American Horror Story: Mommy

"Mommy" is the third episode of season five of the horror anthology series, American Horror Story, which is billed under the heading of "Hotel". It is the fifty-fourth episode of the series overall. It was directed by Bradley Buecker with a script written by James Wong. It first aired on the FX Network on Wednesday, October 21st, 2015 at 10:00 pm.

Synopsis
Tristan Duffy enters Room 64 calling out for James Patrick March, claiming to be a true fan of his work as a serial killer. March appears before him, and is impressed by Tristan's newfound calling as a killer. To this end, he wants Tristan to kill Will Drake, who threatens to make changes to the hotel.

Will finds Tristan in his penthouse suite and is upset that he is still around. Tristan seduces him and is prepared to kill him until the Countess silently appears in the backdrop and warns him off. She later explains to Tristan that she needs Will Drake alive for now so that she can marry him and inherit his fortune.

Alex Lowe meets up with John at the hotel. Having reflected intensely on her own tormented past, she realizes that the best thing for each of them at this point is to move on. She hands John divorce papers, but he is not ready to give up on his family. The strain of recent events, in addition to his workload forces John to break down in tears. Alex goes into a corridor and sees Holden.

Fashion editor Claudia Bankson returns to her room, only to be attacked by Gabriel, who tears his way out of the seams of the bed and stabs her to death in a maniacal rage. He then stumbles out into the corridor where he is found and taken to the hospital. John Lowe follows the emergency crews and tries to get some answers out of him. Gabriel apologizes for "killing her", then dies on the table.

Donovan meanwhile is in a fit of rage over having been dumped by the Countess. His mother, Iris, finds him in the lobby and tries to console him, but Donovan hates her, reminding her about how she drove his father away. She insists that his father was a worthless idiot, but Donovan fires back, telling her that he turned to drugs, hoping to die just to get away from her. When Iris asks what she can do to make things better, he tells her that she should kill herself.

Donovan goes out into the night looking for fresh victims. After drinking off a blonde-haired woman, he is discovered by Ramona Royale - a vampire who incapacitates him and takes Donovan back to her home. She hooks him up to an IV to drain the impurities out of his bloodstream. Ramnoa tells her story to Donovan, revealing that she was once a blaxploitation star of the 1970s who met and fell in love with the Countess, who turned her into a vampire. The two were inseparable for more than two decades until Ramona fell in love with a record producer in the 1990s called Prophet Moses. A jealous Countess shot Moses in the head right before Ramona's eyes. Now, she seeks to avenge herself against the Countess, and decides to use Donovan as the instrument of her revenge.

Back at the Hotel Cortez, Iris goes to see Hypodermic Sally. Feeling as if she has nothing without her son, she decides to heed her advice and kill herself. Sally injects her with an overdose of drugs, but amazingly, Iris continues to live. She then wraps a plastic bag around her head, and waits for her to slowly suffocate.

Donovan returns to the hotel and goes to the lounge. Liz Taylor admonishes him for being a spoiled brat, and says that he is the luckiest person in the world. He reminds him about how much Iris truly loves him and would do anything for him. Donovan goes up to see his mother. When he bursts into her room, he finds Iris on the bed with the bag over her head and Sally sitting in a chair smoking a cigarette. Donovan is too late to save her through conventional methods, so the only recourse he has is to turn her into a vampire.

Notes & Trivia

 * American Horror Story was created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk.


 * "AHS: Mommy" redirects to this page.


 * This episode is rated TV-MA. It contains strong language, sexual situtions and nudity and violence. Intended for true bad-asses only. Viewer discretion is advised.


 * This episode had a full running time of 60 minutes without commercials. With commercials, it ran for 1 hour and 16 minutes.


 * Actor Lyric Angel is credited as Lyric Lennon in this episode.


 * Actor Anton Starkman is credited as Anton Lee Starkman in this episode.


 * This is the first appearance of Ramona Royale. Actress Angela Bassett was credited in the first two episodes of the season, but did not make an appearance until now.


 * This episode includes a flashback from "Chutes and Ladders" where Tyler McKenzie Cook's character, the lumberjack, is stabbed to death by Tristan Duffy.


 * Actor David Naughton, who plays Mister Samuels, is best known for playing the role of victim-turned-werewolf David Kessler in John Landis' 1981 horror-comedy An American Werewolf in London.


 * Human death of Claudia Bankson.


 * First and only appearance of Prophet Moses; dies in this episode.


 * Actor Brian Oerly also played a character named Clifton in the season three episode, "Fearful Pranks Ensue", from "Coven".

Allusions

 * Liz Taylor makes a reference to Laurence Harvey, implying that he was a Hollywood actor. Laurence Harvey, or Larry Harvey, was a character from season one, "Murder House". This is the second connection between this season and season one; the first being the appearance of real estate agent Marcy. Humorously, both Liz Taylor and Laurence Harvey are both played by actor Denis O'Hare.


 * Although Alex Lowe tells John that he is not an alcoholic, there is a scene where the Addiction demon appears behind him in an elevator, implying that perhaps his drinking problem is more severe than Alex is willing to give credence to.

Body Count

 * 1) Claudia Bankson - Stabbed to death by Gabriel.
 * 2) Gabriel - Died at hospital from excessive trauma.
 * 3) Blonde woman - Killed on top of a rooftop. Killed by Donovan.
 * 4) Prophet Moses - Shot in the head by the Countess in 1990s flashback.