Season 5 may have only just begun, but the American Horror Story: Hotel premiere has already given us a ton of new mysteries to explore. From the identity of the Ten Commandments Killer to whether or not everyone at the Hotel Cortez is actually dead, Ryan Murphy's latest horror installment is already full of intrigue. But there's one puzzle in particular that I'm especially eager to start solving. Throughout the hour and a half episode, we become well acquainted with Detective John Lowe (played by Wes Bentley), who is dealing with some inner-demons as well as the outer-ones that he's made a career of putting behind bars. It turns out that Lowe's son, Holden, was kidnapped a few years back. One minute he was riding the horse of a theme park carousel and then the next minute — poof! He was gone.
But it's not so much the how he disappeared that's the interesting part, but rather who took him and why? In the final few minutes of "Checking In," its revealed that Holden has been living at the Hotel Cortez all this time, where he's evidently become one of The Countess' many youthful minions. Because, that's right, folks — Gaga's character has an army of blonde children working for her. They even share her penchant for drinking other people's blood. (Welcome to the Hotel Cortez: where blood is the new milk!) However, it still remains unclear what exactly she intends to do with these little mini followers of hers.
As she's already more than demonstrated, The Countess is extremely charismatic and has a knack for getting her way. So what does she need children for? Is this some sort of twisted mother fetish? Perhaps she can't have kids of her own, so she steals them from others and helps to develop their bloodlust. Or maybe there's something bigger at play here. She could potentially need the children for some sort of sacrifice in order to stay young. (That would help explain how she doesn't appear to age.)
But whatever her end game may be, you can be rest assured that it won't lead to anything good. Lowe's son is in some serious danger, whether he realizes it or not. In fact, at this point, he may even be beyond the point of saving. And I can't help but grow fearful that Lowe's daughter, Scarlett, will be next.
Images: Suzanne Tenner/FX; Giphy
