Miss Evers, Liz and Iris. They made this season.  Since Ryan likes to bring back characters from other seasons maybe we will get to see one of them again in another chapter.

Edited January 14, 2016 by ShadowHunter

[RazzleberryPie]

I haven't watched either of the 2016 episodes. Have there been any clues to the next season?

[BananaRama]

I loved the finale. I enjoyed this season. It did seem long, so much so, that I skipped a couple of episodes because I just didn't feel like watching the show to find out what was happening with the characters and their stories. I would have liked more of Liz Taylor. A whole season of Liz and Iris doing day to day stuff (running the hotel and being the face of a fashion house) and wrangling the hotel's ghosts would be my ideal.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

Any ghost in the Cortez can be tangible at any time. It's just ghosts who didn't die there can only travel to it to take advantage of that special quality on Devil's Night.

So why tell Billie something different?

[GoodEnough]

I am confused by how John died. He was alive up until he completed the 10 commandments murders, yes? Did he become a vampire at some point? Was his family vampires or ghosts at the end? Did it all happen off screen?

[TudorQueen]

Alex and Holden were vampires. John was shot down by the police (it was inevitable that they would figure out he was the 10 Commandments Killer) just outside the Cortez - he tried to get back there as he was dying, so that he could be with his family through eternity, but he died before he crossed the threshold, meaning he can only return to the Cortez on Devil's Night. 

 

Scarlet ended up at the same school as Lachlan, Will Drake's son, and seemed to grow up into a lovely young woman who accepted her incredibly flawed family the way it was, and would reunite with them on Devil's Night as well.

[DrSparkles]

The finale used one of my favorite songs ever, Cuts You Up, so it gained a lot of points with me right there. And I loved Sally finding a purpose and adoration with social media. Overall I enjoyed the season way more than Coven or Freak Show.

Yes, me too. I love Peter Murphy. And Mazzy Star?! Yes please. The music has been on fleek this season (as the kds say).

As for the season itself? Confusing & convoluted w lots of eye candy.

[RedheadZombie]

I think I've decided that each season just gets that much worse.  This season made me appreciate Coven.

 

In the end I only cared about Liz and Iris, and that's really only due to the actors - certainly not the writing.

 

I hate that Sally was still maliciously killing left and right, until she was saved by social media.  To think that's all it takes to kick a heroin and psycho bitch habit.

 

Hate that Drake - whose only sins were vanity and being glamoured by a vampire - suddenly became a psychopathic killer.  I really don't buy that he was that easily influenced by Sally.

 

HATED that Gaga swanned in to steal Liz's death scene, and then got the closing scene.  I didn't buy into the great love that was Liz and Tristan, but Liz sure did.  And I don't believe he would have gotten over the fact that Gaga killed Tristan out of spite.  Whatever, I guess.

 

I don't even remember seeing Alex.  Was that her blonde head in bed with John?  Could have been a wigged extra for all I saw. 

 

So no one noticed Drake at his fashion show because he was brilliantly disguised in a newspaper cap and glasses?

 

Psychic Sarah Paulson is a fraud.  How she wouldn't have immediately sensed the slaughter and evil at the Cortez is beyond me.  Even Queenie felt it.

 

Nice to know that killer Donovan was rewarded by an afterlife of "someplace beautiful".

 

I guess Gaga's GG win means we'll never be rid of her.  She certainly acted like there was a coronation.