After the snooze fest that was "Freak Show", "Hotel" features perhaps the best writing demonstrated by American Horror Story so far. It's much more consistent in quality, with most plotlines being satisfactorily resolved, characterization being much more consistent, and less goofy moments that interfere with the tone.
This season features some of the most memorable characters the show has ever had. The Countess and James Patrick March are devious villains who are a joy to watch, and Liz is given a very touching character arc.
Unfortunately, there was so much focus on the characters, it feels like the season sometimes neglected the horror aspect. The show does an uneven job of balancing character interaction and terror, with a lot of episodes not being scary enough, even if they're still interesting. I was disappointed at the lack of more visceral monsters, and the Addiction Demon is criminally underused. Normally, I love seeing monsters in action, but the Addiction Demon's introduction was so horrifying that I constantly dreaded when he would reappear. Unfortunately, he's confined to the background for almost the entire show, and all that anticipation amounts to nothing.
Even if it's better than what came before, the show still has writing problems. The relationship between Liz and Tristan comes out of nowhere, and is a black mark on Liz's otherwise fantastic character development. The revelation of the Ten Commandment Killer's identity is both contrived and cliche, and takes the character in a completely different direction from what they seemed to be building them up for.
All my praise for the show disregards the last episode. It's clear that the writers became too attached to the characters, to the point that they forgot the kind of show they were writing. The finale is anticlimactic and completely at odds with the rest of the series. It's not the first time the show has had such a strange last episode, and it's an unfortunate trend.
While I still get entertainment out of the show, by this point I don't think the writers are ever going to find just the right balance of good writing and genuine horror that the series needs.
Much better writing, but still comes up short.
After the snooze fest that was "Freak Show", "Hotel" features perhaps the best writing demonstrated by American Horror Story so far. It's much more consistent in quality, with most plotlines being satisfactorily resolved, characterization being much more consistent, and less goofy moments that interfere with the tone.
This season features some of the most memorable characters the show has ever had. The Countess and James Patrick March are devious villains who are a joy to watch, and Liz is given a very touching character arc.
Unfortunately, there was so much focus on the characters, it feels like the season sometimes neglected the horror aspect. The show does an uneven job of balancing character interaction and terror, with a lot of episodes not being scary enough, even if they're still interesting. I was disappointed at the lack of more visceral monsters, and the Addiction Demon is criminally underused. Normally, I love seeing monsters in action, but the Addiction Demon's introduction was so horrifying that I constantly dreaded when he would reappear. Unfortunately, he's confined to the background for almost the entire show, and all that anticipation amounts to nothing.
Even if it's better than what came before, the show still has writing problems. The relationship between Liz and Tristan comes out of nowhere, and is a black mark on Liz's otherwise fantastic character development. The revelation of the Ten Commandment Killer's identity is both contrived and cliche, and takes the character in a completely different direction from what they seemed to be building them up for.
All my praise for the show disregards the last episode. It's clear that the writers became too attached to the characters, to the point that they forgot the kind of show they were writing. The finale is anticlimactic and completely at odds with the rest of the series. It's not the first time the show has had such a strange last episode, and it's an unfortunate trend.
While I still get entertainment out of the show, by this point I don't think the writers are ever going to find just the right balance of good writing and genuine horror that the series needs.