AHS, Hotel, Episode 6, Room 33

It’s officially mid-season of American Horror Story Hotel.  Thus far, I think it stands out with some of the best seasons of the franchise, Murder-house and Asylum.  It delighted me to see the connection between season one and season five tonight. Creator Ryan Murphy has stated all seasons of American Horror Story are connected.

1926, Los Angles, a pregnant Countess arrives at Murder-house via taxi.  Inside, she meets the doctor to perform an abortion.  He asks her how far along she is in her pregnancy and she reports “Three weeks!” but reveals a figure more consistent with seven months gestation.  The doctor’s assistant advises him the Countess’s temperature is seventy-five degrees.  He scoffs at this information. (Provided to inform the viewer this isn’t her mortal state.)  In the basement full of jars and experiments, the doctor removes the fetus.  The assistant proclaims, “It’s alive!” in true Frankenstein fashion!  In the next scan of the room, the assistant is lying dead on the floor presumably after having his first meal of human blood.  The doctor places the baby at the Countess’s breast and she is enamored with her deadly newborn son.

John sleeps fitfully in his hotel room.  John opens his eyes to find Holden lying next to him.  He follows his son down the hall to the “coffin room.”  John looks bewildered at the children sleeping in their glass coffins.  At last he comes upon the biggest coffin where Alex is sleeping. Her eyes open, meeting his.

In another room, passionate love is being made between Liz and Tristan.  Tristan is bewildered by his feelings for her.  Liz explains, “You’re an orphan, so it’s like having mommy and daddy in the room with you, loving you.”  Liz gives him books she enjoys, Bronte and Oscar Wilde.  Tristan asks, “Do you love me?”  Liz responds in a typical self-effacing way, “I don’t know, you’re so damn handsome!”  Tristan declares his love for her in both a physical and emotional realms.  It’s Liz’s first time being loved for who she is, and she cries but also feels guilty about “betraying the Countess.”

Meanwhile, the Countess is busy having sexy time with one gay Will Drake.  Drake can’t perform without male stimuli so the Countess texts Tristan.  Tristan leaves Liz and is annoyed to find Drake in their bed.  The Countess commands him to arouse him.  Tristan exclaims, “I’m not gay!”  This doesn’t matter to anyone else in the room.

Alex finds Liz at reception and confides John has found the “coffin room.”  Alex reports she’s given John a sedative but needs a more long term plan to deal with the problem.  Liz is happy to help her destroy the coffin room.

Alex wakes up her estranged husband in his room.  She fabricates as story that he called her complaining he was having visions.  John tells her he saw Holden and followed him to the coffin room.  She leads him to the newly cleaned room, just an empty swimming pool.  Alex explains his visions mirror Scarlett’s and politely suggests he is losing his mind.

The Countess wears a long white gown to pay a visit on the mysterious occupant of room thirty-three.  The room holds a bassinet covered with a black veil.  She coos, “Hello, my love!”  She holds the infant and tells him she is going to Paris and will return so rich she’ll never have to leave him again.  The operation “Seduce and kill Will Drake” seems to be in full swing.

Donovan and Ramona enter the lobby arm in arm to be greeted by Iris at reception. The pair enter the elevator and are immediately at odds.  Donavon wishes to go upstairs to the penthouse he shared with the Countess.  Ramona wants to get down to business, killing the vampire children in the basement.  She chides him for “going soft,” claiming he is not over the Countess.  Donavon leaves.

Ramona finds the coffin room empty and goes to find Iris for help.  Iris is confused at the coffins disappearance.  Ramona notices the change in Iris since she feed on the hipsters.  There is a glimpse of the ghost of Justin, knocking on doors and demanding kale!  Iris confirms if they kill the children, the Countess will lose her reason for living.  Not able to locate the other coffins, Ramona asks for the key to room thirty-three.

Predictably, Donovan is up in the penthouse, sniffing the Countess’s panties.  The Swedish women, mumbling about “The Fast and the Furious” interrupt him.  The women suspect they are dead but can’t understand why they can’t leave the hotel. Donavon advises they need to find their purpose.  He laments he lost his purpose, which was the Countess.

Ramona enters room thirty-three and calls out to “Bartholomew, Auntie Ramona is here! I have something for you!”  She carries a knife as something moves in the room.  A close-up shows the infant’s pupil-less eyes and bright blonde eyelashes. Yikes!  Liz, carrying a silver tray notes the door is ajar and opens it slowly even further…

Alex reports to Liz, Bartholomew is missing.  Ramona sits at the bar, sporting a cut on her left cheek.  She confides to Liz, “That thing should have died!”  Liz listens then politely then asks her to leave.  Even with the Countess away, Ramona is not welcome at the Hotel.  Ramona notices Liz seems different.  She confesses she is in love for the first time, with Tristan.  Ramona laughs, “Isn’t that the Countess’s new squeeze!”  Liz suggests the Countess will understand.  Ramona advises her to flee while she can.

Alex, searching for Bart, finds the Swedes in a room with a naked male corpse.  They confess, “We just wanted to stop walking around!”  

A Scott Dissick type guy is in the hallway talking on his phone.  He reports he’s at Will Drake’s new hotel and is looking for “some hot models.”  The phone connection is lost and he is met by one of the Swedish women.  She mentions the “Fast and the Furious” as sexual option!  The man agrees, adding he is also up for  “slow and sweet.”  The two fall into a room and proceed to get better acquainted.  Vendela comes out of the bathroom and the man balks, thinking the pair prostitutes running some kind of scam.  He declares, “Mr. Woo doesn’t pay for sex!”   Vendela stabs the man in the neck.

Alex listens to the story impassively and suggests she may have another purpose for the pair.  She enlists their help to break the mind of a man who has always desired a three-way. (John!)

Although retired from the force, John interrupts Detective Hahn at another “Commandment Murder” crime scene.  The crime scene is a church.  One body lies in the aisle.  On the alter; another man is naked and gutted with coins covering his chest.  John excitedly offers his theories, but Hahn shuts him down and asks him to go away.

Later, Liz finds John drinking from a bottle of whiskey in the hallway outside of his room.  John complains he loves his wife and kids and it’s not his fault he’s a bad husband and father.  Liz tries to take the bottle from him and John shoves her away.  

The Swedish women find him and soon they are having sexy time back in John’s room.  Everything is going fine until the girls start to bleed from their mortal wounds.  Scared witless, John runs naked and bloody to Liz at reception.  She looks bored, “I see your breakdown is going well!” John leads Liz back to the room to find the women gone and Ms. Evers in a tizzy over the blood on the sheets.  “Those Nordic types have no respect for fine linens!”  The women leave, gleefully declaring, “We have a purpose!”

Alone once again, John sees Mr. March. “I see you’re finally truly checking into the Hotel Cortez!”  John lunges at the ghost, but March disappears into the wall.  John continues to punch the walls in frustration.  John begins to pack his bag, determined to leave this crazy place.  As he showers off the ghost blood, Bart roves around his room and hides in his suitcase!  John exits the lobby, the suitcase bulging ominously.

John arrives home with his daughter Scarlett.  She is upset with her mother whom she has not heard from in two days.  She is not any more impressed with her father, questioning him if he has the right to be at the family home.  She storms off when John promises to never leave her.  John goes to comfort his daughter but she is further upset by a bloody shirt he’s holding.  He apologizes and heads back to his bedroom.  He hears something and gets his handgun out.  Scarlett is zoned out watching cartoons as her father follows the shadow around the hallway.  He aims and fires his weapon, causing Scarlett to scream.

Drake carries his sleeping son back to their penthouse.  The Countess’s trip with the Drakes seems to have been a success.  She approaches Liz stating, “I can hear your heartbeat.” And inquires what’s new with her loyal servant.  Liz declares he’s fallen in love; she hesitates before naming Tristan as her lover.  The Countess replies simply, “Interesting.”  Liz elaborates its only been a few weeks and he feels Tristan is the love of his life.  The Countess states she doesn’t share.  Liz implores her to consider his mortal happiness and the Countess agrees to talk to the boy.

Detective Hahn pays a visit to John’s house and is greeted by Alex.  He tells her John was talking about monsters.  Alex says she’ll handle her husband who is sitting shaken on the front doorstep.  Alex informs him their daughter is safely now with her grandparents.  John looks distraught as he tells Alex that Scarlett is afraid of him. Alex seems to pity her husband, enraging him further.  He goes inside and slams the door.  In the bushes, Alex hears a movement and sees blood on the low growing palms.  She peers closer using a small flashlight.

The Countess, Tristan and Liz meet to clear the air.  Tristan attempts initially to play innocent.  The Countess describes her ability to taste emotions, comparing love to rosewater and hate to ice chips.  She claims to enjoy them all, save betrayal.  Tristan speaks out, stating he knows her game, that to her “leaving is your orgasm.”  She is a vampire who feeds on heartbreak.  Tristan claims to have found real love with Liz. Liz implores the Countess to “Let me have this one!”  The Countess looks at the pair and asks if this is truly what they want.  Liz confirms it.  She says, “You can have him!”  But whisks out her razored glove and slits the model vampire’s throat.  Liz collapses on top of her lover, weeping.  The Countess coldly informs her, “He’s yours, you bury him.”

The Countess glides down the hallway in a long black gown towards room thirty-three.  She is surprised to find Alex holding Bartholomew.  Alex explains he got out and was hurt but he’s better now.  The Countess is impressed, “You saved my son!” Alex replies, “You saved mine.”  The Countess looks down at Bartholomew and his face is seen for the first time, its eyes pure black with a gaping mouth and pointy teeth without a nose.  He resembles a child with full cleft palate deformity.  Is Bart to be feared or protected?

The episode was punctuated with suspense and frenzied action.  Who knew vampires were so easily killed? (True Blood vampires needed a stake to the heart and could heal from almost every other injury, including shots to the head.) The Countess seems oblivious to the numerous enemies she’s making.  Will Ramona and Donovan succeed in finding and killing her children?  How will Alex continue to straddle both worlds and continue to “gaslight” her husband?  What is happening with the horde of vampire students?  Will they find “Mommy” at the Hotel? I suppose our goblet is now half empty and we’ll have to wait until next week for another sip.