AHS: Hotel Preview
The arrival of a new installment of American Horror Story is fast becoming a staple in the Fall/Autumn schedule for any fan of flamboyant TV schlock. Armed with the usual slick, gorily baroque set of teaser trailers that have been doing the rounds in the last few months, Brad Falchuck and Ryan Murphy will soon be asking us to check into the Hotel, after treating us to a Murder House Halloween, treatment in the Asylum, a visit to the Coven and an evening with the Freak Show. The trailers do come with their own baggage, however.
Detractors of the series argue that the trailers are often the ‘best thing’ about the franchise, and it’s easy to see why – grimily filmic, they often bear no relation to the storyline at all. They do, however, convey the mood in a way that’s incredibly effective. Regardless of the series content, produce some slick teasers and let the media do the rest. In many ways, the whole AHS franchise is an exercise in style over substance – but not many shows do style as well as AHS. So, onto AHS: Hotel. As usual, much has been made of the cast – or rather, an addition to it and a missing cornerstone.
Jessica Lange - who singlehandedly rescued entire episodes of the disappointing Freak Show with her usual blend of scenery-chewing zeal and full-hearted enthusiasm for the character - will surely be missed, although fans can be comforted that her fellow veterans Kathy Bates, Lily Rabe (an actress who seems to understand her source material – no matter how small the part – like no-one else), Sarah Paulson, Denis O’Hare, Evan Peters and Angela Bassett all keep their places in Falchuk’s twisted rep company. The void left by Lange’s absence will be filled by Lady Gaga – or at least, that’s what the producers are hoping. Initially feeling like a token move, Gaga’s debut (as a suave Vampiress and owner of the hotel with devilish brood in tow) will be interesting at the very least, whether she pulls it off or not. One suspects that she’ll do perfectly fine, and in a way it could be a perfect fit for the chameleonesque crooner.
She’s not the only new face checking into the Hotel. Max Greenfield (better known as the scene-stealing Schmidt in the New Girl) will be hanging around, as will Emma Roberts, Chloe Sevigny, Madchen Amick (in a move that will perhaps tide Twin Peaks acolytes over until the series returns next year), Wes Bentley, Finn Wittrock and Christine Estebrook to round out the parade of sleuths, junkies, thieves and murderers. Plot details remain intentionally shady, but I’m sure that we can expect the usual camp, bloody, mile-a-minute romp through various ‘Hotel Horror’ tropes as previous series mined their source material.
Personally, I’m hoping for a little more focus this time around; Freak Show and Asylum both lost their way trying to tie too many loose threads together in terms of plot, and both felt like missed opportunities, despite moments of insane brilliance (such as Pepper’s origin story and the whole Twisty the Clown arc in Freak Show, along with the Jessica Lange/Lily Rabe duality in Asylum). So, overall, I’m hoping for more The Shining and less 1408. As for Gaga – she’s got big boots to fill but I, like many others, can’t wait to see what she has up those (bloody) sleeves.
American Horror Story: Hotel airs in the UK on 20/10/2015 on Fox.
