Mommy (American Horror Story)

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"Mommy"
American Horror Story episode
Episode no.Season 5
Episode 3
Directed by Bradley Buecker
Written by James Wong
Featured music
Production code5ATS03
Original air dateOctober 21, 2015 (2015-10-21)
Running time53 minutes
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Chutes and Ladders"		Next →
"Devil's Night"
American Horror Story: Hotel
List of episodes

"Mommy" is the third episode of the fifth season of the anthology television series American Horror Story . It aired on October 21, 2015 on the cable network FX. This episode was written by James Wong and directed by Bradley Buecker.

Contents

Plot

Tristan Duffy meets with James March and they talk about secret places in the Hotel. Will reviews the hotel blueprints and notes that they bear little resemblance to the reality of the building. Tristan attempts seduction as a distraction, and almost stabs Will, when he notes Countess Elizabeth watching disapprovingly.

Iris has researched where she and Donovan will move on to, but he refuses. After a heated argument, Donovan coldly tells Iris to kill herself and leaves. He comes upon Ramona Royale, who appears to have car trouble. He intends to knife her, but she tasers him in response.

Elizabeth has a rendezvous with Will and is nearly successful in seducing him, when Tristan intervenes. Elizabeth admits to Tristan that she invested badly in Bernie Madoff's pyramid scheme. Her motive was to marry Will and bleed him of money, afterwards killing him.

Alex presents John with divorce papers, who becomes distraught and apologizes for his failings as a husband and father. While leaving the hotel Alex finds a bloody Claudia in the hallway before coming across Holden who calls Alex "Mommy". Sally helps Iris to commit suicide by drugging her, before clarifying that Iris would not return to haunt the hotel. Sally awaits her demise, but is interrupted by the arrival of Donovan, who at the sight of his dying mother, slits his wrist and revives her, and Sally is amused by the twisted poetic justice.

Reception

The episode was watched by 3.20 million people during its original broadcast, and gained a 1.7 ratings share among adults aged 18–49. [1] It topped the Nielsen Social ratings for the third consecutive week, with 129,000 tweets seen by over 1.99 million people. [2]

The episode received favorable reviews from critics, earning an 81% approval rating based on 16 reviews, with an average score of 7.6/10, on Rotten Tomatoes. The critical consensus reads: "By highlighting an especially twisted mother-son relationship in "Mommy", Hotel continues to be a thoroughly creepy stay." [3]

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<i>American Horror Story</i> Anthology television series

American Horror Story (AHS) is an American horror anthology television series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the cable network FX. The first installment in the American Story media franchise, seasons of AHS are mostly conceived as self-contained miniseries, following a different set of characters in a new setting within the same fictional universe, and a storyline with its own "beginning, middle, and end." Some plot elements of each season are loosely inspired by true events.

<i>American Horror Story: Hotel</i> Fifth season of American Horror Story

The fifth season of the American horror anthology television series American Horror Story, subtitled Hotel, is centered around the mysterious Hotel Cortez in Los Angeles, the scene of disturbing and paranormal events, overseen by its enigmatic staff. The location is loosely based on the Cecil Hotel, marked by deaths and tragedies. The ensemble cast includes Wes Bentley, Chloë Sevigny, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Matt Bomer, Denis O'Hare, Cheyenne Jackson, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, and Lady Gaga, with all returning from previous seasons, except newcomers Jackson and Gaga. Hotel marks the first season to not feature cast mainstays Jessica Lange, Emma Roberts and Frances Conroy. Breaking from the anthological format, the season is connected to Murder House and Coven.

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References

  1. ↑ Porter, Rick (October 22, 2015). "Wednesday cable ratings: 'AHS: Hotel' down in week 3, NLCS clincher leads the day". TV by the Numbers . Archived from the original on October 23, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  2. ↑ Fratti, Karen (October 23, 2015). "Scoreboard: Wednesday, Oct. 21". Lost Remote. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Mommy". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved November 19, 2015.
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