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citrinesunsetSo, I was pretty ambivalent about last week's premiere, but this week, I found myself starting to enjoy it more. My interest level has been raised from "not expecting much" to "cautiously optimistic."
So for anyone not watching who wants to play along, here's my recap:
We open with Sally. She's stuffed the young man who was attacked last week into a mattress and is sewing him inside. He appears to still be alive. Or alive-ish. I'm assuming Sally may responsible for the zombie dude who attacked the Swedish girls in the premiere. This is pretty creepy, though I have to say I find Sarah Paulson a little wasted this season, so far. I guess I'm not finding Sally that intriguing.
Sally is interrupted by the sound of the surviving Swedish girl screaming as the vampire children drink her blood. Sally rightfully points out that they have a cop staying in the hotel now, so maybe everyone should, you know, be more careful. Iris is unconcerned because John Lowe is at work right now. The Swedish girl dies, and all the creepy maid cares about is blood stains on the sheet she's wrapped in. It turns out the hotel has convenient chutes for dumping bodies. Handy if you live in a murder hotel, I guess. It's not clear what they do with the bodies, though. They can't let them rot in the basement forever.
It appears that the vampire children are having some blood drawn. Iris delivers their blood to the Countess, who apparently drinks it. This might explain why the Countess has adopted a bunch of blond vampire kids, but no explanation yet for what she gets out of drinking their blood.
Iris asks where Donovan is, but Donovan is hiding because he doesn't want to see his mother. After Iris leaves, the Countess chides him for this. Donovan says, "I was a junkie because I wanted to escape from my mother. You made it so I never can." Way harsh, Donovan. Iris didn't seem that bad in the 1994 flashback. But mommy issues are a recurring theme on American Horror Story, so who knows? Maybe she was horrible even back then.
The Countess complains that Donovan isn't dressed yet to go to an art show with her, but she's not dressed either and I'm pretty sure it takes her just as long if not longer to get ready. Donovan says they have no room or money for new art, but the Countess just wants to go hunting. But Donovan doesn't want to go. "Come on," he says, "let's stay in. We can binge watch House of Cards." He gives her an adorable smile as he says this, but I get the impression that the Countess is someone who's incapable of having fun unless it involves getting dressed up and going out. So she goes without him, leaving him to watch Netflix on his own. Poor Donovan.
In an odd segue, Alex, John's wife, tears into a mother whose son has measles because he wasn't vaccinated. Her anger about anti-vaxxers was brought up last week, too. I have no idea if this is leading up to anything.
Meanwhile, at the Cortez, John has a creepy nightmare where he finds some corpses having sex in his shower. When he wakes, he sees Holden again and chases him through the hotel before finally losing him. He runs into Sally at the hotel bar, and we find out that he has a history of alcoholism. Sally wants to know all about it--it seems like she feeds off people's suffering.
John goes to work, where he gets a package with Hotel Cortez as the return address. John is smart enough to find this suspicious and calls the bomb squad, but it turns out that the package contains a bloodied gold faux-Oscar statuette--the murder weapon in one of the serial killings he's investigating.
At the Cortez, Will Drake has invited some of his New York fashion friends to attend a fashion show in the hotel. Sally goes into hysterics because she's not on the guest list and the bouncer won't let her stay. But John and his daughter Scarlett get an invite. Donovan and the Countess get front row seats.
One of Will's fashion friends tells John that the show should be exciting because Will has booked model Tristan Duffy (Finn Wittrock), who always brings something "quite unorthodox" to his shows. It turns out that Tristan's idea of unorthodox is to do a shitload of drugs in the dressing room, walk out on the runway like he doesn't give a shit, steal a guest's glass of champagne, and start kissing and hitting people. Also, he has a really strange hairdo. His long hair is kind of teased back, like a fauxhawk on the back of his head. When Tristan catches the Countess's eye, Donovan puts a protective arm around her and glares at Tristan with a furrowed brow. Donovan doesn't like the guy, but the Countess is in awe of how much rage he has.
Will follows Tristan to the dressing room to yell and him for making a scene. To show how much he doesn't care, Tristan cuts his own face with a knife and nonchalantly announces that he's done with modeling.
Meanwhile, Will's son Lachlan takes Scarlett exploring. He shows her the vampire children, who are sleeping in glass coffins. Scarlett recognizes one of them as Holden.
That night, Tristan is still loose in the Cortez. He breaks into the Countess's penthouse looking for cocaine. Donovan finds this pathetically amusing at first, but gives Tristan a beatdown when he refuses to leave. The Countess stops Donovan from killing Tristan, but Donovan wins this round.
Tristan goes looking for some other room to break into, and finds himself on a floor that appears to be in a time warp. He goes into a room and starts stealing whatever he can get his hands on, only to be interrupted by James Patrick March (Evan Peters). March is the original owner of the Cortez, and has been dead since the 1920's, but Tristan doesn't know this. March ominously tells him that Tristan is just like him. But Tristan gets freaked out when March shoots a bound and gagged woman, and runs away. March is a psycho, but Tristan is so annoying that it's fun to see him meet his match. Tristan runs into the Countess in the elevator.
Scarlett goes back to the Cortez to find her brother. Holden remembers her, but acts creepy and has no desire to go home to his parents. Scarlett is a little creeped out that he hasn't aged at all since his disappearance, and gets very creeped out when he tries to bite her neck. She flees, but not before running into Sally, who scares her.
When Scarlett returns home, she finds that her parents had reported her missing and called the police. That's what happens when you're about eight years old, your dad is being harassed by a serial killer, and you sneak away from school and spend the rest of the afternoon snooping around an old hotel. Oops. She shows her father a blurry picture she took of Holden.
Meanwhile, the Countess has turned Tristan into a vampire. She explains that their vampirism is caused by a virus that gives them eternal youth and beauty. Tristan wants to know if a silver bullet or stake can kill him, and the Countess says, "Bitch please, of course it can. You're only immortal if you're smart." But all Tristan wants to do is hunt Kendall Jenner, so he doesn't seem to be taking her warnings around recklessness to heart.
She tells him that she was born in 1904, and that her favorite era was the 1970's, because she was a disco queen.
Donovan walks in on them in bed and proclaims that Tristan won't last a week. Tristan challenges him to say that to his face, and Donovan points out that, uh, he kind of just did. Donovan is right--Tristan is an idiot.
Donovan and the Countess argue for a minute, and the Countess breaks up with him. Donovan is distraught and tells her that he loves her. The Countess tells him that the breakup will be for his own good because heartbreak builds character, which has got to be the most patronizing breakup line ever. She then tells him that turning Tristan was one of the most erotic experiences of her life. And with that, poor Donovan is given his marching papers.
John storms into the hotel and confronts Iris. He wants answers about what's going on in the hotel.
Iris tells him the story of James Patrick March, who built the Cortez in 1925 and designed the place specifically to be his personal murder palace. He became a prolific serial killer who averaged three victims a week. The hotel's creepy maid (who is apparently a...ghost or something now?) was his accomplice, and he had a wife who isn't revealed, but is implied to have possibly been the Countess (the timeline works, and it would explain how she got the hotel and her money, and there are several hints, but we'll see...). Eventually, the police caught up with him and he killed the maid before killing himself.
Iris tells John that the creepy room 64 was March's office. John doesn't buy that March's ghost, or his lingering presence of evil, has anything to do with what happening in the hotel today. But he does realize that the current ten commandment-inspired murders he's investigating seem to be copying murders that March committed in the 1920's. So it looks like there is a connection between the Se7en homage and the hotel storyline. But who's the modern day serial killer (if not March himself)? We'll find out, I guess.
Brief thoughts:
- Donovan is fun and I'll be sad if anything really bad happens to him.
- I hope John properly investigates these Holden sightings soon because dude, if both you and your daughter have seen him in the creepy hotel, wouldn't you try to do something?
- Tristan is totally going to crash and burn. The guy can barely keep it together as a human, let alone a vampire.
So for anyone not watching who wants to play along, here's my recap:
We open with Sally. She's stuffed the young man who was attacked last week into a mattress and is sewing him inside. He appears to still be alive. Or alive-ish. I'm assuming Sally may responsible for the zombie dude who attacked the Swedish girls in the premiere. This is pretty creepy, though I have to say I find Sarah Paulson a little wasted this season, so far. I guess I'm not finding Sally that intriguing.
Sally is interrupted by the sound of the surviving Swedish girl screaming as the vampire children drink her blood. Sally rightfully points out that they have a cop staying in the hotel now, so maybe everyone should, you know, be more careful. Iris is unconcerned because John Lowe is at work right now. The Swedish girl dies, and all the creepy maid cares about is blood stains on the sheet she's wrapped in. It turns out the hotel has convenient chutes for dumping bodies. Handy if you live in a murder hotel, I guess. It's not clear what they do with the bodies, though. They can't let them rot in the basement forever.
It appears that the vampire children are having some blood drawn. Iris delivers their blood to the Countess, who apparently drinks it. This might explain why the Countess has adopted a bunch of blond vampire kids, but no explanation yet for what she gets out of drinking their blood.
Iris asks where Donovan is, but Donovan is hiding because he doesn't want to see his mother. After Iris leaves, the Countess chides him for this. Donovan says, "I was a junkie because I wanted to escape from my mother. You made it so I never can." Way harsh, Donovan. Iris didn't seem that bad in the 1994 flashback. But mommy issues are a recurring theme on American Horror Story, so who knows? Maybe she was horrible even back then.
The Countess complains that Donovan isn't dressed yet to go to an art show with her, but she's not dressed either and I'm pretty sure it takes her just as long if not longer to get ready. Donovan says they have no room or money for new art, but the Countess just wants to go hunting. But Donovan doesn't want to go. "Come on," he says, "let's stay in. We can binge watch House of Cards." He gives her an adorable smile as he says this, but I get the impression that the Countess is someone who's incapable of having fun unless it involves getting dressed up and going out. So she goes without him, leaving him to watch Netflix on his own. Poor Donovan.
In an odd segue, Alex, John's wife, tears into a mother whose son has measles because he wasn't vaccinated. Her anger about anti-vaxxers was brought up last week, too. I have no idea if this is leading up to anything.
Meanwhile, at the Cortez, John has a creepy nightmare where he finds some corpses having sex in his shower. When he wakes, he sees Holden again and chases him through the hotel before finally losing him. He runs into Sally at the hotel bar, and we find out that he has a history of alcoholism. Sally wants to know all about it--it seems like she feeds off people's suffering.
John goes to work, where he gets a package with Hotel Cortez as the return address. John is smart enough to find this suspicious and calls the bomb squad, but it turns out that the package contains a bloodied gold faux-Oscar statuette--the murder weapon in one of the serial killings he's investigating.
At the Cortez, Will Drake has invited some of his New York fashion friends to attend a fashion show in the hotel. Sally goes into hysterics because she's not on the guest list and the bouncer won't let her stay. But John and his daughter Scarlett get an invite. Donovan and the Countess get front row seats.
One of Will's fashion friends tells John that the show should be exciting because Will has booked model Tristan Duffy (Finn Wittrock), who always brings something "quite unorthodox" to his shows. It turns out that Tristan's idea of unorthodox is to do a shitload of drugs in the dressing room, walk out on the runway like he doesn't give a shit, steal a guest's glass of champagne, and start kissing and hitting people. Also, he has a really strange hairdo. His long hair is kind of teased back, like a fauxhawk on the back of his head. When Tristan catches the Countess's eye, Donovan puts a protective arm around her and glares at Tristan with a furrowed brow. Donovan doesn't like the guy, but the Countess is in awe of how much rage he has.
Will follows Tristan to the dressing room to yell and him for making a scene. To show how much he doesn't care, Tristan cuts his own face with a knife and nonchalantly announces that he's done with modeling.
Meanwhile, Will's son Lachlan takes Scarlett exploring. He shows her the vampire children, who are sleeping in glass coffins. Scarlett recognizes one of them as Holden.
That night, Tristan is still loose in the Cortez. He breaks into the Countess's penthouse looking for cocaine. Donovan finds this pathetically amusing at first, but gives Tristan a beatdown when he refuses to leave. The Countess stops Donovan from killing Tristan, but Donovan wins this round.
Tristan goes looking for some other room to break into, and finds himself on a floor that appears to be in a time warp. He goes into a room and starts stealing whatever he can get his hands on, only to be interrupted by James Patrick March (Evan Peters). March is the original owner of the Cortez, and has been dead since the 1920's, but Tristan doesn't know this. March ominously tells him that Tristan is just like him. But Tristan gets freaked out when March shoots a bound and gagged woman, and runs away. March is a psycho, but Tristan is so annoying that it's fun to see him meet his match. Tristan runs into the Countess in the elevator.
Scarlett goes back to the Cortez to find her brother. Holden remembers her, but acts creepy and has no desire to go home to his parents. Scarlett is a little creeped out that he hasn't aged at all since his disappearance, and gets very creeped out when he tries to bite her neck. She flees, but not before running into Sally, who scares her.
When Scarlett returns home, she finds that her parents had reported her missing and called the police. That's what happens when you're about eight years old, your dad is being harassed by a serial killer, and you sneak away from school and spend the rest of the afternoon snooping around an old hotel. Oops. She shows her father a blurry picture she took of Holden.
Meanwhile, the Countess has turned Tristan into a vampire. She explains that their vampirism is caused by a virus that gives them eternal youth and beauty. Tristan wants to know if a silver bullet or stake can kill him, and the Countess says, "Bitch please, of course it can. You're only immortal if you're smart." But all Tristan wants to do is hunt Kendall Jenner, so he doesn't seem to be taking her warnings around recklessness to heart.
She tells him that she was born in 1904, and that her favorite era was the 1970's, because she was a disco queen.
Donovan walks in on them in bed and proclaims that Tristan won't last a week. Tristan challenges him to say that to his face, and Donovan points out that, uh, he kind of just did. Donovan is right--Tristan is an idiot.
Donovan and the Countess argue for a minute, and the Countess breaks up with him. Donovan is distraught and tells her that he loves her. The Countess tells him that the breakup will be for his own good because heartbreak builds character, which has got to be the most patronizing breakup line ever. She then tells him that turning Tristan was one of the most erotic experiences of her life. And with that, poor Donovan is given his marching papers.
John storms into the hotel and confronts Iris. He wants answers about what's going on in the hotel.
Iris tells him the story of James Patrick March, who built the Cortez in 1925 and designed the place specifically to be his personal murder palace. He became a prolific serial killer who averaged three victims a week. The hotel's creepy maid (who is apparently a...ghost or something now?) was his accomplice, and he had a wife who isn't revealed, but is implied to have possibly been the Countess (the timeline works, and it would explain how she got the hotel and her money, and there are several hints, but we'll see...). Eventually, the police caught up with him and he killed the maid before killing himself.
Iris tells John that the creepy room 64 was March's office. John doesn't buy that March's ghost, or his lingering presence of evil, has anything to do with what happening in the hotel today. But he does realize that the current ten commandment-inspired murders he's investigating seem to be copying murders that March committed in the 1920's. So it looks like there is a connection between the Se7en homage and the hotel storyline. But who's the modern day serial killer (if not March himself)? We'll find out, I guess.
Brief thoughts:
- Donovan is fun and I'll be sad if anything really bad happens to him.
- I hope John properly investigates these Holden sightings soon because dude, if both you and your daughter have seen him in the creepy hotel, wouldn't you try to do something?
- Tristan is totally going to crash and burn. The guy can barely keep it together as a human, let alone a vampire.
no subject
Date: 2015-10-19 06:33 am (UTC)And I agree with you view on Tristan... Did the Countess wanted to make Donovan jealous because he is more homey? It is evident that he doesnt want to go out as much as she does...