"Mommy"
Original Airdate: October 21, 2015
Last week’s episode of Hotel was probably one of the more boring ones we’ve had this season, and since not a whole lot went on, I thought I’d take the time to finally discuss one of the biggest fixtures of the season: vampires. A lot of people guessed early on that Gaga would be portraying some kind of vampire iteration, and with things like Twilight and The Vampire Diaries, vampire media has been pretty saturated in the last few years. And now it’s American Horror Story’s turn to tackle the classic trope, seemingly by taking a page from Guillermo del Toro’s book and portraying vampires less as mythical boogeymen and more so a possibility under modern science.
A quick lesson in vampire lore (thanks to two semesters of
folklore classes): while what we would today call vampirism goes back
thousands of years in multiple cultures, the western world is highly
preoccupied with the vampire folklore of Eastern Europe. In that part of the
world, vampires are a common legend springing from a few things: the inability
to properly diagnose someone, thus incorrectly declaring them dead and becoming
shocked when they “rise from the grave”; a biblical allusion in the Old
Testament warning that anyone who ingests blood from an animal shall be “cast
out”; and the rule of proximity. The first two are obvious causes, but the rule
of proximity is an interesting one, essentially classifying the beasts and
spirits that lived in places farther from home as more dangerous (ie: the
domovoi, or house spirit, is much kinder and more helpful than the vodnik, evil
and violent spirits of lakes and rivers). So the temperament of the time was
grounded in a mixture of Christian and pagan fears, in which a vampire was a
potent combination.
Fast-forward to the 19th century when vampire
literature boomed. This time the audience was less inclined to be fearful of
forest spirits and folk monsters and was more interested in the temptations a
vampire brought with them — sexual and otherwise. Up until this time, vampires
were actually thought to be ugly, described as blotted with a blotchy red
appearance from their diet. With the arrival of literary vampires such as Lord
Ruthven, Countess Carmilla, and Count Dracula, they became figures of
attraction, noble status, and dark temptation. They were given the power of
thrall over their victims and converting one required an intimate relationship.
They also became Gothic creatures, stalking castles and gliding around in black
capes.
The recent development of vampires often sees them as tragic
figures, even antiheroes. Thanks in large part to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, vampires took on a mantle of
soul-searching figures of torment looking for a shred of their former humanity.
This motif has been followed up on in less potent renditions like Twilight. Recently, Guillermo del Toro
has taken on a rendition of his own with his book series and subsequent TV
series The Strain. This story paints
vampirism as a disease and contagious virus that turns its victims into blood
thirsty and rabid vampires. AHS seems
to be blending the 19th century depiction with del Toro’s virus
explanation. Wooden stakes, holy water, and fangs are out, but eternal life and
blood drinking are in. And... it’s okay. While the vampire genre does need some
serious reinventing, AHS is certainly
not going to be the piece of media that does that. If it wasn’t for one of them
being played by Lady Gaga, these vampires would be incredibly boring.
But, folkloric history lessons aside, on with the show...
The episode begins with Duffy returning to March’s room,
this time to inform him he’s seen the beauty of murder. March asks him to
continue his legacy and use the hotel’s traps to his advantage. Drake enters
with plans to remodel room 64 and tells Duffy to leave before he calls the
cops. Seeing March’s discomfort over remodeling his hotel, Duffy promises to
handle the issue. Meanwhile, Alex is making another house call to the boy with
measles, this time insisting he go to the hospital because he’s contracted
pneumonia. She also delivers a monologue about her attachment to Holden — you
know, in case anyone had forgotten — and how she tried to kill herself a year
after he went missing. During a meeting with a family counselor, Scarlett
reiterates her claims that Holden is in the hotel.
Elsewhere in the hotel, Claudia is in her room getting ready
for bed when suddenly Gabriel appears and violently kills her. Speaking of
death, Lowe is investigating another gruesome murder, this time at a local
gossip magazine where all the reporters’ tongues have been nailed to their
desks, enacting “thou shalt not bear false witness.”
Duffy confronts Drake, revealing to the audience that they
once had a romantic relationship, but Elizabeth stops Duffy before he can kill
Drake. Lowe returns to the hotel just in time to run into Gabriel, who’s
covered in blood and pleads for Lowe’s help. Lowe attempts to interrogate
Gabriel while he’s rushed to the ICU, and while Gabriel ultimately dies, he
manages to pass Sally’s name along to Lowe. She’s arrested, though she casually
assures Lowe she had nothing to do with the day’s incidents. She manages to seduce Lowe to distraction in
the elevator before disappearing.
Meanwhile, Donovan and his mother have it out in the lobby
when he insists on moving out. They trade harsh words and he insists she was an
awful mother and human being, though she refuses to acknowledge his complaints.
He leaves, saying he’d rather live on the street than with her. He starts
feeding from a random junkie, but gets attacked by Ramona (Angela Bassett). Back
at the hotel, Lowe meets with Alex, who serves him divorce papers, claiming her
life has been easier with him out of the house and that he has issues with
control. Further complicating our view of Lowe, Alex raises the implication
that his drinking problem is fictitious. He breaks down and she brings him back
to his room. She gets him sleeping pills, refuses to change her mind about
wanting a divorce, and on her way out, spots Holden in the hallway.
Elizabeth and Drake have a night out together, and as we’ve
gotten accustomed to seeing with Elizabeth, she starts coming on to him,
despite his insistence that he’s gay. Ultimately he gives into his attraction to her, but a jealous Duffy
quickly interrupts them. Later, Elizabeth explains to Duffy that her money is
gone and she needs to marry Drake to ensure she receives the hotel back when he
dies.
In the aftermath of Iris’ spat with Donovan, Sally realizes
that Iris has no unfinished business, and thus wouldn’t haunt the hotel after
she dies. Donovan would probably be interested to hear that, but he’s a little
busy with Ramona, who’s put him on dialysis. She tells him she’s an actress who
was trapped in B-horror films and endured racial prejudice earlier in her
career, and that Elizabeth turned her decades ago. They had a relationship
until 1997 when Ramona fell in love with a rapper. She turned him into a
vampire, but Elizabeth was jealous of their relationship and killed him. After revealing
that he too was a former lover of Elizabeth, Donovan is set free. Wandering
aimlessly, he runs into Liz Taylor who berates him for his ungratefulness and
poor treatment of his mother. Meanwhile, Iris has been injected with enough
heroin to kill a horse but remains alive, perplexing Sally. She attempts to
asphyxiate her but Donovan arrives and — unable to let his mother die — cuts open
his wrists and turns her.
So it looks like there will be one more person to spell out AHS’ take on vampire lore. Check back
here every week for more recaps as this season saunters on!
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