Spoilers for American Horror Story: Hotel, “Room 33” ahead!
Whee! Well, that was a fun episode, wasn’t it? I am happy to report that other than minor gripes, we are now six episodes into American Horror Story: Hotel, and it is still pretty, pretty darn good. See, Ryan Murphy? We knew you had it in you! Wednesday night’s “Room 33” answered two major questions that turned out to be intertwined. The first being “What is Hotel‘s connection to season one’s Murder House,” and the second, “Just what is in Room 33?”
Tackling the first question: A flashback to 1926 — which we previously got a glimpse of thanks to leaked photos — in which a very pregnant Countess arrives at the then-home of “surgeon to the stars” Charles Montgomery (Matt Ross, reprising his role) to enlist his abortion services. Using the name “Mrs. Johnson,” she tells the esteemed doctor that she has only been pregnant for three weeks. And because that apparently does not sound any alarms, Montgomery proceeds with the abortion, only to procure a very much alive fetus-baby who immediately chows down on the assisting nurse (in a sly nod to 1974’s It’s Alive).
When the photos of the pregnant Countess initially hit the Internet, theories began swirling that Chloë Sevigny’s Dr. Alex Lowe was maybe her great-grandchild, which made sense due to her complexion and hair color, not to mention the Countess choosing Holden in the first place. This theory intensified later when the Countess was completely up front with Alex, turning her into a vampire. But the theory was quickly invalidated when it was revealed that not only did the baby born to the Countess not grow up to have flaxen-haired babies of its own, but Bartholomew, as he was christened, is still a monster fetus baby living in Room 33 of the Hotel Cortez — to answer the second question. And he’s missing part of his face!
Unfortunately, if anything, the reveal raises even more questions. Namely, whose baby is that? It’s to be assumed that the father is James March, and that March was the Countess’ husband. But if so, why did the Countess give her name as Johnson? So far, making logical conclusions based on circumstantial evidence hasn’t panned out so great, so I’m guessing there might be something more to the story. And how can vampires even get pregnant in the first place? The Countess has plenty of sex with other vampire dudes and doesn’t conceive, so clearly there had to have been some sort of supernatural element to the pregnancy. Furthermore, if it’s not the baby, what is the Countess’ connection to the Lowes?
All questions will be answered in time, but for now, all we can do is endlessly speculate. On a final note: In case you missed it, here’s a closeup screenshot of the Countess’ bundle of joy. Makes me feel all maternal just looking at it.
