This is how 30 seconds of dancing overshadowed one of AHS: Hotel‘s greatest narrative moments of the season.
It is no secret that I have many problems with AHS. Some of them are minor quibbles. Others are larger issues with the narrative each chapter in the anthology sets out to tell and fails to deliver. This season, AHS: Hotel, much to my surprise, has somewhat delivered compelling stories thus far. Sure, it’s not perfect, but the characters feel less like caricatures to fit a theme. Instead, they are complex, messy, and do not shy away from showing the burden of addiction and great loss.
In this week’s episode, “She Gets Revenge,” Lady Gaga, Denis O’Hare, Sarah Paulson, and Kathy Bates each highlighted the best parts of AHS’s current installment. Gaga’s Countess murdered and mourned. Bates’ Iris used her final moments to offer what little she had left to the world that gave her nothing in return. O’Hare’s Liz Taylor shared an intimate conversation with her son and felt acceptance existed outside the walls of the Cortez for the first time. Paulson’s Sally succumbed to the rejection of another pawn in March’s scheme, leaving her to face her demons alone.
But what is the Internet talking about? Matt Bomer’s 30-second Drake inspired dance routine to the artist’s current hit, “Hotline Bling.”
Source: MTV
As a reviewer of the series it is easy to assume that I watch every episode. Once the rest of the world catches up on their DVRs, the messages roll in slowly, “Did you see this week’s AHS?” Most of the time they begin with something about Kathy Bates, as my love for this actress extends far beyond AHS. This week, for example, the conversation went like this:
It would be insane for me to expect that the writers of AHS would set something in contemporary Los Angeles and not give nods to kale, Instagram, or, apparently, the ongoing child vaccination debate. I have never been a fan of the Murphy-Falchuck PSA insertions, especially in the Glee days. I think there are better ways of wrapping up a message without it feeling preachy. So what was it about “Hotline Bling” that finally set me off this week?
As I mentioned in my text message, it did not feel necessary at the time and it cheapened the scene. With a bit of distance from the actual airing, I see that in order to frame the slo-motion killer ladies’ entrance, it worked. But those are the two moments from that five or so minute span that people are talking about. The interaction that they frame, between Donovan and The Countess, however, is the heart of the season — when an addiction gets the upper hand and the person suffering does not care if it kills them or not. The light at the end of Donovan’s tunnel is gone. He is, in that moment, separated from reality, ready to die. Instead of talking about that, however, we are making GIFs, looking for vines, anything to reshare Matt Bomer’s “amazing and hilarious” scene.
I do not set out in my replies to change the minds of what people find entertaining. I’m quite content in the minority on this one. The scene was amazing, but it was far from hilarious. These are the shortcomings of AHS where I focus my concentration. I do not need a season of major celebrities making videos of themselves with cats, or having salacious sex scenes. I think AHS, this season in particular, would benefit from a cast stripped of notoriety. Would Iris’ first murder be even darker if she snapped on someone other than Darren Criss and Jessica Lu? Absolutely. But those names are what draw the viewers in and keeps me at arm’s length. Could I be expecting too much from AHS? Did I not learn my lesson from Freak Show? Or Asylum?
If the lesson was to stop looking for narrative and take the series at face value, then the answer is no. And I do not believe I ever will. I do know that I will keep looking for those diamond-in-the-rough scenes that need a bit of polishing to be worth their weight in Lee Ann Womack royalty fees.
AHS: Hotel episode 11, “Battle Royale,” returns to FX on Wednesday, January 6 at 10:00 p.m. ET.
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