Here's Why Everyone's Marking Their Calendars for American Horror Story: Hotel
https://instagram.com/p/8dcO9rpFCa/ American Horror Story: Hotel is set to premiere Wednesday, October 7th on the FX network and 20-something-year-olds everywhere are setting their DVRs for 10 p.m.
The theme of American Horror Story: Hotel is supposedly even more evil and eerie than previous seasons. It centers on the “Countess,” played by Lady Gaga, who is the owner of the Hotel Cortez in Los Angeles where mysterious crimes and murders occur. Supposedly, this season will strongly reference season 1, Murder House, reinforcing clues producers made in the past about all the seasons being somehow connected.
The new season had a rocky start in production, with a lot of drama surrounding the casting process. Hotel will look a little different to loyal fans, with devastating cast losses as well as random (but intriguing) new faces. Jessica Lange announced that she was not returning to AHS for the season in order to pursue other projects, which was unfathomable at the time considering she was the matriarch of the show.
As previously mentioned, this season will star Lady Gaga, which has made fans skeptical since day one. Will she pull it off? Can she pull off the dramatic and intricate story lines that define AHS? Honestly, it could go either way, but I would be pretty shocked if she had a hard time pulling off the part considering she pretty much behaved and dressed like a character in a real life horror story for the first 4 years of her career.
For a while, many fans were upset with Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy for bringing Lady Gaga onto the cast as the season’s lead. How dare they replace the flawlessly talented Jessica Lange with an eccentric pop star who happens to have close to zero acting experience? Falchuk and Murphy are insistent that Gaga will impress the fans regardless of the criticism, so I guess until we see the premiere, we’ll have to take their word.
The controversy did not stop there though. Let’s not forget the downright panic we all felt when everyone believed that Evan Peters wasn’t coming back to the series. In real life, the actor and his fiancé (and cast mate) Emma Roberts broke up, and the producers were not confirming either of their castings in season five.
Viewers were in a frenzy. Let's be real, every fan has crushed on Evan Peter’s character in at least one of the AHS seasons. Regardless of the fact that his characters have had some serious mental and emotional issues, Peters always brings a certain charm to his roles. Combine that with how attractive the actor is (even with claw hands… don’t deny it), the show has launched Peters into major sex symbol status. Don't fret ladies, although it was a long time coming, the producers finally did announce his return in a tweet and the actor was officially cast as Mr. James March.
Emma Roberts will be returning as well, playing a love interest to Mr. James March at the end of the season, which might’ve been awkward if the two actors hadn’t already announced that they had gotten back together in real life. The indecision of young love in Hollywood never ceases to amaze.
One interesting addition to the season five cast is Max Greenfield, best known for his role as Schmidt on the Fox sitcom New Girl. On the show, Greenfield plays a neurotic and inappropriate roommate who delivers the most hilarious one-liners on television. New Girl as a show is perpetually light-hearted and viewers will rarely come across an episode with a serious theme, making it extremely hard to picture the actor filling a dramatic, dark role on the famously intense AHS. We do know that Greenfield is taking on the role of Gabriel, but since the producers have not released character descriptions, we can’t really know for sure what the nature of the character will be. Maybe there will be some twisted humor involved this season? Again, we’ll just have to wait and see.
In the days leading up to the premiere, the network has been generating buzz for the new season by releasing promo clips online and on television. The clips showcase Lady Gaga as a fashionable but clearly sinister hotel owner walking the halls of a freaky hotel while children with white and black face paint stand in the hallways like zombies… and we all know nothing is more terrifying than creepy children. They also show quick clips of main cast members, but the network was careful not to give much away about the characters.
Despite the loss of Jessica Lange, I think that American Horror Story has gained enough respect from viewers for delivering spectacular and skin crawling seasons that the ratings this season will be just fine. Many fans, myself included, will watch the first episode out of pure curiosity for Lady Gaga’s performance, and as all viewers of the show know… once you watch the first episode, you’re hooked for the whole season. The show is literally so eccentric and twisted that you can’t explain why you’d want to watch something so deviant, but still you can't look away. Here’s to (hoping for) another great season with a disturbing storyline, addicting cliffhangers, and most importantly… Evan Peters.