AHS Hotel’s Memorable Characters: Part I
The fifth season of the Ryan Murphy hit horror series, American Horror Story: Hotel is just too iconic for words. If it was a beautiful human face, it definitely had a jawline for days: symmetrical, sharp and sexy. That is why this section called memorable characters of season 5 had to be divided into two parts – this first part being the characters you don’t easily expect to fall for as much but did anyway and here goes:
10. Aileen Wuornos
Lily Rabe’s Aileen Wuornos was chilling in a way that was completely separate from Charlize Theron’s Oscar-winning portrayal. Rabe’s Wuornos was downright creepy but arrests attention with what she has to say or do next. Every entrance – in the mere two episodes she’s in – features a no-nonsense Wuornos ready to wreak havoc. Being the only woman at the Devil’s Night table of infamous serial killers is surely nothing to be proud of but Rabe’s portrayal is just so intriguing you don’t know whether to laugh at her smart alecks and ridiculous dancing, or be frightened and be creeped out altogether while applauding her performance all the same.
9. John Lowe
The hero and antihero as one person. He’s the character you want to hate but can’t. Wes Bentley’s John is interesting in the innocent-but-psycho type of way. John is someone you root for until the very end of the big reveal, and you wonder if everything you’ve ever known in life is a lie. He’s a good father reading bedtime stories to his daughter; then he’s screwing The Cortez’s resident addict/prostitute. Will the real John Lowe please stand up?
***John’s wife, Alex (played by Chloe Sevigny) almost made this list just because Savigny and Bentley were a complete 2000s dream OTP (but the list had to be narrowed down to five). Lifesaver, that Alex. Saving dying children with virus blood. A true horror story hero.
8. James Patrick March
March is insane first of all. As someone who is not a big fan of gore, it’s the characters and plot that keep me going with this show. It’s that good. As insanely good as Evan Peters’ performance in this season. March is the type of character you unexpectedly like just because he is pure murderous rage and a gory mess, but listening to his comical “serious” voice is just really entertaining. If you pay attention closely, it sounds as if he’s channeling Jim Carrey from either The Mask, Bruce Almighty or Me, Myself and Irene and you laugh a little more. Peters’ chemistry with Gaga is also off the charts which can easily make someone overlook all of March’s crimes.
7. Will Drake
At first, the ever-fashionable Will Drake insists he is gay – only likes guys. He’s been with women before but found it’s not for him. His candid honesty and approach to sexuality is something to be admired. As is his self-discovery that we get to witness all thanks to The Countess (Mother Monster, herself). So sad about his fate, but at least he has a jawline for days, that tender…narcissistic soul. (If anything at all, Hotel is the first season to feature not one but four bisexuals? Right? If not, I stand corrected.)
6. Donovan
Donovan is just a portrait of a sad character. He’s like a male version of Sally but with a tad bit more fulfilling of an afterlife. Besides dancing to Drake, a more memorable scene was when he was taking hits with Sally; that’s when all the horror began. He has serious mother issues, which probably translates to his devotion for The Countess. Their unconventional “feeding” sessions are purely iconic for one. Then again, is there an actual conventional way to feed if you’re 20+ or 111+-year-old vampire? Freudian and trivial or not; she admits that he is her greatest creation. He will stand in front of a bullet – string of bullets – for his creator. That is some mad love/real love right there.
Who else realized that 3/5ths of this list are infamous serial killers on the Devil’s Night dinner table? Unintentional. Promise.