Be Our Guest (American Horror Story)
| "Be Our Guest (American Horror Story)" |
|---|
"Be Our Guest" is the twelfth episode and season finale of the fifth season of the anthology television series American Horror Story. It aired on January 13, 2016 on the cable network FX.
Plot
Liz Taylor refelcts on the renovated and upscaled Hotel Cortez, using The Countess' art collection money. Their first guests are a couple of travel bloggers who like the rooms, however, Sally materializes and kills the husband, while Will Drake kills the wife. Liz and Iris lament the new problems that the murderous ghosts are leaving them with, and decide they will need a meeting with the ghosts to resolve things before guests permanently stop arriving. Sally and Will decline to stop, as they enjoy getting off on killing. James March intervenes and agrees that the killing need to stop else they would lose the hotel. Iris finds Sally and in order to end her miserable feelings, Iris gives her a phone with Wi-fi connection. Sally gets addicted to social media and forgets about killing.
More than a year after his death, Will regrets the death of his business and Liz suggests that he bring Lachlan from boarding school for a visit. Will says that he doesn't want his son to be exposed to the hotel's darkness. Liz inspires Will to start sketching new designs, with Liz herself as the "face" of the line. Liz acts as Will Drake's proxy before the fashion house's board, and the resulting runway shows have an air of mystery. Liz still misses Tristan terribly, however, and cannot find any real happiness in her and Will's success. Iris, wanting to help her friend find closure, invites Billie Dean Howard to communicate with Liz's lost love. Billie Dean wants also to film an episode of her hit Lifetime show in the notoriously supernatural hotel. The medium wades through the sea of ghost voices and senses a strong masculine presence, and explains that Tristan simply doesn't want to speak to Liz. Liz realizes that Tristan still blames her for his death. Though Tristan will not speak, Billie Dean manages to communicate with Donovan, who asks her to tell Iris that he loves her and that he has moved on and he's happy. Though deeply saddened that Tristan refused to speak to her, Liz is happy for Iris at having heard from her son and finding peace and closure. Douglas continues to visit until Liz discovers that she is terminally ill with prostate cancer. Ramona offers to turn Liz, but Liz intends to die in the Hotel instead and declines Will's medical funding offer. The assembled ghosts have all become fond of Liz and her care of them; Liz wants them, her adopted family to all simultaneously murder her so that she can be reborn as a ghost. The Countess makes an appearance for the first time since her own death over a year ago and slices open Liz's throat while the other ghosts watch. Liz is visited at last by Tristan, who has not wanted to interfere so that Liz can continue living.
Ramona and Iris are dismayed by the effect of what the medium has done to their reputation. John arrives, just before Devil's Night, and agrees with them. Billie Dean continues to try to contact the identified Ten Commandments Killer, but he consistently rebuffs her. He finally gives her a chance to meet with him, and she wants to set the record straight. She asks if his family knew he was a serial killer. Flashbacks show that John failed to provide for their needs, and Alex and Holden left him to fend for themselves. Scarlett suggested that they all (except for her) move into the Cortez, and John was able to provide a steady diet for his wife and son until he was gunned down by police on the steps of the hotel, barely crossing the threshold before dying and being reborn as a spirit. Billie Dean mentions a house just west of the hotel and compares the experience to that in the Hotel. John leads Billie Dean to the annual dinner party, offering her some absinthe. Billie is the "party favor" of the year, and they offer her the choice of never mentioning the Cortez again, or she will be tracked down and murdered. She is skeptical, since they can't leave the premises, but Ramona introduces herself as an insurance policy. John leaves the party to welcome Scarlett, who visits for a few hours every Devil's Night. John, Holden, and Alex share the family bed (which the adult Scarlett is too big to join) and she rests among them in the chair. At 2:25am, Elizabeth awaits a bar patron, who says he is awaiting some friends. She says he has "a jawline for days".
Reception
Ratings
"Be Our Guest" was watched by 2.24 million people during its original broadcast, and gained a 1.1 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.[1] It also ranked second in the Nielsen Social ratings, with 65,000 tweets seen by over 1.04 million people.[2]
Critical reception
The episode received mostly positive reviews, earning a 60% rating with an average score of 5.9/10 on Rotten Tomatoes."[3]
External links
| Murder House | |
|---|---|
| Asylum | |
| Coven | |
| Freak Show | |
| Hotel | |
| Roanoke | |
| Cult | |
| Apocalypse | |
| 1984 | |
| Other seasons | |
| Related | |
- ^ Porter, Rick (January 14, 2016). "Wednesday's cable ratings: 'AHS: Hotel' finale rises, plus 'Duck Dynasty,' 'Mob Wives'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
- ^ Fratti, Karen (January 14, 2016). "Scoreboard: Wednesday, Jan. 13". Lost Remote. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
- ^ "Be Our Guest". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 15, 2016.