Mommy (American Horror Story)

"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.

Plot

Tristan Duffy (Finn Wittrock) meets with James March (Evan Peters) and talk about secret places in the Hotel, which James wants Tristan to re-open. Meanwhile, Will Drake (Cheyenne Jackson) leads Claudia Bankson (Naomi Campbell) and his son Lachlan (Lyric Lennon) on a tour of the 7th floor, and encounter Tristan in March's suite. Will demands Tristan to leave, but notes that the cut from his face is gone. When the trio leave, March and Miss Evers (Mare Winningham) say that the floor should keep unoccupied. Tristan says he will take care of it.

Alex Lowe (Chloë Sevigny) muses on her unhappy childhood as a reason for choosing her career as a pediatrician. She recalls her love for Holden, which surpassed that of her love for Scarlett and her husband. Holden's disappearance had even led her to commit suicide unsuccessfully. In a therapeutic session with their family counselor, John inquires about Scarlett's (Shree Crooks) story, and she describes again her encounter with Holden at the hotel. Claudia's phone call breaks up when she comes into her room. She is distracted by noises and ghostly sights in her room. As she lays down to sleep, Gabriel (Max Greenfield) bursts from the mattress beneath Claudia and stabs her to death. John and Adam investigate a manufactured journalism and note it as another murder of the Ten Commandments Killer. John returns to the hotel to stumble upon a bloody Gabriel in the lobby wanting help.

Tristan shows up on Will's room and apologizes for his behavior. Will is reviewing 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 Elizabeth (Lady Gaga) watching disapprovingly. John takes Gabriel to the emergency room, but after naming Sally (Sarah Paulson) responsible, he dies. John encounters Sally in the hotel, but she rebuffs his questions about Gabriel and disappears when he tries to arrest her.

Iris (Kathy Bates) has researched where she and Donovan (Matt Bomer) will move on to, but he refuses. After a heated argument, Donovan coldly tells Iris to kill herself and leaves. He feeds on a homeless addict and then comes upon Ramona Royale (Angela Bassett), who appears to have car trouble. He intends to knife, but she tasers him in response. Elizabeth 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 and then Holden in the hallway, who calls her "mommy". Sally helps Iris to commit suicide by drugging her, before clarifying that Iris would not return to haunt the hotel. Ramona dialyzes Donovan, and explains that she was a Hollywood actress trying to expand her career in 1977. She was saved from a would-be casting couch by Elizabeth, who seduced and turned her. Years spent together ended in 1997, when Ramona was attracted to the beautiful aspiring rapper Prophet Moses, and turned him. Elizabeth responded by killing Moses. Since then, Ramona plans revenge on Elizabeth by killing the towheads. Ramona wants access that she thinks Donovan can provide, but he tells her that Elizabeth dumped him the prior week. She cuts his bonds and lets him go.

Back to the hotel, Donovan is greeted by Liz Taylor (Denis O'Hare) who scolds him for his abuse of Iris. When heroin does not kill Iris, Sally tries suffocation by tying a plastic bag over her head. 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 87% approval rating, with an average score of 7.1/10, on Rotten Tomatoes. The critical consensus reads, "By highlighting an especially twisted mother-son relationship in "Mommy", Hotel'm continues to be a thoroughly creepy stay."^[3]

References

External links

• "Mommy" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Mommy" at TV.com