‘American Horror Story: Hotel’ episode 7 review: How the Countess knew Mr. March

For Wednesday night’s new episode of “American Horror Story: Hotel,” we stayed very much in the past. You could entitled this episode “Awesome Costumes and Little Story,” because that is what we felt like we received for a big chunk of the episode, other than about the past twenty minutes or so.

John Lowe – Hey, he’s getting closer to learning who is the Ten Commandments Killer! Here is the problem: Through this entire conversation with the child, we really just sat there and wondered if we were going to get a chance to see those crazy kids who tore up the school again. As it turns out, not so much. That car crash at the end? Well, there goes a valuable resource.

The Countess – Through a series of flashbacks, we started to understand more of her history, and how a relationship with a movie star influenced much of her early adult life. Interestingly, so did an obsession that Mr. March had with her. We’re not entirely sure all of this was necessary since there are so many other stories that we wanted to see, but it is at least nice to start connecting some of the dots.

Also, did we have a scene with Mr. March in the present that mattered? It was at least interesting to learn more about he locked up Gaga’s idols by building the hotel more or less around them, and then also hearing him explain precisely what he did to her “god.” Also, he’s not buying her feelings for Will Drake at all. Probably smart.

This episode at least was captivating to watch unfold, but given the fact that we only have 13 episodes this season, it felt almost like a bonus feature on a DVD. Where was Donovan, why not more Iris, and is Sally ever coming back? Too much background, not enough story. Grade: C+.

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