American Horror Story: Devil's Night

"Welcome to Devil's Night at the Hotel Cortez."

- Aileen Wuornos

"Devil's Night" is the fourth episode of season five of the horror anthology series, American Horror Story, which is billed under the heading of "Hotel". It is the fifty-fifth episode of the series overall. It was directed by Loni Peristere with a script written by Jennifer Salt. It first aired on the FX Network on Wednesday, October 28th, 2015 at 10:00 pm.

Notes & Trivia

 * This episode is rated TV-MA. It contains strong language and scenes of graphic violence. Viewer discretion is advised.


 * This episode is production code number 5ATS04.


 * This episode had a viewership of 3.045 million people upon its initial broadcast, which is 0.157 lower than the previous episode. It is the fourth most-watched episode from the season. It had a ratings share of 1.6% in the 18-49 viewing demographic.


 * Aileen Wuornos and another real-life serial killer, Richard Ramirez, share the same birthday. They were both born on February 29th. Wuornos was born in 1956 and Ramirez was born in 1960.

Allusions

 * The title of this episode is a popular catch phrase attributed to October 30th, which is the night before Halloween. It is also referred to as "Mischief Night", and follows a tradition of local youths playing various pranks on neighbors, such as unraveling toilet paper throughout their front yards, or doing something disruptive on their property. "Devil's Night" has also been connected with acts of violence, vandalism, and arson as portrayed in the feature film The Crow.


 * Aileen Wuornos was an actual sex worker and serial killer. She was born Aileen Carol Pittman in Rochester, Michigan on February 29th, 1956. Aileen was responsible for the deaths of seven men, all of whom she killed while operating as a sex worker in Florida from 1989 to 1990. She was arrested in Volusia County on January 9th, 1991. Her trial began on January 14th, 1992. She was found guilty of six of the seven murders and was executed by lethal injection on October 9th, 2002. She was 46-years-old at the time of her death.


 * Richard Ramirez was an actual Satanist, burglar, rapist and serial killer. Between the months of June, 1984 to August, 1985, Richard Ramirez terrorized the Los Angeles area with his murderous crimes, including multiple home invasions, resulting in the deaths of sixteen people. The media dubbed him the "Night Stalker". A younger version of Ramirez will have a more prominent role in the ninth season of the show, "1984", where he will be played by actor Zach Villa.


 * John Wayne Gacy was an actual serial killer who raped, tortured and murdered at least 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978 in Cook County, Illinois (a part of metropolitan Chicago). He was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 17th, 1942 and died by way of lethal injection at the Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Illinois on May 10th, 1994. He was 52-years-old at the time of his death.

Bloopers

 * When Aileen Wuornos sits down at the bar in the hotel, Liz Taylor hands her a beer. She picks up the beer and goes to drink it. In the next shot Liz Taylor hands her the beer again and she drinks it.

Quotes

 * James Patrick March: Welcome to Devil's Night at the Hotel Cortez.

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 * John Wayne Gacy: I mean, just because you got thirty bodies buried in your crawl space don't mean you can't have a really terrific rec room and be a respectable businessman.

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 * Aileen Wuornos: You know what you do when all you know is people taking? You start to give, give it away before they can take it from you, give it all away for free. And that way, you can pretend that it doesn't hurt.

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 * Richard Ramirez: Swear to Satan you won't scream or I'll kill you.

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 * Aileen Wuornos: You try and take anything from Aileen Wuornos and I swear to Jesus H. Christ I will take everything from you.

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 * Liz Taylor: Control... is an illusion.
 * John Lowe: I surrender to that illusion tonight.