‘American Horror Story: Roanoke’ ratings go side to side with ‘Hotel’ after episode 7

We’ve remained very fascinated about the ratings for “American Horror Story: Roanoke” from the beginning of the show’s run, mostly because this show is one that has a tradition of starting strong, only to then fall off a cliff not too long after that. Any chance we get to see some significant fluctuations is a chance that we’re going to appreciate.

While we cannot say that there is any significant fluctuation after seeing the numbers for Wednesday night’s new episode, we can tell you that it is appearing more and more likely that this show is going to finish out in front of “Hotel,” marking the first time in years that the show has improved in the year-to-year metric. Last night’s episode drew a 1.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic, which is equal to the seventh episode from “Hotel” last year. Why that’s important is that if “Roanoke” can stay steady for the remainder of its run, it will be able to continue to stay out in front — the numbers for “Hotel” really fell apart over the final weeks of the season.

What’s the biggest reason for the consistency this time over the past few weeks? for the most part, we would reference the show having a tighter narrative that is easier to follow from start to finish. We’re not going to pretend that it is perfect given that there is a lot of violence for violence’s sake going on, but at least the story is not confusing or too self-assured; for most of “Hotel,” the series seemed to think it was giving you the best, most-artistic thing in existence. Instead, it was giving you something rather bloated and weird.

One other thing that will aid “Roanoke” is that its final episodes will be airing before Thanksgiving, meaning that it won’t have to deal with any hiatus.