[Cal.]

Spoiler:

The episode opens with two Swedish girls visiting the hotel, and getting less than exceptional service from American Horror Story regular Kathy Bates, who plays the receptionist at the Hotel. After a series of violent crimes, a police detective (Wes Bentley), is called to the Hotel to investigate. From there, Bentley is established as the protagonist, as we explore his family life and work at the police force. A series of graphic scenes take over that give the viewers a good insight as to what is to come with the series. This includes a six-minute scene with Matt Bomer and the stand out star of the season, Lady Gaga, that is similar to a music video with little to no dialogue, yet still intriguing and attention-grabbing action. One of my initial concerns with the premiere was that the only linear story telling and season long story arc was going to center around Bentley and his family. However, the second half of the episode delves into some of the residents of the Hotel that commit some of these scary crimes, and shows how they ended up getting to the Hotel. This was a pleasant surprise, as originally I feared that the season would be filled with one note horrible encounters with little to no background on information on these specific characters.

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