HOMAGE

American Horror Story: Hotel - Homage

Here's my history with "American Horror Story;" I like maybe half the season and I just kind of "check out." I don't know what it is about the series, but unlike other people, it's never dug it's nails into me and made me want to finish off a season. "Freak Show" came pretty close last season, but once they did away with Twisty the Clown, I tuned out. The took away, at least to me, the best past of the show, and aborted it.

This brings me to the newest edition of the "AHS" anthology; "Hotel." What I'm looking for is a reason to keep checking out this season and keeping it on until the end. If I get what I saw in the first 20 or so minutes in the premier, I think I'll be happy. Full disclosure, the first 20 minutes scared my wife away who couldn't watch anymore.

"Hotel" stars the Hotel Cortez, an old hotel in Los Angeles, with a sordid history of murder, mayhem, and of course...ghosts. Most of the standard cast returns from "AHS" past, including Kathy Bates as yet another old coot who has seen too much. Sarah Paulson returns as a weirdo once again. Wes Bently is back too, this time as a cop with a family. Last but not least we have Lady Gaga being introduced as surprise surprise; a weirdo.

You might ask yourself, "Matt, why are you being so dismissive of this season so far?" Well, I'm not, I'm just painting this season in generalizations so far as to not give anything away

Overall, the premier pushed the limits in a lot of ways that even kind of surprised me, but perhaps this is the "Gaga Effect" where limits must be pushed. I think this newest edition to the "AHS" series has a lot of potential since it seems to take a lot from the past, namely the "Murder House" season with enough wacky characters where it will remind you of the latest season "Freak Show."

Of course the same people will turn in no matter what, but I think there is enough crossover appeal where even curious, or bi-curious, members of the audience might even give this season a try. Me, for one, enjoys the bygone era of old seedy Los Angeles, and to end this, I really hope they decide not to go the "Freak Show" route and include music interludes. So far, so good.