Even though we’re only three weeks into American Horror Story: Hotel, I feared that the plot was getting stale and was unsure of how the story would move forward. However, in “Mommy,” Romona Royale (Angela Bassett) is introduced as the Countess’ former lover and current arch-enemy. In addition, it looks like the hotel may have another “vampire” staying there, as Donovan races to save Iris. Meanwhile, John’s marriage is on the rocks as he investigates another 10 Commandment Killer case, and the Countess reveals a plan to deal with the Cortez’s new owner.
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Is John Going Crazy?
New hotel owner Drake lets Claudia stay in the hotel while she’s in town. However, her stay is short lived when she’s stabbed to death by Gabriel, who was sewn into the mattress by Sally. He runs into the lobby and straight into John, who is investigating a new case by the 10 Commandments Killer.
John brings Gabriel to the hospital. Gabriel is spouting off non-sense about killing Claudia and thinking it was Sally. This leads John straight to Sally, who, of course, denies everything. She does mention the 10 Commandments, which leads him to try and arrest her. But in the elevator, she makes a pass at him, tries to seduce him and then disappears.
Later at therapy, Alex, John’s wife, is expressing how she feels about her missing son Holden and Scarlett’s claims that he is still alive. No one believes her, and it seems Alex can’t take much more. She heads to the hotel to serve John with divorce papers. He flips out, telling her that he thinks he’s going crazy. She puts him to bed, and they start to hook up, but she abruptly leaves when he suggests they have another baby. As she’s trying to find her way out of the hotel, she sees a bloody Claudia and then Holden, who says “Hi Mommy.”
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Saving Mother
It seems after the Countess kicks Donovan out, he has no place to go. This, of course, makes Iris so happy, as she can’t wait to live with him outside of the hotel. They exchange some not so nice words, and he walks out. But before he does, he tells her that she should kill herself.
Iris then seeks out the help from Sally, who just can’t seem to kill her. As a last resort, when her drugs fail, she puts a plastic bag over her head to suffocate her. But, coming back with his tail between his legs, Donovan goes to see Iris. However, it’s too late, as she’s already dead. But instead of mourning her, he gives her some of his blood to bring her back.
Will Drake Has to Die
As Tristan seeks out the ghost of Mr. March, he’s interrupted by Drake. He assures March and Miss Evers that he will take care of Drake to preserve the hotel, or as March calls it, his murder palace. Tristan’s way of “taking care of it” involves seducing Drake and then killing him. But as he goes in for the kill, the Countess stops him.
Turns out, she has bigger plans for Drake and the hotel. She wines and dines him and convinces him that even though he’s gay, he’s still turned on by her. When Tristan walks in on them, he gets upset. The Countess explains that she needs Drake alive long enough to take his money, as she lost hers to Bernie Madoff years ago. She tells Tristan that she will marry Drake and take every penny, and then they can kill him.
Introducing Romona Royale
While Donovan is out on the streets, feeding off of junkies, he’s kidnapped by Romona Royale. She ties him up at her home and tries to clean his blood. She then explains who she is.
In the 70s, she was a B movie star. She worked every angle to make it. During a meeting at the hotel with a producer, the Countess came over and seduced Romona. They become lovers and the Countess turned Romona. Romona stayed with the Countess into the 90s, but knew all along she could never be with her forever. It was during that time that an up-and-coming rapper, Profit Moses, walked into the hotel. Romona says that she knew she was destined to be with him. She set her sights on Moses and eventually turned him as well. Once she did, though, the Countess got wind of it and went to his studio, killed all his associates and then killed Moses right in front of Romona.
Since then, Romona has always wanted revenge on the Countess. However, she doesn’t want to go after the Countess’ lovers, she wants to go after her children. Donovan quickly explains that the Countess broke up with him, and Romona tells him to go.
More Conflict
So, we do have more conflict. As I mentioned, I was worried American Horror Story was revealing way too much in the beginning, but turns out there are more twists. I should have had more faith, but after some dry seasons, I wasn’t sure. I like this conflict with Romona and can’t wait to see how that plays out.
I love how Alex sees Holden. Now, she won’t know if she’s crazy like John, so I can’t wait for that to play out too.
Now that Donovan has turned Iris, they will have some weird mother-son bond, which will just piss Sally off even more. And I love the Countess’ plan to take back her hotel.
My one complaint is they need to bring back more of Mr. March. Not only is it an interesting character, but I think this could be the best role for Evan Peters in the American Horror Story series.
American Horror Story: Hotel airs Wednesdays at 10pm on FX.
(Image courtesy of FX)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
