Be Our Guest (American Horror Story)

"Be Our Guest" is the twelfth episode and season finale of the fifth season of the anthology television series American Horror Story. It aired on January 13, 2016 on the cable network FX. This episode was written by John J. Gray and directed by Bradley Buecker.

Plot

A year later from the incidents in "Battle Royale", Liz Taylor reflects on the renovated and upscale Hotel Cortez. Their first guests are a couple of travel bloggers who like the rooms, however, Sally materializes and kills the husband, while Will Drake kills the wife. Liz and Iris lament the new problems that the murderous ghosts are leaving them with, and hold a meeting with the ghosts urging them to stop the murders. Sally and Will decline to stop, as they enjoy getting off on killing. James March intervenes and orders them to end it, else they would lose the hotel. Iris finds a miserable Sally and in order to cheer her, Iris gifts her a phone with WiFi connection. Sally gets addicted to social media and forgets about her own misery.

More than a year after his death a dejected Will laments the end of his fashion empire. Liz has a plan and asks Will to start designing again, keeping her the "face" of the line. Liz attends the board meetings for Will's companies and runs it on his behalf. They hold impromptu fashion shows utilizing the ghosts and Ramona as models, while banning filming and cameras. Liz still cannot find happiness in it and Iris, wanting to help her friend find closure, invites Billie Dean Howard to communicate with Liz's lost love, Tristan. Billie Dean communicates with him and finds him unresponsive making Liz think that Tristan still blames her for his death. Billie Dean also manages to communicate with Donovan, who asks her to tell Iris that he loves her and that he has moved on and is happy. In the meantime, Liz attends the birth of her granddaughter but then learns that she has prostate cancer. Ramona offers to turn Liz, but Liz assembles the ghosts and asks them to murder her since she calls them family. The Countess makes an appearance for the first time since her own death over a year ago and slices open Liz's throat while the other ghosts watch. Liz is visited at last by Tristan, who had not wanted to interfere so that Liz could continue living.

Iris and Ramona discusses Billie Dean's continuous expeditions into the Cortez with her film crew, and the shaky reputation it has given the hotel. John arrives, just before Devil's Night 2022, and agrees with them. He appears in front of Billie Dean who has been trying to contact him for her show. Through flashbacks, John reveals that Alex and Holden had left to fend for themselves and they all ended up at the Cortez. Scarlett left to have a normal life while they continued staying until he was gunned down by police on the steps of the hotel. He was unable to cross the hotel's threshold before he died and hence did not stay as a spirit. Billie Dean is then taken to the annual dinner party, and offered some absinthe as the Devil's Night murderers roam around her. The ghosts threaten her with the choice of never mentioning the Cortez again, or she will be tracked down and murdered. She rebuffs since the ghosts cannot leave the hotel, but Ramona comes and threatens her. Billie Dean then quickly flees the building. John leaves the party to welcome the adult Scarlett, who visits for a few hours every Devil's Night. Together they share family time in the hotel. The last scene shows the Countess interacting with a bar patron, who says he is awaiting some friends. She then says he has "a jawline for days".

Reception

"Be Our Guest" was watched by 2.24 million people during its original broadcast, and gained a 1.1 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.^[1] It also ranked second in the Nielsen Social ratings, with 65,000 tweets seen by over 1.04 million people.^[2]

The episode received mixed reviews, earning a 63% approval rating, with an average score of 6.4/10, on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.^[3] E.A. Hanks of The New York Times declared that the season "was populated with plots that went nowhere...as well as plots that were set up and resolved with minimal interest". However, the reporter contends that Denis O'Hare as Liz was the series' high note.^[4]

References

External links

• "Be Our Guest" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Be Our Guest" at TV.com