Now, there could not be a better title to describe an episode such as “Battle Royale”. In essence, the whole American Horror Story Hotel season has felt like a battle royale of random occurrences of characters using each other as chess pieces with no means to an end. It’s themes that we know and love from previous AHS seasons, but no glue to hold it together. You don’t feel as emotionally invested as you did previously (see Jessica Lange’s characters from the first three seasons).
I’m going to be honest and say that I think that this is the episode where the season should have ended. One could be left wondering what the last episode would do. Will next week be more of an epilogue? Other than John trying to find his family in the cat and mouse game he is playing with Sally, it’s tough to think of something that would feel like a satisfying end. Just about everybody seems to be dead, but the Hotel Corez will probably live on like the ghosts that inhabit it.
The last scenes were a perfect summary The Countess reaching her untimely end and having to spend it with Mr. March, a character who she does not love. Given the heartbreak that she’s given many characters throughout the season, this is a level of comeuppance that felt right. (How many times can you shoot Lady Gaga in an episode?). Finally, Donovan is dead and thus ends the hopeless devotion to The Countess. At this point, Donovan’s character was not needed as much in the scheme of things.
Queenie’s inclusion into the season was really great to see and furthers the notion that all of these seasons are tied together somehow. The showdown between Ramona and Queenie in the hotel was a very funny highpoint in the episode where the sticking otherworldly elements made sense. We finally get some backstory into Hypodermic Sally in this grudge flashback to see where her dependency issues almost originated. She sews herself together to a couple during an extremely bad drug high – yikes. Sally is our “tragic” character much more so than the Countless. If she will finally get her life companion remains to be seen as John is very keen on finding his family and starting over again. If you can guess, this is probably our main story line.
Once you are invested in a series, you feel obligated to see it through to the end. Here’s hoping there is a big payoff or a conclusion to what the main story really is.
