“American Horror Story” is back. Continuing to grow in popularity, the FX horror series has been renewed for its fifth season, subtitled “Hotel.” American Horror Story received an 87% rating from Rotten Tomatoes for its fourth season, “Freak Show.”
The anthology series takes place in a new setting each season, varying between a murder house, an asylum, a coven and a freak show. This season’s setting has settled in Los Angeles at the Hotel Cortez. The cast, which is the same each season with new roles, consists of Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (Lady Gaga,) Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Evan Peters, Matt Bomer and Sarah Paulson, among others.
Jessica Lange, who has been a main character and a fan favorite throughout the show’s history has confirmed that “Freak Show” was her last season acting in the anthology. Another lead actress, Emma Roberts, left the show in order to star in Fox’s “Scream Queens.” She has stated, however, that she will be returning for future seasons.
“The show is cool with Lady Gaga, but honestly, I think they just added her to save the show,” said Emma Heath, senior.
Lady Gaga plays the Countess Elizabeth. She previously owned the Hotel Cortez, but now just resides in it. She feeds off of blood and sex and wields a sharp pair of chain mail gloves to kill off the hotel’s residents.
The new season has taken a different direction in terms of the usual drama, but has kept a chilling atmosphere. The premiere episode had about 9.1 million viewers and was FX’s second most watched telecast in the station’s history, behind the premiere episode of American Horror Story’s season four premiere of “Freak Show.”
“The first couple of seasons were good, now it’s just nasty,” said Yasmine McLeod, junior, “It was very uncensored for TV, and should have aired on a different channel like Cinemax or HBO.”
Reviewers everywhere are having mixed emotions when it comes to “Hotel.” The Parent Television Council (PTC) called it “the most vile and shocking content ever to be on TV” and “a combinationation of explicit sex and gory violence.”
Some students see it differently. They praise the show for the characters and the unexpected plot twists. However, fans are still trying to piece together how the seasons are intertwined. The only similarity that can be made so far is between season one, “Murder House,” and “Hotel.” During “Murder House” a character that died in the house was trapped forever. The same fate awaits victims during “Hotel.”
“ I would recommend it. I love Lady Gaga and Kathy Bates. I’d give [the show] a 10/10.” said Zaria Butler, freshman
American Horror Story airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.
