American Horror Story: Hotel (Season 5)
The fifth season of American Horror Story focuses on the Downtown Los Angeles Hotel Cortez which has been recently purchased by a New York fashion designer, Will Drake (Cheyenne Jackson). The 90-year-old hotel is haunted by demons and mysterious ghosts including the founder, James Patrick March (Evan Peters); heroin junkie Sally (Sarah Paulson); and the strap-on-wielding Addiction Demon. Staff and residents of the hotel include the 111-year-old “vampire”, Elizabeth/The Countess (Lady Gaga), and her fleeting paramour, the former drug-addict Donovan (Matt Bomer), as well as Donovan’s mother, the manager and front desk clerk Iris (Kathy Bates); the eccentric transgender bartender Liz Taylor (Denis O’Hare); and the Countess’s vengeance-obsessed lover, Ramona Royale (Angela Bassett).
Best Things About Season 5:
• Evan Peters with an accent is one of the best forms of Evan Peters.
• And the seasons actually did start to come together.
• It most likely should have been rated NC-17. No complaints here.
• The setting was easily one of the best of the entire series.
• Lady Gaga wasn’t horrendous.
Worst Things About Season 5:
• Jessica Lange wasn’t in it.
• And while Lady Gaga didn’t suck, she’s no Jessica Lange.
• Oh what? Evan Peters being a dick? Shocking.
• Did I mention that Jessica Lange wasn’t in it?
• For a scary show based in a hotel, there should have been a better story line.